Young Guns (1988) User Reviews (167)

So perfectly over the top

[bowmanblue · 8/10 · 26 June 2014]

Young Guns is one of my 'guilty pleasure' films. I don't know whether it's because I saw it as a young boy in the eighties and still have some nostalgia for it, or whether it's genuinely a good film. Either way... I love it.

It tells the (loose!) story of Billy the Kid, Doc Hollywood and co as they evade both the good guys and the bad guys as they go on their rampage of revenge when a corrupt land baron kills their mentor. Is it factually accurate? Who cares! It's just such good fun! Maybe it's the loud, overblown rock music (which is probably a little out of place when dealing with a 'wild west' film) that makes everything so cool, or perhaps it's the overused slow motion technique whenever an important gun fight takes place. Then of course you have Emilio Estevez at the height of his eighties fame, playing a completely manic (yet strangely endearing) anti-hero who shoots first and bares his bottom later.

I'm guessing that this is a guy's film; it has action, chases, rock music and slow motion. What more could a guy what when he has a beer in one hand and a sofa to sit it? Possibly a horse and a six-shooter, but the TV's remote control will have to suffice.

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Brat Pack Go West

[no-skyline · 7/10 · 2 June 2006]

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.

Still loved it in 2019.

[scubaseven · 8/10 · 22 June 2019]

Lots of great action, laughs, and suspense.

Emilio is brilliant as Billy.

Siemaszko, Estevez and Phillips make this show.

[Thornfield2 · 22 June 2001]

With a cast of six great actors (especially the three mentioned up above) you know you can't go wrong. Estevez was powerful and a dead ringer for Billy the Kid. He was fast, furious and he takes you on a wild ride from the moment he hits the screen (very beginning). His character didn't really sit still for a second and his sharp wit and devilish humor are masked well underneath his thirst for revenge and blood. I also believe that he had a need for power and this was entwined well with the other facets of the character. Phillps was truly incredible as the spiritual leader of the team, who had a serious bone to pick. I really saw true talent being performed in the scenes where he painted his face black and guides the others in a spiritual journey. He also especially eminates this talent at the end where he talks about the attack on his family. However, I think the finest performance of the pack goes to Casey Siemaszko's Charlie Bowdre. Almost an innocent, laid back character in the beginning, you see each of his layers peal away until you see an amazing sequence of emotions. Ranging from a good humored farm hand, to a lonely vigilante, to a newly wed to a soldier of justice and then finally in the end giving everything he has to obtain some justice. Amazing. It's a shame he's not more recognized in the eyes of Hollywood today. 8.5 out of 10.

Lots of great stars = entertaining movie

[Agent10 · 7/10 · 11 July 2002]

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.

Not bad, not bad at all

[grahamsj3 · 7/10 · 1 January 2003]

This film stars many of the fine young actors that are coming of age today. They were good in this film. This film is primarily about youth and how it can be lost so quickly, so easily. All of these guys became men too young and lost their chance for youth. And they paid for it. This is also about good and evil. Emelio Estevez is excellent as the more or less evil Billy the Kid. He and the others (Keifer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Lou Diamond Phillips are given a chance to become "good" after straying from the right path. When their benefactor is murdered, they seek revenge and they get it "their way", and in the process, become wanted men. The acting is the strength here, not the story. These young guns grew up to become great actors, every one of them. This is an excellent example of their best early work.

Never intended to be a rival to Leone, Young Guns is a fun ride with likable performances.

[axlrhodes · 8/10 · 19 June 2008]

Its easy to pass off Young Guns as an eager to please piece of throwaway rock video style entertainment aimed at the younger demographic but that would be unfair.The thing is,it knows what it wants to be and it does it very well.The young cast all perform with great fun and energy thus enriching the film immeasurably.They are well supported by Jack Palance and Terrence Stamp who bring weight to proceedings, particularly Palance who seems to revel in his hammy role.Emilio Estevez's interpretation of Billy The Kid is a great watch too,his realisation of the character may be a million miles from the reality but when there's this much fun being had on screen,who cares!? The music in the film is a little jarring in places,electric guitars screaming Van Halen style over a western horse chase feel very much out of place but its never distracting enough to take you out of the fun. So in summary Young Guns is a western that wants to entertain you and I say it succeeds well.It was never intended to be a Sergio Leone classic western,just a fun ride with characters you can root for.On that level,it is a triumph.

