George C. Scott was a man in total command of his screen presence and always a pleasure to watch. So that is how I took a chance on "Rage." I know some people have defended this film as kind of brave for not following the typical logic of a Hollywood suspense / revenge potboiler, but I don't see it that way. From the bucolic opening to the final tragic airlifting of the corpse, there is hardly a moment of effective story development. I didn't time the first act but someone else here timed it out to around 50 minutes. Given the running time of the film, that is entirely too much time for farmer Logan to finally figure out what has happened and move into act two. One might write this whole thing off as a reflection of the distrust of government in the Vietnam era but if that is the point, then for goodness sake, at least let the protagonist do more than kill a security guard and two cops responding to the scene. The air base that is a chemical weapons testing facility has basically no real security at the gate. What the hell? The military people are introduced and then you barely see them. His family doctor told him that he was going to die but you only learn this in exposition... What? You have Richard Basehart and George C. Scott and you don't shoot the scene? What the heck? This is an unfunny version of that Ed Wood film where Legosi died during filming and Wood had to fill the blanks. I am guessing that they ran out of money while shooting and patched together the thing. If this is really what the screenplay called for, then how the hell did it get the green light? Even Lalo Schiffrin's score is off. The folksy Americana opening is followed by endless dreary intensity only to reprise the folksy bit at the end, despite the actual outcome of the plot. I suppose you could say that the theme of government's tendency to cover up its misdeeds lends merit to the film, but if that is the theme, then really give a full kick-the-audience-in-the-pants treatment of the theme. Some reviewers have called this film low intensity. Not in my book. Poorly written and/or directed is more like it.

Outstanding film with George C. Scott, in a change of pace, not only directing, but starring as the victim here when the army and others try to cover up an accidental valve leakage that emitted nerve gas killing his son, sheep and putting Scott in a terminal situation himself.The hospital takes part in the cover up by not telling him right away that his son has died. He is hospitalized for testing and not told of his true fate.Being drugged so as to keep him sedated, Scott manages to escape and becomes a one man killing machine as the film goes into revenge mode. Richard Basehart is effective as the family doctor who is told to keep quiet about the true details. A colossal tragic mistake by the army leading to unthinkable tragedy and revenge.

***THIS COMMENT MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*** Maybe its me but there was something about this film that worked on my nerves like a tongue on a rotten tooth. It's based on a true incident in Utah in which an Army truck dropped a cannister filled with nerve gas and a butt-load of sheep bought the proverbial farm. But if the wind had happened to be blowing in the direction of Salt Lake City that day... George C. Scott (wearing what looks distractingly like fake eyebrows) directed and stars in this fictionalized account of a farmer and his young son who are accidentally poisoned with nerve gas by the Army. Perhaps its my own experiences at the hands of prison doctors that makes the many scenes of bloodless technocrats abstractly speaking about the opportunity to study nerve gas symptoms and blithely LYING with their every breath so quietly, eerily effective. After being lied to in the worst possible way by all responsible, George C. Scott's doomed farmer wreaks some almost Rambo-like revenge! I had heard about this movie for years and always wondered just what sort of havoc Mr Scott would wreak went he went into his RAGE... It was quite something to see him shooting security guards in the face and generally going postal. One can certainly understand where he is coming from. A film like this would never be made today, especially with a major movie star both directing and starring. George C Scott knows how to handle actors--this is probably one of Richard Baseheart's best performances--full of great conflicted emotions and heavy themes to wrestle with--and what a voice that man had! I think that one of the strengths of the story is the semi-documentary feel to the events. There is no giant conspiracy, just an average army-style Cover-Your-Ass situation, with those responsible already well insulated by their positions of power. The revenge enacted by Scott's character is as understandable as it is ultimately ineffective, a message nicely telegraphed by the final image, which I won't divulge here. Suffice it to say, this is one of those strange cinematic oddities from the 70's that has become, unfortunately, once again relevant. After all... if the wind had happened to be blowing towards Salt Lake City that day...

Outstanding action. Ruthless vengeance on an uncaring military bureaucracy bent on covering the truth to protect themselves. This came out during the discovery of the Watergate cover-up.It was a timely tale of righteousness. Well acted,taut paced. One of the few times made for tv is not an excuse.