यंग गंस

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.

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.

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.

Lots of great action, laughs, and suspense.

Emilio is brilliant as Billy.

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.