Arma joven

An Englishman running a New Mexico ranch in the old west recruits wayward young men to be his ranch hands. Among their duties is protecting the ranch from his more powerful and villainous neighbors, thus earning them the title "regulators". Through a combination of discipline and nurturing, he is able to civilize the men and give them discipline. When murdered by another rancher, the regulators are deputized to help catch the men who did it. But one of the regulators, known now as Billy the Kid, is a relative newcomer who has not yet learned self-discipline. Engaged in a power struggle for leadership of the group, he is far more interested in killing the villains than bringing them to justice, thus turning the group into outlaws themselves.

Although the movie is very well made, it never really explores the potential of the plot, relying instead on cliches to entertain us. It also seems completely confused in its portrayal of the main character. Is William Bonney a homicidal maniac or a fiercely loyal man out to avenge the death of a father figure? Is he a caustic head-strong youth or a steely smooth-talking leader? Depending on the scene, you can take your pick. He's clearly supposed to be a sympathetic anti-hero, but this is accomplished only by turning his antagonist into a cartoonishly evil villain, portrayed in perfectly predictable manner by Jack Palance. The shootout scenes are nicely filmed, but as the movie progresses they move more and more towards standard western cliche.

The strongest point of this movie is the relationship of the characters played by Sutherland and Estevez. Doc is strongly attracted to Billy the Kid and admires his strength of character at the same time that he fears him and is repulsed by his murderous actions. Both actors do an excellent job trying to pull this off in spite of the limited development which the script allows. This and the support of a very competent cast makes the film worth watching but not necessarily worth going out of your way for.

Young Guns is one of my 'guilty pleasure' films. I don't know whether it's because I saw it as a young boy in the eighties and still have some nostalgia for it, or whether it's genuinely a good film. Either way... I love it.

It tells the (loose!) story of Billy the Kid, Doc Hollywood and co as they evade both the good guys and the bad guys as they go on their rampage of revenge when a corrupt land baron kills their mentor. Is it factually accurate? Who cares! It's just such good fun! Maybe it's the loud, overblown rock music (which is probably a little out of place when dealing with a 'wild west' film) that makes everything so cool, or perhaps it's the overused slow motion technique whenever an important gun fight takes place. Then of course you have Emilio Estevez at the height of his eighties fame, playing a completely manic (yet strangely endearing) anti-hero who shoots first and bares his bottom later.

I'm guessing that this is a guy's film; it has action, chases, rock music and slow motion. What more could a guy what when he has a beer in one hand and a sofa to sit it? Possibly a horse and a six-shooter, but the TV's remote control will have to suffice.

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Lots of great action, laughs, and suspense.

Emilio is brilliant as Billy.

Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Emilo Estevez and Lou Diamond Phillips star in this light weight western, re-telling of the Billy The Kid story. This movie plays fast and loose with history and is in not particularly accurate about most details but as an enjoyable western adventure it succeeds. The movies style harks back to the old days of the western adventure such as Rio Bravo etc and while nowhere near it in terms of class it is a worthwhile watch. Jack Palance makes a fantastic bad guy and Terranc Stamp puts in a good performance as the gangs father figure. Performances of the brat pack are pretty good and I really enjoyed Estevez's portrayal of the kid. If you like westerns and enjoyed modern versions such as Tombstone you'll enjoy this movie.

7/10 - Not exactly Unforgiven or Rio Bravo but still a worthwhile watch for any western fan.

This film stars many of the fine young actors that are coming of age today. They were good in this film. This film is primarily about youth and how it can be lost so quickly, so easily. All of these guys became men too young and lost their chance for youth. And they paid for it. This is also about good and evil. Emelio Estevez is excellent as the more or less evil Billy the Kid. He and the others (Keifer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Lou Diamond Phillips are given a chance to become "good" after straying from the right path. When their benefactor is murdered, they seek revenge and they get it "their way", and in the process, become wanted men. The acting is the strength here, not the story. These young guns grew up to become great actors, every one of them. This is an excellent example of their best early work.