The Shooter (I) (1997) User Reviews (17)

* * * Out Of Five

[bronsonskull72 · 6/10 · 18 March 2006]

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

A straight-to-video western from Fred Olen Ray

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 16 January 2018]

THE SHOOTER is a fairly middling straight-to-video western flick which is pretty good considering that it was directed by Fred Olen Ray, the king of the sci-fi B-movie. The film stars action favourite Michael Dudikoff as the usual mysterious gunslinging hero who rides into town and helps to clean out a gang of bad guys who have been busy oppressing the loyal townsfolk. There are scenes of whipping as well as a heck of a lot of shooting, a graphic and strenuous sex scene, and some overacting from the supporting cast members. By comparison Dudikoff underplays it throughout and is given a bit of a dull character to work with. William Smith's bad guy is better although the film as a whole is strictly average.

An Infamous Gunslinger versus a Notorious Rancher

[Uriah43 · 4/10 · 2 December 2020]

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.

a nice change of pace for Dudikoff

[MichaelM24 · 11 April 2002]

Getting away from action movies for awhile, Michael Dudikoff does a western for a change, and the results are one of his best movies. This time around, he plays a mysterious drifter (what else?) who gets more than he bargained for when he comes to the rescue of a woman in the desert and returns her to town. County singer Randy Travis is good as one of the bad guys, and Valerie Wildman does a nice job as the girl. Veteran character actor William Smith is also (as always) a standout, with that gravely voice that just makes him perfect casting for the bad guy. Also nice is seeing Dudikoff play a vulnerable character, one who can't rely on fancy fighting skills to stay alive. One scene that helps to support the vulnerability of his character is when he's overcome by thugs and beaten to a bloody pulp and left for death. Afterwards, he must recover with the help of Wildman, and when he's well enough, he comes back gunning for revenge. Though it sometimes has the look of a film that was made by a bunch of friends wearing costumes gathered from some second-rate clothing stores, it works for what it is. Dudikoff isn't going to replace Clint Eastwood as the next western megastar, but he's good in the film and gets to show off a different side with his character. Worth a rental for those looking for a decent 90 minutes on a dull night.

Whores Got It Rough in the Old West

[Bob_Zerunkel · 3/10 · 9 July 2012]

A whore is being whipped to death, so a guy rides up and kills everybody. Then there is more killing. And then a whore gets whipped to death. Then Randy Travis says a lot of stuff that nobody cares about. Then there is more killing. Then Travis tries simultaneously to kill a whore and have a shootout, but he talks too much. Then the good guy rides away with the last whore.

The only question that remains is why do all the men, good or bad, want to kill the whores? I think the word "whore" was uttered more in this movie than at my cousin's wedding.

I give it three stars because, in the middle of the movie for some unknown reason,they turned it into a porno. Boobies on screen; butt-licking off of it. But then they killed that whore. Killed her dead.

Modern Spaghetti Western Clone

[cengelm · 4/10 · 30 November 2001]

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.

drama, guns, bullets, whores, horses and manure!

[nzpedals · 2/10 · 5 May 2016]

Aw, come on, have you ever seen a western, (or any other movie) where the horses do a whoopsie, or have you ever seen a pile of it in the street where they live? Of course not.

But there is plenty of "it" here. In the script, the story, the plot, the whole darn 85 minutes of it. Be warned, it is a real struggle to keep watching.

The "Hero" rides along, hears screams, finds the "baddies" whipping a poor girl and guess what? BANG, BANG, BANG. and the girl is rescued and taken to Kingston, to Duncan's saloon, where she "works", (as they call it).

Alas, one of the bad guys was the son of a local real bad guy, who sets out to revenge the killing of his son. Of course there is the gunfight or three, where "hero" is such a sharpshooter.

A welcome change of role for Michael Dudikoff.

[Jacky-4 · 7/10 · 28 September 1998]

"The Shooter" was a different type of film for Michael Dudikoff. Although normally associated with action flicks that incorporate martial arts, this film , because it was a western, enabled him to display that he is a far more capable actor than certain formula story lines have allowed.