History is shot down once again

[jhammond59 · 7/10 · 3 May 2006]

I was somewhat surprised to see the Lincoln County War portrayed as accurately as it was, even though there were a number of historical inaccuracies. Since I'm doing extensive research on the Lincoln County War for a novel about same, I expected to gag often at historical lapses, but the screenplay by John Fusco stays reasonably close to the historical record. Of course the historical record has produced many conflicting interpretations as I soon discovered.

The choice to make Billy a psychopathic killer, whether by Emilio Estevez's interpretation or the director's is not well supported by historical facts, but Emilio's insane giggle after each killing strongly suggests it.

In the context of the times, within a lawless county that at the time was as large as Connecticutt, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont combined, men often settled things with a gun and violence, and Billy was definitely a product of those times.

One glaring mistake, and one made often in Billy the Kid movies was John Tunstall's real age, which was 24, not 55 as Terrence Stamp (I'm being charitable) appears to be in the film. While Billy was loyal to the man that gave him honest work, I don't think he'd be perceived as a father figure. Nonetheless, the scene at Tunstall's home where he asks Billy to read for him did portray the fact he was quite literate as his letters to Gov. Wallace prove.

The scene where Billy kills Henry Hill in the outhouse is pure fabrication. There was a Tom Hill that rode with Jessie Evans, but he was killed later by an Cherokee Indian when Tom and Jessie tried to rob a sheep drover, John Wagner. Legend did have Billy responsible, but most accounts tagged the notorious Jessie Evans for that mishap.

The Five Day Battle, one of the most famous in the west, was done reasonable well. Col Dudley did get involved in the fray, and brought a six pounder howitzer and a Gatling Gun with him. His intent, while he denied it was to "even the odds", which meant to give the Murphy-Dolan gang a 2 to 1 advantage. However, the gun was NOT used to kill McSween, but to intimidate McSween's men housed in two other buildings in Lincoln.

McSween was killed trying to escape the conflagration, but had waited too long after Billy led a diversion to draw their fire. Many of the soldiers were shown also firing at the McSween home, but little evidence supports that possibility. However, Dudley's positioning of his men alongside Dolan's made it impossible for McSweens's men to return fire for fear of hitting a soldier that would have resulted in Dudley firing his cannon and Gatling Gun.

Also, on this point, the soldiers of Fort Stanton would have been hard pressed not to get involved with all the guns going off. These were battle tested veterans, many of whom knew Murphy and Dolan as they both were mustered out at Fort Stanton, and Murphy had a store at the fort years earlier and no doubt got drunk with some of them.

The character of L. G. Murphy was perfectly cast with Jack Palance. You never had any doubt this was a bad dude. However, at the time of the battle, Murphy suffered from Cancer of the bowels, and was singlehandedly drinking up his saloon's profits. Dolan was by then the man in charge, and an even nastier man than his ex-boss.

The one point of departure that had me completely aghast was the needless peyote scene. Unless, true to the times, we had to have a "drug scene", where were they going with this? Others have commented on the music, and I must say, when playing the DVD in its intro mode, the replaying of that dreadful song is enough to make one hit the mute button. One of the extras that I appreciated is a documentary of Billy the Kid, which does correct some of the deviations in the movie.

One place they did get things right was in the characterization of Buckshot Roberts by the late Brian Keith, one of my favorites. Buckshot got his name from a load of same that shattered his shoulder making it impossible for him to raise his rifle above his waist and Keith mimicked that perfectly.

There were other inaccuracies to be sure, but I have covered the most glaring. And of course most of you are not watching this as western history, I trust. Faults aside, this is still one of the most realistic and accurate portraits of the 1870's in New Mexico.

