DVD Review: Texas Rangers
Written by: Kage Alan

Film Rating: B
DVD Special Features: C

The last really great Western I saw was Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven".  It
managed to capture a look and feel of such authenticity that I fear we may
never see another one of its kind or caliber anytime soon.  What does come
out these days is more often than not despised by critics and sometimes even
by the audiences, yet Hollywood still insists on making them.  I don't know
exactly why "Texas Rangers" failed to find an audience.  Maybe they marketed
it wrong and I'm sure that word of mouth about it being shelved for over a
year before being released didn't help matters much.  I stuck my nose up at
it until today.  Well, the movie barely has an authentic bone in its body,
but it's so absolutely entertaining that I really didn't give a damn.

The state of Texas is under siege by bandits following the end of the Civil
War.  Our principal bad guy is John King Fisher (Alfred Molina, "Species"),
an overweight obnoxious jackass who's just begging to have a bullet put in
his head.  After Fisher kills most of the residents in a small town,
including Lincoln Rogers Dunnison's (James Van Der Beek, "Jay & Silent Bob
Strike Back") parents and brother, he makes off with the cattle and not a
care in the world.  Wrongo!  Never leave a vengeful son behind alive because
he's only going to go looking for way to get you back.  Lincoln teams up with
George Durham (Ashton Kutcher, "Dude, Where's My Car?") and the two travel to a town rumored to be recruiting men for a new group of Texas Rangers.

Captain Leander McNelly (Dylan McDermott, "Hardware") and his two best men, Frank Bones (Randy Travis, "Fire Down Below") and Sgt. John Armstrong (Robert Patrick, "X-Files"), have their hands full with eager young men who either can't ride, can't shoot or both.  As "Not Just Another Teen Movie" so lovingly pointed out to movie going audiences, there is a token black character included in this film as well, Randolph Douglas Scipio (Usher
Raymond, "She's All That").  He is, of course, better than anybody gives him
credit for and is forced to prove it under somewhat harrowing circumstances.

Once the Rangers are assembled and have trained for a bit, they are off in
hot pursuit of Fisher, the stolen cattle and the rest of the outlaws who
helped him.  There are numerous shootouts, double-crosses, drama with spies,
ambushes, dead bodies, fallen comrades, a love interest, humor and a sick
leader taking his troops into combat for one final battle.  It's all here and
again, while it's not the most realistic in the world, it's extremely
entertaining!  All of the actors look like they are having a ball and their
energy is captured on the screen.  Hey, I liked "Young Guns", so it follows
I'd like this one too, right?  Maybe I'm just easily entertained, but
Director Steve Miner ("Friday The 13th Part 2" and "Halloween: H20") knows
how to play to a crowd.

Dimension has released "Texas Rangers" in the favored Widescreen format with excellent picture quality and a fantastic Dolby Digital soundtrack that
really sounds pumped up when swelling with Composer Trevor Rabin's score.  As for extras, the most prominent one is an 8 ½ minute "Behind The Badge" featurette with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with cast and crew. Sure, it's fluff, but it's fun fluff and I admit to enjoying it.  I usually
don't.  Next up are 14 minutes of storyboard sequences that are cool to see
for a few minutes, but get a little long in the tooth after that.  Rounding
off the extras are trailers, one of which is for this movie.  After having
been shelved for so long, I would have hoped Steve Miner would have added a commentary to the film that addressed the politics and why he feels the movie
didn't live up to its fullest potential.

Before I forget, it was pleasant to see Tom Skerritt ("Alien") have a role in
the film along with Rachael Leigh Cook ("She's All That") and it always adds
a special touch to have a recognizable voice as the narrator, in this case
James Coburn.  I also look forward to seeing what projects James Van Der Beek takes on in the future once he's done with "Dawson's Creek".  He's actually a decent actor and I expect that his abilities will take him far.  Well,
whatever worked against the film finding an audience in the theatres, "Texas
Rangers" should make up for it on video and DVD.  It's not a pure Western by
any means, so just sit back and enjoy the ride.  It's a fun one!