Rage is a 1972 American environmental thriller film directed by George C. Scott in his feature directorial debut, and starring Scott, Richard Basehart, Martin Sheen, and Barnard Hughes. The plot, which is inspired by the 1968 Dugway sheep incident, follows a rancher and his family who are fatally exposed to a military lab's poison gas.
The film was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on November 22, 1972. It received mixed reviews.
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Plot
When Wyoming sheep rancher Dan Logan and his son Chris go camping, the boy decides to sleep outside their tent. In the morning, he is unconscious and bleeding from his nose. As Dan gathers his limp body, he notices several of his sheep seem dead with similar bleeding. At a nearby hospital, Dan is bewildered to be subjected to tests by Dr. Holliford. His only concern is his son.
Dan's personal physician, Dr. Caldwell, arrives and is deferential to Drs. Holliford and Spencer, despite several concerns about their treatments. Holliford is a US Army Major who realizes the Logans were accidentally exposed to a deadly, aerially-dispersed nerve gas called MX-3. Because Chris slept in the open air, his exposure was more severe. Holliford estimates Dan has a week to live.
Spencer and Holliford maintain the pretense of treating the Logans while secretly studying the toxin's effects on their bodies. The Army realizes the gas was leaked by an obsolete aircraft and that the Logans were probably the only humans exposed. They strategize about the best way to minimize the damage of their mistake.
