Extreme Prejudice (1987) TriStar Pictures/Action RT: 104 minutes Rated R (language, strong bloody violence, nudity, drugs) Director: Walter Hill Screenplay: Deric Washburn and Harry Kleiner Music: Jerry Goldsmith Cinematography: Matthew F. Leonetti Release date: April 24, 1987 (US) Cast: Nick Nolte, Powers Boothe, Michael Ironside, Maria Conchita Alonso, Rip Torn, Clancy Brown, William Forsythe, Matt Mulhern, Larry B. Scott, Dan Tullis Jr., John Dennis Johnston, Luis Contreras, Carlos Cervantes, Tom “Tiny” Lister, Marco Rodriguez. Box Office: $11.3 million (US)
Rating: *** ½
Sometimes a movie comes along that fails to generate interest at the box office even though it’s really good. It’s one of life’s most baffling mysteries. The Walter Hill neo-western Extreme Prejudice fits that description to a tee. It’s one of his most underappreciated films as well as one of the best underseen action films of the 80s.
Nick Nolte (48 Hrs.) stars as Jack Benteen, a tough Texas Ranger who finds himself in the middle of a complex situation involving a clandestine group of soldiers and his former best friend Cash Bailey (Boothe, Tombstone), now a major drug trafficker in Mexico.
The movie opens with a group of men meeting Major Paul Hackett (Ironside, Total Recall) at the El Paso airport. All of them have one thing in common. They’re officially listed as dead in their military files. This way, they can successfully carry out clandestine operations around the world. They are Sgt. Larry McRose (Brown, Highlander), Sgt. Buckman Atwater (Forsythe, Stone Cold), Sgt. Declan Coker (Mulhern, One Crazy Summer), Sgt. Charles Biddle (Scott, Revenge of the Nerds), and Sgt. Luther Fry (Tullis, Harlem Nights).
Posing as a DEA agent, Hackett offers to help Jack bring down Bailey while concealing his true motives for his interest in Bailey. Jack wants to bring his old friend down after his guys ambush the Ranger and his friend/partner Sheriff Hank Pearson (Torn, The Beastmaster) at a gas station. It leaves Hank dead and Jack mighty POed.
The conclusion of Extreme Prejudice is actually a homage to Sam Peckinpah’s classic 1969 western The Wild Bunch with a huge, bloody shoot-out between the good guys and the bad guys. Jack teams up with the ex-soldiers and crosses the border into Mexico where they go up against Bailey and his large private army at an Independence Day celebration. But first, the Ranger wants to have a few words with his old pal regarding a personal matter, his girlfriend Sarita (Alonso, The Running Man). She used to be Bailey’s girl, but now she’s with Jack. That is, until they had a fight and she went running back to her ex who’s using her as a pawn in this bloody game.
Hill knows how to put together a great action movie. Look at his resume. He did The Warriors (1979), The Long Riders (1980), Southern Comfort (1981), 48 Hrs. (1982) and Streets of Fire (1984). Extreme Prejudice is high up on the filmmaker’s list of accomplishments. It’s not just another routine “cops vs. drug dealers” movie. Hill actually takes the time to create fully realized characters, especially with Jack Benteen and Cash Bailey. Nolte turns in one of his best performances as the stoic Texas Ranger. He feels authentic in the role, likely the result of working with real-life Texas Ranger Joaquim Jackson on whom he based his character. Whatever he did, it worked. Booth is similarly great as the slimy, sweaty villain dressed in white, a subversion of the western trope of black-clad bad guys. At the same time, it’s nice to see Hill didn’t subvert all of them. The climax features a classic showdown between hero and villain. How cool is that?
In addition to a great story, one developed by John Milius (Conan the Barbarian) and Fred Rexer (military advisor on Apocalypse Now), Extreme Prejudice boasts a mighty impressive lineup of supporting actors in addition to the ones previously mentioned. It includes John Dennis Johnston (The Beast Within), Luis Contreras (Blue City), Tiny Lister (Jackie Brown), and Marco Rodriguez (Cobra). The only ones missing from the party are Hill regulars James Remar and David Patrick Kelly. Surely he could have worked them in somehow.
I can’t imagine why Extreme Prejudice tanked at the box office. It’s as solid as action movies come. I went to see it on a rainy Saturday afternoon with my father and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. It features a few well-mounted action sequences and a gritty feel that perfectly suits its El Paso setting. Also, Hill doesn’t hold back on the violence and splatter. When somebody gets shot in one of his films, it’s a bloody mess.
Now I’m faced with a difficult choice. Do I categorize Extreme Prejudice as a Hidden Treasure or a Kick-Ass Action Flick? Arguments could be made for either. It totally kicks ass, but nobody seems to talk about it like they do Lethal Weapon or 48 Hrs. They should. Extreme Prejudice absolutely deserves to be regarded as an action classic. It’s freaking AWESOME!
