Film Review - Extreme Prejudice (1987)

Extreme Prejudice is directed by Walter Hill (48 Hours, Red Heat) and stars Nick Nolte as Texas Ranger Jack Benteen who is investigating a series of drug operations near the US/Mexican border and run by his old friend Cash Bailey (Powers Boothe) but amidst all this lies a phantom army led by Michael Ironside and when these three meet in the desert sands there might be a killin.

Extreme Prejudice is a terrific action picture and is sharply directed by Hill who nicely blends the modern day feeling of action with the desert sands of the western in terms of the Texas style hats, the use of rifles by the rangers and the small town setting of much of the film's plot.

But the praise doesn't end with Hill's direction, it also extends to the cast, Nolte is one good form here and this marks one of the rare occasions where I've enjoyed him in a movie the same with Maria Conchita Alonso who like Nolte I've found to be very hit and miss in films but here she delivered the goods in her small role plus there's a good small role by Rip Torn as a fellow sheriff.

I also really liked Ironside and Clancy Brown in their roles and I really loved Powers Boothe as the villain, a good villain can lift an action film for me and a bad one can kill it stone dead but Boothe plays a solid one here and the scenes between him and Nolte are a real highlight of the movie and help to give it a grounding that other action films sometimes don't have.

So all in all, Extreme Prejudice is a great blend of action and western and has sharp direction and great performance all around, 4 out of 5.