यंग गंज़ II

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.

No matter what people say, I think this sequel is very well written and scored. It may not be the best movie ever created, but some of the events that occurred in the sequel are fact based. i.e. the Bob Ollinger shotgun incident, Billy actually busted out the window and yelled a "Hello Bob!" before he emptied both barrels into Ollinger's head and chest.

There are the Hollywood add-in's as in most movie production, but i thought it was worthy of praise. There will be people who say that sequels shouldn't be made, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I believe that as long as the sequel provides ample entertainment and you don't have 50 sequels on the same subject that sequels are fine.

NOTE: For the last commenter, they didn't "kill" Billy in the first Young Guns, they stated that he was caught in the Old Fort Sumter by Sheriff Pat Garrett and killed, but we never actually see him die and according to the sequel and different accounts of what occurred over 100 years ago, we may never know exactly who is buried in William Bonney's grave except for the individual that is entombed there.

YOUNG GUNS 2 was a stunning achievement, a sequel that managed to surpass its brilliant predecessor, 1988's YOUNG GUNS. YOUNG GUNS 2 follows the story of Billy the Kid, already an outlaw and now riding with the cow thief Pat Garrett. Garrett is offered the position of Sheriff by the Governor, who finds himself constantly cowed in his efforts to catch Billy the Kid. In the Governor's mind, you must hire a thief to catch one, hence Garrett is the perfect choice. Pat Garrett, who has long planned to go respectable, siezes the opportunity and turns on his friend and partner. What follows is a great western adventure, rich with themes of sin and redemption and the tragedy of brother against brother. That alone makes a great flick. But then YOUNG GUNS 2 offers the question... what if Pat Garrett was conflicted about his choice? What if he still had feelings for the Kid? What if he let him go? This is good stuff, folks. The leads do the material justice, with Estevez jumping back into the role of Billy like an old and comfortable suit that still fits perfectly. William Petersen gives a nuanced performance as Pat Garrett, a man driven by both loyalty and selfishness. Of course no review of this film should fail to herald the talents of Lou Diamond Phillips. Phillips is an actor who constantly seems to raise the bar for himself, and YOUNG GUNS 2 is no exception. His Chavez is MORE spiritual, MORE effortlessly wise... dare I say MORE Indian than he was even in the first installment. Hopefully, Phillips will be with us for a very long time. Kiefer Sutherland, Christian Slater, Balthazar Getty, and Alan Ruck round out the talented cast. So finally, do yourself a favor with this one, YOUNG GUNS 2 is an amazing film experience.

This film is far superior to the first part and I can't get enough of it. The actors are likeable and work very well as an ensemble, the action and story are very immersive and the score (by Alan Silvestri) is simply awesome. (The music on Young Guns is totally different, very inferior, and does not help to accentuate emotions at all.) On this note: anyone who says that Jon Bon Jovi did the music for this film is very mistaken. He wrote a couple of songs that appear on the end credits (and an album that was *inspired by* the movie) but Silvestri is the one who created one of the best movie scores I've heard, which is nearly as good as his Back to the Future music. (Shame it isn't available to buy anywhere.)

Now back to the film. It's both entertaining and moving, and also very funny and I highly recommend it. Like a previous commenter said, there's no need to see the first film as this one stands on its own very well and totally surpasses its predecessor. 8/10.

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