Review of The Gauntlet

I remember seeing clips of "The Gauntlet" back in about 1983 and being quite impressed by what I saw. Now having had the chance to see this movie properly, it has turned out to be a fairly memorable experience. The thing to keep in mind whilst watching "The Gauntlet," is that the story is fairly standard and has been done before. However, in the hands of Clint Eastwood as star and director, he manages to deliver the goods in terms of sheer entertainment value. The movie has some good direction as well as a good pace. The action scenes are plentiful and just occasionally, a bit of tension can be spotted in the script. Never in one film have I seen so much corruption within the police force and with the politicians. It is all down to Sandra Locke's character and her testimony which could prove to be rather embarrassing to say the least, regarding the authorities. The film isn't without a sense of humour and Eastwood delivers this with his usual "deadpan" approach. Amongst the highlights, are the scenes involving the motorcycle gang, the car journey with the police officer, spending the night inside that cave and the rather explosive climax. I daresay Clint Eastwood realised that "The Gauntlet" film wasn't going to be one of his major ones but his direction is still good.