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...

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.

George C Scott stars and makes his directorial debut in this tense but ultimately pointless drama about a peaceful rancher who goes on a rampage of revenge after a botched military nerve-gas experiment conducted over his land leads to the death of his young son. You can feel Scott's character's frustration as he's lied to and stone-walled from every angle by the military bureaucrats who want to cover up the incident. Scott knows how to keep things moving and shows some stylish touches in the director's chair, but he can't keep the ending from being disappointing and unsatisfying. Still, all said, it's a fairly absorbing ride while it lasts. It's a movie that will likely stay with you long after the end credits roll.

Almost everything in this film is predictable. The failure of the military to take responsibility, the complicity of local physicians and authorities, and a complete cover-up by the military brass; all of it rather predictable.

Despite these types of nerve gas weapons being outlawed by the Geneva Convention, they still, of course, still exist, within various nefarious military installations dedicated to this type of warfare. The military does not particularly care what the Geneva Convention has to say about these weapons; all is fair under the guise of National Defense.

What transpired in the film, of course, was a tragedy, but the result was inevitable. Scott does a good job acting, and an adequate job of directing. However, the screenplay is so absolutely depressing from beginning to end, that even a raging George C Scott cannot save it. It is this predictability that ruins any chance of the film having elements like suspense or tension. Interesting to watch for Scott's performance.

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.