Crazy thunder road isnt postapocalyptic, its on the brink of destruction where punks spawned from an industrial wasteland wreak havoc on the establishment. The source of many a southern legend, it was this route that spawned robert mitchums 1958 hollywood hit thunder road and his song the ballad of thunder road. In one of the memphis scenes, robert mitchum pays a visit to the mob boss kogan who is trying to horn in on his familys moonshine business. A lot of the scenes were filmed on location in moonshine country with great care, preparation, and attention to detail to the stunts and car chases. Its a tale of a moonshiner, lucas doolin, who drives his hot rod fords all over the mountains of tennessee delivering moonshine. Its not as dramatic as perhaps the one for out of the past 1947 which starts with a plane crash, but its still full of juicy bits of trivia that will keep any film buff entertained. Oct 12, 2018 cummings thunder road which he wrote, directed, and stars in is an idiosyncratic character study. Im surprised that nobody in asheville has realized yet that this year is the 50th anniversary of thunder road, a true american classic filmed in and around asheville in 1958. Being obsessed with this movie, i have done extreme amounts of research on thunder road and talked with older locals in asheville and have verified many locations where it was filmed in asheville and weaverville and have recent photos to prove it.
Thunder road, american crimedrama film, released in 1958, that is a cult classic notable for its numerous car chases and robert mitchums performance. One group scene was filmed at beech school which is near my home. See more ideas about thunder, classic movies and movies. Thunder road the first muscle car movie old car memories. That was the 1957 ford that runs the road block and later ends up on its roof in the electric substation. Cummings also served as coeditor, composer and visual effects artist.
The song was a billboard hit twice, charting in both 1958 and 1962 with a total of 21 weeks on the chart. Thunder road is a black and white 1958 dramacrime film about running moonshine in the mountains of kentucky and tennessee in the late 1950s. The movie thunder road was filmed in and around asheville, north carolina. Clifton pier in nassau harbour is the site of bond and dominos underwater tryst, though the beach where they come ashore is the aptlynamed love beach its actually named for the love family, west of gambier village on the northwest shore of new providence. Decades later, while filming tv movie follow the river in the cashiershighlands area, holland discovered a familiar scene from thunder road. We want him to get his daughter back, and get his shit together, and find happiness. Apr, 2012 thunder road 54 years after the filming 250 gallons, clean, and high proof. Portions of thunder road were filmed in the reems area mundy cove, reems creek presbyterian church, and beech community. He followed the crew the summer they filmed the now classic bootleggers tale.
Cummings thunder road which he wrote, directed, and stars in is an idiosyncratic character study. Nov 07, 2007 in the movie thunder road, the earlier car was a 1950 ford, but the mountain boy replaced it with a 1957 ford. The song said, his daddy made the whiskey, his son drove the load, and when his engine roared, they called the highway thunder road. Thunder road was filmed in and around asheville, nc. It also stars kendal farr, nican robinson, macon blair, jocelyn deboer, chelsea edmunson, ammie leonards, and bill. Explorers is a 1985 american science fiction fantasy film written by eric luke and directed by joe dante.
Cummings is an austin filmmaker, and the best parts of thunder road have that lowkey, characterdriven energy that defined the early films of one of the kings of austin, richard linklater. Feb 06, 2018 while the ballad of thunder road had been performed by randy sparks for the movie, in tandem with the films release capitol released a 45 single of mitchum crooning the track. It also stars kendal farr, nican robinson, macon blair, jocelyn deboer, chelsea edmunson, ammie leonards, and bill wise. The house doesnt appear in the movie, but the structure below. Apr 11, 2016 thunder road is a black and white 1958 dramacrime film about running moonshine in the mountains of kentucky and tennessee in the late 1950s. In the movie thunder road, the earlier car was a 1950 ford, but the mountain boy replaced it with a 1957 ford.
