THIS MOVIE IS SO STUPID!

Och its crap but its enjoyable crap lol

Perhaps, but it has the GREATEST movie poster of all time! Frank Frazetta, who most famously painted the iconic Conan the Barbarian posters, is just SO great!

The movie is quasi-believable like the Dirty Harry pictures, but only to a point; there's so much (intentionally) exaggerated violence it becomes amusing, like the police shooting up a house until it literally collapses. There are also plot holes if you look too closely or logically. For instance, when the Arizona squad goes to the Nevada border to intercept Shockley & Mally in the police car they just blow it to smithereens and depart without even checking to see if the intended targets were in the vehicle (and not someone else) and if they're dead. Thankfully, the movie's so compelling and fun that you simply overlook plot holes and take amusement in the joyous preposterousness of it all.

The pacing is great. While the first ten minutes is uneventful drama, introducing us to the characters and basic plot, the next fifteen minutes go into overdrive with one thrilling action scene after another. This keeps up for over an hour of the runtime before taking a breather in preparation for the final act. The riveting action sequences include wild car chases, assassination attempts, spending the night in the desert, an encounter with an outlaw bike gang, a fight on a moving freight train, a chase where their (stolen) motorcycle is pursued by a marksman in a helicopter. And then there's Shockley's final stubborn charge into Phoenix on a bus while hundreds of cops blow holes into the vehicle.

"The Gauntlet" is a movie that appeals to the teenager in us all. It's hip, raunchy, ultra-violent, cool, absurd and just so darn entertaining from beginning to end. You'll also see some depth that you wouldn't think would be there if you look closely. The two protagonists, for instance, are unlikable trash, but that doesn't mean they're irredeemable. Moreover, love conquers all.

It should be evaluated for what it is (and not what it isn't) -- an outrageous cop thriller with comic book violence. On that entertaining level, it's a great movie.

NO

but look at that poster.