Eastwood plays a down-and-out cop who falls in love with a prostitute (Locke), to whom he is assigned to escort from Las Vegas to Phoenix for her to testify against the mob.

Ben Shockley, an alcoholic Phoenix police detective, is assigned to extradite witness Augustina "Gus" Mally from Las Vegas.

Blakelock is revealed to be responsible for the set-up; he is secretly in the pocket of the mob and had engaged in sadomasochistic sexual abuse with Mally, who had memorized his face.

ADA John Feyderspiel is also shown to be involved as part of a conspiracy to thwart Arizona's prosecution of Vegas mobster Angelo Deluca.

The bus is shot at as it runs the titular "gauntlet" of hundreds of armed officers lining both sides of the road, until it reaches the steps of City Hall, finally immobilized.

[7] The poster features a "muscled colossus Eastwood, brandishing a pistol, and scantily clad Locke, her clothes teasingly shredded, clinging onto her hero".

"[12] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times declared, "Until it overreaches in its final minutes, Clint Eastwood's 'The Gauntlet' succeeds in making the fantastic credible.

"[13] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote, "If 'The Gauntlet' improves on Eastwood's customary box-office success, I hope it will be ascribed to the glimmers of old-fashioned romantic devotion and the expressions of support for middle-class stability and respectability that have been allowed to mitigate the usual nihilistic mayhem.

"[14] Judith Crist of the New York Post thought that the film was "a mindless compendium of stale plot and stereotyped characters varnished with foul language and garnished with violence.

[16] The film score was composed and conducted by Jerry Fielding featuring soloists Art Pepper and Jon Faddis and the soundtrack album was released on the Warner Bros. label in 1978.

[17] The AllMusic review by Donald A. Guarisco states: "All in all, The Gauntlet is a strong, consistently engaging album that is well worth a listen for any soundtrack buff whose tastes lean toward the 'crime jazz' sound".

Christopher McQuarrie will direct, with Tom Cruise and Scarlett Johansson attached to star as Detective Ben Shockley and Gus Mally, respectively.