How Luke Perry’s Rodeo Movie ‘8 Seconds’ Illuminated Life Outside the 90210The actor, who died Monday at 52, may be synonymous with 'Beverly Hills 90210,' but his role as bullrider Lane Frost validated daily life in dustier zip codes Show
When Luke Perry died on Monday at age 52 after suffering a stroke last week, most fans instantly thought of his role as the heartthrob Dylan McKay on the Nineties megahit and cultural phenomenon Beverly Hills 90210. It was as iconic a role in modern television as they come and one Perry would be synonymous with, however reluctantly, throughout his life. Still, despite the overall significance of Beverly Hills 90210, Perry’s roles in cult films like 1992’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997’s The Fifth Element and, especially, 1994’s 8 Seconds have had a lasting impact on smaller portions of the population. While most TV fans of a certain age understandably view Perry as the sideburned Dylan (younger viewers knew him as Archie’s dad on Riverdale), kids across Texas, Oklahoma, the American West and even Western Canada are just as likely to identify him with Lane Frost. In the rodeo biopic 8 Seconds, Perry starred as the famed bullrider Frost, who died tragically July 30th, 1989, as a result of injuries sustained after being rammed by a bull known as Takin’ Care of Business while competing at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. Only 25 when he died, Frost was one of the biggest stars on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit. In 1987, he was crowned World Champion of the PRCA. A year after his death, Frost was posthumously inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. As a child of both the Nineties and of West Texas, Perry’s impact as Lane Frost is immeasurable. Even while my mother was a diehard 90210 fan, 8 Seconds’ shadow loomed larger in the Lone Star State. Cruise through nearly any rural town in the region and you’re bound to run into some child named after Frost. I wasn’t personally involved in rodeo, but I was connected to that world in adjacent ways — my father was a horse-trailer manufacturer, one grandfather was a veterinarian, another was an amateur rodeo and ranching cowboy in the Sixties. And my grandmother was a lifelong fan of the circuit, often dragging me and my cousins to rodeos in Pecos, Del Rio, Odessa, Midland and other West Texas towns. Before 8 Seconds, those small rodeos felt isolated and cut off from the world. But after the spring of 1994, they somehow became important, something that, at least during the run-up to the film, everyone was talking about. It was a national spotlight illuminating the most local of pastimes, and watching Perry portray Frost (not as some hero cowboy archetype, but as a flawed real-life everyman) felt like the world learning what a cowboy’s life was really like. This is largely due to Perry’s dedication to the role: his portrayal of Frost was raw, visceral and, above all, sincere. Perry brought to life someone you’d only heard about in story. The character’s vitality was also due in part to the leading man’s chemistry with Stephen Baldwin, who played Frost contemporary and friend Tuff Hedeman. The actors, who both learned to ride themselves and studied with rodeo professionals, captured the candid camaraderie and restless spirit not only shared by Frost and Hedeman, but by the rodeo world at large. It felt real because it was. Despite not being a box office success — the film grossed more than $19 million domestically — 8 Seconds’ impact was similar to that of Urban Cowboy in the 1980s. While Urban Cowboy saw waves of people learning to dance in their freshly bought cowboy boots and brushpopper pearl snaps, 8 Seconds witnessed a new round of rodeo fans punching their tickets to see what real cowboys did. If Urban Cowboy was a city slicker, 8 Seconds was its twangy, rural cousin who’d actually been bucked off a horse a time or two. Like Urban Cowboy, the film also arrived with a bona fide soundtrack featuring Nineties country megastars Brooks & Dunn, Reba McEntire, Vince Gill and a host of others. In a strange way, their inclusion was just another confirmation — like Garth Brooks’ 1991 hit “Rodeo” before it — that this world of cowboys, bulls, blood and dirt was relevant and worthwhile. 8 Seconds depicted folks not too dissimilar to those who inhabited dusty, small towns around the country. Perry may have been at the height of his 90210 stardom at the time, but as Frost, he felt like he was one of our own — even if only for a few fleeting seconds.