One of the Most Underrated Westerns Ever

[Challenger2013 · 9/10 · 14 June 2015]

Here is one of the most underrated Western films of all time. What we have here is the untold story of "The Regulators," led by the infamous Billy the Kid (Emilio Estevez). The film follows the group of six young men (none of them over 21 years old, but they all look like they're 25 or 30.) The story is quite simple; their guardian is murdered, and they are deputized to find the suspects and bring them in. When Billy goes on a killing spree of the murderers, the boys are on the run from the law themselves.

The great effect of this film is how it mixes exciting Western action with comedy and boyish charm. Each actor plays their part as it is meant to be played, nothing special but still exceptional. Each character also has their defining traits that make them individually likable. One of the most lovable is Doc (Kiefer Sutherland) who is great with the steel, but also claims to be a poet, even though all of his poems are slightly tweaked versions of classic poems by acclaimed authors. Lastly, we are given a wonderful, almost-evil villain played wonderfully by the Western legend, Jack Palance.

This film, being made just before the 1990s, contains new comedic elements for the genre, but is also quite relatable to the classic, beloved Westerns of earlier decades. It doesn't look like other 1980s films aesthetically; it looks more like a technicolor 1950s Western, and it is very refreshing. The film is not necessarily under-watched by Western fans, but does not receive the acclaim it deserves. It's easily one of the most fun Westerns of the last three or four decades.

Interesting modern western relies a little too heavily on cliche

[bobc-5 · 6/10 · 18 July 2001]

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.

Young Guns going for it!

[Prismark10 · 3/10 · 15 March 2015]

Young Guns was the brat pack western starring some of the brat packers of the late 1980s, well a few were deemed to be seen as rising stars such as Dermot Mulroney and Casey Siemaszko.

The rest are more bona fide brat packers such as Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Lou Diamond Phillips, Kiefer Sutherland accompanied by a rock score. However there is also room for western veterans like Jack Palance and Brian Keith.

Estevez is the hot headed Billy the Kid who became regulators when their boss (Terence Stamp) is murdered by Palance's gang.

Now when the film came out some critics were rather sniffy about the film and you have to applaud the movie for shaking the genre up a bit. However it is bewildering silly as well. In the shootout with Brian Keith in the latrine, well they could had just gone round the side to attack him and even from behind. Maybe they needed a reason to write Charlie Sheen out of the movie a third of the way through as he was in demand as an actor at the time.

There is also the silly scene where the characters get high which now looks laughable. Estevez character is supposedly to be fiercely loyal to his slain boss but also appears to be psychotic.

I remember liking the film a lot when it first came out but now it looks dismal. You end up thinking why does Stamp's character want to surround himself with young lost men.

Sutherland's poetic character comes off best but even his romance with the Chinese ward of Palance looks rather odd.

A pack of young stars take on the western legend known as Billy the Kid.

[Mickey-2 · 8/10 · 6 July 2007]

The year is 1870 and the place is Lincoln County in New Mexico territory. A young William H. Bonney is rescued from a possible hanging by John Tunstall, who befriends the youth and makes him part of the family of young guns known as Regulators. This puts Billy in the midst of a territorial dispute between Tunstall and the Santa Fe Ring, led by Lawrence G. Murphy, villainously portrayed by Jack Palance. Another western legend, Pat Garrett, is played by Patrick Wayne, the son, of course, of John Wayne.

After the killing of Tunstall by Murphy's henchmen, the Regulators and Billy hit on all cylinders in extracting revenge for the slaughter of their benefactor. The Regulators are branded as outlaws, and the "legal forces" of Murphy attempt to pare them down to nothing. This leads to a final shootout on the streets of Lincoln, and very few of the original Regulators escape, which leads to the sequel of "Young Guns," appropriately called "Young Guns II." The cast of young and upcoming Hollywood stars include Emilio Estevez as Billy, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Lou Diamond Phillips, Casey Siemaszko, and Dermot Mulroney.

One final note: the DVD includes as part of its special features section a Trivia Track, which flashes western facts and information about the stars or the characters being portrayed on screen without detracting from the viewing of the film. This is worth seeing and owning.

