Quigley Down Under

Matthew Quigley, a stoic rifleman arrives in Australia in the 1860s a world far away from his home Wyoming… He is answering an ad from a British landowner who will use his talents as an expert marksman…

But things don't go according to plan and, at supper, and after we hear these words, "Nobody knocks me out of my own house," Elliott Marston becomes his arch enemy…

Quigley's arrival sets the tone of the motion picture perfectly, coming into a fight with an evil plantation owner before he has even set foot on Australian soil where some genuinely funny moments happened especially when he met Crazy Cora right off the ship…

After a showy display of his talents (continuously hitting a bucket at about a thousand yards) Quigley discovers to his horror that he has been hired for sniping Aborigines encouraged by the local authorities…

Tom Selleck is excellent in the role of a cowboy, exuding natural charm, cool spirit and dignity… He perfectly suited to the role of the finest sharp shooter hero with a moral… There is a moment when he teaches local Aborigines a secret, and it hits the correct note...

Alan Rickman is perfect as Marston, the arrogant, clever bad baron who thinks himself the fastest six-gun…

Laura San Giacomo believes Quigley to be a man she once loved and whose name is Roy… She has her own tragic past as obviously her romance between Quigley and herself… San Giacomo proves to be a lovable heroine…

Director Simon Wincer creates outstanding scenery with the desolate Australian landscapes...

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.

Lately I've come to the conclusion that the role Tom Selleck was born to play he was born too late in the world to play: the noble cowboy.

Tom plays the title character, Matthew Quigley, an American cowboy come to the land down under at Alan Rickman's invitation. Rickman (under used here)intends to use Quigley's abilities as a long distance sharpshooter to kill the Aborigines and keep them off his lands. Tom refuses and a battle of wills ensue as the two men try to kill each other and cause a lot of havoc in the process.

Despite a first rate performance by Tom, possibly his best, and critical praise, the film was ignored at the box office. I imagine that had it starred the likes of Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson or Tom Cruise it would have been a hit, but Tom serves the film well and he looks good in cowboy garb. Besides, it's an interesting idea of taking the cowboy out of his natural environment and placing him in a variation of his natural environment: the outback.

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.

The first western I ever saw, QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER is my favorite. It's a great homage to the classic westerns of the past, with all the best elements combined in a fun movie about one man's fight against an evil land baron who (unknown to the hero) wanted to hire him to kill the local Aborigines, not the dingos as the hero originally thought. Tom Selleck ads another top-notch western to his resume, long with THE SACKETTS, THE SHADOW RIDERS, and the more-recent CROSSFIRE TRAIL. Alan Rickman is great as the bad guy, one of those characters you love to hate, and the beautiful Laura San Giacomo is a perfect western girl, whose (thankfully) is not the kind who becomes kidnapped and must be rescued. In fact, she spends a good deal of the film away from the action, caring for an Aborigine baby who was the only survivor of a tribe massacre earlier in the film. Director Simon Wincer proves what a genius he is at making westerns. He gets the most from everything, from the costumes to the performances, from the sweeping panoramic shots of the Australian outback to Basil Poledouris's lush score. And of course, no review of QUIGLEY would be complete without mentioning that awesome Sharps rifle. I cringe every time that wonderful rifle is thrown to the ground by Rickman. Glad to see that a DVD release is on the way, though it appears to be sorely lacking in the bonus features department. Anybody who likes westerns should check this film out. It's pretty family-friendly, too, with no harsh swearing and violence that never gets bloody or glorified.