Bavaria Film
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Twilight's Last Gleaming
We have invaded Silo 3. We are prepared to launch nine nuclear missiles. We demand ten million dollars, Air Force One... and you, Mr President.
A renegade USAF general, Lawrence Dell, escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo near Montana and threatens to provoke World War 3 unless the President reveals details of a secret meeting held just after the start of the Vietnam War between Dell and the then President's most trusted advisors.
- Original title
- Twilight's Last Gleaming
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- —
- Revenue
- —
CinemaSerf
Jun 4, 2023 · via TMDB
40-odd years on, and this still has a certain resonance about it even now. Burt Lancaster in a disgraced US Air Force General who, along with two colleagues, escapes from jail and takes control of an active nuclear missile silo with 9 deadly missiles at his disposal. Richard Widmark, his former commanding officer is now on the opposing side as they play a cleverly constructed, well paced and genuinely quite menacing game of cat and mouse. The plot thickens significantly when the President (Charles Durning) learns that aside from the usual money and aeroplane demands from their antagonists, there is a requirement from him to make a statement condemning the brutality of war in South East Asia; a secret document stating the facts of which, horrify this decent, honourable fellow. The story is compelling and the three principals generate a considerable degree of tension for much of the film. Unfortunately it really does run out of steam after about 100 minutes, as the moralising and frankly rather depressing politics kick in taking the story down a big road marked "preposterous" to a really disappointing - indeed, implausible, conclusion that undoes quite a bit of the earlier quality of this Robert Aldrich film. It is certainly worth watching though - I suppose it could happen!!
John Chard
Mar 22, 2020 · via TMDB
Gentlemen, we are now a superpower. Twilight's Last Gleaming is directed by Robert Aldrich and collectively written by Ronald M. Cohen, Edward Huebsch and Walter Wager (novel "Viper Three"). It stars Burt Lancaster, Burt Young, Richard Widmark, Roscoe Lee Browne, Joseph Cotten, Charles Durning, Melvyn Douglas, Richard Jaeckel and William Marshall. Music is by Jerry Goldsmith and cinematography by Robert B. Hauser. A renegade USAF general, Lawrence Dell (Lancaster), escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo near Montana and threatens to provoke World War 3 unless the President reveals details of what the Vietnam War was really all about... Twilight's Last Gleaming is the sort of tight gripping politico thriller that we could do with more of these days. Aldrich, a damn fine director of ensemble casts, slips on his angry hat and gets subversive as he implores the U.S. Presidency of the 70s to make do on the promise of an open armed government. At over two hours and twenty minutes in length, Aldrich asks his audience to buy into every single sentence being spoken. With so many characters involved in the story, we are treated to a number of split screen scenarios, this is where we can follow what is being said in the various key areas of the plot at the same time - and it's high quality. The pace never sags, and as the president (Durning) and his advisors sweat on Dell's very real threat, so too do we the audience as the paranoia of the story seeps out from every camera Aldrich uses. Still relevant today, this demands to be seen and evaluated by more like minded film fans. With a cast responding in full to a shrewd director, and a story of great worth that builds to a crushing finale, Twilight's Last Gleaming is well worth your time. 8/10
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Burt Lancaster
Gen. Lawrence Dell
Roscoe Lee Browne
James Forrest
Charles Durning
President David T. Stevens
Joseph Cotten
Arthur Renfrew - Secretary of State
Melvyn Douglas
Zachariah Guthrie
Richard Jaeckel
Capt. Stanford Towne
William Marshall
William Klinger - Attorney General
Gerald S. O'Loughlin
Brig. Gen. O'Rourke
Richard Widmark
Gen. Martin MacKenzie - Commanding General SA
Paul Winfield
Willis Powell
Burt Young
Augie Garvas
Charles Aidman
Bernstein
Leif Erickson
Ralph Whittaker - CIA Director
Charles McGraw
Air Force Gen. Peter Crane
Morgan Paull
First Lt. Louis Cannellis
Simon Scott
Gen. Phil Spencer - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
William Smith
Hoxey
William Hootkins
Sgt. Fitzpatrick
Bill Walker
Willard
David Baxt
Sgt. Willard
Glenn Beck
Lieutenant
John Ratzenberger
Sgt. Kopecki
Shane Rimmer
Col. Franklin
Don Fellows
Gen. Stonesifer
Phil Brown
Rev. Cartwright
Ed Bishop
Maj. Fox
Gary Cockrell
Capt. Jackson
David Healy
Maj. Winters
Robert O'Neil
Briefing Officer
Robert MacLeod
State Trooper Chambers
Lionel Murton
Col. Horn
Garrick Hagon
Alfie/Driver
Rolf Zehetbauer
Production Design
Robert Aldrich
Director
Michael Luciano
Editor
Harry R. Sokal
Production Supervisor
Jerry Goldsmith
Original Music Composer
Gordon Daniel
Sound Editor
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Feb 9, 1977
