Clint Eastwood is riveting as a tough cop that’s basically still Dirty Harry. Director Clint Eastwood’s action crime thriller The Gauntlet (1977) is very cool and surprisingly funny! Eastwood’s direction delivers sharp gunslinging and amusing character interactions. It’s almost a humorous take on Bonnie & Clyde, but with a cop and witness. I thought of Easy Rider as an influence as well with the desert motorcycle rides. The thought occurred to me that Clint Eastwood would have nailed Peter Fonda’s role in Easy Rider. I love how small scale The Gauntlet feels as we follow Clint Eastwood’s brutal cop and Sondra Locke’s smart talking hooker the entire time. We get wild car chases and some killer shootouts. The police endlessly shooting the witness’ house is hilarious as Eastwood’s face looks shocked. Writers Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack came up with hilarious modern lines for Clint to gruffly grunt out. The Gauntlet boasts a strong script. It feels fresh with toxic macho men getting taken down a notch by a strong-willed woman. I like the story about a mob witness getting transported by a rough alcoholic cop. The potential corrupt police setting the cops and the furious mob on them is very neat. There’s high tension and suspense alongside the action and humor. Clint gets increasingly mad and it’s so funny. Sondra Locke is hysterical as the fast talking prostitute and mob witness. Her insults to Eastwood are a scream! Editors Joel Cox and Ferris Webster cut sharply for a super brisk pace. The Gauntlet is also a tight 109 minutes. Cinematographer Rexford L. Metz’s wide shots use tons of cool shadows and striking framing. The medium and close-up shots look quite beautiful. Norman Glasser’s lighting is fabulous and gets creative with how he highlights the shadows against faces. Clint Eastwood is a riot as the back talking and grumpy Detective Ben Shockley, who is an alcoholic cop that becomes a patsy in a mob trial, since he has to take the witness to court. Eastwood’s performance is funny in his shocked reactions to Locke’s wise cracking as well as his bitter insults. He’s really entertaining and surprisingly comedic. He’s also super cool in the shootouts and threatening people with his gun. Eastwood rarely has looked cooler than the motorcycle ride during the helicopter chase. Sondra Locke is fabulous in an outstanding dramatic role for her as hooker Augustina Mally, who goes by Gus Mally. Locke effortlessly argues with Eastwood and counters his logic with a fierce acting performance. The Gauntlet is easily some of her greatest film acting. Pat Hingle’s clueless cop Detective Maynard Josephson is fun during his charming little conversations with Eastwood. William Prince is excellent as the sinister Police Commissioner Edgar A. Blakelock. Bill McKinney’s cameo as the foolish, sleazy Constable ranges from hysterical to chilling. Carole Cook’s cameo as The Waitress who complains about airplanes is so great. Jeff Morris’ amiable Desk Sergeant and Doug McGrath’s incredulous Bookie are solid additions too. Composer Jerry Fielding’s film score is ominous jazz with a lively atmosphere. Sound designers Les Fresholtz, Michael Minkler, and Keith Stafford provide loud echoing gunshots for the plethora of bullets shots during The Gauntlet. Makeup artist Don Schoenfeld makes Sonda Locke look quite pretty and natural. I kept thinking she looks like Judy Greer here. Hairstylist Lorraine Roberson’s flowing hairstyle for Locke looks amazing. In short, The Gauntlet is hilarious and exciting with two fantastic lead acting performances from Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke.

Good movie with flaws. It was good the cops didn't shoot for the bus's tyres or the film would have finished earlier.

Funny, Exciting, As old school cop, Eastwood is set up to fail when he escorts mob witness to trial. Loaded with smart trashy dialogue, and thousands of rounds of ammo fired,

The idea behind this movie moved me a lot, but it was a movie with really satisfying expectations

Apart from Sondra Locke, well worth watching

ok, fans will have fun.

I remember watching this movie at a Phoenix drive-in and thinking, "That wasn't very good," although it was nice to see my town on the big screen. Seeing it again 46 years later didn't change my mind.

This sixth directorial from Clint Eastwood definitely amps things up in terms of the set-pieces and stunts. From a screenwriting and character standpoint, however, there's a whole lot left to be desired. This feels like a pantomimed version of what Eastwood detractors think all his movies are really like, with Eastwood as the distant, lumbering blunt instrument and Sondra Locke as the mouthy, ultimately incapable love interest. Any chances of chemistry between these two leads is kneecapped from the start, with their largely transactional — even coincidental — relationship making the ill-advised heel turn towards the romantic about two-thirds of the way through. It's just all so hokey and contrived. Even the overall conspiracy behind everything is telegraphed far too early on for the audience. Again, the action is to be noted, but beyond that, I can't say this is anywhere near the actor/director's best. Not even close really.

Certainly not the best Eastwood film, but a middling one in which he directs and stars as a cop who is the opposite of his badass Dirty Harry character. Still, even the more humble cop gets the job done and there is some fun to be had here in bouts. Just compared to his many master works and iconic roles, this one isn't in the same orbit.

Almost loved it. The opening chunk of 'The Gauntlet' is promising, I liked what I was seeing and what was being crafted together. It never quite reaches the heights I thought it might have, though that doesn't stop the fact that this 1977 film is still very good. Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke team up yet again, as seen in many other productions from around this era. Of the five I've currently seen with those two, this is the most I've enjoyed them as a pair - especially Locke. Pat Hingle and William Prince are the most noteworthy of the rest. I found the two leads to be entertaining and the plot to be strong fun, there are a lot of neat practical set pieces used which are pleasing. As for things that stopped me from loving this release, one would be the ending - which is good, but could've perhaps been greater - and the villains - who are a little meh, character-wise anyway. All in all, a film that is very much worth watching in my opinion.