Several of the chase scenes in this moonshine running film were on us 129 and many of the downtown scenes were shot in asheville. He would show the kids how the back drop bumper worked. Around 1961 the second owner found mitchums work permit under the seat. The films moving as its devoted to the human will, what it can endure, what it can overcome in the most. Robert mitchums 1958 film thunder road created a bigger footprint on pop culture consciousness than its box office success suggests. This trailer is a textless one created for overseas use. Mitchum actually spent time in central north carolina getting to know the moonshine makers in the area. A police officer faces a personal meltdown following a divorce and the death of his mother. Thunder road is a 2018 american comedydrama microbudget film directed, written by, and starring jim cummings, based on his 2016 short film of the same name. Thunder road has all the things we would expect of a well written and well acted movie from the 1950s with some added bonuses. Thunder road is a black and white 1958 dramacrime film directed by arthur ripley and starring robert mitchum, who also produced the film and cowrote the screenplay. The thunder road film became a cult classic and continued to be shown at theaters of the south into the 1980s. Released in may 1958, its story was set in the tennessee mountains but it was filmed in and around buncombe and transylvania counties. Thunder road, a 1980s canadian band led by david thompson thunder road, a 2001 song by judas priest from point of entry.
The film s plot concerns running moonshine in the mountains of kentucky and tennessee in the late 1950s. Thunder road scale auto magazine for building plastic. Jim arnaud jim cummings, a texas cop in his early 30s with a handsome face and a tragicomic pornstache, is delivering his mothers eulogy. How thunder road became a southernfried cult phenom tiff. Despite its humble origins as a lowbudget b flick, the film has endured over the years, especially among a certain segment of movie fans. Jul 20, 2010 thunder road has all the things we would expect of a well written and well acted movie from the 1950s with some added bonuses. Loftin went on to work on the french connection, grand prix, bullitt, vanishing point, duel, and. The title of the movie and ballad came from one of the lines in the song. Thunder road locations thunder road 1958 discussion. The film stars ethan hawke, river phoenix both in their film debuts and jason presson as teenage boys who build a spacecraft to explore outer space. Writtendirectedperformed by jim cummings now on youtube, amazon, itunes. Sep 04, 2018 writtendirectedperformed by jim cummings now on youtube, amazon, itunes.
The first was thunder road in 1958 starring robert mitchum. This was the 57 ford on display at the show where the promotion of thunder road was. The building that was the school house is still standing and is now used as a community center. He brought it back to california where he used it for high school. How thunder road became a southernfried cult phenom. For a film that was never intended to be more than actionpacked, drivein movie fare, thunder road has had plenty of staying power. Its like a frenetically shot postyazuka biker flick with cyberpunk touches one gangster inexplicably has a huge metal lower jaw. Where was filmed movie grease, cast john travolta, olivia newtonjohn, stockard channing, jeff conaway. Movie was filmed in 1978, countries of filming locations are united states. This version was the popular one that we used to hear on the radio. In the appalachian foothills, thunder road was a term coined to identify the nighttime route from harlan, kentucky, to knoxville, tennessee, traveled by illegal whiskey haulers.
Asheville, north carolina, usa tunnel road, chase scenes 6 of 6 found this interesting interesting. A veteran comes home from the korean war to the mountains and takes over the family moonshining business. Approved 1h 32min crime, drama, filmnoir 10 may 1958 usa. Thunder road screens tuesday, february 6 as part of the tiff cinematheque retrospective out of the past. Several feature films have had scenes filmed at the dragon. The ballad of thunder road, a 1957 song cowritten and performed by robert mitchum for the 1958 film thunder road song, a 1975 song by bruce springsteen. Certainly, in the last quarter of the 20th century the name thunder road was associated with bruce springsteen, who appropriated the title for his 1975 epic, but the bootlegger saga was popular in the south for years, playing driveins and midnight movies into.
The movie has scene after scene that depicts this inside knowledge. Days of thunder filming locations road trip makes stops at north wilkesboro speedway, bristol motor speedway, top of daytona and others. Youve heard us mention thunder road distillery, probably heard us play the song thunder road, but where does it all come from. Harrison ford jumped from the cheoah dam near the dragon in the 1993 movie the fugitive. Thunder road is a 2018 american comedydrama microbudget film directed, written by, and. The song, thunder road with mitchum singing is attached in mp3 format. Display as images display as list make and model make and year year category importancerole date added new ones first episode appearance ep. The best example is when mitchums character delivers a load of shine.
