To me, this movie is perfection.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I've been looking for a copy of 8 Million Ways to Die for probably about twelve years now. Having been a box office flop and one of the rare movies that has never been released on DVD, it's easily the film I've been looking to find longer than any other. Needless to say, when I finally saw this was playing on cable, I couldn't wait to finally watch it. Unfortunately, my years of anticipation built up unrealistic expectations, and as I made my way through the film, I became less interested and more let down as the film went on.On the plus side, 8 Million Ways to Die has a pretty solid first 45 minutes or so. Despite changing Matt Scudder's great origin story from the novel to something more generic and less dramatically interesting, the character is still a somewhat fascinating one, thanks entirely due to a typically entertaining performance from Jeff Bridges in the lead role. While I greatly prefer Liam Neeson's portrayal of Scudder in A Walk Among the Tombstones, Bridges' performance is better than the weak script deserves. Even with co-screen writing credit going to Oliver Stone, every detective story cliché is present and there's nothing particularly surprising about the chain of events as presented in the film, but Bridges carries the film on his shoulders and makes the first half of the movie worth watching. However, 8 Million Ways to Die takes a drastic drop in quality in the second act with Andy Garcia's villain character taking center stage. I love Andy Garcia in everything else I've seen him, but his performance here is simply baffling. Over-the-top to the most extreme degree, its embarrassing to watch, something that I don't think is entirely Garcia's fault. The film was taken away from director Hal Ashby and edited without his input, so who knows who actually is responsible for what ended up in the final cut. Garcia's performance seems like something that could have been shaped into the editing room, as a little bit of his character goes a long way and gets annoying fast. I find it hard to believe that an otherwise solid director like Ashby would have let the second half play out the way it does had he been given final cut. The second half of 8 Million Ways to Die is a mess, tonally inconsistent with the first half and actually mildly painful to watch at times.Despite a not-so-stellar second half, 8 Million Ways to Die is not a complete disaster. It's simply a disappointing film that should have been a lot better. It's a real mystery why the film isn't available on DVD, as there are hundreds of worse and even less profitable films that have been released on DVD and Blu Ray. Maybe it's due to a complicated rights issue, which is probably slightly more interesting than the movie itself. Regardless, fans of Lawrence Block's Scudder novels, not to mention fans of Jeff Bridges, would still love to see this get a proper release. 8 Million Ways to Die is a disappoint for sure, though it's still a decent time waster for those who are into mysteries. 5/10

