From “The Searchers” to “Rio Bravo”, John Wayne is known to have played in some of the The biggest westerns of all time. With Clint Eastwood, he is probably the actor who is most synonymous with the genre, and his filmography is strewn with jewels that have resisted the test of time. That said, the Duke has played in many films during his long career, so it is natural that some of them have stolen under the radar. This brings us to “Thunder Riders of the Golden West”, a neo-Western with science fiction elements.
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“Thunder Riders of the Golden West”, which was led by the longtime friend of Wayne, Dave Burleson, was released in the 1980s – years after the Duke’s death in 1979. He tells the story of a group of truckers who are looking for gold on a site where atomic bombs tests take place. Call “Tunder Riders of the Golden West” One of the most underestimated films in Wayne is an understatement, because it is so difficult to find that it is impossible to assess. According to its director, it was the last role on the Duke’s screen, although it was not the last film he shot. As such, the shooting must have taken place before Wayne’s official cinematographic swan song in “The Shootist” from 1976.
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To date, Burleson’s film does not even have its own IMDB or Wikipedia page, not to mention a press release (although it was to be released on DVD in 2009). In that spirit, is there a chance that “Thunder Riders of the Golden West” has ever seen daylight?
The thunder runners of the Golden West seems to be lost
“Thunder Riders of the Golden West” has not yet received the home media press release which was reported for the first time in 2009. According to an article published the same year by GizmodoDave Burleson planned to distribute the DVD by itself at the time of its announcement. However, no details in the place where you could buy it was provided.
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If there are copies of “Thunder Riders of the Golden West” floating, they are very well hidden. In the current state of things, the science fiction western seems to have been lost in the sand of time, intended to remain a cult curiosity until it is discovered and has received an official release.
Wayne did not play in any other science fiction film during her career in his field (although he is part of a first horror western entitled “Phantom Gold”), which makes this project apparently lost even more interesting. If nothing else, “Thunder Riders of the Golden West” would be intriguing to look just to see Wayne operate outside of her usual wheelhouse – even her role was nothing more than a cameo, which was probably due to the independent nature of the project. Hopefully the film was born at some point, but for the moment, we will have to be patient.
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