This is How Movies Should Be Made

Such a frustrating disappointment

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

It could be something worthy to laugh about knowing that the young pedigreed performers from the Hollywood industry would be seen wearing Western gear and sporting cowboy duds. However, the idea by director Christopher Cain and script writer John Fusco tied in with a more authentic feeling of the frontier characters that were portrayed in 'Young Guns" from 1988. This serves as an indication of what young outlaws and enforcers had to go up against during a time where they only key thing to do is survive. As a trivial fact, Billy The Kid was only 22 when he died. Like these pedigreed upstarts, the many gunslingers in the Old West were trained to fight from childhood. Therefore, it was spot on that the principal cast were hungry youthful individuals making names for themselves. "Young Guns" strives to set its sight on delivering an accurate portrayal of the old frontier, however, the main premise is to focus on the life of William Bonney who would later mark his name as Billy the Kid. We see the evolution of Billy the Kid (an energetic Emilio Estevez) back when he was an apprentice to philanthropist John Turnstall (Terence Stamp) who was raising an elite of young fighters in adapting to the dangers the living conditions of the old west. When Turnstall is killed, the gang turn to the trustworthy Billy the Kid for leadership, thus the bloody hunger for revenge comes into fruition. The rest of the gunners include Doc Scurlock (Kiefer Sutherland), Jose Chavez (Lou Diamond Philips), Dirty Steve Stephens (Dermot Mulroney), Charlie Bowre (Casey Siemaszko) and Dick Brewer (Charlie Sheen). During the bloody trail, they go trough some familiar conflicts in their personal lives that will likely roll your eyes, but that burden is upstaged by really memorable scenes. While there's a lack of creating an original characterization of Billy the Kid as an energetic psychopath, Estevez does give his character a more natural modern-day approach. Billy is not that far from Estevez's previous character from the film "Repo Man". The scenes that were downers comes from Sutherland's scenes where Doc falls in love with an Oriental lady and wants to abandon the group. Cain does successfully capture the moments which the battles and shooting action takes place that's filled with graphic violence and fever-pitch energy. The memorable scene where Billy the Kid goes on a rampage and kills a few captured antagonists showcases just how messed up and dangerous this character truly is. Another memorable scene is where he brings down a potential bounty hunter that goes down with a tad of black humour. Director Cain must got the knack of getting a feeling for the Western genre. From the accents, to the clothing, to the settings and to the lingo that the characters have utilized along the way through each scene. In addition to that he has hired many familiar faces who have been in Westerns over the years including Jack Palance as the evil despicable Murphy (who could play evil better?), In addition to that, Patrick Wayne (son of Western icon John Wayne) has a cameo as Pat Garrett, the lawman who killed Billy the Kid. Sure it has a reminiscent of the old Westerns he father starred in back in the 1950's, but John Wayne would've easily killed these pampered heroes blindfolded. It's pretty weird for me to say this, but when the sequel came out, "Young Guns II", I thought that film was more improved due to the energetic direction from New Zealand born director Geoff Murphy. But if you like Westerns with a Billy the Kid character upgraded to fit the style of the 1980's then this movie is something or you to enjoy.

Released in 1988 and directed by Christopher Cain, "Young Guns" stars Emilio Estevez as Billy the Kid, 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 their hunger for justice takes them beyond the law wherein they must be hunted as an outlaw gang. Jack Palance, Brian Keith and Patrick Wayne are also on hand.This is an excellent "modern" Western that sticks pretty close to history. The relatively lame 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, etc. The movie is realistic with an amazing true-life story brought to action-packed life by a great cast with excellent performances and potent dramatic scenes (like, for instance, Chavez's notable venting sequence).Be sure to catch the excellent 30-minute documentary on the real-life Billy the Kid on the DVD for comparison to the events in "Young Guns" and the sequel.Speaking of which, 1990's "Young Guns II" is almost as good and is 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 (e.g. Pat Garrett was never a member of Billy's gang).The film runs 107 minutes and was shot in New Mexico and Old Tucson, Arizona.GRADE: A-

The main selling-points of Young Guns are the incredibly compelling story of Billy the Kid and its very talented cast- actors like Kiefer Sutherland, Terrence Stamp and Jack Palance promises a lot. While it is a long way from flawless, this viewer did find themselves liking Young Guns a good deal.Young Guns does have its problems. The hard-rock soundtrack is incredibly jarring, can sound cheap and doesn't fit at all within the film, a lot of the film goes at a fast pace and the music sounded somewhat pedestrian at times. The storytelling does become a little less involving and quite ridiculous in the last third, where it also loses the momentum that the rest of the film has. Pacing is also a touch chaotic in places, and while he does what he can Charlie Sheen is badly wasted, his underwritten role doing little for his talents.However, Young Guns is a good-looking film, with handsome scenery, evocative costumes and some clever, stylish filming. The dialogue is very witty and funny, the film blisters in the action with a tense and exciting if rather far-fetched somewhat climactic shootout and while it does butcher history the story is compelling and goes at a breakneck pace. While it entertain in the comedy, excites in the action and rouses as a Western, there are some nice dramatic moments, Lou Diamond Phillips' scene where he tells of the slaughter of his family is the film's most heartfelt scene. The relationship between Billy and Doc is also very well done, providing a lot of heart and funny moments. . Christopher Cain's direction is crisp and efficient, his decision to do the action in first-person comes over more than effectively.Very good cast too, there have been mixed reactions to the performances quality, for me it was one of Young Guns' biggest strengths. There were initial reservations as to whether Emilio Estevez was too modern and too nice for Billy, but he is cool, fun and likable with a touch of sassiness in the role, and is closer in age to most other actors who have portrayed Billy. Kiefer Sutherland has one of the most strongest written characters in the film, and is remarkably poetic in this film, a pleasant change from the usual roles he takes on. Lou Diamond Phillips does overact quite broadly in places, but does mostly act with real soul and poignancy, especially in the aforementioned scene. Casey Siemaszko is also very affecting, when he overcomes his fear it came over very emotionally. Dermont Mulroney has some good intensity without going overboard, and he is very amusing as well. In lesser roles, Terrence Stamp is a sympathetically and touchingly played and tragic father-type of figure, and Jack Palance is perfectly cast as Murphy (a rather one-dimensional role but Palance does much with it, and is genuinely menacing without trying too hard. Brian Keith is memorable in his short appearance.Overall, not a flawless film in any shape or form and won't work for everybody but on its own terms it was a very entertaining film. 7/10 Bethany Cox

William H. 'Billy the Kid' Bonney (Emilio Estevez) has trouble with the law. John Tunstall (Terence Stamp) takes him in just as he has done with several other young men. They call themselves Regulators. One day, Tunstall is killed by his competitor rancher Murphy (Jack Palance)'s men. Sheriff reluctantly deputizes the Regulators to bring the murderers to justice. However, that's just the start of an all out war.This is the best Brat Pack western. Emilio Estevez goes nuts in this movie. His manic laugh makes this movie. Oddly, Charlie Sheen plays the reasonable leader of the group. Kiefer Sutherland falls for Murphy's china doll Yen Sun. Lou Diamond Phillips is the Indian. Casey Siemaszko and Dermot Mulroney round out the Regulator crew. History be damn. This is fictional. Although there are some famous names for the characters. This is just a bunch of young guns having fun playing cowboys.