When they were kids Texas Ranger Jack Benteen used to be best friends with drug kingpin Cash Bailey. At present, however, the only element linking them together is Jack's girlfriend Sarita, who used to be with Cash. She returns to Cash as a voluntary hostage to make certain that Jack keeps his hands off the drug lord's operation. On top of that, there is a meticulously planned drug bust, in which both Jack and Cash butt heads with CIA-funded paramilitary Maj. Paul Hackett, following his own agenda. A Texas Ranger and a ruthless narcotics kingpin - they were childhood friends, now they are adversaries… This is a well cast, action packed, ultra violent remake of The Wild Bunch. The movie is a modern western that follows two separate plot lines toward a terrific finale. It is well paced and, for the most part, well acted (save Maria Conchita Alonso, of course). Michael Ironside is his tough guy best, and Rip Torn is great as always. Released in '87, the movie appears especially dated, but otherwise it's a first rate action-drama. Yeah, yeah, the final gunfight is obviously staged in such a way as to tip the old Stetson to Sam Peckinpah's "Wild Bunch", but this is no remake of that classic western. It is, however, a witty, brutal re-imagining of "Angels With Dirty Faces" - childhood friends take different paths ending up on opposite sides of the law (Nolte one-ups O'Brien's two-fisted priest with a turn as the most stoic peace officer ever and Boothe shines in too little screen time as the charismatic bad-guy that Cagney always played so well) and as they confront one another, they're forced to deal with a bunch of rowdy troublemakers (Ironside's Ghost Squad of "dead" Spec Ops soldiers standing in quite nicely for the Dead End Kids). <br/><br/>Add Maria Conchita Alonso as the girl in the middle, Rip Torn as the ultimate Texas sheriff, a mess of great "badasses" as the soldiers and a fine mix of action and hardboiled dialog and you have a very entertaining tough guy film. Milius' concept is terrific; Hill knows how to stage these things better than anyone. This movie is a whole lot of fun.<br/><br/>Best one-liner comes from Torn: "Only thing worse than a politician is a child molester." But Boothe, Nolte and some of the soldiers get off some good cracks, too. And that shootout is tremendous. Up there with Hill's Hard Times, The Long Riders and 48 Hrs.
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