A semi-successful attempt to revitalise the western genre for a 1980s audience.

[barnabyrudge · 6/10 · 17 December 2006]

Young Guns is one of the only Hollywood westerns made during the 1980s, where it sits solitarily alongside the likes of Pale Rider and Silverado. By this time, the general public perception was that westerns had nothing new to offer. However, in this bloodthirsty and fast-paced retelling of the Billy The Kid legend, script-writer John Fusco and director Christopher Cain manage to find a few new angles. By populating their film with hot young talent, then cranking up the violence-levels like some modern retread of The Wild Bunch and underscoring the film with a pulsating rock soundtrack, the makers have found a reasonably effective way of breathing fresh life into a tired old story.

Idealistic rancher John Tunstall (Terence Stamp) harbours a plan to recruit the wild and reckless youths of the Wild West to work on his Nebraska ranch. By showing them the care and patience they've never known, he soon gets these seemingly undesirable youths to become conscientious and hard-working ranch-hands, and even provides them with enough basic education to read and write. The plan falls apart when a rival rancher, Lawrence G. Murphy (Jack Palance), hires a gang of desperadoes to kill Tunstall. Following his death, Tunstall's young workers are determined to avenge their mentor. Initially they set about gaining their revenge legally, working as dedicated deputies out to nail those responsible for his murder. But their approach to the job proves so violent and trigger-happy that they themselves are quickly branded as outlaws. Under the leadership of the most hot-headed of their number William Bonney (Emilio Estevez), the youths leave a trail of corpses across the west as they track down their enemies. Soon Bonney earns the nickname Billy The Kid, and he and his gang of "young guns" become the most feared gunslingers around, hunted by the law and the lawless alike.

Young Guns helped to launch quite a few careers. Estevez had already done some decent films prior to this one (Repo Man, The Breakfast Club and Stakeout spring to mind), but this was the first time that he was given the opportunity to grab a role by its throat. Among the many others making a name for themselves are the likes of Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulrooney and Casey Siemaszko. Meanwhile, seasoned old pros like Stamp and Palance provide the kind of expert support that they've done throughout their careers. While the pounding rock score and Brat-pack casting might provoke head-aches among western purists, it makes the film lively and energetic. The shootouts become increasingly stylized as the film draws to its blood-spraying conclusion. This stylization might be off-putting for some, but for others it adds to the film's sense of confident, over-the-top enjoyment. Young Guns is a fairly successful action film which definitely puts the "wild" back into the "west".

The people rating this highly must be crazy

[jjk488-1 · 3/10 · 24 January 2023]

I think this is a perfect example of a movie that has aged very poorly. I'm sure if you were it's target audience around the time it was released you might have enjoyed it a lot more, but as for me this just came off as a really goofy movie with some really cheesy acting loaded with what would have been contemporary music and effects for a late 80's movie. The end result just feels like one of the worst examples of a 80's era butchering of a classic genre. I mean they managed to make some good westerns back then, don't get me wrong, but this isn't one of them. I think the whole "brat pack" 80's celebrity connection must have a lot to do with why it's got a cult fanbase.

Revisionist and contemporary study about William Bonney, alias Billy the Kid

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 6 September 2008]

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.

Good teenage western from the 80's

[Maziun · 6/10 · 23 February 2014]

This western was obviously aimed at the teenage audience , but it's not a bad thing. It's actually a quite refreshing take. The main heroes are young and not certain of their actions . The movie does reminds sometimes a music video (the opening credits , the final shootout) and the rock guitar solos work really well as the soundtrack.

Emilio Estevez ("Stakeout") , Charlie Sheen ("Major league") , Kiefer Sutherland ("The Lost boys") and Lou Diamond Philips ("Stand and deliver") all give nice performances. Their characters aren't really complex , pretty much one note , but they managed to make them likable and interesting. Estevez gets the most attention , since his Billy The Kid is the most interesting of them – irresponsible hothead , typical "shot first , then ask questions" guy. Sheen is a calm and religious guy , Sutherland is a mild mannered poet and Philips is a mysterious Indian. There are also two other characters played by Casey Siemaszko and Delmot Mulroney , but they aren't really interesting. Last , but not least there is a good performance by Jack Palance ("Batman") as the villain.

