Young Guns | | Cast : | Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney, Casey Siemaszko | | Director : | Christopher Cain | | Studio : | Lions Gate Home Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | August 12, 1988 | | DVD Released Date : | February 17, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | May 24, 2005 | | Summary | Young Guns (1988) | Content
 | In 1988, The Brat Pack had been getting around an awful lot. We all know that The Brat Pack had included Kiefer Sutherland, Sean Penn, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Esteves, Charlie Sheen, Rob Lowe, and Johnny Depp. Well, for Christopher Cain's 1988 film entitled, YOUNG GUNS, three of the B.P. members, Emilio Esteves, Charlie Sheen, and Kiefer Sutherland had teamed up with Durmont Mulroney and Lou Diamond Phillips as BILLY, THE KID's gang.
WILLIAM H. "Billy, The Kid" BONNEY (played by Emilio Esteves) is a vicious outlaw in 1800s west, who slowly assembles a gang, that consists of JOSIAH GORDON "DOC" SCURLOCK (played by Kiefer Sutherland), JOSE CHAVEZ Y CHAVEZ (played by Lou Diamond Phillips), RICHARD BREWER (played by Charlie Sheen, brother of Emilio Esteves), DIRTY STEVE STEPHENS (played by Durmont Mulroney), & CHARLIE BOWDRE (played by Casey Siemaszko) . This gang is then turned into a group of male models with six guns.
I had seen this film only once and that was years ago. So, I do not remember this movie. But I do remember that I did enjoy the film to a certain extent. Kiefer, Charlie, and Emilio were great, but to me, Kiefer will always be the star of each movie he is in, whether starring a the lead role or starring in the supporting role. This movie, from what I remember, which is very little, almost nothing, was pretty worth watching. I'll have to buy a copy and watch it from beginning to end. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 11, 2005 | | Summary | How The West Was Young | Content
| Looking around my local DVD retailer's bargain bin, I recently came across Young Guns, and while it's by no means my favorite western (for those see Unforgiven and Tombstone), it does have enough action and scenery chewing to be worthwhile.
Based on the famed exploits of one of the youngest and most popular outlaws in history, Willam H. Bonney, aka Billy the Kid (Emilio Estevez). British ranch owner John Tunstall (Terence Stamp) recruits young men off the streets, provides them with food and shelter while teaching them to read and write. Tunstall is also a competitor of rich ranch owner Lawrence Murphy (Jack Palance), and when Tunstall refuses to sell his land to Murphy, he is brutally murdered by Murphy's men. The group of young men--Bonney, Surlock (Kiefer Sutherland), Chevez (Lou Diamond Philips), Brewer (Charlie Sheen), Stephens (Dermot Mulroney), and Bowdre (Casey Siemaszko) under Tunstall's care are then made lawmen called The Regulators, and have sworn to bring the murderers to justice. But Billy has his own plans for the men who killed their father-figure - gun them down, one by one. Due to Billy's actions, The Regulators are soon branded outlaws, wanted dead or alive.
Director Christopher Cain takes full advantange of his then still rising stars and their popularity. Giving them lots of time to shoot off their mouths as well as the guns in their holsters. The script by John Fusco captures the flavor of the old west--while giving the story a late 80's spin. Sure, it's by the numbers, but so what. The 6 male leads have great on screen chemistry with each other. This is especially true of real life bothers Sheen and Estevez, who worked together here, for the first time. I have always enjoyed watching Stamp and Palance, who both have quite a knack for hamming it up when called for.
The DVD has a fun audio commentary with Phillips, Mulroney, and Siemaszko. This gives the actors a chance to detail each characters backstory, much of which, didn't make the final film. The director's perspective is missed, as are all of the deleted scences the guys mentioned. The trvia subtitle track gives historical, cast, and filming info that makes for fun if you like the movie. I also enjoyed the 30 minute background documentary that follows the real life story of Billy the Kid. From his humble birth, life of murder and crime, through to his violent end. While not at all related to the making of the film, it's well produced nice to see. The film's original theatrical trailer, as well as those for other Artisan releases, and 8 page production booklet caps off the extras.
Young Guns is flawed fun that works, thanks to some straight shooting in front of and behind the camera.
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| Rating | | | Date | December 29, 2004 | | Summary | An outstanding Western revival! | Content
| I really don't understand the standards people are holding this film up to. Does every Western have to be on the level of "Unforgiven" to be a good Western? Following that line of thought, if a basketball team drafted a player who wasn't quite as good as Michael Jordan, I suppose they should dump the player and start from scratch! Does every film have to have a "message"?
