Young Guns (1988)

A group of young gunmen, led by Billy the Kid, become deputies to avenge the murder of the rancher who became their benefactor. But when Billy takes their authority too far, they become the hunted.

Director:

Christopher Cain

Writer:

John Fusco

Stars:

Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emilio Estevez	...	William H. 'Billy the Kid' Bonney
Kiefer Sutherland	...	Josiah Gordon 'Doc' Scurlock
Lou Diamond Phillips	...	'Jose' Chavez y Chavez
Charlie Sheen	...	Richard 'Dick' Brewer
Dermot Mulroney	...	Dirty Steve Stephens
Casey Siemaszko	...	Charles 'Charley' Bowdre
Terence Stamp	...	John Tunstall
Jack Palance	...	Lawrence G. Murphy
Terry O'Quinn	...	Alex McSween
Sharon Thomas Cain	...	Susan McSween (as Sharon Thomas)
Geoffrey Blake	...	J. McCloskey
Alice Carter	...	Yen Sun
Brian Keith	...	Buckshot Roberts
Thomas Callaway	...	Texas Joe Grant (as Tom Callaway)
Patrick Wayne	...	Patrick Floyd 'Pat' Garrett

Storyline

1878 in New Mexico: John Tunstall picks up young gun men from the road to have them work on his ranch, but also to teach them reading and to civilize them. However he's a thorn in the side of the rich rancher Murphy, as he's a competitor in selling cattle. One day he's shot by Murphy's men. Judge Wilson can't do anything, since Sheriff Brady is one of Murphy's men. But attorney Alex persuades him to constitute Tunstall's young friends to Deputies and give them warrants of arrest for the murderers. Instead of arresting them, William Bonney just shoots them down. Soon the 5 guys become famous and William gets the name "Billie the Kid" - but they're also chased by dozens of Murphy's men and the army. The people however honor him as fighter for justice.

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Plot Keywords:

rancher | deputy | sheriff | new mexico | cattle | 

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Taglines:

Six reasons why the west was wild.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller | Western

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 August 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jovenes Pistoleros

Filming Locations:

Bonanza Creek Ranch - 15 Bonanza Creek Lane, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$44,726,644 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Morgan Creek Productions, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Emilio Estevez was very depressed throughout the shoot because he had recently broken up with his girlfriend. One night, Lou Diamond Phillips decided to play a prank on him in an effort to cheer him up. Phillips had the wardrobe department put make-up on a sheep, dress it up, and put in Emilio's room.

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Goofs

As the Regulators are returning home from the New Year's dance, they shoot at a bunch of pheasants. Pheasants do not live in Lincoln County, NM, nor were they prevalent in the US during the Lincoln County War, 1878-1881. Pheasant pairs were released in 1881 in Oregon, and propagated from there.

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Quotes

Alex McSween: I'm not leaving my house.
William H. Bonney: Alex, if you stay they're gonna kill you. And then I'm gonna have to to go around and kill all the guys who killed you. That's a lot of killing.

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Connections

Version of Billy the Kid (1989)

User Reviews

Never intended to be a rival to Leone, Young Guns is a fun ride with likable performances.

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.