He struggles with relationships and anger issues, but hes just trying to do right by those he cares about. May 31, 2017 decades later, while filming tv movie follow the river in the cashiershighlands area, holland discovered a familiar scene from thunder road at toxaway falls, which had been used for one of. Thunder road is widely considered the best movie about moonshine bootleggers, and its climatic car chase is one of the finest ever captured on film. The speargun sequence uses the golden grotto, now known as thunderball reef.
Official facebook page of thunder road pictures filmtv producers of sicario, the messengers, the town, john wick, gods of. It pretty much looks like it did in the movie except it now has a sign on the side identifying it as a community center. Jun 15, 2018 from the starting point of thunder road at the 6th street bridge to the turnaround mark of the 1st street bridge, the films first unit shot in the l. The first film i remember seeing was thunder road i saw it in a drivein theatre in florida on vacation with my mother and sister. A wonderful film that i certainly wouldnt say is a comedy. Mitchum played a korean war veteran who returns to the tennessee hills to run his familys moonshine business. Thunder road is the quintessential bootlegger movie. A rising star in indie film, director jim cummings plays a grieving cop whose home life is falling apart in this flawed but evocative debut feature. With jim cummings, kendal farr, nican robinson, jocelyn deboer.
The movie captured the antigovernment sentiment of moonshiners in the mountains a very real sentiment seen even today in the recent bust of haywood county moonshiner popcorn sutton. Crazy thunder road 1980 directed by gakuryuu ishii. With robert mitchum, gene barry, jacques aubuchon, keely smith. I have a program on my computer where i can actually capture a still scene from the dvd and print it. With don raye, mitchum cowrote the theme song, the ballad of thunder road. From the starting point of thunder road at the 6th street bridge to the turnaround mark of the 1st street bridge, the films first unit shot in the l. Thunder road is a 2018 american comedydrama microbudget film directed, written by, and starring jim cummings, based on his 2016 short film of the same. He has to battle bigcity gangsters who are trying to take over the business and the police who are trying to put him in prison. I wish i could remember that mans name he told me it was the prettiest car he ever seen back then and. Filming locations 1 filming dates 1 production dates 1 filming locations.
He still lived in ashvolle where they filmed the movie. Apr 15, 2010 thunder road 1958 has one of the most interesting backstories of all the films robert mitchum made in his long career as an actor. However, some of the scenes take place in memphis, tn. Thunder road, movie, 1958 internet movie cars database. Oscars best picture winners best picture winners golden globes emmys san diego comiccon new york comiccon sundance film festival toronto intl film festival awards central festival central all events. It had pretty violent car chase scenes running through roadblocks in hoppedup chevys. Tail of the dragon movies tail of the dragon at deals gap. Thunder road is a black and white 1958 dramacrime film directed by arthur ripley and starring robert mitchum, who also produced the film and cowrote the. Thunder road 1958 has one of the most interesting backstories of all the films robert mitchum made in his long career as an actor.
Its not as dramatic as perhaps the one for out of the past 1947 which starts with a plane crash, but its still full of juicy bits of. Oct 12, 2018 cummings is an austin filmmaker, and the best parts of thunder road have that lowkey, characterdriven energy that defined the early films of one of the kings of austin, richard linklater. Thunder road full length movie squarebirds, rocketbirds. It was directed by arthur ripley and starred robert mitchum, who also produced the film, cowrote the screenplay, and is rumored to have directed much of the film himself. Its been said that thunder road is the film that started serious car stunts in movies. As i child, my father regaled me with tales of the 1958 movie thunder road, which was filmed in asheville and other locations across western north carolina. The ballad of thunder road, a 1957 song cowritten and performed by robert mitchum for the 1958 film thunder road song, a 1975 song by bruce springsteen thunder road, a 1980s canadian band led by david thompson thunder road, a 2001 song by judas priest from point of entry.