Vigilantes during 1980’s Farm Crisis

Hello: I am looking for a movie that is set during the U.S. farm crisis of the 1980s. It was probably made in the late ’80s. I may be combining memories from more than one movie, because the appearance of the main character is different in my memories.

An older teenage boy/young man (Caucasian, probably blond) is part of a working farm, which has been in his family for generations. He intends to continue working the farm, but has to leave for a while–the army? jail? I’m not sure why–and while he’s gone the farm is foreclosed on. The bank takes everything. His father is devastated and perhaps kills himself, or maybe just drinks a lot. These foreclosures are happening throughout their community, and all over the Midwest, and the young man becomes very angry.

The young man decides that the banks who own the farm mortgages are the true villains, so he packs his bags, grabs his (probably underage, still in high school) girlfriend, and they start robbing banks. Only, while they do take money, what they’re really after are all the mortgage records! They want to destroy all the records so that no more farms will be foreclosed, and they need to do it quickly while the records are stored on paper, not electronically, so they can be completely wiped out.

I think they burst into banks with guns ablaze, scaring the wits out of the bank employees, and then take some money. Then they pour some gasoline (or something) all over the papers, which they set on fire before running off. They don’t hurt anyone until someone is accidentally shot.

Then a manhunt occurs, and I think they both die.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

6 thoughts on “Vigilantes during 1980’s Farm Crisis

  1. Well, Admin, I don’t know how you’re going to pin the ribbon for this one, because both of these answers are right!
    Both of these movies had somehow converged into one in my brain, and now that I’ve seen (enough of) both to recognize scenes in each, I know it was not one movie, but elements of each of these that I remembered.
    Thank you, Alex and sandnc. You both rock.

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