Distant Thunder is a late 1980s moody-at-points-tense drama focusing on the reunion between father and son. The father played in a wonderful, haunted manner by John Lithgow, is a highly troubled Vietnam vet. And the son, played by Ralph Macchio, a grade A- just graduated & turned eighteen-year-old. It’s one of the lesser-known of Vietnam vet genre films- that certainly doesn’t pander to normal father and son drama tropes, and later on adds in some rather intense action sequences. Here from Imprint is a recent Blu-Ray release of the film, featuring a new scan and commentary track.

Distant Thunder appeared in the year 1988. It was directed by NYC-born Rick Rosenthal- he has only six feature-length credits to his, though fifty-plus TV credits. His feature lengths go the slasher sequel Halloween 2 (1981), gritty and raw teen drama Bad Boys (1983), and the comedy-drama Just a Little Harmless Sex.

The film, like many pictures in the Vietnam vet genre, starts with a flashback to the war itself. We see a team of American soldiers, on nighttime manoeuvres- all of a sudden, they are ambushed- with many getting brutally shot up- with only two of the team survive due to hiding in water, with one of these being the darkly bearded Mark Lambet(Lithgow). We jump forward to the 80s, and  Mark- with a selection of vets are living in ramshackle huts ‘n’ trailers in dense evergreen forests of the US. All of them are troubled to mental distributed by their time in the war, and early on we see Mark trying to stop one of his buddies from committing suicide in front of a freight train that runs through the forest near their camp, he doesn’t succeed.

We then jump to meet our other lead Jack (Macchio) who has just graduated with honours from high school at the other end of the states. And seemingly everything is going well for him, with lots of friends, a kind caring mother, and a great future ahead.

After deciding to leave the forest after his friends death Mark makes his way down through the densely wooded hills and towering stone waterfalls, to the small logging town down below. Here he befriends Char (Kerrie Keane)- she works in the logging company offices, and lost her own father in the war. She gets Mark a job with her company, as well as conceiving him to write to his son- who he hasn’t seen since he was a baby in arms. Receiving his father’s letter, Jack heads out the meet him- but just before he arrives Mark gets tangled up in a barroom brawl with Moss (Jamey Sheridan)- who is a bully, and Char’s intended. Jack and Char head into the woods to find Mark- with things not going as smoothly/ predictable as the set-up may/ normally suggest.

Lithgow is perfect in the role as the haunted vet, who has moments of jarringly unpredictable swings into violence. Macchio, though he looks nothing remotely like Lithgow, is good as his bright and curious son. Supporting cast wise both Keane as the caring office worker, and Sheridan as her uncaring/ jealous boyfriend. As you’d expect with a largely forest set film- the location is used to great effect, with rain-lashed evergreens, misty stretches of bracken, and the tumble-down buildings where Mark and Vet buddies live.

The film comes in at just under the two-hour mark- and for the most part, doesn’t overstay its welcome. The only slight criticism (aside from how unlike Lithgow and Macchio look as father & son) is the soundtrack which sounds rather dated, and decidedly twee at points with its use of synthetic orchestration/ vibe tones- with one of the key moments of ineffectiveness occurring after we get a rather dramatic and tense resolve to the film. Though that said we do get some points where the score is pared back to more brooding/moody drones, which work well.  So for the most part Distant Thunder is a distinctive take on the Vietnam vet genre- with the whole being well acted, moodily filmed, and well realized.

Moving onto this new Blu-Ray- and we get a HD print of the film- this looks very good, with clear and crisp balance of tones & colours.  On the extras side we get a commentary track from author David J. Moore. This starts off a little slow and shaky, but as it goes on, we get a rewarding track.  He comments on the location of the first shoot out, and how some of the action is quite brutal. He talks about how this was a very different role for Lithgow, and how he met vets to help with role- with the bracken-carrying scene being influenced by one of the vets. We find out how the train suicide was created, and how it had to be cut back as it looked to real. He discusses how the director got the job helming the film, and his other feature-length films. We find out Ralph Macchio was 26, when the film was made- in between the filming of The Karate Kid 2 &3.  Later on, he comments on the well-choreographed and set-up bar fright scene. He gives bios on supporting actors, and other worthwhile films they appeared in. We found out that the film was released on veterans’ day in 1988- with initial prints featuring a controversial quote, which was later removed. Lastly, we get an original trailer.

Distant Thunder is certainly one of the more thoughtful, moody, and quietly impactful films of the 80’s Vietnam vet cycle of films. So, it’s great to see it getting this new blu ray release on the film from Imprint, with a great print & a worthy commentary track.