Bullet Points: Wanted: Dead or Alive (1987)

As a kid growing up in the 1980s, if you were an action star and you weren’t a larger than life character or a martial arts badass, you had a fifty/fifty chance of me checking out your movie. And that is exactly how a movie like 1987’s Wanted: Dead or Alive starring Rutger Hauer went unwatched by me back then.

Now as I find myself older and (debatably) wiser, I embrace the opportunity to watch movies from the golden age of action that I missed out on…

• Great First Impression: Rutger Hauer plays bounty hunter Nick Randall. The movie does a fantastic job introducing the audience to Nick. We see Nick track down one of the FBI’s most wanted to a liquor store, where he proceeds to bring him in in with his gun blazing. We also get to meet Nick’s detective friend played by William Russ and get a look at Nick Randall’s cool bounty hunter lair. The movie throws in a little backstory too about Nick’s time with the Central Intelligence Agency and how he walked away from that life. Plus, we find out that Nick has a pretty serious relationship going on with a flight attendant.

• Alert the Media: While the Nick Randall character made a great first impression, the Malak Al Raham character (played by Gene Simmons of Never Too Young to Die fame) makes a bad first impression. Malak is a known terrorist who enters the United States disguised as a rabbi, he even gets picked up at the airport by an actual member of the Los Angeles Jewish community… but it isn’t long before that poor schmo is eliminated by Raham and his body disposed of by one of Raham’s fellow insurgents. Raham then makes his presence felt by blowing up a movie theater (that is showing Rambo: First Blood Part II) and alerting the media ahead of time to take responsibility ahead of time. Simmons is extremely effective in this role and while there’s no way he would get the role in today’s world, in 1986 he nailed it!

• Live Bait: The next day Nick is enjoying breakfast with his girlfriend Terry (played by Mel Harris in her motion picture debut) on his house boat. The two are watching the news report about the theater bombing, when Nick gets an unexpected visit from his old CIA buddy, Philmore Walker (Robert Guillaume, Death Warrant). At this point I was already enjoying the hell out Wanted: Dead or Alive, but you throw in Benson and I was officially kicking myself for waiting 36 years to watch the movie. Philmore is there on behalf of his boss to ask for Nick’s help in catching Malak Al Raham… it turns out Nick specialized in counterterrorism during his time with The Company and he was the best of the best. If Nick can get the job done in a week, he will be $250,000 richer. What Nick and Philmore don’t know, is that Philmore’s boss John Lipton (Jerry Hardin, Little Nikita) wanted to be bait… he has it leak back to Malak that Nick Randall is back, knowing full well Malak has a personal grudge against Nick Randall, who killed four of his brethren during his days with the CIA. So it is no surprise when Malak has Nick’s house boat blown up, presumably killing Nick in the process.

• The Element of Surprise: Malak and the authorities believe that Nick Randall is dead… however Nick is very much alive and now that Malak has made things personal, he is even more motivated to bring down Malak and stop his evil plan to blow up a chemical plant that will kill tens of thousands of Los Angeles area residents.

As I pointed out in my intro I am not surprised that Wanted: Dead or Alive was a movie I overlooked in my youth. What I am surprised about is that I have not heard more praise for the movie from my fellow action fanatics on social media.

Wanted: Dead or Alive has everything an action fanatic would want in a movie… a cool hero who plays by his own rules, a dastardly villain with no regard for human life and plenty of action to go around. There are multiple shootouts, parking garage danger, car chases, a truck chase, explosions and one of the best endings I have EVER seen. If you are an old school action fan and you haven’t seen Wanted: Dead or Alive, I hope my review has made you want to see it ASAP.

Before you go tracking down a copy (or watching it on TUBI), please take a moment to check out these Bonus Bullet Points…

• Familiar Face: Dennis Burkley plays Farnsworth, an unwitting accomplice to Malak’s evil plans, who is questioned by Randall after Randall tells the CIA to stick it and starts his own investigation. I recognized Burkley as Oatmeal from Beyond the Law and as Lamont’s replacement on Sanford.
• Memorable Quote: “Next time you decide to fuck me Lipton, kiss me first.” – Philmore Walker
• The Name Game: Not to be confused with the 1958 series, Wanted: Dead or Alive, starring Steve McQueen (as Josh Randall) or 1951’s Wanted: Dead or Alive starring Whip Wilson.