The major problem, of course, is that the film does not allow any solid character development. The fleshing in is really left to the viewer . We can only guess at the sadness that has made the Shooter, whose real name is Michael Atherton, the killer that he is- a killer, mind you, that a little town, terrorized by a local bully, welcomes as a hero who can release it from its misery.

As usual!

[cbakerazle · 3/10 · 4 March 2009]

Will they ever make movies without nudity and sex? This came on at 3:00 on Sunday afternoon and I couldn't believe what they showed. Thank God my son was outside or I would have been freaked out if he had seen the soft/medium porn! Do people who make movies not care who they offend or corrupt? Kids could have been watching after church and that is what they show???!!! The acting was good and I enjoyed the suspense but GEE! There was violence and bad guys but that is to be expected in a western movie. Randy Travis was really good in his role. If the writers, directors and producers would just quit putting on so much uncalled for sex scenes. What has to happen to get them to quit going in that direction? Where can I complain?

"Dead men don't need a gun."

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 12 November 2022]

A seemingly mild-mannered cowboy comes across a woman being savagely beaten, and inadvertently becomes the target of a vengeful family patriarch when he kills the woman's tormentor, the son of outlaw Jerry Krants (William Smith). It's a decent enough set-up, with the rescued woman (Valerie Wildman) turning out to be a prostitute, while her savior Michael Atherton (Michael Dudikoff) is awarded a ten-thousand-dollar bounty for the death of Vince Krants (William Langlois). The opposing forces meet early in the picture in a too soon unlikely showdown that's thwarted when the town sheriff (Cal Bartlett) comes out shooting, and from there all hell breaks loose, with Atherton being subdued and worked over by Krantz's thugs. What didn't work for me was how quickly Atherton came back from having his hand smashed by the butt of a rifle numerous times. With every bone in his hand presumably broken, there's no way he could have made the quick comeback he did to seek his revenge. Country singer Randy Travis is introduced as a potential ally for Atherton early in the story, but turns villain when a back story relates how he survived an onslaught by Union soldier Atherton while escaping Confederate capture during the war. The story ends the way we all knew it would, but I had to smirk a bit when Atherton hoisted hooker Wendy aboard his horse for the oft used ride into the sunset finale. It just didn't fit for a character who came across as a loner.

So Bad Its Awful

[canyonrimranch · 3/10 · 4 June 2023]

This stinker is full of gratuitous and sadistic violence throughout.. Right from the beginng! The Marquis De Sade had nothing on the town mayor in the gratutitous sex scene that was grown in the mix.

The R rating is richly deserved. There are so many continuity errors running through the film it is laughable and they are glaringly easy to see.

The villains raspy and whispery voice was funny when he is trying to be heard in the street and asks if he can be heard. NO!

The prostitute heroine leaves $10,000 in a satchel just laying around in her room above the bar. Then she leaves town to hide out. She never tells anyone where she is but somehow near the end, all the bad guys show up at her place.

The Hero, Atherton, has his hands crushed and is strung up to die on a cross like structure. When the heroine rescues him, none of the bad guys ever go looking for him. Miraculously his mangled hands heal where he can handle a gun again.

The whole film was so bad and poorly put together, it was awful.

I got the film on Prime Video for free.

So bad, it's good.

[joachimokeefe · 10/10 · 23 October 2017]

What score do you give a movie that's unremittingly awful, but contains so much cliché, poor direction, continuity, writing, acting, etc, that it's actually hilarious? The Shooter makes Blazing Saddles look like The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford.

Story: Film director finds old silent film western script and decides to graft a sadistic Clint Eastwood vibe onto it.

