(https://i.imgur.com/FdJh1AC.png)
Studio: Lionsgate
Release Date: 2/27/2024
Rating: R
Film Grade: D+
The Story: In the late 1800s, a small group of outlaws named after their leader, Rufus Buck, is terrorizing the Arkansas/Oklahoma area. After killing a Deputy Marshall and stealing his badge, the gang spreads violence as they take revenge on those who stole their native lands.
An unlikely pair of a U. S. marshal and Indian policeman team up to track down and hopefully bring the Rufas Buck Gang to justice.
My Take: This is not a good movie in any way.
The script and plotting are flawed from the beginning. There’s some opening narration followed by a flash-forward to the end of the movie, which removes any sense of suspense from its uninspired climax. The dialog is filled to excess talking about stolen land and slavery. Yes, we get it, those things were wrong. Let’s get on with the plot, please. Or maybe those lines were meant as some odd attempt to justify the violence perpetrated by the gang?
The plot itself is bare-bones. Events happen because they have to, not because anything flows in a natural direction. The scope of the story feels both huge and small at the same time. Huge, in that we’re dealing with large distances on horseback. Small, in the way people just bump into other people and circumstances as needed.
Let’s get to the acting. Tim Abell turns in a serviceable performance as the marshal, Heck Thomas. The other primary actor is Charlie N. Townsend playing Buck with the attitude and persona of a modern-day street thug, feeling out of place in the role. Other actors are there just to fill the stereotypical characters. It’s worth noting that Brian Austin Green and Danny Trejo are featured prominently on the cover, but have a very small amount of screen time. In fact, Trejo is limited to a narrator role and he feels disconnected from the movie, the line reading is that bad. Oh, and that’s not even the opening narration mentioned earlier, which is read by an unidentified woman. Trejo’s additional narration is set up as a poorly implemented and executed framing device which is distributed throughout the movie, and only ends up breaking the flow.
Production values feel like a made-for-TV movie. Sets and costumes are generic. Some props look downright hokey. That wouldn’t be bothersome, if there was any life to the story.
Video: The photography is good, and the visual presentation is serviceable. Outdoor scenes are bright and clear, indoor scenes are darker, but everything is still clearly defined. There’s nothing that detracts from the story, but nothing that improves it either.
Audio: This is a 5.1 mix, and the quality varies. On the plus side, there are some nicely done environmental effects, such as the persistently buzzing insects. On the negative side, there are some scenes that fell off, such as a courtroom scene where the mumbling and chattering of the crowd sounds incredibly fake and canned. Gunshots are OK, but not even close to a John Wick type of presentation.
Special Features: None.
Final Verdict: Even though classic Westerns have mostly fallen by the wayside, we have had a good number of solid entries in the past couple of decades. This isn’t one of them.
From a weak script to half-hearted acting, poor pacing to hackneyed dialog, there’s nothing here to recommend. If you’ve got a hankering for a good old Western, do yourself a favor and rewatch something you’ve enjoyed from the past, as this one will only disappoint.
Fun Fact: The script was co-written by John Russo, co-writer of both the original Night of the Living Dead and Return of the Living Dead movies. Sadly, even with that pedigree he could not reanimate this corpse of a film.
https://youtu.be/p2zC-lM5IU4
My Review System:
JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
Elite Screens Sable Frame B2 117” Width with Infinitely Variable Height
Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Processor with Dirac Live
Monolith by Monoprice 7x200 Watts Amp
Monolith by Monoprice 3x200 Watts + 6x100 Watts Amp
JBL Studio 590 for Left, Center, Right, Wides, and Rears
JBL Studio 580 for Side Surrounds
JBL Studio SCS 8 for Tops
JTR Captivator 1400 Subwoofer X 4
Panasonic DP-UB420 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
NVIDIA Shield Android TV - 4K
Xbox One X
HTPC Running madVR (work in progress)
Remote: URC MX-780
Mini DSP 2X4 HD controlling all subwoofers
APC S15 Power Conditioner with Battery Backup