BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

eric262003 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.

powermandan When people think of cowboys, they think John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. Any cowboy movie that does not have them has some other tough, rugged, mean-looking dude as the star and as co-stars. Young Guns breaks that rule and is still able to come out a fantastic western. I'm not just saying this because it was the first western I'd seen, I really do think this is one of the very best.Young Guns is pretty much the Brat Pack in the old west. Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney and Casey Siemazko play real life gunslingers: Billy the Kid, Doc Scurlock, Chavez Chavez, Dick Brewer, Steve Stephens, and Charley Bowdre. This is loosely based on a true story when ranch owner, John Tunstall (Stamp) takes the men (known as Regulators) under his wing to educate them and get them to protect his ranch. When crooked Murphy (Palance) murders Tunstall, the Regulators want revenge and justice to be done, but Billy the Kid's insanity causes a massive manhunt where the young men may not survive.Our leading actors may not be mean-looking, but they do provide a sense of brutality and great acting. Emilio Estevez looks like a child, but he delivers an Oscar-worthy role as the crazy Kid. Kiefer Sutherland plays a rare good guy who also does a great job. I'm surprised he didn't get many good guy roles after this. Casting directors probably disagree with me. Dermot Mulroney is the closest to a John Wayne/Clint Eastwood character. "Dirty" Steve Stephens chews tobacco and is a filthy slob. Phillips and Siemazko do the most emotionally driven characters that give the heart and seriousness that adds dimensions to this. That is what I love about this. Young Guns is a character-driven movie with a solid plot.

talarisw I have not seen a lot of westerns so I don't pretend to be some expert on western movies. However this is without a doubt one of the best westerns of all-time and my favorite western of all-time. I know some people criticize this film for not being historically accurate or a shallow attempt to be a "hip" western. Well, the truth is this film is not 100% accurate with history but what movie is? I liked the idea of this being a hip western staring Hollywood's "brat pack" with rock music playing in the background. I think it fits because this is basically a story about Billy the kid, a outlaw who was under 20 years old so it makes sense to give this one a younger or hipper feel to it. I like the Billy the kid story and I've seen many movies about him but this is the best one for 3 reasons. 1: I liked that they started from the beginning, other films focus on the "later" years when he met Pat Garret. 2: I like that this is more about the gang and not just about Billy. 3: Emilio Estevez is the best Billy the kid. I think the story is very well done, it's the best depiction of the Lincoln county war in New Mexico and the changes made were for the better. Like in real life John Tunstall was only twenty something and their were about a dozen or so "regulaters" not just the 6 shown here but the changes made worked for the better. The film is well directed by Chris Cain with a great balance of action, humor and is appropriately violent. I also like the look of the film, it really makes you feel like their in the wild west during 1878 and not on some sound stage. It also has a great cast! With the great Terrance Stamp who's perfectly cast as John Tunstall, an older English man who takes in six young rebellious men to work at his cattle ranch. The villain is the always great Jack Palance as Murphy, who kills Tunstal, starting the war. The 6 young boys search for justice so they become sheriffs but thanks to Billy killing everyone who they're supposed to arrest, they become outlaws. I LOVE Emillio Estevez as Billy the Kid. I know many would say his interpretation is not historically accurate but I think it's much more the way we would like to imagine the kid. Emillio gives one of his best performances and he was cheated out of an Oscar nomination. I think they did a great job in blending a lot of color to the kid. Billy is a lot of things in this movie, he's cocky, rebellious, trigger-happy, a little crazy, a loyal friend, and charming. Billy is perfectly portrayed as an anti-hero like he should be. Emillio always makes him likable even if we know he's a little crazy. I do like how they make Billy a little crazy as he takes pleasure in killing his enemies. His kills are marked by his unforgettable giggle, I love Emillio's lunatic sounding laugh. Billy is fearless who enjoys the thrill of life or death situations. But despite his wild behavior he's extremely loyal to his friends which gives him a lot of heart. Kiefer Sutherland is great as the more sensitive "Doc", one of my favorite performances of his. I love Lou Diamond Phillips as Chavez Y Chavez, possibly his best role and I love his knife skills. Dermot Mulloney is great as "dirty" Steve and he has a lot of funny moments. Casey Siemasko is great as Charlie, the more scared one of the bunch. I love Charlie Sheen as Dick, the appointed leader of the gang. I like how he fought for leadership of the regulators with his real life brother Emillio as Billy. I like the name of the gang as "the regulators", that's a cool name. The film has non stop action, good humor, good characters and the theme of friendship works well here.I love the rock'n'roll theme music. I like that they show Emillio/Billy take the now famous Billy the kid picture as well. One of my favorite movies of all-time.

Mccadoo 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.