Young Guns (1988)

If we're caught, we're gonna hang... But there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.

Young Guns is directed by Christopher Cain and written by John Fusco. It stars Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney, Casey Siemaszko, Terry O'Quinn, Jack Palance and Terence Stamp. Music is by Brian Banks and Anthony Marinelli and cinematography is by Dean Semler.

Film is a telling of Billy the Kid's part in the Lincoln County War in New Mexico 1878. Plot sees the murder of John Tunstall send Billy and the rest of the Tunstall Regulators on a mission to avenge his murder.

It ain't easy having pals.

Often derided by Western movie purists as a sort of MTV Western made to showcase the various talents of the then Hollywood Brat Pack of Estevez, Sheen, Sutherland et al, Young Guns is actually a far more entertaining picture than some critical assessments suggest it is. It also has some rock solid Western history footings holding it up, yes it's far from accurate in various scenarios, age of characters and numbers in gangs etc, but the core story of the Lincoln County War is there. A massive success at the box office and spawning an equally successful sequel in 1990, Young Guns zips along at pace, contains high energy action sequences and provides plenty of quotable dialogue. Best of all, though, it doesn't take itself seriously, it wants to be a rooting-tooting Western of fun endeavours, if viewed on those terms it's an absolute winner, especially since the cast are playing it that way.

Alex, if you stay they're gonna kill you. And then I'm gonna have to go around and kill all the guys who killed you. That's a lot of killing.

Estevez is terrific as The Kid, blending boyish arrogance with fearless rage, a fun and scary character who is easy to get on the saddle with. Elsewhere it's a mixed bag, but apart from the disappointing Sheen, the casting decisions sit well and if you talk to ten different Young Guns fans you will most likely get a number of different answers come back as to who is their favourite Regulator (mine is Dirty Steve played by Mulroney if you are wondering?). O'Quinn is spot on as Alex McSween, Stamp adds classical tones to the ill fated John Tunstall and Palance is a neat fit as villain Lawrence Murphy. Nice to see Brian Keith get a cameo as a larger than life bounty hunter as well. Semler's photography and Cain's filming techniques are a bit too anachronistic at times and the Banks/Marinelli score too modern an accompaniment on occasions. But film rounds out as a nifty bit of Oater play for Gen X and showed that as the 1990s approached there was still love for this greatest of genres. 7.5/10

"Young Guns" has wonderfully authentic production values and costumes which really brings this rugged period to life on the screen. It did seem as though the western was permanently out of fashion with mainstream audiences a couple of years before this film was released and perhaps it might never again return to the prominence it had once enjoyed, but then along came this entry in the genre and the fresh faced young talent involved each have key roles and this fact alone undoubtedly guaranteed plenty of equally fresh faced young audiences would watch. However, this film is also worthwhile for some other reasons as well. The western has always been a consistently popular genre and after watching this film you can immediately understand why. The story is a strong one and best of all the film as a whole is also incredibly well paced and intelligent and informative and these are elements you seldom encounter these days.

**_Fairly accurate account of Billy the Kid & his gang doesn't forget to entertain_**

Before Billy the Kid (Emilio Estevez) shot to fame, he's an orphaned teen taken in by English merchant John Tunstall (Terrence Stamp) who mentors him and several other 'young guns' – Richard 'Dick' Brewer (Charlie Sheen), Doc Scurlock (Keifer Sutherland), Chavez (Lou Diamond Phillips), Dirty Steve Stephens (Dermot Malroney) and Charles 'Charley' Bowdre (Casey Siemaszko). When savage injustice strikes, the youths team-up as deputies, but Billy's demand for justice takes them beyond the law where they are hunted as an outlaw gang.

"Young Guns" (1988) is an excellent 'modern' Western that sticks pretty close to history. The anachronistic 80's pop rock score wasn't as bad or prevalent as I remembered and, besides, it's mixed with some more traditional Western music, usually "live" stuff performed in the scenes, like banjo, guitar, and so on. The movie is realistic if you can roll with certain things done for dramatic effect. The amazing true-life story is brought to action-packed life by a great cast (also featuring Terence Stamp, Jack Palance, Brian Keith and Patrick Wayne) with excellent performances and potent dramatic scenes, like Chavez's notable venting sequence).

Not only are the characters fleshed out, but the flick entertains with one great scene after another. For instance, the way Billy handles a traitor in their midst, not to mention Sheriff Brady and an arrogant bounty hunter at a bar. Then there's the wild Buckshot Roberts sequence, Billy's two encounters with Pat Garrett, and the thrilling showdown at the house.

If you have the DVD or Blu-ray, be sure to catch the excellent 30-minute documentary on the real-life Billy the Kid for comparison to the movie and its sequel.

Speaking of the sequel, 1990's "Young Guns II" is almost as good and better in some ways (for instance, there's more rollicking action and a superior score, not to mention Jenny Wright as Jane Greathouse). It's mandatory because it shows the rest of the story - the hiring of Pat Garrett to chase down the gang and put an end to it by taking Billy out. It also sticks pretty close to history, but takes some understandable licenses (both Doc and Chavez lived to be old men, 80 and 72 respectively).

It runs 1 hour, 47 minutes, and was shot in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, with the town of Los Cerrillos redressed to pass for 1878.

GRADE: A-