This is pretty much a action movie , but also a story about friendship and loyalty. I think it's a little weaker than other westerns from the 80's like "Tom Horn" , "Pale rider" and "Silverado" . Still , it's a satisfying movie that might be enjoyable even by people who usually don't like westerns. I give it 6/10.

Pals

[lavaside-60237 · 8/10 · 5 August 2020]

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

Regulators... Mount up!

[one9eighty · 6/10 · 24 February 2021]

The first time I watched "Young Guns", in the early 1990's, it impressed me. It was like watching the cool kids of the wild west making up the rules as they went. With the cast that the film brought there was a rat-pack/brat-pack feel to it too with the likes of Estevez, Sheen, and Sutherland in it. Re-watching the film as a more 'mature' audience (rather than a teenager), some of that rule-breaking cool that the characters brought then, in particularly Estevez's William H. Bonney (a.k.a. Billy the Kid), now seems less cool, and more petulant and annoying. I will get into that some more later though.

The film starts off with Terence Stamp's John Tunstall and Kiefer Sutherland's Doc Scurlock picking up a bad-boy runaway, Estevez's Billy the Kid. Tunstall gives a home, education, and purpose to outcasts that aren't necessarily friends of the law. When Billy joins up, Tunstall already has a 6-man posse of riff-raff on his staff. When the kids aren't helping around the farm they are regulating, and they "regulate any stealing of his property" (I'm not quoting Warren G's anthem, the G-man samples the film in his "Regulators" song). So basically, the kids aren't just there to work the farm and learn a purpose, they are hired guns and muscles that can protect Tunstall and his interests. When Tunstall is gunned down by Lawrence Murphy's gang, who Tunstall has been in competition with, the 'young guns' are begrudgingly deputized in order to bring the outlaws responsible to justice. Unfortunately, the west is still wild, and as the roam Lincoln County in New Mexico, not all the young guns have the same idea of justice. "Dick" (Sheen) wants to arrest the responsible outlaws, while Billy's justice is execution. This puts the gang on the wrong side of the law and end up being wanted men - so they make a run for it. Again, not everybody is happy with doing a runner, especially when vengeance for Tunstall and their friends hasn't been served properly.

The casting for this film was eye-candy to 80's audiences. Most of the main stars had been in big hits before they were assembled in this western action film. They all do a decent job in delivering their performances, and for the most part I do not have much beef. One of the things I did have a slight issue with is that they were all supposed to be under the age of 20-years. This however is Hollywood of the 1980's and quite often audiences were told somebody was a teen, even when they had 5-o'clock shadow and crow's feet.

The standout among the group is Emilio Estevez in the starring role of Billy the Kid. As a teenager watching this film, I thought he was cool and always seemed to push the boundaries of what was acceptable. As a much older viewer nowadays, my opinions have changes slightly. These days the character would warrant a slap and be sent to bed with no supper. The choices he made constantly got the group into trouble, and in some instances, it got them dead too. This is the wild west though - and from reviews and studies I have read there seemed to be a lot of historical accuracy in the performances and characters.

Some reviews have suggested that the way this film played out was closer to what happened in the Lincoln County War than other films before it, the notable exception is the John Wayne film "Chisum" from 1970. In fact, some commentators have said that, with how accurate the characters were to real-life in "Young Guns", only the addition of a John Chisum character could have made it more authentic. Despite the plaudits the film got about certain historical element it got right, the film still plays fast and loose with other historical accuracies. Let's face it though - this is entertainment and not a documentary, there has to be some Hollywood embellishment here or it might not have appealed to the box office and grossed the $56 million that it did. Because of its success, despite how the film ends and the narration that mentions Billy the Kid's eventual demise, 1990 brought audiences a sequel in the form of the creatively titled "Young Guns 2".