8 Seconds is a 1994 American contemporary Western biographical drama film directed by John G. Avildsen.[2] Its title refers to the length of time a bull rider is required to stay on for a ride to be scored. It stars Luke Perry as American rodeo legend Lane Frost and focuses on his life and career as a bull riding champion. It also features Stephen Baldwin as Tuff Hedeman, and Red Mitchell as Cody Lambert. The film was completed and premiered shortly after what would have been Frost's 30th birthday, in late 1993. Plot[edit]While growing up in Oklahoma, young Lane Frost learns the tricks of the bull riding trade at the hand of his father Clyde, an accomplished rodeo bronco rider himself. As he enters his teenage and early adult years, Lane travels the western rodeo circuit with his best friends Tuff Hedeman and Cody Lambert. He meets and falls in love with a young barrel racer, Kellie Kyle, and they eventually marry in 1984. As Lane's legend and fame increase, so does the amount of pressure he puts on himself, to be what everyone wants him to be, and he wants to show that he is as good as they say he is. His ascent to the world championship is marred by a cheating incident, questions about Kellie's devotion, and a near broken neck. The film also follows him through the true life series between himself and Red Rock, a bull that no cowboy had ever been able to stay on for 8 seconds. It cuts the series down to three rides. In 1989, he is the second-to-last rider at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. While riding on the bull known as "Takin' Care Of Business", he dismounts after his 8-second ride but the bull turns back and hits him in the side with his horn, breaking some ribs and severing a main artery. As a result of excessive internal bleeding, he dies on the arena floor before he can be transported to the hospital. The final scene shows Hedeman later that same year at the National Finals Rodeo riding for the world championship. After the 8 second bell sounds, he continues to ride and stays on an additional 8 seconds as a tribute to his fallen best friend. Cast[edit]
Production[edit]Filming took place in mainly in Boerne, Texas, Del Rio, Texas, Tucson Rodeo Grounds, San Antonio and Pendleton, Oregon and a handful of other minor locations.[3][citation needed] Release[edit]8 Seconds was released in the United States on February 25, 1994. In the Philippines, the film was released on September 8, 1994, with free "Luke Perry handkerchiefs" handed out to moviegoers who present the film's newspaper ad at the lobby of any theater; the film was promoted as being the first American film to be given by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board's (MTRCB) an "Excellent" rating.[4] Critical response[edit]The film gained a mixed reception.[5] The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel praised Perry's acting but criticized the performance of Cynthia Geary, who played Kellie Frost.[6] It holds a 31% rating from Rotten Tomatoes based on 13 reviews.[7] Soundtrack[edit]References[edit]
External links[edit] Wikiquote has quotations related to 8 Seconds.
Is the movie 8 Seconds real?'8 SECONDS': WHERE'S THE BEEF? In "8 Seconds," director John G. Avildsen tries to do for bull riding what he did for boxing and karate in "Rocky" and "The Karate Kid," with the added twist that the film's events are based on a true story, not a scriptwriter's fantasy.
Did Tuff really ride lane?Tuff Hedeman rode at 12 NFRs and won three Gold Buckles in his career. None were more memorable than his final ride in 1989. Tuff fought through a difficult season that year and sealed the deal by riding his Round 10 bull for eight seconds and then eight more for his late friend Lane Frost.
Did they actually ride the bulls in 8 Seconds?Luke Perry and Stephen Baldwin learned to ride bulls, and performed some of their own stunts. The poem that Cody Lambert (Red Mitchell) reads on the way to Cheyenne, Wyoming is actually a shortened collection of stanzas from a poem called "Legacy of a Rodeo Man" by Baxter Black.
Is Kelly from 8 Seconds still alive?Kellie has since remarried and lives in Texas with her current husband, NFR team roper Mike Macy, and their two children.)
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