Wanted Dead or Alive
by Gary Sherman
Our Price: $36.96
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $17.24 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Gene Simmons, Mel Harris, Robert Guillaume, Rutger Hauer, William RussDirector: Gary Sherman
Brand: FOX Home Entertainment
Writer: Gary Sherman
Producer: Arthur M. Sarkissian
Producer: Barry Bernardi
Producer: Michael Patrick Goodman
Writer: Michael Patrick Goodman
Producer: Robert C. Peters
Writer: Brian Taggert
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 104 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-05-08
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
DVD Reviews of Wanted Dead or Alive
DVD Review: "F--- the bonus."
Summary: 4 Stars
It's time again for that really popular pastime: Rutger Hauer Classic Cinema. Tonight's film of choice is WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE, and it features our favorite Dutch dude Rutger Hauer once more throwing his hat into that cinematic genre of 1980s action cheese. And just because I mention "cheese" doesn't necessarily mean that this movie's a skunker. WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE has its share of cool moments, and I remember it in a good way, and especially that so very memorable ending.
This movie will resonate more for those who've caught the original WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE, which was a television western series back in the late '50s. It starred an up-and-coming Steve McQueen, who was and still is just about the epitome of cool. McQueen's character was Josh Randall, a bounty hunter of few words who let "Mare's Laig" - his nifty 1892 44/40 center fire Winchester carbine - do the talking for him. And I guess this paragraph turned out to be a pimpfest for Steve McQueen's western show. Eh, so be it. It's certainly worth checking out.
But back to Rutger Hauer Classic Cinema. Rutger Hauer plays Nick Randall, the great-grandson of Josh Randall and also a bounty hunter in Los Angeles, and, yeah, it's a bummer that there weren't enough connections or references made to tie in with Steve McQueen's character. Nick Randall is a loner, and he's looking to make a big enough score so that he can fix up his grungy boat. But then his past comes back to bite him.
Gene Simmons, from the band KISS, back then was trying to branch out from white make-up and from sticking out his tongue, and, in the '80s he took on a few villainous roles. Here, Gene brings understated menace to the screen as Middle Eastern terrorist Malak Al Rahim, although Gene never does end up sounding Middle Eastern. Malak Al Rahim arrives in L.A. and soon blows up a movie theater, and then vows to unleash even more terror on the city. Which is when the CIA gets involved, maybe because someone again forgot that the CIA friggin' isn't a domestic agency. Maybe the FBI guys were all attending Thumb Twiddling 101? Anyway, this happens to be one of those flicks which doesn't show the Company in a good light.
Nick Randall gets roped in because he's ex-CIA, and it turns out Malak Al Rahim is his responsibility since Rahim is a subject Randall failed to terminate on a past mission. Anyway, the CIA offers Randall a huge reward for bringing Rahim in, and Randall is initially skeptical but, then again, there's that grungy boat which isn't gonna get pretty by itself.
Rutger Hauer easily demonstrates his action hero chops, and even has a few good one-liners and manages to hold on enough to a passable American accent that not once did I think "Ah, Ikea." Hauer's strength has always been this weird intensity he's got, and he brings that here, although it disappointingly isn't as palpable as in BLADE RUNNER, NIGHTHAWKS, or THE HITCHER. But he flaunts enough of that "Don't you eff with me" vibe that when his boat got blown up real good (and also the folks on it), well, I started relishing and anticipating the crapstorm about to be unleashed on the bad guys. Sure 'nuff, Hauer, looking even more unhinged than usual, is soon wearing those ominous black leather threads, and the smackdowns rapidly ensue.
I like the little touches: the cache of weaponry hidden behind the baby seat in the car, the vast warehouse armory, the fact that Randall is shaky on the harmonica, that the exploded movie theater was showing RAMBO... WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE, in its action set pieces, is firmly entrenched in how they did things back in the 1980s. Explosions, gunfire, car chases, big hair waving, not a lot of martial arts stuff like everyone and their mamas seem to be able to do nowadays. But Rutger Hauer is different enough and has enough presence that, even with that hint of a beer gut, he makes it work. But he gets good help by the always classy Robert Guillaume (who, okay, does let it rip with a few eff bombs here).
WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE offers an awesome ending, that one scene alone worth one bonus star in my rating. My only regret is that that one truly scummy, vile CIA guy never does get his just desserts. Anyway, Rutger Hauer had a few years in which he hovered sort of near the box office summit. This movie falls within that window, along with BLADERUNNER, LADYHAWKE and THE HITCHER. Although, to be honest, this is probably the least of the four.
This has been Rutger Hauer Classic Cinema. "F--- the bonus."
Description of Wanted Dead or Alive
WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE - DVD MovieBestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Death Before DishonorFox; Release date: 2001-05-29; DVD
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops:
NighthawksUniversal Studios; Release date: 2004-05-11; DVD
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
The HitcherHBO Home Video; Release date: 1999-06-08; DVD
Best price: $2.89
Price in other shops:
RaptKNV; Release date: 2011-12-06; DVD
Best price: $14.38
Price in other shops:
Surviving the GameNEW LINE HOME VIDEO; Release date: 1999-12-21; DVD
Best price: $2.25
Price in other shops:
Beyond JusticeEcho; Release date: 1999-01-06; DVD
Best price: $2.59
Price in other shops:
RunawaySony; Release date: 2000-08-22; DVD
Best price: $8.43
Price in other shops:
Past MidnightSony; Release date: 2004-08-17; DVD
Best price: $4.45
Price in other shops:
Blind FurySony; Release date: 2004-12-28; DVD
Best price: $4.45
Price in other shops:
Sinners and SaintsRelease date: 2012-01-10; Amazon Instant Video; Movie
Best price: $14.99