Mr Quigley l'Australien

It will surprise many Americans but Australia had a "wild west" like America. One can read up on Ned Kelly, for example. And they had a gold rush at Ballarat, in the state of Victoria (near Melbourne, I believe).

Their Outback, which starts just a few miles in from the coast, is the most desolate and hostile terrain one can encounter. And I have been to some deserts around the world. Kudos to the Aborigines for actually knowing how to survive in such a place.

So, add this with a hero (Selleck) who comes from Wyoming answering a somewhat vague ad from our urbane villain (Alan Rickman) who is a station (ranch) owner in the outback. Rickman wants a sharpshooter for a job unspecified. When Selleck learns the true purpose for his hiring he decides to right some wrongs.

It's a classic western of the solitary hero who stands up to evil and defeats it. The Sharps rifle is one of the stars, too.

And to some of our reviewers who think this shooting is a bit unbelievable, there are a handful of people who can shoot some long distances with just iron sights.

I have seen them.

If you like westerns you will like Quigley.

I was weaned on westerns and so after a while you get numb by the vast amount of bad ones done over the years.I always thought a `twist'gives a western something more,a `hook'if you will.This IS such a flick.It is also fair to say I am NOT a huge Tom Selleck fan.That being said I think this has become one of my top 5 favorite westerns ever and top 10 movies of all time.The hook is the Outback and this twist is right on target.The Aborigine are the Indians and we have the evil land owner in Alan Rickman and the `Lady'in Laura San Giacomo.In Lieu of the Mexican Army we have the English.A interesting Rifle to rival a artillery piece or Gattling gun for interest. The basic story is again,good vs evil and redemption via true love.Tried and true western themes,but this Outback setting is the new hook that makes it well done. Fine vast action theme music and a down hill chase via horseback that is a classic.It had to be well shoot and filmed and it was.The ending had a `mystical'setting not seen in westerns but a staple of the Aborigine mystique if you will. The movie also serves to bring light to the shameful treating of the Aborigine in Australia that climaxed only in the last 20 years.A dirty secret only hinted at of the policy in force until the late 1960s of removing Aboriginal children from their families.A touching scene with Laura San Giacomo and a small Aborigine child hammer this home on no uncertain terms.This film works on so many levels it should be recognized as a Aborigine in Australia `message' film set to western theme.I cannot say enough and recommend this film to everyone.You will not be sorry.

Unlike most "modern" westerns, this one is unburdened by the usual Hollywood flaws: overproduction, overacting and a massive cast of big names demanding their share of "face time." Selleck & San Giacomo do a masterful job of creating honest, three-dimensional characters facing a truly evil antagonist -- a part played with fiendish perfection by the superb Alan Rickman. Even the minor characters on both sides are well-cast and well-acted. Two other "stars" of this exceptionally fine film are Quigley's Sharps rifle and the musical score. The unusual, catchy theme will stick in your mind, and some of the dialogue will pass into screen legend, such as Quigley's remark about the Colt revolvers: "I said I didn't have much use for them. I never said I didn't know how to use one." To be sure, the writers take a few necessary liberties with the plot to make everything work, as in any movie, but it does work well. My wife, who is a gun enthusiast but not a big fan of westerns, has watched "Quigley" 7 or 8 times and never tires of it. There are a few films that will bear watching that often: The Usual Suspects, All About Eve, High Noon, Casablanca -- to name a few. Quigley is one of these.

The sad thing about Quigley Down Under is that had this been done thirty years earlier the film would have warranted a major release the way a John Wayne or a James Stewart western would have had. Personally when I look at Tom Selleck and the way he plays the title character, I think James Garner. Selleck plays Matthew Quigley in the same dry, laconic manner that Garner patented.

This western is about as southwest as you can get without dealing with penguins and icebergs. Selleck has come to western Australia in answer to an advertisement by a local rancher requiring a skilled marksman with a rifle. He takes the three month voyage from San Francisco and arrives at Alan Rickman's local Ponderosa.

Remember this is Australia, a place settled by convict labor. On Rickman's spread it's mostly Scotch and Irish. But Rickman's problem isn't with them, it's with the aborigines.

Which brings us to why he wants Selleck's services with a long rifle. Essentially he wants Selleck to hunt them down and kill them at a distance, a bit of ethnic cleansing.

Fighting Indians was up close and personal at times. But just shooting people down like game, rubs Selleck the wrong way. He tells Rickman no with vigor. And that vigorous no gets Selleck and Laura San Giacomo a woman not playing with a full deck beaten up and thrown out in the outback with no means of survival.

Of course they survive and we learn a lot about San Giacomo. The reason for her insanity, it's more of a defense mechanism to keep out the world, because she's done something terrible that her conscience won't leave alone. It's a beautiful performance, probably the acting highlight of Quigley Down Under.

Of course there's plenty of action to satisfy any western fan on any continent. Alan Rickman is an especially loathsome villain, he makes his Sheriff of Nottingham in Kevin Costner's Robin Hood film look like a Girl Scout.

And the aborigines do learn to appreciate Selleck and the payback he exacts. They come through for him at critical times in the film.

Tom Selleck is a perfectly cast western hero, the kind I used to spend Saturday afternoon's watching.

I loved this movie!

Ex-Confederate officer Matthew Quigley immigrates to Australia to forget the horrors he has recently witnessed. He was hired in advance by the owner of the Marsten Waters Ranch. When he arrives, things are definitely not what he expected due to the fawning treatment he receives from Marsten that comes with the request that he carry out a program of racial purity...

Selleck's performance as Quigley is first rate. I easily believed that although Quigley had watched more than his share of Man's Inhumanity, yet he managed to hang onto his integrity. The character finds himself in a situation where his own actions can transform the circumstances for better. He did not go looking for a fight, but by God, he will finish this one.

Even so, the character of Crazy Cora is my favorite. She is the victim of cruelty also but did not fare as well as Quigley. She is damaged goods, unable to take care of herself in any significant way when the story opens. In the course of the story, she is the one who recovers her Humanity. It is really her story as much as Quigley's.

An excellent movie. Simon Sez check it out.