''Vigilante Force'' is a 1976 American

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed by

George Armitage George Brendan Armitage (born March 2, 1942) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed the films ''Miami Blues'' (1990) and ''Grosse Pointe Blank'' (1997). He worked frequently with Roger Corman. Life and career Armi ...

and starring

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Nig ...

and

Jan-Michael Vincent Jan-Michael Vincent (July 15, 1944 – February 10, 2019) was an American actor known for portraying helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke in the TV series ''Airwolf'' (1984–1987) and the protagonist, Matt Johnson, in the 1978 film ''Big W ...

. The plot concerns a

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

veteran and his buddies, who are hired by his brother and others in a small California town for protection from rowdy oil-field workers.

Tagline

* ''They called it God's country ... until all hell broke loose.'' * ''They hired themselves a hero ... and bought themselves a world of trouble.''

Plot

A small California town is overrun with unruly and rowdy behavior from oil-field workers. Ben Arnold (

), one of the locals, and the brother of Aaron (

), a

veteran, is hired to assist the police in restoring the peace. Aaron hires

mercenaries A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

trained in combat to help. After controlling the oil field workers, the veterans take over the town for their own not-always-legal purposes. Confrontation between the town police and locals and the mercenaries ends in violence.

Cast

- Aaron Arnold *

- Ben Arnold *

Victoria Principal Vicki Ree Principal (born January 3, 1950),Bernadette Peters Bernadette Peters ( ''née'' Lazzara; born February 28, 1948) is an American actress, singer, and children's book author. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performed in solo co ...

- Little Dee *

Brad Dexter Brad Dexter (born Boris Michel Soso; April 9, 1917 – December 12, 2002) was an American actor and film producer. He is known for tough-guy and western roles, including the 1960 film ''The Magnificent Seven'' (1960), and producing several fil ...

- Mayor Bradford *

Judson Pratt Judson Pratt (December 6, 1916 – February 9, 2002) was an American film, television and theatre actor. He was known for playing Billy Kinkaid in the American western television series ''Union Pacific''. Early life Pratt was born in Hingh ...

- Harry Lee *

David Doyle David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

- Homer Arno *

Antony Carbone Antony Deago Carbone (July 15, 1925 – October 7, 2020) was an American film and television actor. Biography Carbone was born as Antonio Giuseppe Carmelo Carbone in Calabria, Italy on July 15, 1925. His family moved to Syracuse, New York when ...

- Freddie Howe *

Andrew Stevens Herman Andrew Stevens (born June 10, 1955) is an American executive, film producer, director and actor. Early life Stevens was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the only child of actress Stella Stevens and her former husband Noble Herman Stephens. Ca ...

- Paul Sinton *

Shelly Novack Sheldon Lennard "Shelly" Novack (January 10, 1944 – May 27, 1978) was an American college and professional football offensive end, who was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the 15th round (135th pick overall) of the 1966 American Football ...

- D.O. Viner

Production

The film was directed by George Armitage, who says producer

Gene Corman Eugene Harold "Gene" Corman (September 24, 1927 – September 28, 2020) was an American film producer and agent. He and his older brother, Roger, co-founded New World Pictures. Biography Corman entered the film industry before his brother, wo ...

came to him with just the title. Armitage credits the quality of the stunts to Buddy Joe Hooker, stuntman.

That was a 30-day film, but it would be 60 days today because of the stunts and the pyrotechnics. We had Roger George, who was quite a well-known special effects man. It went really well, though we had one little mishap that wasn't really our fault—in the final shootout we blew up a blue van that was parked over an oil pipeline, so after the initial explosion the oil pipeline caught fire.

Armitage says Jan Michael Vincent's character Ben Arnold was named after

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold ( Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defect ...

, Kris Kristofferson's character Aaron was named after

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805. Burr's legacy is defined by his famous personal conflict with Alexand ...

and Judson Prett's Harry Lee was

Lighthorse Harry Lee Henry Lee III (January 29, 1756 – March 25, 1818) was an early American Patriot and U.S. politician who served as the ninth Governor of Virginia and as the Virginia Representative to the United States Congress. Lee's service during the Ameri ...

The entire movie is full of these very slightly coded reference to the Revolutionary War ... lthoughWhat I was really doing there was Vietnam. What would it be like if people took over your town, as we had been doing to the hamlets of Vietnam? What if we brought Vietnam back to America, what would that be like? That's kind of what we were going after, but since the Bicentennial year was coming on and bringing a lot of revisionist history with it, I thought I'd include a little Revolutionary War in the recipe. I've always tried to include something subversive, not hidden from anyone, just for my own interests.

The production designer was

Jack Fisk Jack Fisk (born December 19, 1945) is an American production designer and director. As a production designer, he is known for his collaborations with Terrence Malick, designing all of his first eight films including ''Badlands (film), Badlands'' ...

. "We had absolutely no money, no budget, but Jack did extraordinary things—and

Sissy Spacek Mary Elizabeth Spacek (; born December 25, 1949) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and nominations for four Briti ...

was our assistant art director on that," said Armitage. Armitage says that once Kris Kristofferson agreed to do the film "everybody else followed. Bernadette eterswanted to work with him, Victoria rincipal and Jan-Michael came over ... It was a good shoot, but it was rough. It was 30 days, it was 108 degrees in the Simi Valley, so a lot of it was tough to do. But we worked through it, finished on time and under budget."

Reception

The ''

Timeout Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' review noted that the film was an "awkward combination of cheapo war and cowboy comics ...", but that "Kristofferson ... shuffles through quite convincingly ..." and "...

Bernadette Peters Bernadette Peters ( ''née'' Lazzara; born February 28, 1948) is an American actress, singer, and children's book author. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performed in solo co ...

plays an ill-treated, down-at-heel, after-hours singer with real style." According to ''Contemporary North American Film Directors'', the plot was a not-too-subtle satire on the American way. The studio disliked the film and it was a commercial failure."Contemporary North American Film Directors" (2002), Yoram Allon; Del Cullen; Hannah Patterson, p. 22, Wallflower Press, On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film has a score of 20% based on 5 reviews.

References

External links

*
''New York Times'' listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vigilante Force Films directed by George Armitage 1970s action drama films American action drama films 1976 films United Artists films American vigilante films Films produced by Gene Corman Films scored by Gerald Fried 1976 drama films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films