Violent and exciting movie about narcotics dealers , hotshot prostitutes and an ex-policeman . Scudder (Jeff Bridges) is a cop from the County Department who is forced to abandon his duty , after shooting a violent suspect during a drug raid . The ensuing psychological aftermath of this busting worsens his alcoholic troubles . During his recovery through Alcoholics Anonymous , he meets a suspicious stranger (Randy Brooks) who draws him back into a world of vice and prostitution . Later on , he attempts to rescue a pimp-bound hooker (Alexandra Paul) from a drug lord called Angel Maldonado (Andy Garcia) . Scudder learns his friend has dark business with Angel . Scudder must enter a crime-world of prostitution and drugs to solve a killing , and get knee-deep in a mess of million dollar drug deals . Meanwhile , the ex-cop falls in love for another gorgeous prostitute (Rosanna Arquette).In the picture there is tension , romance , thriller , emotion , intrigue , murders , drug-trafficking and a little bit of violence . A love story between a drunk ex-cop and whore is loosely interwoven with drug dealers and many other things . The movie is fast-moving on the ending but usually results to be slow-moving and being enough amusing as well as compelling but happen many events . The pic obtained moderated success and didn't attain the box office that the producers wanted . The suspense movie is correctly narrated but there're some storyline gaps and the twisted plot makes it a few ridiculous . Famous screenwriter Oliver Stone had little to do with his original script, which subsequently was re-written by Robert Towne and then revised by Hal Ashby in improvisation , he said he only visited the set once, and wanted to have his name taken off the picture but it was too late as the credits were already made up for it . The film is rated ¨R¨ for violence , nudism and some sex . The outcome of this drug and corruption story may not end happily or neatly -just like in real life- , but the characters and ideas explored along the way are compelling . Director takes on a complex subject with a large , uniformly excellent cast . Filmmaker Hal Ashby "threw away the script" and had the actors improvise all their dialog and actions . As nice acting from Jeff Bridges as an ex-cop who hires himself out to rescue a prostitute while resisting the temptation to return to his alcohol abuse . Andy Garcia's fine interpretation as a drug dealer , he is good but plays as Latin stereotypes . And two bombshell women : Rosanna Arquette and Alexandra Paul . Furthermore , Tommy 'Tiny' Lister as Nose Guard and James Avery as Deputy , but both of whom hand roles very secondaries . Catching original musical score composed and performed by James Newton Howard but with excessive use of synthesizer . Colorful and atmospheric cinematography by Stephen Burum , being totally shot in Los Angeles , California . The motion picture was professionally directed by Hal Ashby , though with no originality . It turned out to be his last theatrical film . However , being fired just after principal photography wrapped, and the studio , PSO Entertainment took over creative control . Ashby was firstly film editor , in fact his highlight of his film editing career was winning an Oscar for the landmark ¨In the heat of the night¨ (1967) . As its director, Jewison gave him a script he was too busy to work on called ¨The landlord¨(1970) . It became Ashby's first film as a director . From there he delivered a series of well-acted , intelligent human scaled flicks that included dramas as : ¨The last detail¨ (1973), ¨Bound of glory¨ (76) , ¨The slugger's wife¨ (85) , ¨Coming home (78) ; comedies : ¨Harold and Maud¨ (71) ¨Shampoo (1975) , ¨Lookin' to get out¨(82) and his biggest hit : ¨Being there¨ (79) with Peter Sellers . Great reviews and Oscar nominations became common on Ashby films..

Los Angeles police detective Jeff Bridges (as Matthew "Matt" Scudder) drinks on the job and use excessive force. In the opening scenes, he shoots a drug dealer, passes out, then loses his job. After speaking at an "Alcoholics Anonymous" meeting, Mr. Bridges receives a mysterious note requesting he help hooker Alexandra Paul (as Sunny) pull out of the sex trade... Bridges is reluctant, but she pleads, "I don't wanna be a whore anymore!" Uncooperative pimp Randy Brooks (as Willie "Chance" Walker) doesn't let his ladies off easily. Bridges becomes even more acquainted with prostitute Rosanna Arquette (as Sarah) and her head customer Andy Garcia (as Angel Moldonado)... "8 Million Ways to Die" is interesting as the last feature film directed by Hal Ashby, a great "actor's director" who lets this story get away. The improvisational quality adds realism - but you have to know when to stop, what to re-write, and how to edit. Witness, for example, the scene when Bridges meets Mr. Garcia in a parking for snow-cones. Something is wrong.**** 8 Million Ways to Die (4/25/86) Hal Ashby ~ Jeff Bridges, Rosanna Arquette, Andy Garcia, Alexandra Paul

That was what I took away from this film. The depiction of alcoholism is stunningly accurate-- thanks in part to Jeff Bridges, of course, but I think the main source of this reality was director Hal Ashby's own experience with drug abuse. This element of the film plays out very well. Unfortunately the actual story is a crime mystery, not a strict character study of an addict. And the crime mystery is very, very weak. After a classic film noir set up in the first third, we are immediately shown who the villain is and what he's up to. Which doesn't really leave us with much of interest for the last two thirds of the film. For example, by the time Bridges reveals the "Big Secret of What's Really Going On" to the other characters we are not surprised at all, even though the scene is played out as a pivotal point in the plot.I think that if the film had been more skillfully edited, we would have had a story that was both artistic as a character study and involving as a crime story. Maybe if Ashby hadn't been so familiar with substance abuse, he wouldn't have been fired from the film after principal shooting and we could have seen the film as he intended.