The 70's...a time when movie cops could empty hundreds of rounds of ammunition into cars without even worrying about being charged with a crime. The 70's where also a time when Clint Eastwood was in love with Sandra Locke and put her in way to many movies. The times they have changed over the past 40+ years. This isn't a terrible Eastwood film, but it also isn't a great Eastwood film. It has a few laughs, but don't expect much from this average movie.

Love Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke together, but even they can't save this mediocre film.

The Gauntlet, the movie's got a weird plot, some decent acting but there's not enough fight scenes throughout which honestly takes you out of this film and it's the same with the plot. Overall, it's not an amazing movie which Clint Eastwood has directed and also starred in but more of it being a let down to what Clint's previously been in.

I've seen most of Clint Eastwood's films, and this is the worst. It could have been a very good movie, because the premise and story are solid and believable, and most of the film was pleasing. It was ruined by a few terrible choices, notably the inexplicably cartoonish scenes of police shooting up a house and a bus.

Not sure where people are getting a comedy vibe from this. It's a typical, unremarkable, over-the-top action flick that defies reality and contributes nothing to the genre.Still a decent watch for Eastwood fans.

Great flick . Sondra Locke is outstanding. A hard but mediocre cop is assigned to escort a prostitute into custody from Las Vegas to Phoenix, so that she can testify in a mob trial. But a lot of people are literally betting that they won't make it into town alive. Great flick . Sondra Locke is outstanding and Clint is not at his best but the film is a choatic road trip justice that is just one hell of a ride . One of my favorite pairing of Sondra & Eastwood .

Ben Shockley (Clint Eastwood), an alcoholic cop from Phoenix, is given the task to escort witness Gus Mally (Sondra Locke) from Las Vegas. His superior, Commissioner Blakelock (William Prince), says she is a "nothing witness" for a "nothing trial." Mally protests that they are both set up to be killed in a hit, which a jaded Shockley doubts. Mally reveals herself to be a belligerent prostitute with mob ties and is in possession of incriminating information concerning a high figure in society. Her suspicions are confirmed when the transport vehicle is bombed and Mally's house is fired upon. Shockley and Mally are then pursued across the open country with no official assistance and with the police force regarding them as fugitives. They kidnap a local constable, who they then let go, as Mally knows there will be another hit. The constable is killed at the hands of several men armed with machine guns. They eventually run into a gang of bikers whom Shockley threatens with his revolver, then confiscates one of their motorcycles and takes off on it with Mally. It is revealed that Blakelock wants them dead, because Mally understands about Blakelock's secret life. Assistant District Attorney Feyderspiel is involved with the plot to kill Shockley and Mally. They are also blamed for the murder of the constable. Shockley needs to get Mally safe and sound to the trial, no matter what it takes for them to stay alive... Although a hit with the public, the critics were mixed about the film. Judith Crist of the New York Post wrote that the film was "a mindless compendium of stale plot and stereotyped characters varnished with foul language and garnished with violence". Roger Ebert, on the other hand, gave it three stars and called it "...classic Clint Eastwood: fast, furious, and funny". David Ansen of Newsweek wrote, "You don't believe a minute of it, but at the end of the quest, it's hard not to chuckle and cheer". This 1977 action thriller directed and starring Clint Eastwood is ok, but yet a bit different in some ways for being a Clint Eastwood film. There´s nothing unique storyline wise in terms of the main character being set up by people above him, but the journey itself from the beginning till the end is a bit "unique". The film is on the other hand a classic entertaining Eastwood film, but the fact remains that the story is a bit absurd, over-the-top in many scenes, not that much in touch with reality and has one or two holes in it. Clint is a bit on autopilot while Locke adds energy and dynamics to her ferocious character. And I do like the setting in Phoenix. Not amongst Eastwood best, but still ok. Trivia: Written by Dennis Shryack and Michal Butler, the film was originally set to star Marlon Brando and Barbra Streisand; Brando subsequently withdrew, replaced by Steve McQueen. However, differences between Streisand and McQueen ultimately led to their joint departure in favor of Eastwood and Locke. The Gauntlet was filmed in Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada, as well as in nearby deserts in both states. For the house scene, it was built at a cost of $250,000 and included 7,000 drilled holes that would include explosive squibs for its demolition. The helicopter chase scene included a helicopter that was built without an engine for the crash sequence. To simulate the gunshots from the gauntlet of officers at the end of the film, the bus was blasted with 8,000 squibs. From the total budget of $5.5 million, $1 million was spent on the various action sequences. Frank Frazetta painted the super-stylized promotional billboard poster for the film. The poster features a "muscled colossus Eastwood, brandishing a pistol, and scantily clad Locke, her clothes teasingly shredded, clinging onto her hero". According to a Warner Bros. executive at the time, when the movie was shown in test screenings and it reached the climax, most of the audience shouted out "Shoot at the bus tires, you idiots!"

Eastwood always has great chemistry with his co-stars and knows how to make the most out of a low-budget

he Gauntlet" isn't one of Clint Eastwood's better films, but it's still watchable. While he's supposed to be playing a weaker character than normal, an alcoholic cop who's not thought capable of much, he still seems able to take charge and set things straight. The twist on this movie is extreme violence (although it seems pretty tame today) and shooting things full of holes. Lots of holes. To say much more would give away the plot, but before you dismiss the final scenes as unbelievable, there was a mental patient in LA six or seven years ago who did just what Clint Eastwood did, and ran amok for over five hours because the police were powerless to stop him. Maybe he'd seen "The Gauntlet" too many times.

One of the dumbest movies of all time. Not a single believable scene in the whole thing.