Powderkeg (1971)
A Mexican bandit is about to be executed in the United States, so his brother takes over a train and holds the passengers as hostages unless his brother is released. Now both the Americans and Mexicans are baffled as to what to do. One of the passengers — who wrote the letter for their captor — has a suggestion: call mercenaries Hank Brackett and Johnny Reech. They do, and as expected they do come up with a plan, but the president of the railroad is not sure if it will work.
Watch Trailer
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.
Thanks for the memories!
Absolutely brilliant
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Watching Lamas tiptoe up to, but never crossing, the line between acting and overacting is great fun to watch. Taylor, as usual is great as a rough soldier of fortune. This film should be shown to today's network execs to show them how good a TV movie can be...great acting, direction, story, and authentic locations. Too bad "Bearcats!" didn't last longer as a series. A good outdoor based action show with a good cast (and great weekly guest stars) might be a hit today instead of the usual doctor and cop shows. And I love the car...a beautiful 1914 Stutz Bearcat. You car & film buffs out there might be interested in knowing it's the same car John Wayne drove in "Wings of Eagles" and I believe it to be the same one used in the Disney film "Summer Magic" with Haliey Mills and an episode of "Green Acres". It was later owned by a friend of mine and is in a California collection.
Powderkeg! was a movie filmed in 1971 starring the well known actor Rod Taylor, and Dennis Cole as two men living in the southwest just prior to WWl. It based around the premise that the pair had 'cleaned up' a couple of rough towns in self-defense, then other towns had come to them seeking help in doing the same for their communities. They had to get 'mercenary' about this and their fee was a blank check. "If you can put a price on it, you don't need 'em bad enough"! The two are contacted by a railroad magnate after one of his trains is hijacked, his best friend killed, and the friends daughter among the 73 people being held by the Morales gang, former revolutionaries turned bandits and murderers. The leader, Chuchu, (Fernando Lamas) has taken the hostages to be exchanged for his brother, being held in a small town jail after a raid by the gang. The plot then centers around Brackett and Reach (Taylor and Cole) devising a plan to seize the train and free the hostages, which they do cleverly and successfully. The movie served as the pilot for the show Bearcats!, which unfortunately, only lasted one season, mostly due to being up against the Flip Wilson show, well established and carrying high ratings. But for one memorable season, Taylor and Cole thrilled many a young lad and sometimes even the Dads as well, with an unusual, well done show with a very original premise, unlike so much of the drivel that 'graces' TV these days! My thanks to all involved in the show, I will never forget it.
I just saw this movie again, 28 years after I first saw it on television in 1972. I remembered it as being a good movie, but I thought it might be "old" by today's standards. Not so. It has a good script, excellent direction, and fine acting all around. The "good guys" go after a Mexican bandit who has taken a passenger train hostage to insure that his brother isn't hanged in the United States. Good action fare.
Rod Taylor and Dennis Cole attempt to save a train full of passengers held hostage. This is a very intense action film, full of action and even some comedy. This film acted as the pilot for the short lived 1970 series The Bearcats. This film seems to be a kind of 2 man A- Team. Great performances by Taylor, and Fernando Lamas is excellent as the bandit.