Distant Thunder

1988
R
1h 54m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

John Lithgow and Ralph Macchio in Distant Thunder (1988)

John Lithgow stars and Ralph Macchio co-stars as his son. Their uneasy reunion accidentally sparks war-haunted violence, and they share a harrowing fight for survival that will either destro... Read allJohn Lithgow stars and Ralph Macchio co-stars as his son. Their uneasy reunion accidentally sparks war-haunted violence, and they share a harrowing fight for survival that will either destroy them or unify them forever.John Lithgow stars and Ralph Macchio co-stars as his son. Their uneasy reunion accidentally sparks war-haunted violence, and they share a harrowing fight for survival that will either destroy them or unify them forever.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.7/10

849

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
John Lithgow's character (Mark Lambert) was a Navy SEAL during his service in Vietnam.

Goofs
The 1966 Pontiac used in the film is not a real GTO. The taillights are single pod lenses making this either a Tempest or LeMans - a real GTO has segmented taillights which spans the rear header panel with a 12 inch blank center section. Also, a real GTO has the grille emblem in the driver side grille opening (same with the final 2004-06 generation) - the emblem is on the passenger side grille (the final muscle-era GTO produced for the 1974 model year has a vinyl graphic GTO logo placed on the passenger-side header panel).

Quotes
Jack Lambert: My father wants to see me. He sure took his sweet ass-time about it.

Connections
Referenced in Last Action Hero (1993)

Soundtracks
Bad Moon Rising
Written by John Fogerty (as John C. Fogerty)
Performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Courtesy of Fantasy, Inc.

User reviews12

Review

Featured review

6/10

Crazy Vietnam Vets 101 - Distant Thunder

Most of the Vietnam Vets I know are not crazy; however, that would not be good marketing for Hollywood films if they were normally portrayed as being.......normal. This film is entertaining (which is what movies are supposed to do), but it is not very enlightening for those who want to understand Vietnam Vets better. Vietnam Vets are just like any other people. They are like WW 2 vets, Korean War vets, Iraq War vets and Afghanistan War vets. We are all the same. We have wives and girlfriends, sons and daughters, functional families and dysfunctional families, have bills, educations, jobs, and go on with our lives, just like all the other Vets did. Lithgow does a very nice job, and Macchio makes a very nice Valedictorian, but the vast majority of Vietnam vets and their families are not like that. They have the same problems everyone else has; money, jobs, family relations and diet. Those things are just not exciting enough for Hollywood, so they make these kind of films to exploit the Vietnam Vet stereotype. Too bad. It might be interesting some time to see the life of a normal Vietnam vet portrayed on a Hollywood screen sometime..