The Shooter

Dudikoff stars as Michael Atherton a gunfighter and ex-union soldier, after stumbling across a woman being beaten by some no-good scum, Atherton naturally steps in and saves the girl(Valarie Wildman) and in the process finds himself targeted for vengeance by the family of one of the guys he killed and it's not long before Atherton is caught, beaten and almost killed, only to be saved by Wendy the girl he saved before, Atherton takes aim at taking down the family and does, however the sheriff has a vendetta, one that goes all the way back to the war in this far-better-than-you-would-expect direct to video western which features a decent story and Dudikoff in good form. This, The Silencer, Soldier Boyz and Virtual Assassin are the only watcahble movies from Dudikoff in the 90's. However where as Dudikoff is well suited to the role of a western, it's Randy Travis who ends up making the most impression and in turn steals the movie.

3/5 Matt Bronson

Hell must be freezing over as Fred Olen Ray has made a good movie... In a career spanning 40 years and 167 movies, all of them bottom of the barell style bad. Movies so bad they make Uwe Boll's House of the Dead seem like Martin Scorsese made it in comparison.

The Shooter 1997 is the outlier to the 167. This was very good. A clear 6/10 movie but given the surprise of who made it. I gave it an 8.

Michael Dudikoff from American Ninja fame plays a lone gunslinger passing through town who hears a woman being assaulted on the outskirts and comes to her rescue, killing the five men attacking her in the process. It turns out one of the men he killed was the son of an infamous criminal, played by William Smith, who had been menacing and terrorising over the town. On hearing his son is dead he swears revenge on Dudikoff.

This film had a vibe similar to Clint Eastwoods High Plains Drifter, and I enjoyed every minute of it. It made me eager for more Michael Dudikoff westerns.

If Mr Olen Ray ever reads this review, please make some more Westerns as these seem to fit your style of direction.

The Shooter is a surprisingly solid, albeit unwholesome western that defies expectations. This is thanks in large to a an over the top performance from Randy Travis as the antagonist, and he plays the part so well. Overall, the movie holds its own as a much better film than one might expect from a direct-to-video western from the late 90s.

The film seems to takes some liberties with historical accuracy, particularly concerning the depiction of brothels and prostitution in the west. The movie portrays the prostitutes as a lower class, when in fact, they were usually the richest in town and owned their own businesses. Furthermore, the dark twist in the mayor's story adds another layer of intrigue, as he goes from a symbol of authority to just another villain.

The film is also notable for the presence of veteran actor William Smith, who plays a gruff old cowboy seeking vengeance. It's a great chance to see the famous actor, and his powerful presence on screen is a testament to his impressive fifty-year career at the time of the film's release.

I'm surprised about the many female voters who even give this film better marks. My thought about this film was that the target audience is adult and male. Whipped and tortured women, merciless revenge and a high body count are typical ingredients, introduced into film history by the spaghetti subgenre. The opening and the hand-smashing are DJANGO rip-offs. THE SHOOTER however lacks the style of e.g. DJANGO. Score, acting and cinematography are mediocre at best but if you look for the above mentioned ingredients you are in the right place here. And the actors don't have an Italian accent.

4 / 10.

This film begins with a cowboy by the name of "Michael Atherton" (Michael Dudikoff) riding alone in the wilderness when he hears a strange noise in the distance. Deciding to check it out he witnesses a young woman being tied up and whipped by four men. A gunfight subsequently ensues which results in him killing all of the men and rescuing the woman. It is then learned that the woman is a prostitute by the name of "Wendy" (Valerie Wildman) who works in a town nearby and one of the men Michael had just shot and killed was the son of a powerful rancher named "Jerry Kranz" (William Smith) who now swears to get his revenge upon Michael--along with anybody who helps him out. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an okay Western which had an interesting plot but lacked any sense of reality. Likewise, the acting--although adequate--wasn't especially convincing and for that reason I have rated this film accordingly. Slightly below average.