From a technical point of view the film revamps and updates some of the more traditional elements you would expect to see in a classic western film. Camera work is good and there are some nice scenes shown. Some of the post-production and editing is a little cheesy, especially the end with the number of slow-motion shots that are played out - but its still fun. The wardrobe department did well to make the kids look cool but authentic too. And music, decent enough although its modernised a lot so make this the rock-and-roll version of a western films.

"Young Guns" as a whole is a fairly enjoyable film which has a decent pace and features some fun performances. It isn't going to be something that everybody enjoys, but it is good pulp-fiction to western fans. It is a buddy-road movie in a western style which is very much "ride of die", and "pals stick together like family". There have been better westerns in the past, better western films came after this too - but as a contribution from the 1980's, this is a decent enough entry with plenty of fun and 80's feels to it. If the likes of "Rooster Cogburn" (1975) is an acoustic guitar, and "A Fistful of Dollars" is a jazz trumpet, then "Young Guns" is definitely a 1980's flying-V heavy metal guitar with amps turned up to fuzz and crackle. But just like hair-metal of the 80's, this film isn't as fresh as it once was to me.

It grew on me and I grew up with it ...

[ElMaruecan82 · 9/10 · 17 December 2011]

It seems that the 80's were so flooded by the "Star Wars" and "Rocky" films, by Steven Spielberg's "Indiana Jones" and so many other blockbusters such as "Top Gun" or "Terminator" that it didn't leave much room for some little gems like "Biloxi Blues" or "Barfly" or let's say for the Western genre, "Young Guns" … one of my favorite westerns ever.

Maybe, I'm using 'one of' as an understatement, as if I was ashamed to say 'm favorite', but I am not, I just gained some maturity, I saw more westerns since the day I discovered "Young Guns", and I can understand why this movie didn't get much acclaim, especially if you consider the period, the 80's, when Eastwood the director was reconquering the genre, and through "Pale Rider" prepared the audience to a darker form of revisionist westerns. "Young Guns" with its youthful cast introduced by one my all-time favorite intros: Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Philips, Charlie Sheen, Casey Siemaczko and Dermot Mulroney, looks closer to the typical 80's film marketed for teenage audiences than a mature film meant to be taken seriously, on the surface only … because if you watch it, and decide to appreciate the film regardless of your personal tastes … well, I defy anyone not to be captivated by theses 100 minutes of pure entertainment.

Yes, even the dark "Pale Rider" pales in comparison with "Young Guns", because the latter doesn't overdo the archetypes of the genre, it has its load of thrills, of chases, shootouts, parties, romances, discussions BUT with something more that lacks even in the most acclaimed masterpieces of the genre : it has characters, a wonderful gallery of characters, who carry their personalities less than stereotypes than true human flows, with their motives, actions and reactions, and within the plot of the film, there are different arcs involving each of these characters, handled with such a confidence, that nothing ever feels forced or cliché, and at the end, each of them would ultimately change, making "Young Guns" more than a Western but also a sort of coming-of-age story, a genre cherished during the 80's. And of course, the biggest change will concern the leader of the bunch who'll become one of the most defining legends of the Old West.

As a kid, I grew up reading "The Adventures of Lucky Luke", a Franco-Belgian comic book set in the Old West, needless to say that I loved it so much, I was familiar with Billy the Kid, the stagecoaches, Jesse James, Calamity Jane, the Conquest of the West before I reached my tenth year, so I discovered "Young Guns" at the age of 13, with enough knowledge of the Old West to appreciate it and not enough of cinematic westerns to judge it impartially. And I'll never forget that night, when I saw it with my father, I didn't care much about the story until that young blondish guy introduced himself by "William Bonney" and the other said "Pat Garrett", I told my dad, "hey, it's Billy the Kid, and this is the guy who'll kill him" The movie took a whole new direction for me and it immediately grabbed my interest. And the rest didn't disappoint me.

