Thunderbolt's Tracks

Returning from the harrowing trenches of the Great War, two Marines swap the mud of Europe for the dust of New Mexico. Their mission is one of loyalty: visiting the kin of a fallen brother-in-arms. However, the peace they seek is a mirage. Upon arrival, they discover the family's ranch is being strangled by a local land baron who has choked off the vital water supply, turning a hopeful inheritance into a barren grave. Rather than a standard shootout, the conflict escalates into a bizarre legal and physical gambit. The local Marshal, perhaps weary of bloodshed or simply seeking spectacle, decrees that the rights to the water will be decided not in a court of law, but in the squared circle of a boxing ring. It is a transition from military combat to the brutal, rhythmic violence of the prize fight, where the survival of a family legacy rests on the knuckles of a soldier who thought his fighting days were over.