Fighting Mad (1976)

Pretty Good

Just perfect...

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Mountain justice is usually the way to keep what belongs to you. A father and son go home to be at a farm in the mountains of Oklahoma to help out family there. But along the way, he would encounter greedy land developers who to deprive the people there of their homes. They would kill his brother and his wife when a celebrate the homecoming. The development crew with their machines cruelly destroy homes, blast rocks, and send the kind hard-working people out from their native land. Kind of like the Native Americans removed from their land out west in the 1800's. Peter Fonda's character doesn't play around when they attacked his family. This movie is like "Deliverance" meets "Gator Bait" meets "Death Wish". This movie has got a lot of action. It's not a let down. 4 out of 5 stars.

Henry Fonda should have been--appalled, that is--with his counter-culture son playing the hillbilly-vigilante-avenger who goes after the eee-vill mining company in Jonathan Demme's Fighting Mad.Peter Fonda got off to an interesting start with Easy Rider, but it didn't take a lot of acting skill to cruise around on a Harley, stoned out one's gourd, so he wound up doing junk like this for producer Roger Corman.I'm not going to give a synopsis of this thing, lest I start thinking about the time I wasted watching it. I just wanted to warn you 70s action fans out there to steer clear of Fighting Mad the next time Fox Movie Channel shows it. For the life of me, I can't understand why they chop up other movies for broadcast, but they slapped a TV-MA on this one because . . . Hearing a couple "f-bombs" and seeing some boobage so helped advance the story. Don't get me wrong, boobs are just fine and a couple "fungoos" don't offend me. It's the fact that having the love interest of Peter Fonda scold him not to go out there and get hisself dead while airing out her mommy parts after sex isn't worth my time. I must be getting old. In 1976, I would have elbowed my best friend to make sure he was grooving to the boobs on screen, the orangey blood being spilled, and the bad words that the three networks would hack out for broadcast. Now. Now, I look for things like originality, dialogue, depth and breadth of visuals, and intellectual stimulation. You know . . . the stuff you would never find in anything like Fighting Mad.

Jonathan Demmes' third directorial effort for producer Roger Corman is good, solid revenge fare - manipulative, to be sure, but the manipulation is done with skill, and the characters and story are respectably entertaining.It's a story of two opponents, both possessed of an incredible stubbornness and obsessiveness. The good guy is farmer Tom Hunter (Peter Fonda, good as always), usually an easygoing guy but who CAN be pushed too far. He's returned home to his dad Jeff (John Doucette) with his son Dylan (Gino Franco) in tow. The bad guy is arrogant fat cat Pierce Crabtree (Philip Carey), a combination land developer / strip miner who wants to get his greedy mitts on certain properties, including Jeffs'. The fat cat employs various thugs who infuriate Tom with their evil methods; Tom's cheery brother Charlie (Scott Glenn) is just one of the people victimized along the way.As you can see, Demme directs a top notch cast in this heartfelt film. Also appearing is the delectable Lynn Lowry as Toms' girlfriend Lorene. Lowry even does a brief nude scene that's highly appreciated. Noble Willingham plays the mildly crooked senator in league with Crabtree, and Ted Markland the angry local farmer Hal Fraser.One thing is for sure: Demme does a fine job of working on our emotions and getting us to despise the villains and hope they get what's coming to them. The film also stresses the effect that Toms' relentlessness is having on Lorene and Jeff and doesn't portray him in a completely one dimensional manner. And while Crabtree may be an unsubtle villain, not all the supporting characters are stereotypes. Willinghams' senator is really not such a bad guy, and things are kept ambiguous as to whether Sheriff Len Skerritt (Demme regular Harry Northup) is also in Crabtrees' pocket.By the time "Fighting Mad" has reached its climax, we're all primed and ready for the inevitable bloodbath. It's exciting at times, harrowing during the scene of the burning barn, and nicely realized in one major set piece halfway through as Tom commits a night time act of sabotage; it's done as a crane shot. Bruce Langhornes' music, beautiful throughout, is especially effective during this sequence. The cinematography by Michael Watkins likewise impresses.The acting is solid all the way down the line, with Glenn immensely likable in his brief time on screen. All in all, this is good entertainment of its type, and well worth checking out for fans of the director and cast.Eight out of 10.

An evil corporation tries to pressure a bunch of Arkansas farmers and ranchers to sell their land so they can strip-mine it for coal. The fiercely proud and stubborn Hunter family refuse to give in. This leads to a bitter conflict that results in several casualties. Eventually the take-charge no-nonsense Tom Hunter (superbly played by Peter Fonda) exacts a harsh revenge on the villains with the help of his bow and arrow. Capably directed by Jonathan Demme (who also wrote the smart, compact script), with sharp, picturesque cinematography by Michael W. Watkins, a strong and deliciously vivid evocation of the rural south, a wealth of pleasingly quirky incidental details, a flavorsome country score by Bruce Langhorne, likable well-drawn characters, a constant quick pace, and plenty of exciting action, this bang-up little picture really hits the spot. The stellar cast helps matters a whole lot: the ever-lovely Lynn Lowry as Tom's concerned girlfriend Lorene, John Doucette as Tom's feisty, amiable dad Jeff, Philip Carey as slimy mining company tycoon Pierce Crabtree, Scott Glenn as Tom's rugged brother Charlie, Harry Northup as the ineffectual Sheriff Len Skerritt, and Noble Willingham as the crooked Senator Hingle. The lean and lanky Fonda makes for a totally credible and engaging action lead. The climax with Fonda singlehandedly taking on the bad guys is extremely tense and thrilling. A really solid and satisfying unsung sleeper.