Post by mikef6 on Aug 21, 2017 1:48:55 GMT
1878. Lincoln County. New Mexico Territory. One of the most famous of the deadly feuds in American history, mainly due to the participation of William H. Bonney (or maybe Henry McCarty), a.k.a. Billy the Kid. This film of the Lincoln County War is, of course, a fiction, but it is based, loosely, on history. The area at the time had very little law and a virtual monopoly on the cattle business and retail merchandising. Lawrence Murphy (played by Jack Palance in the movie) was a leader of the monopoly. The Fort Sumner sheriff supported him. Into the middle of this came an Englishman, John Tunstall (Terrance Stamp), who brought his own cattle herd and opened his own dry goods store. He also hired a group of young gunmen – The Regulators - to protect his interests. When Tunstall was killed by the Murphy faction, Tunstall’s Regulators went on a rampage resulting in killings on both sides that extended over months ending with a days long gun battle in Fort Sumner. These are the basic facts with lots of names, places, and incidents left out – just like the movie leaves them out. Even so, this is an entertaining primer on the conflict if you don’t take the details too seriously. The cast consists of several young up-and-coming 80s male stars as the Regulators. Some detractors have called it the Brat Pack western, but there is no winking at the camera or any “look at me I’m playing dress-up” involved in the acting. Several give sincere and sensitive performances. Brothers Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen play The Kid and Regulator leader Dick Brewer, respectively. I was taken by Kiefer Sutherland as Doc Scurlock, budding poet. Lou Diamond Philips, Casey Siemaszko, and Dermot Mulroney fill out the lead cast. My main knocks on the film would be the modern action movie editing and the super-accurate (and super un-historical) handguns whose report is as loud as a cannon shot. Otherwise, the young actors create some interesting characters to follow. A good modern western.
