I watched the 1994 film 8 SECONDS today for the first time in close to 30 years. The movie is based on the life of Lane Frost, the world champion bull rider, who tragically died when a bull gored him at the Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1989 at just 25 years of age. I’ll go ahead and say that I’m about as opposite from a rodeo cowboy as a person can possibly get. I won’t go into all the hows and whys, but I’m actually a little scared of cows and horses. I have my reasons, and I’ll leave it at that. We did attend a rodeo in Cody, Wyoming featuring professional bull riders in the summer of 2023 when we were vacationing in Yellowstone. We enjoyed the evening at the rodeo, but it’s also a brutal sport where professional cowboys were getting thrown off more often than not, and sometimes with some rather serious looking injuries. Even though I’m not a rodeo guy, I do enjoy movies based on real stories and people. The short, but spectacular life of Lane Frost makes for a compelling story.

Our story opens in Oklahoma with a little boy and his dad watching a cattle drive. The boy tells his dad that he isn’t scared of the bulls they are watching. We then see that boy, a young Lane Frost, growing up at the rodeo, first riding sheep and then bulls until he’s being played by Luke Perry. At this point in his life, Lane and his two best friends, Tuff and Cody, are riding the weekend Texas rodeo circuit in towns like Amarillo and Nacogdoches. Lane is a better rider than his buddies, and he’s also great with his young fans. One day Lane notices a beautiful barrel racer named Kellie and asks her to go eat with him. Since they’re in Texas, I enjoyed that he took her to Whataburger. I’ll pause for a quick tangent about why I enjoyed the choice of restaurant for their dinner. Our son grew up in Arkansas on McDonalds as the fast food of choice, but he went to college in Texas. When he first got to East Texas Baptist University, he’d suggest to his buddies on the golf team that they go to Mickey D’s. His buddies, the ones from Texas, would give him hell and say that Whataburger is the ONLY place to go for burgers and fries. His buddies were down right snobbish about it and put down McDonald’s like it was completely second class to the gold standard that is Whataburger. When he told me about it, I just thought it was funny. Tangent over and back to the movie. After this amazing Whataburger experience, we see Lane rising in the rodeo world, while simultaneously romancing and marrying Kellie. From this point forward, the movie settles in with the ups and downs of Frost’s professional life and personal life. We see really high moments like his ascension to world bull riding champion at just 24 years of age, and we see really low moments like their temporary marital separation due to the temptations of being on the road too much. Lane and Kellie eventually reconcile and are in a great place in their relationship when we arrive at that tragic day in Cheyenne. 

There are quite a few things that I like about 8 SECONDS, but the main reason is that I like Luke Perry. When I was in college in the early 90’s, I had a standing date with my girlfriend and her older sister to watch every new episode of BEVERLY HILLS 90210. Like most people, that’s where I first got to know Luke. Couple that with his co-starring role on the 1992 film version of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, with the great Rutger Hauer as the head vampire, and I was a fan for life. Our kids got to know him on the Netflix show RIVERDALE, so it was nice to see them discover him as well. It was a real shame that we lost Luke Perry in March of 2019 at 52 years old. I also like that Lane Frost’s mom in the movie is played by actress Carrie Snodgress. Carrie played the evil villainess Joan Freeman who sliced Charles Bronson’s stomach with an axe in MURPHY’S LAW. It made me happy to see her again as I had forgotten she was even in the movie. It’s also interesting to see a young Renee Zellweger pop up as a tempting “Buckle Bunny” a couple of years before she hit the real big time with JERRY MAGUIRE. I like that John G. Avildsen directed 8 SECONDS. Avildsen has directed classics like ROCKY and THE KARATE KID. This may not rise to those heights, but it has its share of touching and stirring moments, which is a specialty of the veteran director. I’ll admit to a couple of tears when Lane’s often critical dad (veteran actor James Rebhorn) finally tells him that he’s proud of him, something that Lane has been needing to hear for years. Additional misty moments occurred when Lane’s longtime buddy Tuff (Stephen Baldwin) dedicates his own national championship ride to Frost, riding his bull for 16 seconds instead of eight. Finally, I like country music and Vince Gill, McBride & the Ride, and Brooks & Dunn all perform in the movie at different times. The early 90’s were an extremely popular time in country music and it’s fun seeing these stars pop up. 

As I close this review, I wanted to point out one last thing about 8 SECONDS that I really enjoy. The film’s credits last for over 10 minutes and they’re played over pictures and videos of the real life Lane, Kellie, Tuff, Lane’s parents, and others. It’s quite touching as we see the real people and many of the real events that inspired what we had just watched in the movie. It’s quite poignant and brings the movie home in a way that feels genuinely special.