← Back to Home
93 min 1971 IMDb 8.5

Share this Movie

Powderkeg

Action, Adventure, Western

πŸ† Fan Favorite
🎬 Critics Choice Nominee
Director Douglas Hayes
Status Released
Release Date 1971-04-16

Storyline

A Mexican bandit is about to be executed in the United States, so his brother takes over a train and holds the passengers as hostages unless his brother is released. Now both the Americans and Mexicans are baffled as to what to do. One of the passengers β€” who wrote the letter for their captor β€” has a suggestion: call mercenaries Hank Brackett and Johnny Reech. They do, and as expected they do come up with a plan, but the president of the railroad is not sure if it will work.

"Their gun and guts for hire... and a blank check is their price"

Streaming Now

No direct streaming options found.

Search Google

Community Reviews

No community reviews yet.

Reviews from the Web

Wuchak β˜… 8.0

"Unique train-oriented Western with Rod Taylor and several notables of the era RELEASED IN 1971 and written & directed by Douglas Heyes, "Powderkeg" chronicles events in 1914 when Mexican renegades led by Chucho Morales (Fernando Lamas) hijack a train for leverage to get his brother out of jail in New Mexico (Michael Ansara). Two adventurer-mercenaries (Rod Taylor and Dennis Cole) are enlisted to rescue the 73 passengers and take care of the banditos. While this was a TV movie, it’s pretty much as good as many theatrical Westerns of the late 60s/early 70s. The two stars, Taylor and Cole, have great chemistry and the tone is snappy with a distinctive story and a couple of unexpected twists. Luscious Luciana Paluzzi is on hand (playing a role in one of the surprises) along with Tisha Sterling and Melodie Johnson in the female department. Reviewers have overstated the action/thrills, but no worries because the drama is interesting. β€œPowderkeg” was the pilot for the short-lived Bearcats TV series in β€˜71, which consisted of this film and 13 episodes. THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour 33 minutes and was shot at Old Tucson, Arizona, and surrounding areas. GRADE: B+/A-"

Read full review β†’

Recommended