August 12, 1988
Young Guns is a 1988 American Westernaction film directed and produced by Christopher Cain and written by John Fusco. The film dramatizes the adventures of Billy the Kid during the Lincoln County War, which took place in New Mexico in 1877–78. It stars Emilio Estevez as Billy, and Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney, and Casey Siemaszko as the other Lincoln County Regulators. The supporting cast features Terence Stamp, Terry O'Quinn, Brian Keith, and Jack Palance.
The first film to be produced by Morgan Creek Productions, Young Guns opened at number one at the US box office and eventually grossed $56 million against an $11-million budget. Because of the film’s cast, it is often associated with the "Brat Pack" set of 1980s actors. Historian Paul Hutton called Young Guns the most historically accurate of all Billy the Kid films as of June 1990.
A sequel, Young Guns II, was released in August 1990, with the principal cast reprising their roles.
Storyline
In 1870s Lincoln County, New Mexico, English cattleman John Tunstall hires a wayward young gunman named William “Billy the Kid” Bonney to join the "Regulators" who lived and worked on his ranch: Doc Scurlock, Jose Chavez y Chavez, Dick Brewer, "Dirty" Steve Stephens, and Charlie Bowdre. Tunstall tries to educate and civilize the young men in his employ, and clashed with rival rancher Lawrence Murphy, a well-connected Irishman in league with the corrupt House.
One of Murphy's hired hands, McCloskey, joins up with Tunstall, while Doc attempts to court Murphy's Chinese ward, Yen Sun. As New Year's Day started, Murphy's men kill Tunstall, leading his lawyer friend Alexander McSween to arrange for the Regulators to be deputized and given warrants for the killers' arrest. Hotheaded Billy challenges Dick's authority as the group's foreman, as the Regulators attempt to take Murphy's henchmen in alive. Instead, Billy gunned down several unarmed men, including McCloskey, whom he suspected of feeding Murphy information. Newspapers paint the Regulators as a deadly gang headed by a larger-than-life outlaw, "Billy the Kid".
With bounty hunters seeking them all over the West and unsure where to go, Chavez leads the others on a peyote trip. One of the men on their warrants, Buckshot Roberts, tracks them down and a shootout ensues. Roberts barricades himself in an outhouse and kills Dick, and as a reaction, the rest of the Regulators shoot up the outhouse, leaving Buckshot's fate unknown. This leads the others to go on the run, while an injured Doc goes his own way. Chavez reveals that Murphy's corruption led to the brutal murders of his mother and her Navajo tribe, and urged the others to abandon their need for bloodshed, but Billy takes charge as their new leader, determined to avenge Tunstall.
Doc visits Yen Sun before rejoining the gang, and they kill the corrupt Sheriff William J. Brady and his men. They meet with a furious Alex, who explains that their badges have been revoked. Though they are now wanted men, Billy insists that their actions will bring attention to Murphy's corruption. While Charlie revisits a brothel, Billy kills an arrogant bounty hunter at a cantina, and the gang flees to Mexico, where Charlie marries a local woman. Soon-to-be-sheriff Pat Garrett warns Billy that Murphy's men will make an attempt on Alex's life the following day.
At Alex's house in Lincoln, the gang is surrounded by Murphy's men and famed outlaw John Kinney. Realizing that they were lured into a trap, the Regulators survive an entire day's shootout. U.S. Army troops on the Houses take arrive, as does Murphy himself with Yen, who runs inside and is reunited with Doc. Murphy orders the soldiers to set fire to the house, while Alex's wife leaves unharmed and Chavez slips away. Trapped in the burning attic, the gang throws Alex's possessions out of the window, including a trunk with Billy inside, allowing him to surprise their attackers.
In the chaos, Chavez returns with their rescued horses, and Charlie and Kinney shoot each other dead. Doc and Yen ride away, and Steve gets a wounded Chavez onto the remaining horse to ride away at the cost of being gunned down himself. Alex is gunned down by a Gatling gun, and Billy escapes after shooting Murphy between the eyes. An epilogue from Doc reveals that Chavez took work at a farm in California, Doc moved east and married Yen Sun, Alex's widow became one of the most prominent cattlewomen of all time, and Murphy's ring of corruption collapsed. Billy continued to ride until he was killed by Garrett and buried next to Charlie at Fort Sumner, where someone later carved the epitaph: "PALS".
Also See
Sound Effects Used
- Hollywoodedge, 357 Magnum Pistol Sho PE092801 (Debut)
- Hollywoodedge, Bullet Ricco Whiz By CRT040201 (Debut)
- Hollywoodedge, Horse Whinnies Group AT045501 (5th whinny)/Hollywoodedge, Horses 1 High Pitched TE016301 (Debut)/Hollywoodedge, Horses Several Whinn PE025201 (5th whinny)
- Hollywoodedge, Reverse Ricochet 4 Tw PE207801
- Hollywoodedge, Winchester Rifle Coc PE090901/SoundBible, Shotgun Reload Old (Debut)
- Sound Ideas, GUN, HAND GUN - AUTOMATIC PISTOL: SINGLE SHOT 02