Aces 'N' Eights
Aces 'N' Eights
| 15 March 2008 (USA)
Aces 'N' Eights Trailers

Already taking a gamble settling in the uncharted west, the peaceful settlers of a town destined for railroad greatness suddenly find themselves being ruthlessly gunned down. With no law and order to be found, justice falls onto the shoulders of an elderly rancher and an accomplished, but retired, gunslinger.

Reviews
Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.
Bardlerx Strictly average movie
MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise
Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.
SanteeFats I was surprised at first when Bruce Boxleitner (D.C. Cracker) starts out as a gun thug with a murdering leader named Tate, who is thoroughly despicable and ugly too. He leaves the gang because he will not kill a kid. Ernest Borgnine is the old rancher who refuses to sell to make way for the railroad. So if you have seen this plot before guess what happens now? Ernest gets killed off while in town but so does every one of the gang except, of course, Tate. He has to live so he can die by the right man. Casper Van Dien character also left Tate's gang when Cracker did. Then there is the hot love interest schoolmarm played by Dierdre Quinn. If you watch many westerns you are led to believe that all school teachers are at the least pretty and always falls for the hero. The showdown happens at the ranch property fence. Here a Chicago RR man offers a plan that both sides agree on. So Tate makes his move and shoots at the ranchers. Many of the RR men that came along get shot, Bruce gets shot up and dies. Tate is about to finish Van Dien, who has been shot to doll rags as they say, when the Chicago man kills him. I guess CVD lives to marry the teacher. There a couple minor points that were very unrealistic. CVD fanned his gun. Doesn't work, your shots go all over the place and you have no accuracy. CVD was using a double barrel, breech loading shotgun. He used it one handed, rather hard to be accurate. Also he shot it twice and then without reloading, shot it two more times. Got to love those Hollywood infinite ammo weapons!!!
zardoz-13 This above-average but violent made-for-television western pits the villainous land-hungry railroad against defenseless small-time ranchers whose lands lay on the route sought by the railroad. Stuntman/action director Craig R. Baxley helms this exciting little B-movie horse opera with flaws to spare. All the bad guys sport long white dusters. "Guardian of the Realm" lenser Yaron Levy's color photography constantly thrusts you into the thick of the gunfire, and the hand-held camera work lends a sense of verisimilitude to the action that enhances this oater. As the protagonist Luke Rivers, Casper Van Dien is actually tolerable for a change, and the beard gives him a lot of maturity. Late in the action, he puts on a poncho and vaguely resembles Clint Eastwood. Basically, Van Dien plays a gunslinger who has tried to hang up his six-gun and reform himself. Naturally, the villains compel him to strap on his hog-leg one more time. The sturdy cast includes Bruce Boxleitner as a believable gunfighter. Ernest Borgnine of "The Wild Bunch" plays one of the foremost ranchers--Prescott--that the greedy, murderous railroad has been harassing about his land. These villains don't beat about the bush. When they embark on their reign of terror, expect to either wince or grimace at the results. "Sugarland Express" star William Atherton is Howard, an unscrupulous local railroad official who displays no qualms against killing to make a point. Of course, the devious Chicago-based railroad company doesn't want to pay a penny more for the land."Aces 'N Eights" springs a couple of surprises along the way without violating any of the formulaic conventions of westerns. The Dennis Shryack and Ronald M. Cohen screenplay observes all the clichés and then wields them with style. For example, D.C. Cracker, the Bruce Boxleitner gunfighter is reminiscent of Ben Johnson's gunfighter in "Shane." Jack Noseworthy of "Breakdown" stands out as a member of the railroad who has come to negotiate a peaceful settlement between the railroad and the landowners. The gunfights are noisy but not bloody. The treacherous hired guns working for the railroad terrorize and murder land owners and their wives to scare them into selling out. The sign of a good movie is that the characters change over the arc of the narrative, and three characters alter their activities by fade-out. The finale is a well-staged gunfight between the heroes and the villains with a surprisingly conclusion. If you enjoy westerns like those that George Montgomery and Randolph Scott made, you'll probably enjoy "Aces 'N Eights."
JoeB131 Yes, sadly, we have a look into DVD Perdition, where ex-actors who used to be something are consigned to doing bad films.This film has three guys who used to have name recognition- Casper Van Dien, Bruce Boxleitner and Ernest Borgnine. Hell, Ernie won an Oscar. (He's also 91 and still acting, that says a lot.) The plot is that the railroad is coming through, and Ernest doesn't want to sell his land. The railroad hires a bunch of thugs, who used to know ranch hand van Dien. A bunch of clichéd western themes, you aren't going to mistake this for Deadwood, that's for sure.The movie is plodding and slow, there is little chemistry between the characters. The ending is the typical showdown that John Wayne did 50 years ago and much better. Boxleitner could have been John Wayne 40 years ago, but maybe we've outgrown a need for John Wayne.
Pratik Jasani Its been a long time since I have watched a western and this one, to some extent, did make it worth while watching.People in a small town are violently forced to sell their ranches at a railroad price as the the on coming railway would go through their land. But the Government sends in their man from Chicago to sort this out in a peaceful manner. And just as things seem to go well, one of the ranch owners is killed in a shootout.The movie, directed by Craig Baxley, stars Casper Van Dien, Bruce Boxleitner, Ernest Borgnine and Jeff Kober.As much as I liked this movie and as much as I like to watch westerns, I felt that the script in some areas and that writers along with with the director and the the actors could have done something to make it stronger. Perhaps it was even trying to make some actors be the likes of James Stewart, John Wayne and Clint Eastwood who would have suited more. But never the less it was a good movie and be aware there are some violent scenes that one with a weak heart may not want to watch.