Synopsis:
In 1880s Kansas, sharpshooter turned rancher, Clay Travis (Michael Paré), goes from happily married father of two to a man on a mission after the disappearance of his 17 year-old daughter, Lily. Determined to protect what little family he has left, Clay leaves his quiet ranch and heads to Wichita where, after confronting the ruthless Ty Stover (Trace Adkins), he discovers that Lily’s been traded away into an underground sex ring in Dodge City. And it’s there, with the help of an unlikely companion — hardened old barkeep Billy (Kris Kristofferson) — that Clay makes a stand to bring his daughter home, leaving a trail of gunsmoke and bodies in his wake.
What We Thought:
Traded is a pretty decent modern western. It’s a bit slow at first, but it has some good action and story.
Overall it’s your classic revenge type western. Michael Pare’s daughter is kidnapped and he goes off to find her. She’s been traded into a prostitution ring and along the way he meets bad guys like Tom Sizemore and Trace Adkins.
I watch a lot of westerns. I grew up watching them. I felt like I’ve seen this before. There’s nothing all that original about it especially for a modern western. It’s perfectly fine, but nothing about it is groundbreaking or new to the genre. It takes a while to get going and there’s an opening death that really seemed unnecessary.
That being said, if you are a fan of today’s westerns, you’ll probably like it. It doesn’t go off the rails like Bone Tomahawk, but it has a similar vibe for a lot of it.
I’ve liked Michael Pare since Eddie & The Cruisers and I try to watch a lot of his films. He’s good in this. Trace Adkins is pretty much playing every character he’s played before. I’ve seen him in The Virginian, Wyatt Earp’s Revenge, etc. I will say it’s always good to see Kris Kristofferson though. Even at his age, he’s still fantastic.
The Blu-ray looks great though. Westerns usually have great backdrops and sets and this does too. The colors look amazing in HD. There’s full audio with easy to hear dialogue and good effects on gun shots and destruction. Bonus features include making of and deleted scenes.
Traded doesn’t bring anything new to the table, but overall I still liked it. If you aren’t into westerns, you probably won’t like it though. If you’ve never heard of any of the films I’ve mentioned, this is definitely not for you. If you do like westerns especially straight-to-video or limited released ones, then this is…
OVERALL RECOMMENDED!
Bonus Features:
- Five Minutes to Dodge: The Making of Traded
- 2 Deleted Scenes with & without Commentary
Cast & Crew:
- Michael Pare
- Kris Kristofferson
- Trade Adkins
Recommended If You Like:
- Bone Tomahawk
- Westerns
The Nerds Templar 