8 Million Ways to Die (1986)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Hal Ashby

Writers:

Lawrence Block (book)
Oliver Stone (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 April 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Death comes to all except those who deserve it most

Plot:

Scudder is a detective with the Sheriff's Department who is forced to shoot a violent suspect during a narcotics raid...

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Murder | Female Frontal Nudity | Molotov Cocktail | Female Nudity

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	Matthew 'Matt' Scudder
Rosanna Arquette	...	Sarah
Alexandra Paul	...	Sunny
Randy Brooks	...	Willie 'Chance' Walker
Andy Garcia	...	Angel Moldonado
Lisa Sloan	...	Linda Scudder
Christa Denton	...	Laurie Scudder
Vance Valencia	...	Quintero
Wilfredo Hernández	...	Hector Lopez (as Wilfredo Hernandez)
Luisa Leschin	...	Hector's Wife
Vyto Ruginis	...	Joe Durkin
Chip Arnold	...	Homicide Detective
James Avery	...	Deputy D.A.
Jack Younger	...	Drunk
Zoaunne LeRoy	...	Nurse

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | USA:R (Certificate #28302) | Australia:R | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:16 (1986) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

PSO

Trivia:

This was director Hal Ashby's final theatrical film.

Quotes:

Joe Durkin: They're used to be three murders a day... now it's up to five!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Untouchables: The Script, the Cast (2004) (V)

8 Million Ways to ruin a good story

I hate it when people slag off a perfectly good film just because it dared to stray slightly away from the book it was based on. However, Lawrence Block, the author of the novel "Eight Million Ways To Die", has said that they seemed to make up the script for this as they went along and it certainly seems that way. Anyone who has read the Matt Scudder books will be disappointed that Hollywood chose to take the detective out of Manhattan and transplant him in their own back yard, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be a bad film. After all, we've still got the great Jeff Bridges and Andy Garcia. Unfortunately, even they can't redeem this dog's dinner. Bridges is reportedly going to star as another one of Block's characters (Keller from Hit Man) if all goes to plan. Perhaps he still feels guilty. Don't let this film put you off of the books.