Jesse James and his gang of outlaws ride again in this “extraordinary” (LA Herald-Examiner) western that pulsates with hard-driving action and electrifying drama. Four sets of acclaimed actor brothersDavid, Keith and Robert Carradine, James and Stacy Keach, Dennis and Randy Quaid, and Christopher and Nicholas Guesteach depict real-life siblings in emotionally charged portrayals of the Old West’s legendary bandits.The notorious James-Younger gang is the most famous group of outlaws in the country, robbing banks, trains and stagecoaches with a sense of daring that makes them folk heroes throughout the land. But when the mighty Pinkerton detective agency swears to track them down, these criminals must face an awesome enemy that will stop at nothing to see them behind bars…or dead! Only through the strength of their loyalty and blood ties can the outlaws hope to survive the brutal pursuits, unexpected betrayals and blistering showdowns that mark the end of their dangerous ride.This terrific Walter Hill Western follows the careers of the James and Younger brothers–and uses the nifty idea of casting actual clans of acting siblings in the roles. Thus, the James brothers are played by James and Stacy Keach; the Youngers by David, Keith, and Robert Carradine; the Millers by Randy and Dennis Quaid; and the Fords by Christopher and Nicholas Guest. Hill, working with an evocative Ry Cooder score, creates a film that is at once breathtakingly exciting and elegiac in its treatment of these post-Civil War outlaws. The Keaches in particular bring a surprising dignity to the roles of Frank and Jesse James, while David Carradine is a hoot as Cole Younger–and the Quaids mimic real life (as it was for them then) in their battles as the Miller brothers. Bloody, to be sure, but also bloody good. –Marshall Fine
Buy “The Long Riders” For Only $2.85
March 5, 2010
#1
DVD was damaged on reciept and since I did not have the packing materials I had to trash it and buy it again.
March 5, 2010
#2
Based on the reviews here at this amazon site, I felt it sounded like a movie that I could buy and watch again and again. So I went out and paid the money. When I saw the movie, I returned it to the shop and asked if I could swap it for something else. I think the reviews here are over-rating this movie. Some how it paints the picture of brotherly love and how one brother backs another brother. Well that is trashed very early on, as Quaid junior is left on a limb by all including his older brother for messing up the first hit, not much look out for your brother there then. And what about the Guest brothers, they hardly did anything and their names make the cover of the dvd.
The final hit that the gang undertakes was a good bit of action, but the one thing that I detest is when the gang fire one shot and kill someone, but when other people fire at the gang it takes about 10 bullets hitting different parts of the body and they still don’t die – I hate this, I hate this a lot. It seemed the whole village of about 150 people were firing at our gang of about 7 and in the process took about 150 bullets without dieing – what was going on? After the final hit, half turn them selves in and Cole Younger is sitting there in hospital and he looked like nothing happened, when infact he took 11 bullets – what the hell is going on man. A similar thing happened in the Return of the Magnificent Seven, about half a dozen take on a whole army (it also happened in the first of the Magnificent Seven movies, but that was stylish and I liked it), it just looked absolutely ridiculous, not even a 5 year old would buy that.
The score was probably not that good either as I have forgotten it. One of the reviewers reffered to it as one of the top 5 westerns of all time – eh eh, how wrong can you be, it would not even make my top 10 best westerns.
If you want to watch a western or buy one and you do not have or seen any of Clint Eastwoods dollar movies then forget the Long Riders.
PS: When I returned the Long Riders I swapped it for Once Upon a Time in the West, which was nearly 3 times the price but much much much better.
March 5, 2010
#3
I saw this movie for the first time a couple of days ago. What hit me about the movie was the amount of music played in the movie. The movie is fair. Not a movie you would want to repeat several times in your lifetime. Maybe watch once and then move on. The cinematography is fine. It seemed to lack grit. I found it difficult to believe David Carradine as Cole Younger. Frank Keach was good as Jesse James, but brother Stacy Keach was passable as Frank James. I think a better rendition of the story of Jesse James and the Younger brothers was in the movie “The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid” made in 1972 as a television film (I believe). Cliff Robertson as Cole Younger and Robert Duvall as Jesse James seemed to be better renditions. The Long Riders is well made, but it seems to be missing something. Just rent it…..and if you really like the movie…..definitely buy it. Investigate the 1972 version with Duvall. Passable to good acting in the Long Riders.
March 5, 2010
#4
This film was, when all is said and done, a great deal more style than substance. Because the James/Younger stories are reasonably well known, the director may have felt comfortable leaving a number of loose threads at each end of the cloth. He shouldn’t have. Also, by distributing the focus around on 6 or 7 characters, he spreads himself far too thin. In a number of instances involving peripheral characters, I had the strong suspicion that a full director’s cut might have created a sufficient context to explain something, but someone else got slap happy in the cutting room. As a result, the release version wound up seeming something like a mere series of tableaux with little character development from beginning to end. The main in depth portion involved the Northfield shootout at the end, which seemed to be a Wild Bunch redux and that was already a bit old by 1980. Other aspects such as the cinemetography and casting were quite good, but only served to allow The Long Riders to climb up to mediocrity overall.
March 5, 2010
#5
I ordered a DVD from Amazon.com but “The Long Riders” could have been a better film with more action and inclusion of nudity at several occassion calls for strict viewing only. My minor younger brother and sister like Western movies too and they often share the couch whenever I have new western DVD / BluRay from Amazon. But, with this film the story is different and I have to stop the film halfway because of nudity and frontal exposures which is not suitable for minors. I also feel that the film is rather “graphic” in showing close ups of someone getting shot at in cheek, chest and forehead. The film could have been better and the element of typical “Cowboyism” is missing. As for the film, I am not going to screen it again at home in future. I’d rather watch the old rusty westerns from my VHS collection. This is my personal opinion, I do not mean to harm or hurt anyone’s sentiments. See it to judge it…..