Extreme Prejudice

Carolco. Director Walter Hill; Producer Buzz Feitshans; Screenplay Deric Washburn, Harry Kleiner; Camera Matthew F. Leonetti; Editor Freeman Davis; Music Jerry Goldsmith; Art Director Albert Heschong

Nick Nolte
Powers Boothe
Michael Ironside
Maria Conchita Alonso
Rip Torn
Clancy Brown

Extreme Prejudice is an amusing concoction that is frequently offbeat and at times compelling. Taut direction and editing prevail despite overstaged hyper-violence that is so gratuitous to be farcical.

Story pivots on the adversarial relationship between small town Texas Ranger Nick Nolte and drug kingpin Powers Boothe. Originally childhood friends, they are now on opposite sides of the law and the US-Mexican border.

Presented as a severe and humorless straight arrow, Nolte's character is not easy to like but his acting nonetheless intrigues. Freewheeling and provocative, Boothe is the film's wild card as director Walter Hill signals right off that he's going to have some fun here.

Story proceeds through some interesting twists on the commando front while Nolte and Boothe try to reconcile their friendship and separate paths.

(Color) Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1987. Running time: 104 MIN.

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