Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Blistering performances.

I used to catch this quirky product of the 1970s late at night on KTRK, Houston's ABC affiliate. I could never let this little gem go by without trying to catch a little of it and usually couldn't let go of it once I started.Stacy Keach is the more "sophisticated" of the two Dion brothers, simply because he has chosen to sample the world outside their West Virginia coal mining community. He quits his factory job and returns to lure his bumpkin brother (played wonderfully by Waxahachie, Texas native Fredric Forrest) into a scheme to establish a seafood restaurant. The trouble is, the restaurant is to be financed via an armored car robbery with a gang that includes Denny Miller and Richard Romanus. Romanus double crosses the group and the Dion brothers take out after him. Yeah, Margot Kidder shows up but so does stuntman, director, writer & actor Hal Needham in an uncredited role as a guy in a bathtub.

I happened to catch about the last 45 minutes of the movie,late night about 8 years ago. What a wild and funny 45 minutes.I was absolutely knocked out by chase-shoot-out at the end that takes place at night ,inside an old hotel that's being torn down with a wrecking ball....Incredible. I vaguely remember Stacy Keach ,stealing a cop car, faking being a cop and strong arming some winos....Wino to Keach"Hey,why Ya hasslin us?...Keach"It's my job".You're correct. They don't make them like that anymore.Great movie. The golden70's...Hopefully it will see the light of day as a DVD along with other lost treasures...Hickey and Boggs being one such.

I managed to record THE DION BROTHERS, off broadcast TV, (with the commercials), back in the early 80s. I've loaned it to many friends, all of whom agree it's one of the best B "bandit" movies ever made. One day, while walking to my NYC apartment, I saw Stacy Keach shooting a scene for his TV series, Mickey Spilane. We had a moment to chat, and I told him how much I enjoyed THE DION BROS, and considered it a pure classic. He thanked me, and said it was one of the best, and most memorable film experiences of his career. He was very friendly, and sincere, and I was grateful for the few moments he took to chat with a fan. This is one classic that needs to be on DVD.

I try to describe this movie to people or ask them if they've seen it and I always sound like a wombat. I just remember laughing myself wet the last time I saw it, sometime around 1985. I remember Stacey Keach or Frederick Forrest threatening some guy with a live lobster, and I remember the guy in the bathtub more annoyed than scared when they were dipping the plugged-in razor in the water. "I don't even know those guys!!" he wails as they leave. No, they don't make them like this anymore, and it's shameful. I truly think Tarantino might have been inspired by this movie when he and Clooney played the Gecko brothers in "From Dusk Til Dawn', only these brothers were A lot more fun. Pitiful, too, if it is locked away in some vault. It's the kind of movie that would turn up on FLIX at 4AM on a work night. And that's not a BAD thing...