The Gauntlet

Name: The Gauntlet
Genre: Action, Thriller, Crime
Released: December 21, 1977
Duration: 109 min
Rating: 59
Cast: Bill McKinney, Carole Cook, Clint Eastwood, Doug McGrath, Jeff Morris

1977

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Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Ratings

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7.5

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7.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Ratings

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The Gauntlet

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Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. | Release Date: December 21, 1977 | R

Starring: Bill McKinney, Carole Cook, Clint Eastwood, Doug McGrath, Jeff Morris, Mara Corday, Michael Cavanaugh, Pat Hingle, Sondra Locke, William Prince

Summary: 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.

Director: Clint Eastwood

Genre(s): Action, Thriller, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 109 min

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Critic Reviews

Roger Ebert

The Gauntlet is classic Clint Eastwood: fast, furious, and funny. It tells a cheerfully preposterous story with great energy and a lot of style, and nobody seems more at home in this sort of action movie than Eastwood. Read full review

David Ansen

For all its violence - the movie has an almost fetishistic fascination with the destructive power of gunfire - the mayhem in The Gauntlet is as harmless as a comic book. You don't believe a minute of it, but at the end of the quest, it's hard not to chuckle and cheer. [02 Jan 1978, p.59]

Staff (Not Credited)

The well paced script is an effective mixture of worldliness and naïveté: despite the couple's graphic sparring scenes, in which Eastwood more than meets his match, their relationship remains curiously innocent; a kind of fugitive romanticism pervades. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

In a major role reversal, Clint Eastwood stars in The Gauntlet as a person who might be on the receiving end of the violence epitomized in his famed Dirty Harry film series. Read full review

Vincent Canby

It is a movie without a single thought in its head, but its action sequences are so ferociously staged that it's impossible not to pay attention most of the time. Read full review

Pauline Kael

You look at the screen even though there's nothing to occupy your mind--the way you sometimes sit in front of the TV, numbly, because you can't rouse yourself for the effort it takes to go to bed.

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

The violence is bloody, nonstop, and as pointless as the script. Read full review

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User Reviews

ottO54

Feb 13, 2022

Great movie from and with Clint the Great. It has all it needs: Action, story and of course Sondra Locke

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r96sk

Jan 28, 2022

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 SondraAlmost 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.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Robwinz

Jul 31, 2020

The Gauntlet, the movie's got a weird plot, some decent acting but there's not enough fight scenes throughout this movie, which honestly takes you out 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 itThe Gauntlet, the movie's got a weird plot, some decent acting but there's not enough fight scenes throughout this movie, which honestly takes you out 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.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Compi24

Apr 11, 2023

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 moviesThis 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.… Expand

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