Verdict
Summary
Thunder Warrior is hugely entertaining, despite the terrible dubbing and numerous flaws. But finally watching the Native Americans getting a one up is pretty awesome.
Plot: A Native American named Thunder returns home only to find that his ancestral burial ground is being destroyed by construction workers. He tries to put a stop to it, but the law is not only not on his side, but he is banished from town, beaten up, and left for dead. Now he wants his revenge…
Review: First of all, I want to say that this movie has the best poster of all time. I don’t know why these old exploitation flicks had such amazing artwork but this is my personal favourite. The hilarious thing is it shows our hero (played by Mark Gregory) with massive biceps but in the movie he’s just a wee fella.
I really enjoyed Thunder Warrior for its sheer wish-fulfillment for the Native Americans. After being pushed too far, (like Rambo) our hero Thunder goes all one man army on the local police force who are as inept as they are racist. I love watching rednecks getting their comeuppance and this movie is pretty satisfying…
When the cops deliberately desecrate the Indian Burial Ground, you know it won’t end well for them. Interestingly though, like the first Rambo, he doesn’t really kill anyone, he’ll injure them and leave them breathing.
As the movie is Italian, it has some truly fantastic dubbing which is so bad it’s ingenious. The best being the old Indian guy who sounds like someone having a laugh.
Story wise it’s almost beat for beat like First Blood and the acting is pretty bad but this is an exploitation flick so we aren’t looking for Oscar fodder, just cheap thrills. Thunder Warrior has plenty, including some decent action, a good pace and surprisingly cool music with a memorable theme tune.
Overall, Thunder Warrior is hugely entertaining, despite the terrible dubbing and numerous flaws. But finally watching the Native Americans getting a one up is pretty awesome.
