Young Guns (1988)

Directed by Christopher Cain. Starring Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Casey Siemaszko, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney, Terence Stamp, Jack Palance, Terry O’Quinn, Alice Carter, Sharon Thomas, Geoffrey Blake, Patrick Wayne. [R]

Cattleman Stamp takes in wayward young men to work his ranch and civilize them, including William Bonney (Estevez), better known as Billy the Kid; when Stamp is murdered by Palance’s hired gunmen, though, Billy and company jump to action, first as deputized lawmen and eventually as branded outlaws. Passable Western is rowdy, well-paced, and solidly performed, but also pretty shallow and formulaic. Overuse of gun smoke and close-ups during the shoot-outs obscures the action; little effort is made to consider the characters beyond one or two traits and a willingness to pull iron. A few interesting casting choices aside (e.g., Sheen playing the most upright and uptight of the bunch, even declining offered peyote), it’s pretty standard stuff, and only seemed “fresh” at the time because of the shortage of cinematic Westerns during the late-80s and the Brat Pack-adjacent stars. Look fast for a mustachioed Tom Cruise as a gunfighter during the climax.

53/100