The Shooter

This film begins with a cowboy by the name of "Michael Atherton" (Michael Dudikoff) riding alone in the wilderness when he hears a strange noise in the distance. Deciding to check it out he witnesses a young woman being tied up and whipped by four men. A gunfight subsequently ensues which results in him killing all of the men and rescuing the woman. It is then learned that the woman is a prostitute by the name of "Wendy" (Valerie Wildman) who works in a town nearby and one of the men Michael had just shot and killed was the son of a powerful rancher named "Jerry Kranz" (William Smith) who now swears to get his revenge upon Michael--along with anybody who helps him out. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an okay Western which had an interesting plot but lacked any sense of reality. Likewise, the acting--although adequate--wasn't especially convincing and for that reason I have rated this film accordingly. Slightly below average.

When I stumbled upon the 1997 Western "The Shooter" here in 2024, I had never heard about it. And seeing that it was directed by Fred Olen Ray, I have to admit that I wasn't really harboring much of any grand expectations to the movie. But with it being a movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to give the movie a fair chance.

Writer Tony Giglio put together a rather enjoyable script and storyline. It was pretty straightforward, sure, but I liked it.

The only familiar faces on the screen were leading actor Michael Dudikoff, and also Kane Hodder and Nils Allen Stewart. I have to say that Michael Dudikoff carried the movie quite nicely, and it was nice to see him in a movie such as this; one that wasn't the archetypical action movies he starred in earlier. I was surprised to see the likes of Kane Hodder and Nils Allen Stewart in the movie, despite it being in small roles only. But their presence was most welcomed, nonetheless. The acting performances in the movie were good.

If you enjoy Western movies, then I will say that this movie is actually worth watching. I was genuinely entertained throughout the course of the movie.

I will actually go as far as to saying that this is by far the best movie from director Fred Olen Ray that I've seen.

My rating of "The Shooter" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Hell must be freezing over as Fred Olen Ray has made a good movie... In a career spanning 40 years and 167 movies, all of them bottom of the barell style bad. Movies so bad they make Uwe Boll's House of the Dead seem like Martin Scorsese made it in comparison.

The Shooter 1997 is the outlier to the 167. This was very good. A clear 6/10 movie but given the surprise of who made it. I gave it an 8.

Michael Dudikoff from American Ninja fame plays a lone gunslinger passing through town who hears a woman being assaulted on the outskirts and comes to her rescue, killing the five men attacking her in the process. It turns out one of the men he killed was the son of an infamous criminal, played by William Smith, who had been menacing and terrorising over the town. On hearing his son is dead he swears revenge on Dudikoff.

This film had a vibe similar to Clint Eastwoods High Plains Drifter, and I enjoyed every minute of it. It made me eager for more Michael Dudikoff westerns.

If Mr Olen Ray ever reads this review, please make some more Westerns as these seem to fit your style of direction.

I'm surprised about the many female voters who even give this film better marks. My thought about this film was that the target audience is adult and male. Whipped and tortured women, merciless revenge and a high body count are typical ingredients, introduced into film history by the spaghetti subgenre. The opening and the hand-smashing are DJANGO rip-offs. THE SHOOTER however lacks the style of e.g. DJANGO. Score, acting and cinematography are mediocre at best but if you look for the above mentioned ingredients you are in the right place here. And the actors don't have an Italian accent.

4 / 10.

Getting away from action movies for awhile, Michael Dudikoff does a western for a change, and the results are one of his best movies. This time around, he plays a mysterious drifter (what else?) who gets more than he bargained for when he comes to the rescue of a woman in the desert and returns her to town. County singer Randy Travis is good as one of the bad guys, and Valerie Wildman does a nice job as the girl. Veteran character actor William Smith is also (as always) a standout, with that gravely voice that just makes him perfect casting for the bad guy. Also nice is seeing Dudikoff play a vulnerable character, one who can't rely on fancy fighting skills to stay alive. One scene that helps to support the vulnerability of his character is when he's overcome by thugs and beaten to a bloody pulp and left for death. Afterwards, he must recover with the help of Wildman, and when he's well enough, he comes back gunning for revenge. Though it sometimes has the look of a film that was made by a bunch of friends wearing costumes gathered from some second-rate clothing stores, it works for what it is. Dudikoff isn't going to replace Clint Eastwood as the next western megastar, but he's good in the film and gets to show off a different side with his character. Worth a rental for those looking for a decent 90 minutes on a dull night.