Vicious Billy Bucklin has been freed from a prison wagon bound for Yuma by his gang and is raising hell all along the U.S.-Mexico border, robbing, looting and killing with the band of ruffians he calls Bucklin’s Legion.
Sheriff Hutchinson (Bruce Dern) figures it’s his job to bring him in, and he won’t find much help at the dawn of the 20th century, when Old West gunfighters interested in bringing outlaws to justice are in short supply.
Oh, he has a young man named Joshua (Seth Peterson) to help track the outlaw. But what he needs is “a killer.”
So he offers John “Chill” McKay (Burt Reynolds) a pardon from Yuma Prison if he’ll help.
He and McKay don’t get along, but he figures McKay will have a motive for helping out — Joshua is his son.
As they trail Bucklin, the old-timers are joined by pretty Elizabeth Kennedy (Amy Jo Johnson).
Her family was gunned down by Bucklin and she was forced “to spend two days” with him.
Bruce Dern as Sheriff Hutchinson, trying to convince John Chill McKay to help him track down a killer in Hard Ground (2003)
Burt Reynolds as John Chill McKay, meeting the son he barely knows in Hard Ground (2003)
Review
A little too much talk about right and wrong, where characters went wrong earlier in life and about setting the record straight. And it seems like the director was stretching his material as much as possible to hit the 90-minute mark. How many times do we hear Bucklin tell Floyd, his second-incommand, not to do the thinking?
But it’s surprisingly delightful to see Dern and Reynolds in the saddle again because they seem so comfortable in their roles.
Amy Jo Johnson offers an eye-pleasing addition, even if her part is bit tough to swallow. And David Figlioli makes for a deliciously wicked villain.
One of the better Hallmark Westerns.
Seth Peterson as Joshua, heading off to track Bucklin’s Raiders in Hard Ground (2003)
Amy Jo Johnson as Elizabeth Kennedy, a young woman who lost her family to Bucklin’s Raiders in Hard Ground (2003)
Directed by:
Frank O. Dobbs
Cast:
Burt Reynolds … John Chill McKay
Bruce Dern … Sheriff Hutchinson
Amy Jo Johnson … Elizabeth Kennedy
Seth Peterson … Joshua
David Figlioli … Billy Bucklin
Martin Kove … Floyd
Sergio Calderon … Gen. Navarro
Larry Hankin … Toothless
Michael Shamus Wiles … Mundo
Bill Henderson … Junior Gunn
Randy Stripling … McMordy
David Atkinson … Deputy Dunlap
Edward Faulkner … Warden
David Cass Sr. .. Pike
Frank Sharp …Tall man
Runtime: 90 min.
David Figlioli as Billy Bucklin, the cold-blooded bandit leader in Hard Ground (2003)
Martin Kove as Floyd, Bucklin’s right-hand man in Hard Ground (2003)
Memorable lines:
Sheriff Hutchinson to McKay: “I got me a tracker. I need me a killer.”
Bucklin to Floyd: “Floyd, I told you before. I give the orders. I do the thinkin’. So sit in your saddle and don’t bruise your brain.”
McKay to Bucklin: “Last time I saw you, I said I’d see you in hell. I just came here to make sure you get there first.”
Sergio Calderon as Gen. Navarro, the Mexican general Bucklin is in cahoots with in Hard Ground (2003)
Larry Hankin as Toothless, the shopkeeper who tries to buy Elizabeth in Hard Ground (2003)
Amy Jo Johnson as Elizabeth Kennedy, insisting on riding along with McKay and Hutchinson in Hard Ground (2003)
Seth Peterson as Joshua, spotting Bucklin’s pretty young female captive in Hard Ground (2003)
Bruce Dern as Sheriff Hutchinson, determined to catch a kiler, even if he has to head into Mexico to do it in Hard Ground (2003)
Burt Reynolds as John Chill McKay, freed from Yuma Prison to help track down a killer in Hard Ground (2003)
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