Extrême préjudice

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.

Walter Hill and John Milius tackle the modern day Western in 'Extreme Prejudice'. A fast moving, Drugs Across the Border film that requires some attention to detail. With Nick Nolte delivering the goods as a strong, silent, second generation Texas Ranger opposite an equally powerful Powers Booth as a well connected, possibly undercover Kingpin who had grown up with Nolte... Enter a team of Black Ops GIs led by Michael Ironside and the always underrated Clancy Brown. Stir in the odd bank heist. Great Lines. Lies on top of lies. Lots of guns. William Forsythe as a totally dedicated borderline psycho. Rip Torn as Nolte's shoot from the hip Mentor. Even more guns. And a final Shoot 'Em Up to rival 'The Wild Bunch'. Put it all together, and you have a memorable, cast driven classic 'Guy Flick'!

Yes, it is. I do not kidding. There aren't that much people that has heard of this little gem from master action director Walter Hill, but is is HIGHLY recommended. If you like John Woo's early Hong Kong efforts, you will LOVE this movie... It has a great story for an action western, and terrific actors: Michael Ironside, Powers Boothe, Rip Torn, William Forsythe and Clancy Brown. All some of the coolest actors ever committed to screen, if not in ONE movie. I was completely blown away by the scenes and the staging of them in this film, so I wonder why has so few heard of it? It's a shame, this one ranks alongside the most stylish films ever made. It's comparable to some of Hill's best movies: "The Long Riders, Trespass, The Warriors" etc. Nick Nolte is a god, and so is this movie. Don't let the rating fool you. For an action movie, this is a 10. Buy it, like me. And watch it on a widescreen with surround! Lovely.

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)

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.