8 Million Ways to Die – 1986
8 Million Way to Die centers around Matthew Scudder portrayed by Jeff Bridges. He is a former cop who, due to his alcoholism, now has no real home, no wife, and no job. He’s enrolled in AA and is trying to put his life back on track. Out of nowhere, he’s approached by a high-end sex worker who asks for his help. She wants to quit but is terrified of her pimp—at least, that’s her official story. Scudder tries to help her but fails. The woman meets a violent end, and Scudder temporarily falls off the wagon. But killing her was a mistake—now it’s personal…
I first saw this film many years ago. It’s really thanks to Studio S Entertainment that I’ve had the chance to revisit it. But as I said, it’s been many years since I last saw it. I think it was actually around the time it was released, maybe a year later. The danger of rewatching films years later, especially ones you remember as being good, is that they tend to rely a bit on nostalgia. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what has happened here. It hasn’t aged well, but it’s still entertaining for purely nostalgic reasons.
Classic Story
The story is essentially a classic one: a washed-up cop solves a case entirely on his own and gains some form of redemption from those around him, his colleagues, and maybe even himself. But this film takes it a step further. The cop loses his job, his house, and his wife. Only then does he manage to get his act together. Jeff Bridges is absolutely brilliant in the role—you’d think he’s done nothing but drink himself into oblivion and look generally worn out! That’s high praise for an actor, in my opinion.
Profanity
I remember my buddy and I decided to count how many times the word “fuck,” in any form, is used in the film. We came up with an astounding number! Not that I remember the exact count now, and in fact, watching it again, I didn’t even notice the language. It was probably more striking against the moral backdrop of the ’80s than it is today—yet another example of how things have evolved, both in the film industry and linguistically. Swearing was a bigger taboo back then than it is today—that much is clear.
Even though 8 Million Ways to Die hasn’t aged well and its main charm lies in nostalgia, it’s not entirely without merit. It’s actually quite entertaining, even if the pace is a bit too slow for an action film. But you can console yourself with the fact that it’s also a thriller, and as such, it should have a slower tempo to maintain tension. It’s a fun and entertaining film, even if it doesn’t quite live up to the heights my nostalgic mind had built it up to.
