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The Shooter

Play trailer Poster for The Shooter R 1997 1h 32m Western Play Trailer Watchlist
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Cowboy Michael Atherton (Michael Dudikoff) intervenes on behalf of a prostitute, Wendy (Valerie Wildman), who is being terrorized by a gang of thugs. He guns down the attackers and shepherds her to safety. But the dead men's friends aren't about to forget what Michael did and are looking to get even. Michael considers his options, and several locals -- including card player Kyle (Randy Travis) -- offer their advice. But this dispute seems likely to be settled only by angry men and firearms.
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The Shooter

Critics Reviews

View All (4) Critics Reviews
Michael Dequina TheMovieReport.com An unexciting bore. Rated: 1/4 Nov 24, 2009 Full Review Karina Montgomery rec.arts.movies.reviews Shooter is a meat and potatoes kind of film, a good time. You can find plot holes, but to comment on them would be petty in light of the rest of the film's merits working with them. Rated: 4.5/5 May 6, 2007 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Oct 7, 2005 Full Review Cheryl DeWolfe Apollo Guide Rated: 65/100 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Aidan T THE SHOOTER (Western) is a predictable as a weekly rubbish collection. It is yawn-inducing from beginning to end. The only interesting thing in the film is the hero's horse which is (naturally) coloured as though it has been spattered with paint! Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 07/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Michael Atherton — look, I watched this not because we're doing a week of Fred Olen Ray movies, but because Michael Dudikoff is in this — finally stands up to the rich family that runs the town of Kingston. Led by Jerry Krants (William Smith and why would you ever want to mess with this man), they treat his heroic dreams like a joke and beat him into oblivion. I mean, that's what you get when you kill William Smith's son for beating up and whipping Wendy (Valerie Wildman). Instead of just killing Atherton, Krants and his gang break his hands and crucify him like he's Franco Nero in the Italian deserts of the 60s before Wendy pulls him down and nurses him back to health. Meanwhile, Kyle Tapert (Randy Travis) comes into town and he has a grudge with Atherton, too. Ray assembled a fun cast here which includes Robert Quarry, Andrew Stevens and Kane Hodder. The sets and locations look really great and you know that Gary Graver is on camera, as always in this era of Ray's films. This is the kind of movie my grandfather would get in a twenty pack of VHS westerns and call to tell me about, which is pretty much what you want it to be. Who knew Randy Travis could pull off a role like this? Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member Cheapie western about rancher, William Smith, my all-time favorite character actor, looking to avenge the death of his son. Okay, Smith is really the bad guy and American Ninja Michael Dudikoff is the hero of the film, trying to stop Smith and his band of outlaws from getting bloody revenge. Cheapie director Fred Olen Ray, billed here as Ed Raymond, continues to churn how about 4-5 schlocky films a year (with titles like "Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers" or "Super Ninja Bikini Babes" or "Baby Dolls Behind Bars") and probably found some old west set and decided to make a western with some direct-to-video quality of stars, which includes Randy Travis, Andrew Stevens and also Jason Voorhees himself, Kane Hodder, in a uncredited role during a fight scene. The only reason I watched this film is because of my obsession with William Smith (I've actually set me DVR to record any film that he appears in), but for rest of the world, there really isn't much of a reason to watch this film, even if Smith gravelly voice was enough to keep me entertained. The film did need more William Smith though (and possibly more ninja moves from Dudikoff). Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Very good western movie, the acting was great and the story was superb. It hit the heart at times too. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member I was NOT expecting to like this western as much as I did but It had that old school western feel & it was action packed from start to finish Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Mediocre western starring 80's action star Michael Dudikoff as a hero is riding toward a small town when he seems some evil henchmen beating up a woman. Naturally, he takes care of the men and saves the girl. What he doesn't know is that one of the men he killed was the such of an evil cattle baron who seeks revenge. Randy Travis makes an appearance as a Lee Van Cleef wannabe who has a secret agenda of his own who becomes the town sheriff. He does a rather poor job and is clearly the worst actor in the film. I love the early American Ninja films, but when you're so bad that you make Dudikoff seem like a real actor, you know your terrible.But this is clearly a made for TV movie with not so good acting. But you can't blame it just on the actors. I've seen far worse acting, but the dialogue and direction are both totally awful. But it's watchable (If watching paint dry is your only other option) somehow even though it's bad. But it's more entertaining due to how bad the script and direction is than anything. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Shooter

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Movie Info

Synopsis Cowboy Michael Atherton (Michael Dudikoff) intervenes on behalf of a prostitute, Wendy (Valerie Wildman), who is being terrorized by a gang of thugs. He guns down the attackers and shepherds her to safety. But the dead men's friends aren't about to forget what Michael did and are looking to get even. Michael considers his options, and several locals -- including card player Kyle (Randy Travis) -- offer their advice. But this dispute seems likely to be settled only by angry men and firearms.
Director
Fred Olen Ray
Production Co
Cabin Fever Entertainment
Rating
R
Genre
Western
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 2, 2016
Runtime
1h 32m
Sound Mix
Surround
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