Aces 'N' Eights (2008)

best movie i've ever seen.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I've been watching western in my whole life mainly the classics and b-movies of fifties and sixties...but new productions using former actors to sell the picture like this is a crying shame...the plot is usual but the Kober's gang massacre is absolutely senseless,killing for killing is totally lack of intelligence and reason...Carper Van Dien as a regular actor don't hold the picture..already Boxleitner has a decent acting together with Borgnine after all not enough among such mediocrity and finally the lack of beauty women in the story is another weak point...although in beginning has some they didn't participating of the movie itself and Deirdre Quinn isn't quite beauty and looks like a nun...anyway a bad movie!!

Casper Van Dien stars in Aces 'N' Eights as a former gunslinger in Jeff Kober's band of thugs for hire who up and quits and decides to settle down and lead a peaceful life. Rancher Ernest Borgnine takes him in and life goes well.That is until Kober's murderous band gets hired by William Atherton of the railroad and he wants a lot of ranches cleared out. And Kober is a man who enjoys killing to make that happen.I have to say this was a strange western for someone who's seen more than his share. Most of the time if the plot involved the railroad coming through it was a good thing and it was bad guys who had insider knowledge of that happening trying to push people off their land. In some cases it was the railroad, most famously in the Tyrone Power classic Jesse James that was strong arming people off their property, but just killing them? After all, the railroad just wants a right of way, enough room to lay down their tracks.Which made this western a rather dubious proposition for me. Still there's enough action to satisfy any western fan. There's also an adroit performance Bruce Boxleitner as one of Kober's men who plays a distinctly lone hand.

This above-average but violent made-for-television western pits the villainous land-hungry railroad against defenseless small-time ranchers whose lands lay on the route sought by the railroad. Stuntman/action director Craig R. Baxley helms this exciting little B-movie horse opera with flaws to spare. All the bad guys sport long white dusters. "Guardian of the Realm" lenser Yaron Levy's color photography constantly thrusts you into the thick of the gunfire, and the hand-held camera work lends a sense of verisimilitude to the action that enhances this oater. As the protagonist Luke Rivers, Casper Van Dien is actually tolerable for a change, and the beard gives him a lot of maturity. Late in the action, he puts on a poncho and vaguely resembles Clint Eastwood. Basically, Van Dien plays a gunslinger who has tried to hang up his six-gun and reform himself. Naturally, the villains compel him to strap on his hog-leg one more time. The sturdy cast includes Bruce Boxleitner as a believable gunfighter. Ernest Borgnine of "The Wild Bunch" plays one of the foremost ranchers--Prescott--that the greedy, murderous railroad has been harassing about his land. These villains don't beat about the bush. When they embark on their reign of terror, expect to either wince or grimace at the results. "Sugarland Express" star William Atherton is Howard, an unscrupulous local railroad official who displays no qualms against killing to make a point. Of course, the devious Chicago-based railroad company doesn't want to pay a penny more for the land."Aces 'N Eights" springs a couple of surprises along the way without violating any of the formulaic conventions of westerns. The Dennis Shryack and Ronald M. Cohen screenplay observes all the clichés and then wields them with style. For example, D.C. Cracker, the Bruce Boxleitner gunfighter is reminiscent of Ben Johnson's gunfighter in "Shane." Jack Noseworthy of "Breakdown" stands out as a member of the railroad who has come to negotiate a peaceful settlement between the railroad and the landowners. The gunfights are noisy but not bloody. The treacherous hired guns working for the railroad terrorize and murder land owners and their wives to scare them into selling out. The sign of a good movie is that the characters change over the arc of the narrative, and three characters alter their activities by fade-out. The finale is a well-staged gunfight between the heroes and the villains with a surprisingly conclusion. If you enjoy westerns like those that George Montgomery and Randolph Scott made, you'll probably enjoy "Aces 'N Eights."

I really like this film better than other westerns because it has a real story that we can relate to in today's world. The acting, cinematography, dialogue, directing and editing all made me feel like I was there experiencing it all. An excellent script with frequent close-ups in so many scenes, not just of the actors, makes this unusual for a Western. A lot of attention is paid to detail, so that with an expression on an actor's face you can see the nuances and what they are feeling and thinking.The pace of this film lends itself to thinking about what is happening within each character and how they are developing and in some cases changing.The only reason I rated this as a 9 and not a 10 is due to the amount of violence which takes place. I must say that the entire cast is believable in their roles. Casper Van Dien shows more through his facial expressions than most do. The same could be said about Bruce Boxleitner, but his dialogue also shows the direction of his thinking. I can not leave out the remarkable Ernest Borgnine who plays a strong and determined rancher. An actor new to me is Jack Noseworthy as Mr. Riley who draws a character of some interest as he represents a railroad. William Atherton, whom I've seen many times, played the deceptive banker Charles Howard just right. Not space here to mention each one in detail, but the schoolteacher and young boy are excellent in their characterizations. Jeff Kober as the outlaw without remorse is riveting.This film brings attention to the Right of Eminent Domain and how the government can take land and homes from people.But the story also includes how some men tire of taking lives and find there must be some other way of living. "We all have choices...." and "people can change" are the essential messages.