I must admit, before I first saw "Young Guns", I believed it would be a bunch of nonsense due to the cast. Afterwards, I felt thoroughly entertained. Of course, the film isn't going to follow Billy the Kid's life down to the letter. Then again, I don't think the film depicts him as some great hero, either. Both sides of the Lincoln County War were guilty of plenty. There are several spots where he easily could have spared someone's life but didn't, or not shown so much joy in killing, but did so anyway. The film is just shown largely from Billy the Kid's point of view.
As with virtually all films based on actual people and events, liberties are taken. Having read three different biographies on Billy the Kid, I can say they didn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the film. Some criticize it for the youthfulness of the characters, but who would they have rather seen as the 19-to-21 year old Billy the KID? Jack Nicholson? If anything, Emilio Estevez was too OLD to play the part. As for another reviewer who disputed whether Billy was at one time deputized and part of the regulators, well, that is a part of the film that is based on fact, as were some of the reasons the Lincoln county war escalated to the extent it did. The final showdown actually involved more regulators in real life than in the movie, the makers just cut down the number of Billy's allies for dramatic effect.
Ironically, this film was closer to the facts than most, if not all, of previous Billy-the-Kid based films. Of course, its no "Unforgiven" or "Wild Bunch"; but if that's a viewer's standard for film-watching, they're missing out on quite a few entertaining movies. Sometimes, one prefers having a cheeseburger instead of caviar.
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| Rating | | | Date | August 23, 2004 | | Summary | A Flavorful Bubble Gum Western | Content
| Christopher Cain directed this adaptation of the Billy The Kid story starring Emilio Estevez, Keiffer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, and Lou Diamond Phillips. More bubble gum than anything else, it's a good film to blow bubbles with until it goes stale.
In this version, Billy The Kid (Estevez) finds his way into a half-way house with other young derelicts (Sutherland, Sheen, Phillips, et al.) under the protection of a polished English patron. After their patron is killed by a competing cattle baron (Jack Palance)and the town's corrupt sheriff, Billy is out for revenge. Carrying out his vengeance with a little too much zeal, Billy The Kid and his friends are marked as outlaws and must live on the run to survive.
Not a terribly great film but it has some good scenes such as the gunfights and the band's peyote experience. The film is more concerned with advancing the careers of its stars than presenting a classic western to the likes of 'The Wild Bunch'. As with chewing bubble gum, you enjoy that fruity taste and blow those big bubbles only for a little while until their gone. Don't expect too much out of this film and you won't be disappointed. A fun film to rent or to watch infrequently for laughs. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 19, 2004 | | Summary | an apology for a western that is not authentic | Content
| I always thought of this film as a western for young people. I don't understand the "brat pack" label. Are all young actors from the 80's members? Because Emilio Estevez is the lead actor, is the whole therefore considered tainted? Is Repo Man similarly tainted and deemed worthless? I could give some pretty friggin' nasty labels to some John Wayne films I've seen. Must a film induce a coma to be considered classic? Is Die Hard a classic or just a decadent 80's action film? And please don't tell me there's such a thing as a thinking man's western. Is Young Guns not a quality western since it lacks some vacuous, ponderous shots of deserts with a raspy-voiced squinty eyed god-fearing fat alcoholic moron squinting into the sun and speaking like a disgruntled janitor about how he's going to get his revenge on someone who done wronged him? I always thought Young Guns was exciting and funny with a cast of youthfuls who make the 'mistake' of acting youthful in front of the screen. And as for Terrence Stamp? He's friggin' horrible! He gets blown off the screen literally and for which this viewer is eternally grateful. The only other actor miscast is Charlie Sheen. The rest of the cast is great. Certainly Keifer Sutherland, Casey Siemasko, and Dermot Mulroney are actors who don't deserve to be lumped with the likes of Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy. And if Emilio Esteves isn't quite as brilliantly one-dimensional as Clint Eastwood, he at least creates some emotions for his character. And Jack Palance is comically unhinged as the film's true psychotic. If John Wayne were in this film he would be a bearded bad guy who gets his brains blown out. And that's the way it should be. For this is a late 80's western and there is no other western like it. And one final word: why is it American films (particularly westerns) are always judged based on films that came before. Granted, art is always influence by other art. But in this case the comparisons don't make sense. Young Guns is influenced by some westerns, but in execution, tone, and style it is a complete original. It deserves mention with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time In the West, My Darling Clementine, One-Eyed Jacks, Johnny Guitar, The Long Riders, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Tombstone as one of the great westerns. But if you're over 21 just go get hammered and watch TNT to get your weekly western fix you friggin' republican. |
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