So much to laugh at. There were so many reaction shots at one point, I expected the horses to get some, and one did. The hero's braces (US suspenders), that perform no function except to keep slipping off his shoulders. The hero's name, Michael Atherton, is the name of England's well-known (over here) cricket captain throughout the 1990's - it's as though Harry Potter had been called Wade Boggs. And his hat! A brim Katharine Hepburn would have balked at. And sorry, but he's way overweight! Looks like he's wearing five shirts and seven pairs of trousers (US pants).

The chief baddie, standing in the main street gasping in his totally hoarse baddie voice, "Can you hear me?". "No!" you will shout. The way they all slowly walk up to face each other during gunfights. Guy in gunfight falls off balcony - check. Guy in gunfight falls into horse trough - check. Six-shooters have 35-round capacity - check. Hero, due to hang the next morning, doesn't notice his cell door being unlocked while he's - sound asleep! Hero and heroine ride off into sunset - yep, they do.

The heroine rides off on the same spotty horse that appears under one of the baddie gang five minutes later. She keeps a bag with $10,000 dollars in it on her (bordello) bedroom table. The hero makes the most miraculous recovery from violent torture ever seen. I haven't scratched the surface. No, you have to see this film to believe it.

I Liked It

[januszlvii · 7/10 · 20 November 2021]

Is The Shootet The Big Country, Shane or The Searchers? No but it is a good Western. What makes it work is the bad guys. Kyle Tapert ( a particularly nasty Randy Travis), and. Wealthy rancher Jerry Krants ( William Smith) and his gang. What makes.the Krants gang so bad is the sadistic pleasure they get out of beating prostitutes with whips ( including leading lady Wendy ( Valarie Wildman)). The biggest problem with the movie is the star. Michael Dudikoff (Michael Atherton). It is obvious he has no idea how to ride a horse ( a point several posters made), but he is not much of an actor. He was a low rent version of Chuck Norris in films like American Ninja. .Spoilers ahead ( although predictable: Does Michael end up with Wendy, defeat Kyle in a duel, and kill Jerry? Of course. But the bad guys are so nasty and Wendy is so likable, that despite Dudikoff and tge predictable outcome the movie is worth watching 7/10 stars.

Dudikoff!

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 26 May 2022]

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?

Fred Olen Ray's best film yet.

[Kinski-2 · 9/10 · 28 September 1999]

Action, horror, sci-fi, exploitation director Fred Olen Ray shows he has some talent as a director. Character actor William Smith is one of the best tough/bad guys in the industry. He treats the viewer with the best acting performance of his career. As for Randy Travis he gives his best Lee Van Cleef impression. He's not bad in the film. Smith and Travis make the movie. As for the rest of the cast none of them really stand out. Ray did a great job directing this flick, Smith and Travis were good, I'd give this B western on a scale of one to ten(ten being the best) a seven.

One of the best

[sdennyr · 10/10 · 15 July 2009]

I feel this is one of the best movies I've seen,I'm an older male and love most westerns. I love movies based in part at least on facts,If I am not mistaken this is such a movie. I also like revenge type movies,This qualifies there as well in my opinion.Some of my favorite parts of the movie were the opening scene with the whipping and the barn shooting scene. I felt the corral beating scene was a little overkill but did not affect how I feel about the complete movie. I saw what I think is a continuation of this movie in a gun smoke episode. I also enjoyed that.I recommend taking the time to watch this movie ,I will watch it again. I also felt the romance parts of this movie were well played. I thought it was so out of character for Randy Travis to play a villain type ,but I always enjoy his acting.

Amateurish production

[redwhiteandblue1776 · 9/10 · 18 January 2013]

Where do I start? The hero should have learned to ride a horse before filming a western. Red lipstick marks on a persons back really don't look like whip cuts. Hats of that period didn't have modern metal ventilation holes and the style of saddles used were not developed until the mid 1900s. After firing about eighteen rounds, our hero finally had to reload his six-shooter and there was zero "kick" when revolvers were fired. What bad guy takes the time to tie the picture perfect rope noose to hang the heroin? Who knew all the "whores" out west were so attractive? I could go on. All in all,a very amateurish production.