"Young Guns" is a movie whose rooting process is slow but efficient, you definitely get into the story when the tutor, John Tunstall, remarkably played by Terrence Stamp, is killed by men who belongs to the cattle owner and biggest competitor, the evil Murphy, Jack Palance whose evil smirk hasn't lost its touch either. Then, the 'young guns' are mandated as 'regulators' to arrest the killers, then it all gets wrong when Billy, the previously underestimated newcomer makes this business personal. He makes himself an enemy through Dick, Charlie Sheen, the straight man of the bunch, who'll get killed as if fate wanted another kind of leader, and progressively, as blood is shed and guns are fired, we get into the others, Doc, Kiefer Sutherland as the poet in love with a little Chinese girl sold to Murphy for a dirty shirt, Chavez, Philips as the only surviving of a Navajo tribe killed by Murphy's men with the army as accomplice, and of course, his 'friend', the scene-stealing tobacco-chewing "Dirty" Steve.

But the one who touched my heart the most was Simeaczko as Charley Bowder, the nicest and most friendly (also cowardly) of the bunch. It was a nice touch for the story to have a character who doesn't react as a coldblooded killer but feels sick from the simple thought that he might be hanged, and his evolution is also one of the most rewarding aspects of the film, as I never fail to have goose bumps in the scene where he finally overcomes his fear and start getting into the shootout that concludes the film. And talking of the shootout, it's certainly one of my all-time favorite climactic sequences because I never saw the way it started coming and the amount of thrills is so great that at the end, me and my Dad, sorry, my Dad and me … could only wow, and I knew I had just watched one of the greatest films ever.

Yes, "Young Guns" became one of my all-time favorite films because of so many things, the extraordinary performance of Emilio Estevez, the difference between the characters and my rooting for each of them, the amazing shootout, the coming-of-age story and beyond everything, the emotional core of the film: a great message about solidarity and friendship, as mentioned by the concluding line of the film : "Pals", before followed by one hell of an amazing soundtrack.

So say what you want, it may not be the best Western ever made, it didn't get any Oscar nominations, but for some reason, it will forever have a special place in my heart.

Digging Up the Oldies

[gradyharp · 4 August 2011]

YOUNG GUNS is a nifty film to watch, not so much for the historical accuracy of the legend of Billy the Kid that it blatantly avoids, but for the obvious good time this cast of then young bucks had in working together. It may be difficult to realize that when this film was made (1988) these boys were in their twenties, some at the apex of their careers while others were still on the rise, and now they are hovering around 50. Sort of a baby boomer film. The story based on bits and pieces of the life of one of America's outlaw icons was written for the screen by John Fusco and was directed by Christopher Cain; it looks like an extended ad for Abercrombie and Fitch - and that's not necessarily a visual bad thing!

The story is set in 1878 and a gentleman by the name of John Tunstall (an elegant performance by Terrance Stamp) is an English cattleman who has gathered 'regulators' to guard his property - those Regulators being the studs, Josiah Gordon 'Doc' Scurlock (Kiefer Sutherland), "Jose; Chavez y Chavez (Lou Diamond Phillips), Richard 'Dick' Brewer (Charlie Sheen), Charles 'Charley' Bowdre (Casey Siemaszko), and the tobacco chaw chewing Dirth Steve Stephens (Dermot Mulroney). A 'new guy' comes on the scene, the handsome, winsome William H. 'Billy the Kid' Bonney (Emilio Estevez) and immediately attracts the attention of Tunstall who dresses him up and wins his affection. A neighboring cattleman Lawrence G. Murphy (Jack Palance) and his men are arch enemies with Tunstall and in time murder Tunstall, a deed that sets into action the killing spree that is the core of the film. Billy the Kid gains fame and his gang of 5 find favor in the eyes of the prairie people - a Robin Hood take on the story. And of course there is the encounter with Patrick Floyd 'Pat' Garrett (Patrick Wayne, son of John Wayne). It is a rootin' tootin' Western with some dialogue updating that somehow works coming form the mouths of the brat pack. A great movie? No, but it is an entertaining one and an homage to a period of time when these young actors had style - back then.

Grady Harp

Death is dealt and mocked by young guns.

