Quigley Down Under (1990)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Simon Wincer

Writer (WGA):

John Hill (written by)

Release Date:

19 October 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

The West was never this far west...The Emmy Award-winning director of "Lonesome Dove" puts the classic Western back where it was meant to be, on the big screen...in a place it's never been before.

Plot:

Sharpshooter Matt Quigley is hired from Montana by an Australian rancher paying a very high price. But when Quigley arrives Down Under, all is not as it seems.

Plot Keywords:

Evil Landowner | Australia | Australian Western | Employment | Australian Aborigine

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Tom Selleck	...	Matthew Quigley
Laura San Giacomo	...	Crazy Cora
Alan Rickman	...	Elliott Marston
Chris Haywood	...	Major Ashley-Pitt
Ron Haddrick	...	Grimmelman
Tony Bonner	...	Dobkin
Jerome Ehlers	...	Coogan
Conor McDermottroe	...	Hobb
Roger Ward	...	Brophy
Ben Mendelsohn	...	O'Flynn
Steve Dodd	...	Kunkurra
Karen Davitt	...	Slattern
Kylie Foster	...	Slattern
William Zappa	...	Reilly
Jonathan Sweet	...	Sergeant Thomas

Also Known As:

Quigley (Australia)
Quigley Down Under (Australia)

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

Australia | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | France:U | Australia:M | Sweden:15 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia

Company:

Pathé Entertainment

Trivia:

The film was to have been Steve McQueen's follow-up to The Hunter (1980), but he fell ill shortly after filming The Hunter (1980), so the project was scrapped.

Goofs:

Factual errors: While the rifle used by Quigley fires a supersonic round, it decelerates quickly. At ranges less than 300-400 yards, the bullet would arrive sooner than the "bang", but only by a fraction of a second. At ranges greater than this, the sound of the shot would arrive before the bullet. Thus, there would never be a point where the sound of the shot would follow the bullet by several seconds.

Quotes:

Crazy Cora: I remember once my Granddaddy told me how, when you're lost in the desert, you should sleep during the day and walk at night.
Matthew Quigley: Your Granddaddy tell you that? Did he also tell you we'll die, in the the desert, without those horses?
Crazy Cora: Well, what good are horses, if we die of thirst?
Matthew Quigley: Once in a while she actually makes a little sense.
Crazy Cora: What did you say, Roy?
Matthew Quigley: Never mind.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Red Zone Cuba (#7.19)" (1994)

An overlooked gem

This movie isn't the best Western ever made, but it's a solid creative effort that brings out many of that genre's most appealing aspects. It has romance, gunplay, wonderful scenery, and, most importantly, a solid hero and a solid villain. Westerns are, by nature, a morality tale. There's a Good Guy and a Bad Guy, and in the end, the hero prevails through a combination of courage, fair play, and ingenuity. And that's exactly what happens here.

The three principal characters are Quigley, an American sharpshooter hired by an Australian rancher, Marsden, and Crazy Cora, a woman shipped off to Australia by her ex-husband after accidentally suffocating her baby to keep him quiet while hiding from raiding Comanches. Quigley (Tom Selleck) is an expert long range marksman who has been recruited ostensibly to shoot dingoes, but, as he finds out after his first night with Mr. Marsden (Alan Rickman), his real targets are to be local Aboriginies. This leads to a rather violent falling out between the two men, which sets up the basic conflict in the movie. Marsden wants Quigley dead, and has numerous ranchhands to get the job done. Quigley has the shooting skills that allow him to pick off Marden's men pretty much at will. An uncredited "star" of the film is Quigley's Sharp's .45 calibre rifle, a gun so accurate it can kill a man from nearly a mile away.

Anyway, the movie proceeds in a more or less conventional fashion. After a big fistfight at Marsden's ranchhouse, Quigley and Cora are left for dead in the Australian outback. They are rescued by a band of Aboriginies, then quickly return the favor by picking off Marsden's men as they try to massacre more Aboriginies. Along the way, Quigley slowly falls for Cora. She may be nuts, but she's also charming, resourceful, brave, and beautiful.

In the end, Marsden gets what he deserves. Cora regains her sanity. And Quigley gets both the villain and the girl. Like I said, it's a Western in the classic tradition - well told and with great visuals.

8/10