The film is based on a series of novels that would later be rebooted on the big screen with Liam Neeson.
Our TV movie pick for tonight (Thursday, April 24) is 8 Million Ways to Die, the 1986 neo-noir action thriller starring Oscar winner Jeff Bridges.
Named by Quentin Tarantino as one of the only good movies of the 1980’s, the film is adapted from author Lawrence Block’s detective novel series revolving around Matthew Scudder, a troubled alcoholic cop.
Bridges plays Scudder in the movie in which the character meets a call girl in LA named Sunny (Alexandra Paul), who is involved with a powerful drug lord named Angel Moldonado (Andy Garcia).
After Sunny comes to Scudder for help, he decides that he wants to help her escape the shady underworld.
“However, Sunny is soon found dead, and Matt tries to win the trust of Angel and his girlfriend, Sarah (Rosanna Arquette), in order to take him down,” the plot synopsis reads.
The final movie from legendary director Hal Ashby (Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, Shampoo) and co-written by Oliver Stone (JFK, Platoon, Wall Street), 8 Million Ways to Die reportedly suffered from a turbulent production and was poorly received from critics at the time of its release and was a box office bomb.
In recent years, however, it has developed a bit of a cult following due to Bridges’ portrayal of Scudder, the rest of the talent involved in the film and the movie’s capturing of ’80s LA.
Those who enjoyed the Liam Neeson-starring thriller A Walk Among the Tombstones which we recommended earlier this year, may also be interested in 8 Million Ways to Die as it was adapted from another of Block’s Scudder books.
8 Million Ways to Die is airing on Legend at 12.55pm.
Here are the other movies airing on TV tonight:
Priscilla – BBC Four – 10pm
The 2024 film following the love story of Priscilla Beaulieu and Elvis Presley (one of our movie picks last week).
Deadly Force – Legend Xtra – 22.55pm
This thriller, starrs Wings Hauser, Joyce Ingalis and Lincoln Kilpatrick.
The Spy Who Dumped Me – Film Four – 11.40pm
Two friends are thrust into the middle of an international conspiracy when one of them discovers their is really a CIA agent
Alex Cross – ITV4 – 9pm
A homicide cop pursues an ex-military assassin who has sadistically tortured and murdered a wealthy executive, leaving a surreal clue to the next victim.
Death Wish – Legend – 11pm
A vigilante thriller, starring Charles Bronson, Hope Lange and Vincent Gardenia.
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