Clint Eastwood is appropriately flinty as Ben Shockley, an Arizona cop sent to safely extradite prisoner "Gus" Malley (Sondra Locke). She's to testify in a police-corruption trial, a fact that has made her the target of certain high-ranking cops. Once his superior Josephson (Pat Hingle) is killed, Eastwood is completely on his own. Set up for extermination himself by crooked police official Blakelock (William Prince), Ben is compelled to lead Gus through an unbelievable police gauntlet, protected only by an armor-plated bus and his wits. Contrary to the film's ad campaign, Sondra Locke does have some clothes on during the climactic shoot-out. Stretching credibility to the breaking point--actually that point breaks wide open halfway through--The Gauntlet is redeemed by director Eastwood's usual uncanny sense of pacing, timing and energy.
