Young Guns

An Englishman running a New Mexico ranch in the old west recruits wayward young men to be his ranch hands. Among their duties is protecting the ranch from his more powerful and villainous neighbors, thus earning them the title "regulators". Through a combination of discipline and nurturing, he is able to civilize the men and give them discipline. When murdered by another rancher, the regulators are deputized to help catch the men who did it. But one of the regulators, known now as Billy the Kid, is a relative newcomer who has not yet learned self-discipline. Engaged in a power struggle for leadership of the group, he is far more interested in killing the villains than bringing them to justice, thus turning the group into outlaws themselves.

Although the movie is very well made, it never really explores the potential of the plot, relying instead on cliches to entertain us. It also seems completely confused in its portrayal of the main character. Is William Bonney a homicidal maniac or a fiercely loyal man out to avenge the death of a father figure? Is he a caustic head-strong youth or a steely smooth-talking leader? Depending on the scene, you can take your pick. He's clearly supposed to be a sympathetic anti-hero, but this is accomplished only by turning his antagonist into a cartoonishly evil villain, portrayed in perfectly predictable manner by Jack Palance. The shootout scenes are nicely filmed, but as the movie progresses they move more and more towards standard western cliche.

The strongest point of this movie is the relationship of the characters played by Sutherland and Estevez. Doc is strongly attracted to Billy the Kid and admires his strength of character at the same time that he fears him and is repulsed by his murderous actions. Both actors do an excellent job trying to pull this off in spite of the limited development which the script allows. This and the support of a very competent cast makes the film worth watching but not necessarily worth going out of your way for.

With a brilliant collection of characters, this movie proved to be one of the more entertaining modern day westerns. Charlie Sheen, Keifer Sutherland, Emilio Estevez, Lou Diamond Phillips and the other guys all shined in this movie, making it memorable in a landscape of a lost art form. Sure, some movies have tried to equal this film's motif (American Outlaws, Texas Rangers, Ride With the Devil, etc.) but all have failed in the process. Coupled with some good shoot-out scenes, this proved to be a rather entertaining movie.

Probably a 6 for the average movie goer. An easy 8 - if you know meaning of the word 'Pals'.

This is a revisionist look about the known story of the West's greatest bandit. Contemporary-style Western with nice performances and fine direction by Christopher Cain who creates some good action scenes. The Kid is well played ,though sometimes overacting , by Emilio Estevez, he plays as a likable, sympathetic,attractive young and favourite with girls. Colorful and great cinematography by Dean Cundey. Modern and unfitting musical score by Anthony Marinelli. The motion picture will like to Western fans. Followed by a sequel titled 'Young Guns II'(Geoff Murphy,1990) with similar players and concerning about Billy and his band heading toward the Old Mexico and pursued by a posse.

The picture is based partially on actual events. These deeds are the following: Billy(Emilio Estevez) became a cowboy in Lincoln County(New Mexico)for cattleman Tunstall(Terence Stamp) along with a young group(Kiefer Sutherland,Charlie Sheen,Lou Diamond Phillips,Dermot Mulroney,Casey Siemaszko). Tunstall was supported by lawyer McSween(Terry O'Quinn). But Tunstall was murdered by rival cattleman Murphy(Jack Palance) and started the Lincoln County War. Billy seeks revenge for his death and he converted an outlaw and nasty gunfighter with a price on his head. Bonney and his gang pull off a hot pursuit against the enemies. Billy, his band and McSween were besieged but he went out firing his gun and made his escape. The Kid was caught and convicted of killing and sentenced to be hanged ; though shackled foot and hand , he managed to getaway from prison by shooting dead the deputies guarding him. Pat Garret(Patrick Wayne), a former friend, was elected sheriff and set off in pursuit to capture him and on 1881 tracked at Fort Sumner and there shot him dead by surprise. Legend says that Billy murdered 21 men in his 21 years of life but is really thought to be much less.

Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Emilo Estevez and Lou Diamond Phillips star in this light weight western, re-telling of the Billy The Kid story. This movie plays fast and loose with history and is in not particularly accurate about most details but as an enjoyable western adventure it succeeds. The movies style harks back to the old days of the western adventure such as Rio Bravo etc and while nowhere near it in terms of class it is a worthwhile watch. Jack Palance makes a fantastic bad guy and Terranc Stamp puts in a good performance as the gangs father figure. Performances of the brat pack are pretty good and I really enjoyed Estevez's portrayal of the kid. If you like westerns and enjoyed modern versions such as Tombstone you'll enjoy this movie.

7/10 - Not exactly Unforgiven or Rio Bravo but still a worthwhile watch for any western fan.