Credited cast: | |||
Casper Van Dien | ... | Luke Rivers | |
Bruce Boxleitner | ... | D.C. Cracker | |
Ernest Borgnine | ... | Thurmond Prescott | |
Jeff Kober | ... | Tate | |
Jack Noseworthy | ... | Jess Riley | |
William Atherton | ... | Howard | |
Jake Thomas | ... | Noah | |
Rodney Scott | ... | Monty | |
Deirdre Quinn | ... | Jo Tanner | |
Victoria Chalaya | ... | Cracker's Woman | |
Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
Gregory J. Barnett | ... | Homesteader #3 | |
Jeffrey G. Barnett | ... | Homesteader #4 | |
Michael H. Barnett | ... | Teenage Son | |
Judi Barton | ... | Homesteader | |
Melissa Bickerton | ... | Homesteader Wife #3 |
Already taking a gamble settling in the uncharted west, the peaceful settlers of a town destined for railroad greatness suddenly find themselves being ruthlessly gunned down. With no law and order to be found, justice falls onto the shoulders of an elderly rancher and an accomplished, but retired, gunslinger. Written by LLP Productions
Casper Van Dien stars in Aces 'N' Eights as a former gunslinger in Jeff Kober's band of thugs for hire who up and quits and decides to settle down and lead a peaceful life. Rancher Ernest Borgnine takes him in and life goes well.
That is until Kober's murderous band gets hired by William Atherton of the railroad and he wants a lot of ranches cleared out. And Kober is a man who enjoys killing to make that happen.
I have to say this was a strange western for someone who's seen more than his share. Most of the time if the plot involved the railroad coming through it was a good thing and it was bad guys who had insider knowledge of that happening trying to push people off their land. In some cases it was the railroad, most famously in the Tyrone Power classic Jesse James that was strong arming people off their property, but just killing them? After all, the railroad just wants a right of way, enough room to lay down their tracks.
Which made this western a rather dubious proposition for me. Still there's enough action to satisfy any western fan. There's also an adroit performance Bruce Boxleitner as one of Kober's men who plays a distinctly lone hand.