Celebrating its 40th anniversary in April 2026, 8 Million Ways to Die is arguably Jeff Bridges’ most criminally underrated movie to date. Written by Oliver Stone and directed by Hal Ashby, Bridges stars as Matt Scudder, an alcoholic Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy who gets a shot at redemption following a fatal workplace error.
Tasked with identifying the murder of a friendly street worker, Scudder becomes embroiled in L.A.’s seedy criminal underbelly until he meets his match in Andy Garcia’s Angel Maldonado. Despite the doomed production that resulted in Ashby’s firing after filming, 8 Million Ways to Die is much better than its poor reputation suggests. It remains a must-see for fans of Bridges, Stone, Ashby, and oft-overlooked ’80s crime movies.
‘8 Million Ways To Die’ Is Among the Best ’80s L.A. Crime Movies You’ve Never Heard Of
Based on the eponymous fifth novel in Lawrence Block’s Matt Scudder novel series, 8 Million Ways to Die was written by Oliver Stone shortly after Scarface. Jeff Bridges gives a searing turn as Scudder, a man battling alcoholic demons that caused him to botch a case and lose his job, wife, and everything that he holds dear. As he tries to stay sober, Scudder gets a personal and professional shot to redeem himself when he’s invited to a swanky Hollywood Hills club, where he meets the kindhearted sex worker Sunny (Alexandra Paul).
When tragedy strikes Sunny, Scudder feels responsible for finding the culprit and serving them justice. His investigation brings him face to face with a slew of unsavory characters, none more memorable than a young Andy Garcia as Angel, a vicious yet streetwise drug dealer who launders money through a gambling parlor at the club. Without betraying too much, the intense final shootout between Scudder and Angel is alone worth watching, and it nearly atones for the movie’s glaring misgivings.
Such detractors include Ashby’s firing during post-production. When Oliver Stone left to make Salvador, he was no longer available to rewrite the script at the producers’ behest. Robert Towne (Chinatown) was hired instead, but he couldn’t complete the rewrites by the time filming began. So, Ashby and Bridges improvised many scenes until the rewrites were completed, resulting in a chaotic jumble that required more editing. Ashby, who was a great editor before becoming a director, was fired, and the movie was re-edited by Stuart H. Pappe and re-scored by James Newton Howard to make it resemble the hit TV show Miami Vice.
As a result, critics shredded 8 Million Ways to Die, many of whom felt the movie was a weak rehash of Scarface and Miami Vice. However, there’s no way that the movie deserves its 0% Rotten Tomatoes rating, 29 Metascore, or 5.8 IMDb rating. It may not live up to the standard of the movie’s prestigious pedigree (Ashby, Bridges, Stone), but the visceral action scenes, climactic shootout, and convincing performances by Garcia, Bridges, and Rosanna Arquette are absolutely worthy. Even Quentin Tarantino, who often criticizes ’80s cinema for being too safe, called 8 Million Ways to Die one of his favorite movies of the decade.
Regardless of the efforts to remove Ashby and turn the movie into a Miami Vice/Scarface imitator, 8 Million Ways to Die deserves to be mentioned among such memorable ’80s L.A. crime classics as To Live and Die in L.A., Thief, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Colors, Breathless, and other far more acclaimed movies that hold up well in 2026. With the film turning 40 this April, every crime movie enthusiast needs to discover 8 Million Ways to Die on Prime Video.
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