Rage

***THIS COMMENT MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*** Maybe its me but there was something about this film that worked on my nerves like a tongue on a rotten tooth. It's based on a true incident in Utah in which an Army truck dropped a cannister filled with nerve gas and a butt-load of sheep bought the proverbial farm. But if the wind had happened to be blowing in the direction of Salt Lake City that day...

George C. Scott (wearing what looks distractingly like fake eyebrows) directed and stars in this fictionalized account of a farmer and his young son who are accidentally poisoned with nerve gas by the Army.

Perhaps its my own experiences at the hands of prison doctors that makes the many scenes of bloodless technocrats abstractly speaking about the opportunity to study nerve gas symptoms and blithely LYING with their every breath so quietly, eerily effective.

After being lied to in the worst possible way by all responsible, George C. Scott's doomed farmer wreaks some almost Rambo-like revenge! I had heard about this movie for years and always wondered just what sort of havoc Mr Scott would wreak went he went into his RAGE... It was quite something to see him shooting security guards in the face and generally going postal. One can certainly understand where he is coming from. A film like this would never be made today, especially with a major movie star both directing and starring. George C Scott knows how to handle actors--this is probably one of Richard Baseheart's best performances--full of great conflicted emotions and heavy themes to wrestle with--and what a voice that man had! I think that one of the strengths of the story is the semi-documentary feel to the events. There is no giant conspiracy, just an average army-style Cover-Your-Ass situation, with those responsible already well insulated by their positions of power. The revenge enacted by Scott's character is as understandable as it is ultimately ineffective, a message nicely telegraphed by the final image, which I won't divulge here. Suffice it to say, this is one of those strange cinematic oddities from the 70's that has become, unfortunately, once again relevant. After all... if the wind had happened to be blowing towards Salt Lake City that day...

George C. Scott plays a rancher who, along with his son, is exposed to a chemical weapon due to a mistake the Army made. However, instead of being up front about it, the military places doctors on the case (Barnard Hughes and Martin Sheen) who lie continually to the man...not letting him know that his son had died and that his prognosis is grim. When he does discover they've been lying to him, he decides to go out in a blaze of glory...with a series of violent attacks in order to try to get the faceless military to pay for their crimes.

While the plot is good, the execution isn't. It's simply a guy going Rambo and killing a few people in a somewhat pointless rampage. The overall feeling is grim and awful and it's a movie no one can enjoy. Now I am NOT saying a film about chemical weapons need to be fun....but it should have more depth than this. Violent and depressing.

Outstanding action. Ruthless vengeance on an uncaring military bureaucracy bent on covering the truth to protect themselves. This came out during the discovery of the Watergate cover-up.It was a timely tale of righteousness. Well acted,taut paced. One of the few times made for tv is not an excuse.

Wyoming sheep rancher Dan Logan (George C. Scott) and his son Chris are tending to their flock. An Army helicopter flies by. Next morning after sleeping outside, Chris is in dire medical distress and there are dead sheep. Dan brings him to the hospital. He struggles to find any answers. Dr. Holliford (Martin Sheen) asks all knowing questions and immediately puts Chris in isolation. He gives their family doctor Dr. Caldwell (Richard Basehart) a secret handshake. The Army had accidentally released some nerve gas. Dr. Spencer (Barnard Hughes) from Public Health Service helps with the cover-up.

The Army aspect should be held back to give this story more mystery. I'd rather not have the Army folks do an extended exposition. The audience should discover the truth along with Dan. The reveal should be a shock. Spencer should be the one giving the full exposition. As for his vengeance, it would be nice if all his victims actually deserve it. Dan has a bit of Rambo in him but an unhinged Rambo can be very disconcerting.

George C. Scott has only one competitor as a player who can do a better Rage than him and that is Kirk Douglas. It's kind of fitting that one of them have on his list of credits a film entitled Rage.

I remember seeing this in the theater back in 1972 and it was one of those first films that showed the American government as something less than wise and benevolent. All the more so because Scott is one of those middle American characters who is a true believer in the Stars&Stripes and all it stand for.

Scott is a widower who owns a small sheep ranch and he and his son Nicholas Beauvy who is better known as one of the young men mentored by John Wayne in The Cowboys. As they decide to camp out with the sheep an army helicopter is flying in their vicinity. The next day Beauvy is very sick and Scott takes his son to a nearby hospital.

Where all kind of people from the military as represented by Dr. Martin Sheen and the Public Health Service as represented by Barnard Hughes are very interested in his case. Scott is admitted too and the smell of cover-up proves too much for Scott's personal physician Richard Basehart.

I can't go beyond this other than Scott's given an unbelievable amount of justification for declaring a personal war on the army and the government it fights for.

Scott hits several levels with his performance. His Rage and anger to be sure, but it's all mixed in with both sorrow and betrayal. Director Scott did well by actor Scott.

In many ways Rage is a film for today's audience and I recommend it highly.