Texas Rangers (DVD, 2002)

Chances are if you are reading this then you enjoy an obscure film or two every once in awhile because "Texas Rangers" was a throw away. Apparently good ole boys Bob and Harvey at Dimension lost faith in this one, they shelved it for 2 years and then threw it away on a late November weekend. Perhaps they felt it wasn't up to par, or that all the contemporary pop stars they had crammed in their neo-western for the "Dawson's Creek" age were no longer viable, and coupled with the recent failure of similar new age westerner "American Outlaws" earlier in the year, they got cold feet. "Texas Rangers" was dumped in a ditch, but in all my effort I can't figure out why...?

I, being one of probably 22 people, saw "Texas Rangers" (and "American Outlaws") in theaters at the age of 15, so maybe I am clouded in biase but I can easily say I enjoyed this film. It's a B movie actioner. Tons of gun fights, lots of action, a tender scene of dramatic dialogue, then another shoot out, then a sunrise, then a shoot out. It's frankly very fun, very fast paced, and to the point. "Texas Rangers" does nothing to hide it's intentions to be eye candy set to the background of a "true story".

James Van Der Beek filmed this while "Dawson's Creek" was in it's prime, and perhaps he doesn't shed the Dawson persona as well as he could, but he suits the lead just fine and I never felt the need to complain. Dylan McDermott is great as usual, and I believe he's a greatly underestimated actor. There are more farmiliar faces than bullets. You'll see people come and go, maybe not know all their names, but you'll be impressed at how many late 90s popular actors were jammed into this film even if to only have about 90 seconds of screentime. Bob and Harvey pulled a few favors for casting, and I can't complain because everyone involved feels very capable of pulling their 6 lines of speech.

"Texas Rangers" shouldn't have the fate it developed. Filmed in late 1999 and planned for April 2000 release, it just disappeared. And that's a shame because when it finally got the throw away 500 screen release no one had any faith in it and any interest in it had dimished. It's not a perfect film or genre defining by any means, however, it provides lots of style, fun, excellent stunt work, and some good old fashioned gun play that you don't see in movies anymore, and for that I think it deserves credit for simply attempting to revive a dead genre and introduce it to modern folk. As Robert Patrick says in the featurette on the DVD, "To play cowboys and indians as a kid was fun, but to be an adult and get paid to do it just makes my summer great." I think with that mentality it sets the mood.

"Texas Rangers" is fun. More shots fired than you can count, more youthful and famous faces than bullets fired, and just a fun time. I can easily promote it. And if you like this one, "American Outlaws" is right up your alley.

This movie was hard to find in the stores because it's 7 yrs old. The cd was in great conditino as well as the case. i had reservations about buying online, but so far i've only had 1 bad experience with another seller. I had no problems with this item at all..

i like this movie. this is a good western. i like all the actors in this one. rachael leigh cook is one of my favorites. as is james van ..., ashton kutcher, etc. if you like westerns with younger stars, i recommend this one.