The former CIA operative in the Middle East Nick Randall (Rutger Hauer) is presently a bounty hunter in Los Angeles. He chases most wanted guys to get the reward and is saving money for repairing a vessel. He intends to retire and travel around the world with his girlfriend Terry (Mel Harris) and his best friend is Detective Danny Quintz (William Russ). After a terrorist attack in a movie theater, Randall is assigned to catch the evil terrorist, Malak Al Rahim (Gene Simmons),who has killed more than 140 persons in his attempt. However, the real intention of his disaffection from CIA, John Lipton (Jerry Hardin),is to use Randall as a bait to catch Malak. Terry and Danny are murdered by one terrorist and Randall discovers that the Malak's agenda is to blow-up a chemical facility and kill thirty thousand persons. But Randall now seeks revenge against Malak.

"Wanted: Dead or Alive" is a B-movie full of clichés, but supported by good actors. Today I have just seen is again (01 May 2013) and the promising beginning unfortunately becomes a totally predictable story. The conclusion is awful, with Randall chasing Malak in a refinery crowded with policemen, detectives and agents and nobody hears the shooting. Anyway this movie entertains. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Exterminador Implacável (on DVD)" ("Implacable Exterminator") or "Procurado Vivo ou Morto" (on VHS) ("Wanted Dead or Alive")

WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE is a star vehicle for Dutch strongman Rutger Hauer and a pseudo remake of an old '50s TV series with Steve McQueen, no less. It turns out to be a typical chase kind of thriller as our antihero is employed by the CIA to track down an international terrorist, played somewhat implausibly by KISS frontman Gene Simmons. What follows is a usual slew of car chases and shoot-outs, with some minor conspiracy sub-plotting along the way. Hauer is a big presence here but I found the plotting quite predictable and the action scenes paling in comparison to those featuring in films by Schwarzenegger and Stallone during the era, particularly COBRA.

Despite the title, this movie really has no similarity to the TV show WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE. In fact, it's an incredibly violent and mind-rotting piece of garbage without a single interesting moment. I remember when a co-worker rented this piece of &*@@!*$ when we were both doing an overnight shift at the hospital. He thought it was pretty cool, but everyone else there just was horrified by how violent and stupid the movie was. There didn't seem to be much plot--just Gene Simmons killing a lot of people and the good guy(?) Rutger Hauer doing the same in the name of law and order! And, in the end, we were treated with one of the most gratuitous and violent endings, when he shoved a hang grenade in Simmons' mouth and pulled the pin. I just wish the pin had been pulled a lot sooner and ended this mess!

This movie should be of interest only to psychotics and sociopaths--all others, steer clear at all costs. This is exactly the sort of film that demeans our society and desensitizes us to evil. Don't watch this film!

PS--Instead of Gene Simmons from KISS, using the actress Jean Simmons might have made this movie a lot more interesting! She could do more than just make evil leers, so she couldn't help but improve the part.