The Gambler Returns / The Gambler 5 - Playing for Keeps

Starring:Kenny Rogers, Rick Rossovich, Reba McEntire, Claude Akins, Dion Anderson, Gene Barry, Paul Brinegar, Jere Burns, David Carradine, Chuck Connors, Johnny Crawford, Juliana Donald, James Drury, Linda Evans, Brian Keith, Jack Kelly, Patrick Macnee, Doug McClure, Hugh O'Brian, Park Overall
Director: Dick Lowry, Jack Bender
Studio: Hallmark
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
You don't have to be a Kenny Rogers fan to enjoy his popular Gambler telefilms. Inspired by Rogers's 1978 hit song (which is replayed in each film) and beginning with The Gambler in 1980, this low-key series of two-night, four-hour broadcasts drew a majority of Rogers's loyal fans, and they hold up today as likeable showcases for Kenny and a lot of young 'n' old genre stalwarts.

The Gambler Returns: Luck of the Draw (1991) has an irresistible hook: As feisty Reba McEntire partners up with Rogers's Brady Hawkes, the hoary plot features a posse of stars from classic TV Westerns, from Gene Barry's Bat Masterson to David Carradine as swift-kickin' Kwai-Chang Caine, from the '70s ABC series Kung Fu. Hairstyles are wrong, production values are adequate, and the plot's disposable: On the eve of Congressional outlaw of gambling, Reba recruits Kenny to gamble cross-country from Mexico to finance a final championship poker match in San Francisco. Bloodless shoot-outs ensue as greedy villains follow their trail, but the relaxed pacing allows leg-room for multiple subplots and supporting characters, most played by still-ornery veterans of the genre.

Amazon.com

You don't have to be a Kenny Rogers fan to enjoy his popular Gambler telefilms. Inspired by Rogers's 1978 hit song (which is replayed in each film) and beginning with The Gambler in 1980, this low-key series of two-night, four-hour broadcasts drew a majority of Rogers's loyal fans, and they hold up today as likeable showcases for Kenny and a lot of young 'n' old genre stalwarts.

The Gambler Returns: Luck of the Draw (1991) has an irresistible hook: As feisty Reba McEntire partners up with Rogers's Brady Hawkes, the hoary plot features a posse of stars from classic TV Westerns, from Gene Barry's Bat Masterson to David Carradine as swift-kickin' Kwai-Chang Caine, from the '70s ABC series Kung Fu. Hairstyles are wrong, production values are adequate, and the plot's disposable: On the eve of Congressional outlaw of gambling, Reba recruits Kenny to gamble cross-country from Mexico to finance a final championship poker match in San Francisco. Bloodless shoot-outs ensue as greedy villains follow their trail, but the relaxed pacing allows leg-room for multiple subplots and supporting characters, most played by still-ornery veterans of the genre.

Playing for Keeps (1994) is even lankier in its rhythms, and by then Rogers was comfortably wearing his role like an old leather glove. The plot drops Kenny and Mariska Hargitay (who'd later costar in Law & Order: SVU) into a languid rehash of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but its father-'n'-son reunion is played for keeps, as it were, and it gives this chummy TV movie some added dramatic heft. [Note: Although both films run 180 minutes, Artisan has inexplicably divided Luck of the Draw on discs 1 and 2; Playing for Keeps fits entirely on disc 2.] --Jeff Shannon

Description

The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw: Kenny Rogers saddles up for his most spectacular ride as Brady Hawkes, better known as The Gambler. He's headed from Mexico to San Francisco to test his skills in the richest poker game ever. Along for the ride are Reba McEntire, as Burgandy Jones, and Rick Rossovich, as trail partner Ethan Cassidy. Together, these three stir up more trouble than they can handle. It's a rip-roaring adventure with your favorite card sharp - so come along for the ride as THE GAMBLER RETURNS! The Gambler 5: Playing for Keeps: The Gambler Brady Hawkes (Kenny Rogers) is back and this time he's been dealt a hand that could cost him his son's life. Retired from gambling, Brady is leading the life of a rancher, but when his son Jeremiah starts running with a band of thieves called the Wild Bunch, led by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, all bets are off. With the help from madam Fanny Porter (Lori Anderson) , and his friend, the famous actress Lily Langtry (Dixie Carter), Brady finds his son but not before Jeremiah's arrested by Pinkerton Detective agency.

Customer Reviews:

Good Westerns.......2005-01-31

Fans of the original "The Gambler" will want to catch these last two movies in the series. These two DVDs contain 180 minutes each. This was great western entertainment on TV and I'm glad it is now on DVD. Fans of Kenny Rogers will definitely like them. The casting is well done on each movie. Plenty of action on both. The Gambler Returns is a little more special to fans of westerns from the 1960s since the original stars from Bat Masterson, Gene Barry, The Rifleman Chuck Connors, and Wyatt Earp, Hugh O'Brian, and one of the Mavericks, Jack Kelly make guest appearances along with several others. A nice peformance by singer Reba McEntire as well. I enjoyed this one the most of the two. Great gambling story and it was fun seeing all these TV western stars after all these years. The Gambler V is a bit more dramatic with the Gambler looking for his son that has become involved with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Good story but not the happiest of endings. The two together for this price are a bargain.

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