Blaze of Glory: Flammender Ruhm

As a kid I was a huge fan of Bon Jovi and the song "Blaze of Glory" was the only reason I watched this movie. They wanted to include "Wanted Dead or Alive" on the soundtrack for this movie, but Jon thought it had inappropriate lyrics and decided to write a new song especially for "Young Guns II", a new song that became one of his greatest hits. He even has a cameo appearance in the movie, so I definitely had to see it. And I'm glad I did. This stunning Western adventure drama tells the story about Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett. It has an excellent cast, good characterization, story with depth, lots of entertaining action and awesome music, crowned with the legendary "Blaze of Glory".

8/10

This is the sequel to successful film titled 'Young Guns'(1998 , by Christopher Cain) with similar players and concerning about Billy and his band heading toward the Old Mexico and pursued by a posse. Revisionist and contemporary study about William Bonney, alias Billy the Kid . Billy(Emilio Estevez) became a cowboy in Lincoln County (New Mexico) for cattleman Tunstall allied to Chisum (James Coburn) , but Tunstall is killed and started the Lincoln County war against Murphy as main enemy . Billy seeks revenge for his death and he converted an outlaw and nasty gunfighter with a price on his head . Then Billy along with a young group (Kiefer Sutherland, Christian Slater, Lou Diamond Phillips , Balthazar Getty) have their own ethic codes and undergo a criminal spree . The bunch is besieged but they went out firing his gun and made his escape . However , 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 (Leon Rippy) guarding him. Pat Garret( William H Petersen), 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. It is said that Chisum was instrumental in making Billy the Kid an outlaw killer, he used his considerable influence in getting Garret elected Sheriff of Lincoln County in 1880 and it was Pat who hunted down and killed the young outlaw . Garret and his gang pull off a hot chase against the outlaws. Legend says that Billy murdered 21 men in his 21 years of life but is really thought to be much less. After Pat Garrett was not reelected sheriff of Lincoln County, however he was commissioned a captain in the Texas Rangers. On 19 February 1908 he was driving his buggy on a lonely desert road, he stepped down to urinate and was shot in the back by a hired killer. A man stood trial for the murder but was acquitted. Controversy still surrounds the end of Pat Garrett .

This is an in interesting look about the known story of the West's greatest bandit. Contemporary-style Western with acceptable performances and professional direction by Geoff Murphy 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. This passable Western packs lots of action, shootouts, and explosive violence . Taut excitement throughout, beautifully photographed and with spectacular bloodletting but realized with some flaws . The story is exactly like ¨The young guns I¨ with loads of noisy action and violence. The film gets spectacular shoot em'up , thrills , exciting horse pursuits ; it's entertaining , although nothing new but displays an ordinary pace and with no originality . The movie contains some moment of grisly violence and even touching on the relationships between the fugitives . Colorful and great cinematography by Dean Semler. Modern and unfitting musical score by Alan Silvestri with songs by Jon Bon Jovi. The motion picture will appeal to Western fans.

No doubt anyone would question Christian Slater coming into the gang, but he works so well as a bad ass. Gee, I wonder why? :) He and Emilio play as the new rebels of the town, while Billy's old gang is moving on with their lives, but are soon arrested for walking with him, he wants the old gang back together to once again reck havec on the scene. The chemistry worked well again as the first one did, with some promising new cast like Christina Slater, Jon Bon Jovi, and an unknown Viggo Mortenson. I think if you enjoyed the first Young Guns, you are more than bound for another off your seat action western! Yee haw! OK, sorry, I can be a little over-dramatic at times. :-P

7/10

For a movie it thought would be shallow and made for popular culture, Young Guns II really surprised me. ALL the actors were GREAT in this movie. I especially loved Lou Diamond Phillips and Kiefer Sutherland (of course). Emilio Estevez was wonderful and for once I didn't hate Christian Slater. Also, as a fan of Ferris Bueller, you have to love Alan Ruck, even though he doesn't have a huge part in Young Guns II. I saw the first movie, and it was okay, but I seem to get into and feel for the characters much more in the sequel--they have more depth and there's not as many, so you can focus more on the important relationships. Not to mention a core musical identity of my era named Jon Bon Jovi, who did the theme song (which had some awesome lyrics). Alan Sylvestri did the rest of the score, and I always love his music, too. I ended up buying Young Guns II because it's hard to get through it without tearing up. The tragedy of Billy the Kid is told well in the movie, and if the screenplay had just been a little less choppy, I would have given the movie a 9. I'll have to go for an 8 on this one, but see it anyway, the actors are definitely the highlights of Young Guns II.

Well, I have to say I loved this movie when it first came out. It has a beautiful desert set, a wonderful array of actor driven characters, and the kind of gun fighting you could only imagine from a movie about Billy the Kid. But now that I've watched it more recently, it's highly amusing. To watch current stars like CSI's William Peterson and The Lord of the Rings' Viggo Mortensen at the dawn of their careers is something that can't be missed. Along with them are a flock of excellent 80's actors who will have you loving them all over again. Emelio Eztevez provides what is probably the best performance in his career along with the likes of Christian Slater, Kiefer Sutherland, and Lou Diamond Phillips. I recommend this as one of the best good time westerns that recent years have to offer, though the first movie of the series is a bit better. 7/10