Thunder Run is a 1986 action-thriller by The Cannon Group, directed by Gary Hudson and starring Forrest Tucker in one of his last film roles before his death on October 25, 1986.
Charlie Morrison (Tucker) is a Korean War veteran and retired truck driver, who now runs an old cobalt mine in Nevada with his wife Maggie (Marilyn O'Connor), and his grandson Chris (John Shepherd), whom they have been raising since the death of their daughter. However, the mine isn't doing very well in business. Meanwhile, a group of terrorists are constantly trying to steal plutonium being transported to a high-security research operation in Arizona. George Adams (John Ireland), an old war buddy of Charlie and now a government agent, offers Charlie $250,000 to transport the plutonium, offering him $50,000 in advance. For the run, Charlie buys a semi-truck and customs it with the help of Chris, his friend Paul (Wallace Langham) and their girlfriends Kim (Jill Whitlow) and Jilly (Cheryl M. Lynn).
The movie provides examples of:
- Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better: After Charlie jumps over a freight train, the goon chasing him in the Baja Bug chasing him screams out:Bard: Ooh, I don't believe it! If you can do it, I can do it too, sucka! I can fly!
- Big Badass Rig: Charlie's truck is a modified 1975 Kenworth W-900A carrying anti-personnel mines, flamethrowers and other methods to prevent hijackers from getting near. It’s also very heavily armored, with the tires alone withstanding direct hits from missiles.
- Laser Hallway: Before Charlie leaves to make the delivery, George warns him that at the end of the road, when he arrives at the military facility, he will have to drive through a tunnel armed with lasers, but promises to switch them off in advance, which can be done from the base's computer. He fails to do it, though. Luckily, in advance, Charlie requested Paul to hijack into the base's computer and steal the secret code, so he can control the lasers remotely. At the end, George mentions: "Sorry about the laser tunnel."
- Little Stowaway: Not exactly "little", but Chris really wants to tag along with Charlie. He does it by sneaking into the truck. He convinces Charlie that he needs him, because he can help him use the CB and eat Maggie’s apple pie while he’s driving.
- Mandatory Unretirement: Charlie. Having retired from trucking, he is lured out of retirement by his war buddy George from more than 30 years ago.
- Ramp Jump: While being chased by one of the terrorists in a Baja Bug, Charlie encounters a stopped freight train. He accelerates and jumps over the train. In an 18-wheeler.
- Weaponized Car: Charlie's 18-wheeler; and two Baja Bugs armed with missiles, driven by terrorists attacking him.
- You Leave Them Alone: When an investor visits Charlie's mine and gropes Kim and Jilly, Paul, who was at the time working the bulldozer and witnessed it, retaliates by dumping a bulldozer shovel full of dirt in his convertible, and then crushing it when he fails to find the brakes.
