Extreme Prejudice

Jack Benteen is a hard-edged Texas ranger, Cash is his boyhood friend who now lives across the border and works as a major drug smuggler bringing crime into Texas. The conflict between the two men is complicated further when a group of soldiers registered as killed in action arrive in the area and begin to involve themselves in the existing drug war.

This is a good Walter Hill film that has plenty of good old fashioned western style action. The plot seems a little strange for most of the film because you're not quite sure where it's going. At the start you assume that the main focus of the film will be the relationship between Power Booth's Cash and Nolte's Benteen, but after 15 minutes the focus shifts onto the arrival of the army unit and stays split between them and Nolte. Because you're not sure what the unit is doing in this situation it keeps your interest throughout. However this means that Boothe is sidelined for most of the film which is a shame.

Both Boothe and Nolte are good, with Nolte doing his usual tough guy stuff. However the real pleasure comes from the depth of famous faces in the supporting cast. Maria Conchita Alonso is in a thankless role as the girlfriend torn between Cash and Benteen, Rip Torn is the local sheriff while the army unit includes many now well-known faces of Michael Ironside, Clancy Brown, William Forsythe and a small role for the always recognisable Tom "Tiny" Lister Jr.

The action is good throughout despite being a little flat and without any great style. The "wild bunch" style ending is exciting if a little unlikely and is typical of Walter Hill.

Overall a good modern day western with a strong cast, good plot and good action. It's nothing out of the ordinary but it's still entertaining decades after it was made.

Extreme Prejudice moves and unfolds just a like a Swiss watch, a well oiled and violent action movie that you can tell" even though he only has a story by credit, is through and through a John Milius yarn. Walter Hills direct clear, muscular action, and a hell of a lot of fun to experience, but what I like the most is just how completely this is a modern western, and decidedly a character-based one at that. Nick Nolte has almost the same tough Grimace expression through the whole thing, but that's fine because then that gives plenty of space for Powers Boothe, Clancy Brown, Michael Ironside, Rip Torn, William Forsythe and everybody else to work there grizzly magic if that is what it can be called on the screen.

In particular Powers Boothe is a delightful antagonist, like others sweating at times like its going out of style but making it part of his menace, and at one key point snorting enough coke to make Scarface blush. As soon as you see him and Nolte together you know this is going to be whenever they reappear a great meaty "I'm gonna emotionally and probably physically kick your ass" scene.

One could say we've seen a lot of this before, matter of fact it's deep down a "I got to hold up my Man code" story, down to the love intetest (Maria Conchita, who thankfully is cast well and she gives a very good performance), and at its best feels like Son of Peckinpah, in particular with that climax. I'm at saying this movie reinvent the wheel, but the direction is always precise and exciting and the interplay and dialogue is sharp and occasionally very funny or just the right tone of humorous attitude and one-liners for this kind of mercenary, Western heights movie, and by the very end it almost feels like Milius and Hill are giving us the origin story of the modern Mexican cartel haha. It's a good one.

Also one last thing, did it feel like the climax of this movie is almost like John Milius was finally getting to do the climax of Apocalypse Now, now only if Willard and Kurtz knew and even were friends going back? Just a musing.

Extreme Prejudice is a great,underrated 80s Action classic from Walter Hill that combines great direction,action and cast and is one of Hill's most overlooked films. A great mixture of Action and Modern Western,this is one Hill's best films and a movie that deserves more attention from Action fans.

Set in Texas,Extreme Prejudice tells the story of a Texas Ranger named Jack Banteen(Nick Nolte)who has to deal with criminals bringing drugs across the border from Mexico. Unfortunately,the drug supplier is his old best friend Cash Bailey(Powers Booth)who is not only on the opposite side of the law but also share love for the same woman Sarita(Maria Conchita Alonso). While dealing with Cash Bailey,Jack also has to deal with a group of military men led by Major Paul Hackett(Michael Ironside)who do classified missions,but this time they're in Jack Banteen's territory and Banteen has to deal with Cash and the military men with...Extreme Prejudice.

I am shocked and surprised that Extreme Prejudice has been underrated and overlooked by Action fans and Walter Hill fans. 1987 was a great year for the Action movie genre with great Action classics like Lethal Weapon,Predator and Robocop also being released that year. While those three films became Box Office hits and became classics,Extreme Prejudice sadly flopped at the Box Office remains obscure but in my opinion Extreme Prejudice is one of the great Action films of the 1980s and deserves more love. and I think one of the reasons Extreme Prejudice works so well is because of the main character,Action and modern Western setting. While Walter Hill paints the main character with a bigger than life scope,the characters also have depth. The character Jack Banteen is pretty much old school Western cowboy in a modern setting,instead of dealing with just drunks and bar fights,Banteen has to deal with drug dealers,violence and his best friend. Jack has to do something about the violence and drugs in his territory and he can't have second thoughts about it. Jack wants to deal with his old friend Cash his own way whether it means doing it by the book or breaking the law. It's a simple yet complex story that Hill brings with excellence. I love the Action that Walter Hill has in this film because it's bloody,violent and horrific. The violence and Action in the film is more in the tradition of Sam Peckinpah where the violence is ugly and brutal not like the Action films of the 80s(which I love)where after a violent scene it's followed by a one-liner or pun with the ending of the film is definitely a homage to Peckinpah's Western classic The Wild Bunch and you feel like when a person gets killed in the film it isn't fun or lighthearted,it's gritty,dark and uncompromising and I guess it felt kind of out of place during the 80s because you will feel like no character in the film is safe from the violence in the air. Where slow motion in today's Action films are used to look cool,Extreme Prejudice uses slow motion to show the horrifying and dangerous effects of violence. That's one of the things that separates Hill's Action films from the Action films made today. Hill keeps the film moving at a great pace and keeps you glued to the film with great storytelling,memorable characters and excellent atmosphere. Hill has always said every film he has made is a Western and that is true statement with this film. Even though the film is set in the 80s,you can feel the tone of the old west through out the film with most of the characters wearing cowboy hats and getting into Western style shootouts. I feel when watching the film the movie has an almost timeless look to it where you feel like the film could've taken place in any decade or time period by the way people dress and talk. When characters step in the dirt and dust you can feel it coming off the screen and feeling like you're getting dirt on yourself. While none of the film's main characters don't have six-shooters,ride on horse, have stagecoaches or gold coins you smell the great Western genre in this film and it's one of the reasons that Extreme Prejudice is amazing. The ending of the film is great and is filled with intense Action and brutal violence that Walter Hill is an absolute master at doing and will definitely remind viewers of the Western films of the past. It's a an excellent conclusion to the film.