[michaelRokeefe · 6/10 · 13 July 2003]

A brat pack resembling a "Wild Bunch" lets the bullets fly as Billy the Kid(Emilio Estevez)and his gang of "Regulators" are on the run into old Mexico where they are demi-legends. Action packed to say the least. Some fine performances turned in by some popular young stars:Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips and Charlie Sheen. Also in the cast are Patrick Wayne, Jack Palance and Terence Stamp. And an un-credited cameo by Tom Cruise. This shoot-em-up shoots the hell out of a lot of 'em out there. Duck and reload. You can almost smell the gun smoke. A terrific modern western about the late 1870s wild west.

Not a bad movie until the end

[indurain · 5/10 · 2 May 2013]

At the end of the movie, Billy and his gang are holed up in the house of their lawyer which is completely surrounded by hundreds of lawmen, bounty hunters, and the U.S Army. Even Doc says "Billy we're good, but this is getting ridiculous.".

After the house is set on fire, Chavez escapes and somehow sneaks right past the men outside. Billy and his gang exit the house guns a blazin' right in front of a Gatling gun the Army has brought which mysteriously is not used. Chavez rides back with 3 horses, rides right through the men outside, jumps the horses over a barricade, and Billy and Doc somehow manage to mount the horses and ride right through the men down the street with not one shot fired.

Then to top it all off, the lawyer emerges from the house and the Army pumps about 100 bullets into him with the same Gatling gun that for some reason they didn't use on Billy and his gang. It gets better, Billy then rides back, stops in the middle of the street, pops a cap into Murphy, and then rides off with no shots fired at him. Of course the gang then just rides off into the sunset, why would the US Army bother to pursue?

This was a ridiculous, unbelievable ending and completely ruined the entire movie.

"Regulators, Saddle Up"

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 5 August 2008]

This retelling of the Billy the Kid saga here and in the succeeding film, Young Guns II, is yet another fictionalized account of the doings in Lincoln County, New Mexico 1878-1879. One fine day we may get an accurate picture of the events.

Here though several young actors some of whom were labeled the Brat Pack and who were coming up roughly around the same time in the Middle Eighties got an opportunity to play some real life western characters. The names of the characters these guys play are real even though the story is highly fictionalized to the extent that not all of them died during the period both films show.

One reason I do like Young Guns is that it does show what is probably the most realistic portrayal of Billy the Kid. Forget Robert Taylor, Johnny Mack Brown, Paul Newman, when you see Emilio Estevez on the screen you are seeing the real Billy, basically a punk who was skilled enough to back up his brag.

Estevez rides with Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Dermot Mulroney, Casey Siemaszko, and brother Charlie Sheen. They are the 'regulators' who ride for John Tunstall the British rancher played here by Terrence Stamp.

It was the relationship between Tunstall and his young regulators that villain L.G. Murphy (Jack Palance) touches on. It's certainly led to speculation that these guys were some kind of a gay harem for Stamp. I certainly am not going to comment one way or the other because we just don't know. What's more cause for the animosity is that old country resentment of the English rulers.

What Young Guns essentially does is take the plot of the John Wayne classic Chisum and tell it from the Tunstall/Regulators point of view. Chisum himself is eliminated from the story, though he appears in Young Guns, II played briefly by James Coburn. So if you've seen that, you know what happens.

The young guys are great and Stamp and Palance provide a good pair of antagonists. Brian Keith is around for a memorable performance as Buckshot Roberts, a well known bounty hunter of the period.

Young Guns is a well done western with good editing at a pace that never drags. It's a modern classic not to be missed.

Emilio Estevez goes nuts

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 25 December 2013]

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.

The Brat Pack wanted to play cowboy...

[Mccadoo · 1/10 · 25 January 2012]

and the result was this abomination of a movie and butchering of history. Anyone who doesn't think this movie is drek should watch a real western, "The Unforgiven" or "Tombstone" or even "The Searchers" with John Wayne. This movie is just Charlie and Emilio and their buddies getting paid to ride horses, wear cool clothes, and play with guns.

Avoid it like the plague, along with the sequel (why???) and their other terrible outing, "The Three Musketeers" otherwise known as; the Brat Pack wanted to wear more cool costumes, play with swords and get paid for it. They're even less believable as Musketeers than they are as gunfighters.