Aces 'N' Eights

Yes, sadly, we have a look into DVD Perdition, where ex-actors who used to be something are consigned to doing bad films.

This film has three guys who used to have name recognition- Casper Van Dien, Bruce Boxleitner and Ernest Borgnine. Hell, Ernie won an Oscar. (He's also 91 and still acting, that says a lot.)

The plot is that the railroad is coming through, and Ernest doesn't want to sell his land. The railroad hires a bunch of thugs, who used to know ranch hand van Dien. A bunch of clichéd western themes, you aren't going to mistake this for Deadwood, that's for sure.

The movie is plodding and slow, there is little chemistry between the characters. The ending is the typical showdown that John Wayne did 50 years ago and much better. Boxleitner could have been John Wayne 40 years ago, but maybe we've outgrown a need for John Wayne.

Its been a long time since I have watched a western and this one, to some extent, did make it worth while watching.

People in a small town are violently forced to sell their ranches at a railroad price as the the on coming railway would go through their land. But the Government sends in their man from Chicago to sort this out in a peaceful manner. And just as things seem to go well, one of the ranch owners is killed in a shootout.

The movie, directed by Craig Baxley, stars Casper Van Dien, Bruce Boxleitner, Ernest Borgnine and Jeff Kober.

As much as I liked this movie and as much as I like to watch westerns, I felt that the script in some areas and that writers along with with the director and the the actors could have done something to make it stronger. Perhaps it was even trying to make some actors be the likes of James Stewart, John Wayne and Clint Eastwood who would have suited more. But never the less it was a good movie and be aware there are some violent scenes that one with a weak heart may not want to watch.

The railroad must go through! A reformed outlaw sides with the dirt farmers in a fight with a crooked railroad promoter who uses outlaws to murder the farmers who oppose him. Good script, good acting, portentous music, along with good photography, stunt work and editing make this an above average Western. Uses all the cliches, of course. Lots of fighting towards the end, brutal murders along the way, but surprisingly little gore, which makes the violence all the more effective.

The railroad is coming and not all people want to sell their ranch to make way for the new rail line. The local officials working for the railroad are violently encouraging the families to sell their ranches at the railroad's price. A railroad official from Chicago has come to help speed matters up, but in a non-violent manner.

Ernest Borgnine is one of the ranchers who are refusing to sell. Working for Ernest Borgnine is a former gunfighter (Luke Rivers / Casper Van Dien) who has tried to leave his violent past behind, and a teenage boy (Michael H. Barnett). Among those working for the railroad is a former gunfighter friend (D.C. Cracker / Bruce Boxleitner) of Luke River.

I generally liked this movie as I favor Westerns. I did feel the script needed more work. I thought there may be a connection between Luke Rivers and the teenage boy - and if there was - I missed the explanation.

Connections/relations/conflicts between other characters could have been developed more. I am uncertain if this is because of the script, the direction, or if the actors didn't have the 'heft' to pull it off. James Stewart, or other 1950s Western actors, had the gravitas to imply much with little.

Because a Mexican shawl is so reminiscent of Clint Eastwood in his 'Man With No Name' spaghetti westerns, Casper Van Dien looked 'wrong' when he took to wearing one late in the movie. Instead of enhancing his gunfighter status, it diminished him in my eyes as he could not compare to Eastwood.

The director has a different visual style. Occasionally his tilted camera angles was distracting. I disagree with his overuse of tight closeups - especially during fight/brawl scenes. I couldn't get involved in the fight/brawl when I only saw the person who threw the punch or the person who received it with no good establishing shots as to which person was fighting who.

I also felt the violent scenes of the railroad enforcers terrorizing the families were too many and went on too long. It was more than I expected from a TV movie. It says something when the credits lists as an actress: "Terrified Woman".

On the plus side, the movie did try to present people on both sides of the conflict being right and wrong, good and bad. You may be right but sometimes it is hard to stop progress. I believe the "Aces and Eights" referred to losing with a winning hand. Within the Western clichés the movie tried to be different, and while it didn't always succeed, at times I admired the effort.

Casper Van Dien stars in Aces 'N' Eights as a former gunslinger in Jeff Kober's band of thugs for hire who up and quits and decides to settle down and lead a peaceful life. Rancher Ernest Borgnine takes him in and life goes well.

That is until Kober's murderous band gets hired by William Atherton of the railroad and he wants a lot of ranches cleared out. And Kober is a man who enjoys killing to make that happen.

I have to say this was a strange western for someone who's seen more than his share. Most of the time if the plot involved the railroad coming through it was a good thing and it was bad guys who had insider knowledge of that happening trying to push people off their land. In some cases it was the railroad, most famously in the Tyrone Power classic Jesse James that was strong arming people off their property, but just killing them? After all, the railroad just wants a right of way, enough room to lay down their tracks.

Which made this western a rather dubious proposition for me. Still there's enough action to satisfy any western fan. There's also an adroit performance Bruce Boxleitner as one of Kober's men who plays a distinctly lone hand.