The whole cast does a great job with their roles. Nick Nolte gives one of his best performances as Texas Ranger Jack Banteen bringing a memorable depth and dimension to the role.Excellent performance. Powers Booth is a wonderful delight as Cash Bailey,Jack's old friend who's now a drug lord. Booth's scenes with Nolte are amazing. Michael Ironside is terrific as Major Paul Hackett,the man who leads his secret military group. Maria Conchita Alonso does a wonderful job as Sarita,Jack's girlfriend and a woman Jack and Cash both love. Rip Torn gives a fun performance as Hank,a local sheriff who is also a Father figure to Jack. Clancy Brown is great as Sgt.Larry McRose,Hackett's second in command. William Forsynthe is wonderful and humorous as Sgt.Buck Atwater. Matt Mulhern(SSgt.Declan Coker),Larry B. Scott(Sgt.Charlie Biddle)and Dan Tullis Jr.(Sgt.Luther Fry)give good performances as well.

Walter Hill does an exceptional job with the direction with the film,bringing a gritty,dirty tone to the film and also does a great job with the Action scenes,making bloody,fast and unforgettable. Wonderful Job,Walter.

Jerry Goldsmith's score is great and fits with the Action and Western tone of the film.

In final word,if you love Action films,Westerns and Walter Hill I suggest you see Extreme Prejudice,an action-packed film that has been underrated and overlooked for too long and deserves an audience. Highly Recommended. 10/10.

A group of soldiers believed to be dead by the public at large, try to ferret out Cash Bailey, a drug kingpin who was a childhood friend to the local sheriff (Nick Nolte) who's also after him in this '80's great action film. Every major actor in this film is extremely recognizable to anyone, like me, who loves the '80's and picking them all out during the first time you watch this film is almost as fun as the film itself (Look there's Kurgen from Highlander, Hey isn't that Lamar from Revenge of the nerds?, Wow Officer Dan did stuff before Married with Children, etcetera) Of course then you have the big stars Nolte, Torn, and Forsythe all of which do a great job. Of course both Walter Hill and John Milius are highly regarded by me and any movie either has a hand in is always highly watchable (Milius's 1941 being the only exception). So if you love you action heavy, your men manly, and your explosions huge, you'll love this film.

My Grade: B+

Eye Candy: Maria Conchita Alonso show's T&A (she's stunning)

A stoic Nick Nolte and a charismatic Powers Boothe face off in this Peckinpah-style serving of sordid melodrama and intense bloody violence. It's a fun action-Western from director Walter Hill, a filmmaker often at his best when portraying tough male milieus. With story credit going to Fred Rexer and the colourful John Milius, it deliberately makes its way towards an exciting confrontation when bullets fly and countless squibs go off. This will mean that some viewers will be turned off, but others will enjoy the visceral quality of this material. Certainly one of the movie's prime assets is a kick ass cast of cool actors, not just Nolte and Boothe.

The two leads play former childhood friends now on opposite sides of the law, a familiar enough premise. Jack Benteen (Nolte) is a Texas Ranger and Cash Bailey (Boothe) is a big time drug dealer, and Jack wants to give Cash every chance to surrender peaceably. While this is going on, they fight over the affections of a saloon singer, Sarita (the very sexy Maria Conchita Alonso) and a team of mercenaries led by Major Paul Hackett (Michael Ironside) has their own plans that involve a bank robbery.

You know you'll have a good time when you see that Hackett's comrades are played by (among others) Clancy Brown and William Forsythe. Rip Torn makes the most of his screen time as Jack's colleague Sheriff Hank Pearson. Other familiar faces in the cast include Larry B. Scott, John Dennis Johnston, Luis Contreras, Gary Carlos Cervantes, Tommy 'Tiny' Lister, Marco Rodriguez, Mickey Jones, and a briefly seen Lin Shaye. Forsythe in particular tears up the scenery. The sun baked cinematography (by Matthew F. Leonetti), Texas and California locales, and soaring Jerry Goldsmith music are all credits to the movie.

The audience should be able to enjoy the twisty plot, the interplay between the two main characters, and the big finish. All in all, this proves to be a solid outing for Hill and his cast & crew.

Seven out of 10.