The long-lost 80s crime thriller finally comes to Blu-Ray
8 Million Ways to Die had so much going for it as it went before the cameras. The film was directed by Hal Ashby, had Jeff Bridges as its leading man and was a great example of the neo-noir film movement going on during the era. The extremely neo-noirish tone is immediately set up by the film’s introduction which laid an opening narration from Bridges alongside an impressive overhead tracking shot of 80s Los Angeles. As the camera continues on, it eventually goes beyond all the cars on the freeway and hones in on one police cruiser, introducing the main character and plunging the audience into his story. How then, with so many elements in its favor, did the problem-plagued 8 Million Ways to Die live up to its very title?
In 8 Million Ways to Die, Matt Scudder (Jeff Bridges) is starting from scratch. A former detective with the L.A. Sheriff’s Department whose drinking habit cost him both his career and his family, Scudder is now enjoying 6 months of sobriety as he looks to get back into law enforcement. However, he is soon plunged into the plight of a desperate prostitute named Sunny (Alexandra Paul), who wants Scudder’s help in escaping the clutches of powerful businessman Chance (Randy Brooks). When Sunny turns up dead, Scudder teams up with the feisty, complicated fellow prostitute Sarah (Rosanna Arquette) to try and take down the real man responsible; fearsome drug boss Angel Maldonado (Andy Garcia).
Those who know about the behind-the-scenes struggles experienced during the making of 8 Million Ways to Die can call the film a true case study on the negatives of movie politics. After an initial screenplay written by Oliver Stone failed to satisfy the studio, R. Lance Hill was brought in to re-work much of the dialogue. When those changes didn’t sit well with the actors, an uncredited Robert Towne was brought in for further rewrites as Ashby encouraged improvisation from his cast on many of the film’s key scenes. Because problems with the screenplay meant an extended pre-production, Ashby didn’t have enough time to properly edit the film, causing him to miss the studio-mandated deadline. Eventually the movie was taken away from him and re-cut by the studio; a real shame especially when thinking what sort of classic the man who had edited In the Heat of the Night and The Thomas Crown Affair could have made out of 8 Million Ways to Die. The result is a film with a screenplay which goes in a number of directions as each writer’s distinct tones (Stone’s intensity, Towne’s penchant for character) jockey for position in a film with a cut-and-paste feel that’s hard to ignore.
It would be easy to assume that a film with such strong forces working against it would lead to a complete train wreck. Yet it’s surprising that 8 Million Ways to Die works as well as it does. The film is brutal and unflinching from the start. There’s nothing sanitized about the movie or its depiction of the underworld of 1980s L.A. Likewise, the film’s look at alcoholism through both its leads is dark and proves anything but filtered in its realness. In Scudder, the film has a great anti-hero who is both troubled and vulnerable, yet resourceful as he finds himself roped into the film’s central mystery. There’s some great dialogue at work here too with that intoxicating noir rhythm. “You have quite an education haven’t you,” Scudder asks Sarah at one point. “Anyone who gets passed the age of two has an education,” she replies. The film boasts an amazing stand-off finale that’s both prolonged and tension-filled to its core with every character’s fate up in the air. Finally, after everything that’s come before, 8 Million Ways to Die still manages to end on the idea that peace can be found in such a dark world.
Despite not having a whole screenplay as a foundation, the cast turns in exceptional performances across the board. Scudder may be one of Bridges’s most unknown roles, but he brings to it the depth and pathos it requires. Arquette gets a great chance to stretch by taking her character beyond the confines of her profession and showing the fragile soul underneath. Meanwhile, Paul and Brooks are pure energy in the few moments they have on screen. Yet it’s Garcia who blows everyone away with his tour-de-force work as one of the most malevolent villains the 80s ever produced.
8 Million Ways to Die enjoyed almost no existence beyond its “blink and you missed it” theatrical run and eventual VHS release. Today the film is one of the few with a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and the character of Scudder has since been given cinematic redemption when he was eventually played by Liam Neeson in A Walk Among the Tombstones. It’s hard not to feel incredibly sad about 8 Million Ways to Die and the fate it received as yet another casualty of Hollywood power struggles. While fans of the director and genre find it painful to think of what the movie could have been, it doesn’t change the fact that there is much about it which still connects as an explosive and dynamic piece of 80s cinema that is every inch worthy of rediscovery and appreciation.
The Package
Among the various special features included here are interviews with Arquette, Paul, Garcia and the source novel’s author, Lawrence Block, all of whom mourn what the film could have been. A commentary track and Jeff Bridges trailer gallery round out the disc’s features.
The Lowdown
One of the most unsung neo-noirs of its time, 8 Million Ways to Die is finally given its due.
8 Million Ways to Die is now available on Blu-Ray from Kino Lorber.
