Young Guns *** (1988, Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Lou Diamond Phillips, Kiefer Sutherland, Dermot Mulroney, Casey Siemaszko) – Classic Movie Review 6492

Director Christopher Cain and writer John Fusco score a huge success in 1988 in reviving the Western genre for a young audience, with youth appeal proving the key. On a budget of $13 million, it grossed more than $45 million in the US. Who said the Western was dead?

It proves to have the right stars in Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Lou Diamond Phillips and Kiefer Sutherland, who ride out for vengeance on Lawrence G Murphy (Jack Palance), the man responsible for the murder of their protector/boss John Tunstall (Terence Stamp).

The Eighties Brat Packers are packing pistols in this surprise yuppie Eighties Western, a kind of The Naughty Bunch rather than The Wild Bunch, in which a much too-modern Eighties Estevez steals the show with his full-blooded impersonation of Billy the Kid, even though his brother Sheen (as Richard ‘Dick’ Brewer) seems more at home on the range.

It also stars Dermot Mulroney as Dirty Steve Stephens and Casey Siemaszko as ‘Charley’ Bowdre.

Also in the cast are Terry O’Quinn, Sharon Thomas, Geoffrey Blake, Alice Carter, Thomas Callaway, Lisa Banes, Sam Gauny, Cody Palance, Craig Erickson, Pat Lee and Forrest Broadley.

Veteran stars Palance, Brian Keith (as Buckshot Roberts) and Patrick Wayne (as ‘Pat’ Garrett) have just enough screen time to show the young guns that some of the old dogs still have all the best tricks.

However, though both the plot and the performance of Terence Stamp (in a Western! – remember Blue?) are fascinating, they strain credulity to the limit. Nevertheless it was popular enough for a sequel, Young Guns II, in 1990.

It’s an Eighties-style Western, and an adult one, so there is plenty of designer violence, with some swearing.

Tom Cruise has an uncredited cameo as Man Who Is Shot.

It is shot by Dean Semler, produced by John Fusco, Christopher Cain, James G Robinson and Joe Roth, scored by Anthony Marinelli and Brian Banks, and designed by Harold Thrasher.

It is shot at the Old Tucson Studios, Tucson, Arizona, and at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6492

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