"Hard Ground" is a predictable, but atmospheric, made-for-television, turn-of-the-century oater that co-stars Burt Reynolds and Bruce Dern. This passable low-budget western takes place on the trail with our venerable leads pursuing a homicidal maniac who is as treacherous as a sidewinder. Villainous Billy Bucklin (television thespian David Figlioli) and his best friend Floyd (Martin Kove of "The Karate Kid") hold up an army payroll, kill the escort, head south, and try to assemble an army in Mexico. Former bounty hunter John 'Chill' McKay (Burt Reynolds of "Hooper") and Sheriff Hutch Hutchinson (Bruce Dern of "Nebraska") are brothers-in-law. McKay married Hutch's sister. McKay is riding in a tumbleweed wagon to serve time in Yuma with the obnoxious Bucklin when the latter's henchmen ambush the prison wagon. Floyd gets the keys off the dead guard and releases Bucklin. McKay refuses to join him these desperadoes. Meantime, McKay's son Joshua (Seth Peterson of "Godzilla") hits the trail to track down Bucklin's gang. He corners two of them at the remote trading post and kills them. This is probably as cool as this western gets. Joshua trudges into the place with his saddle in his arms complaining about his stove-in horse. Bucklin's two gun hands see it as an opportunity to kill Joshua, but he surprises them. He has used the saddle to hide his six-gun, and he plugs both of them. He runs into a beleaguered woman, Elizabeth Kennedy (Amy Jo Johnson of "Tiger Eyes"), who eventually follows them with a shotgun. Ultimately, our heroes confront Bucklin and his men and shoot it out. As often as the men try to run off Elizabeth, she provides more resourceful than they imagined. Predictably, during the finale, Bucklin takes Elizabeth hostage and threatens to kill not only her but also Joshua. Burt Reynolds and Bruce Dern ride side by side throughout this sage-brusher instead of popping up in cameos. David Figlioli makes a tolerable villain. Director Fred C. Dobbs—what a name considering "The Treasure of Sierra Madre"—invokes the credo of "The Wild Bunch" and several other 1960s and 1970s horse operas about men out of time and place. Strictly routine all around with bland desert scenery, "Hard Ground" qualifies as more gritty than memorable. Technically, the hardware is all correct, and Burt cuts a trim figure in his western apparel. Martin Kove is okay, too. Although several men are shot and killed, this Hallmark western isn't blood-splattered stuff.
Review of Hard Ground
