Where to watch Wanted: Dead or Alive
1 Star
This movie features a character who is a descendant of the character played by Steve McQueen in the television series of the same name. And like McQueen’s Josh Randall, Hauer’s Nick Randall is also a bounty hunter and also an ex-C.I.A. operative, who is asked by his former employer to help them track down a terrorist Malak Al Rahim (Gene Simmons), who is in the country, and has already made a move. But he is also looking for Randall, and the people, for whom Randall is working, are telling Malak where he can find Randall.
Rutger Hauer had a career in American cinema, mostly appearing in B movies that somehow managed to find theatrical distribution. Hauer is typically the best aspect of these projects, and “Wanted: Dead or Alive” is no different than the others. Gary Sherman skillfully guides the film, yet he and Hauer grapple with a screenplay that adheres to every action film cliché of the time. Gene Simmons, playing a villain not too far removed from his psychopath role in 1984’s “Runaway,” is an unoriginal antagonist with murky motivations for the first half of the film.
Wanted: Dead or Alive is based on a beloved TV series. I am not familiar with the source material, and I can only base my opinion on what appears in this movie. That said, I see no reason to revisit the Steve McQueen TV show. This film came out in 1987, the same year that Lethal Weapon came out, and the difference between the two films is stark. Wanted: Dead or Alive has a few interesting scenes and an ‘out of nowhere’ last scene that saves it from being a total time waster, plus it’s always nice to see Hauer do his thing, even when it’s contained within a bad movie.
Directed by: Gary Sherman
Written by: Michael Patrick Goodman, Brian Taggert, Gary Sherman
Starring: Rutger Hauer, Gene Simmons, Robert Guillaume