Lightning Jack (1994) on Netflix
Lightning Jack Kane, an Australian outlaw, rides the American west with his horse, Mate. When a robbery goes wrong he takes mute Ben Doyle hostage, and Ben asks to join him.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb5.5/107,653 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes6%
Trailer
Plot summary
Lightning Jack is the name the Australian outlaw Jack Kane uses in the American west, where he is farsighted and rides with his horse, Mate. When a robbery leaves him on his own and a newspaper calls him nothing beside other outlaws, he sets out to be noticed, robbing a bank by himself. The job brings him mute Ben Doyle as a hostage. Ben has had enough of being treated without respect because of his disability and his race, and he asks Jack to take him on and teach him the trade. Jack drills him in guns and bank jobs, and the first try on the job leaves Ben with a bullet in his own foot. The saloons they visit between lessons are where Jack makes contact with the showgirl Lana Castel.
Cast
- Kenny Jacobsas South Fork Bank Teller
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Lightning Jack (1994)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Hogan created a company, Lightning Ridge Ltd, which he then floated on the Australian Stock Exchange to help fund the film through investors buying stock, raising funds this way in order to maintain creative control; the company was delisted in 2001.
- Director Simon Wincer says making the film was a logistical nightmare because there were so many other westerns filming on the same locations at the same time, such as Wyatt Earp, Geronimo, City Slickers 2 and Tombstone.
- Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens makes an uncredited cameo appearance in the film as the eye-patched outlaw character "Dutch Spencer", a long way from his day job on the mound.
- The film opened at number 2 in the United States behind Guarding Tess with $5.4 million but went on to gross less than $17 million in the United States and Canada; in Australia it opened at number one over Easter with A$1.8 million, reaching A$6.4 million there and $25 million worldwide.
- Critics put Lightning Jack on their worst-of lists: Michael Mills of The Palm Beach Post named it among his top 18 worst, Glenn Lovell of the San Jose Mercury News and Dan Craft of The Pantagraph gave it dishonorable mentions, and Michael Medved put it in his "2 Worst" on Sneak Previews.
