Holden_Pike

This is a western for people who have never seen a good western. It is a quickie and has lots of blatant rip-offs of truly great films. Granted, Val Kilmer is very good and quite amusing, but the rest of the cast is either flat or over the top (and I think Quaid's Holliday in Kasdan's "Wyatt Earp" is as good if not better, and actually I prefer Jason Robards in "Hour of the Gun" to both of them). If you yahooed at the screen when you saw "Young Guns" you'll probably like this retarted MTV-style retelling of this classic tale. Kids, please go out and rent "Unforgiven", "The Wild Bunch", "Once Upon A Time in the West", "Little Big Man", or even "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". Heck, even Kasdan's "Silverado" is a much better western than this piece of cr@p. Resist the dark-side, children. Come into the light and rent a GOOD western, okay?

Not many people have seen this one, and it doesn't show up on TV very often, but "The Sugarland Express" is a very good film. It is Spielberg's first major studio picture (after the made-for-TV "Duel"), and while it certainly isn't as dynaminc as his second film, the flawless "Jaws", it IS a very fine movie. Goldie Hawn is actually quite good. This was before she adopted the "Private Benjamin" approach to all of her performances. She is really acting here and very convincing as the not-too bright Texas girl naively trying to keep her family together. William Atherton is also very good as her husband. If you only know him as the prick from such 80s movies as "Ghostbusters", "Die Hard", and "Real Genius" check this out to see his true range.

"The Sugarland Express" is actually quite similar to the Eastwood-directed "A Perfect World" (another fine underrated film). Spielberg is already adept at filmmaking in his first feature. It has a sharper edge than the stuff he is most well-known for early in his career ("E.T.", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and such). And it was based on a true story to boot. If you can find a letterboxed copy you're in for a treat. The camera really makes Texas look otherworldly and a poetic backdrop for this sad tale.

This isn't quite as funny as the first film, but that's only because the drama and action kick into high gear here. Oliver Reed and Faye Dunaway play their story out quite remarkably, and the transformation Michael York goes through from head-strong foolishly brave farm boy with a broken sword to the battle weary Musketeer who is strong enough to stand up to Richelieu and beat him at his own game is really a delight to watch. Two really superior films.

*note: don't bother with 1989s "The Return of the Musketeers". Lester brings most of the wonderful cast back, but this time Dumas' story ("Twenty Years After") just isn't as fun, and unfortunately Lester is only given 100 minutes to tell it this time, where he falls into the same cram-it-all-in traps as other filmmakers adapting "The Three Musketeers". It's fine as a curio, as it is fun to see this cast play these characters again, and they do have a couple of nice moments, but it just isn't up to the standards they themselves set.