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Young Guns: go for fun, not historical accuracy

Director: Christopher Cain Entertainment grade: B– History grade: D+

Billy the Kid (also known by a number of aliases, most famously William H Bonney) was an outlaw on the American frontier, notable for his role in the Lincoln County war of 1878.

In the wild west, English expat John Tunstall (Terence Stamp) runs a finishing school for hoodlums, demanding proper table manners and teaching them to read. His charges include Billy the Kid (Emilio Estevez), Doc Scurlock (Kiefer Sutherland), José Chavez y Chavez (Lou Diamond Phillips) and a whole load of other Brat Pack stars. But cackling local baddie Lawrence Murphy (Jack Palance) turns up to ruin their fun. He has Tunstall assassinated, and the hoodlums band together as the Regulators to seek revenge. It's not completely inaccurate, just exaggerated. Tunstall did have a gang of cowhands, though it's not clear he was their Dumbledore. In real life, there's no particular reason to think Tunstall was a more morally virtuous figure than Murphy: they were just two parties in a business war. And Murphy's partner, James Dolan – the man who probably ordered Tunstall's assassination – is nowhere to be seen.

The Regulators are deputised, giving their bloodthirsty campaign for vengeance a sheen of respectability. This is true, though the fact that the film is so black and white about the whole Tunstall-Murphy rivalry makes what was a fascinatingly complex situation boringly straightforward. Similarly, when Billy starts shooting large numbers of people through their heads in a breezy and cheerful fashion, you're supposed to take this as part of his raffish charm. Which is, of course, in line with the legend. It's a disappointingly twee portrait of a 19-year-old psychopath, though.

Though it has reduced its characters to cartoons, the film's design is impressively authentic. The outlaws look like outlaws – that is to say, a cross between Hawkwind and Baldrick. And while the heroes have generally escaped the worst excesses of tufty facial hair and rotten teeth, the fact that at least some of the characters are sporting these is a decent effort. Less can be said for the bizarre shoehorning-in of a romance between Doc Scurlock and Murphy's fictional Chinese sex slave, Yen Sun. In real life, Scurlock had been married to Maria Miguela Herrera for two years before the Lincoln County war. It seems he liked her: they had 10 children.

Young Guns does a generally enjoyable line in cheesy, quotable, tough-guy speak. "Regulators. Regulate any stealing of his property. And we're damn good, too. But you can't be any geek off the street. Gotta be handy with the steel, if you know what I mean. Earn your keep." Nobody talks like that, apart from rappers, which is no doubt why it got sampled in Warren G's 1994 hit Regulate. But it would be lovely to think frontier outlaws really did blurt out stanzas complete with carefully thought-out assonance and metre, so we'll let it pass.

Notorious bounty hunter Buckshot Roberts (Brian Keith) turns up for the famous gunfight at Blazer's Mills. So that you know he's evil, he is dressed like a giant, bedraggled grey duckling, in a fur coat made up of bits of chewed-up wolf. "He's killed more people than smallpox," gasps one Regulator. (In case you're wondering: definitely not a factually accurate claim.) The real Roberts did not try to hunt down the Regulators. In reality, he was trying to collect his dues and leave town when the Regulators ambushed him. He died the day after the showdown, from a gunshot wound to the stomach.

Don't let the convincing look of Young Guns fool you. Historically speaking, it's all over the place. And though it's good, solid, brainless fun, it's actually less colourful than the real story of the Lincoln County war.

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Actors often are advised to meditate on the characters they play, to get inside their skins and understand what makes them the way they are. "Young Guns II" presents the strange spectacle of actors who have apparently done more of that than the filmmakers have - so that we sense there's more to these people than meets the eye. The screenplay feels unfinished, the direction is ambling, but the performances are interesting.

The movie opens, circa 1950, with a lawyer making a rendezvous with a bearded old man by the side of a Southwestern highway. The geezer says that he's Billy the Kid, and that he wants to arrange a meeting with the governor of the state; he wants to be pardoned on charges that he killed 21 men. (When the lawyer demurs, the old-timer threatens to shoot him and "make it 22," which would seem to hint that a pardon is not exactly deserved.) Is this old man really the Kid? The lawyer demands proof - he wants to see scars. The old man has scars, all right, many of them psychic ones, and we see them for the next 90 minutes in a flashback.

"Young Guns II" is yet another revisionist version of the Billy the Kid legend, which has taken on mythic qualities in such films as "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral," "The Left-Handed Gun" and " Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid ," not to mention an opera by Aaron Copland.

The angle this time seems to be that Billy was an unformed and unthinking young man, a good shot who stumbled into fame and was not equal to the responsibilities of leading a gang.

There are moments when he hardly looks old enough to vote. As played by Emilio Estevez , Billy is a fresh-faced innocent who looks youthful even in the company of his fellow gang members, who include Kiefer Sutherland , Lou Diamond Phillips and Christian Slater . Pat Garrett is played by William L. Petersen , who looks somewhat older and more weatherworn, but if they'd put a real cowboy into the picture - a younger Robert Mitchum or Kirk Douglas or Burt Lancaster - the movie would have been revealed as what it really is, a bunch of kids playing with guns.

Not many Westerns are made these days, and the success of the original "Young Guns" - no doubt because of, not despite, the young matinee idols in its cast - made a sequel necessary. You have the feeling here, though, that the screenplay by John Fusco was put together out of various standard Western elements - the night in the whorehouse, the ambush in the hills - without any clear idea of where the movie was headed, or why. Certainly the final shootout, when Garrett and his men surround the gang, is a disappointment. An event immortalized in other films is trivialized in this one.

Why do we go to Westerns, anyway - those few of us who still do, or would if they still made them? Years ago, when Westerns were racist and unthinking, we went to see the cowboys shoot the Indians.

Then we began to discover too much about the genocide of Indians to take anything but pain from such a scene. So the Western turned inward, to examine the personality problems of its heroes. Where once there was the glorious spectacle of a man bursting with self-confidence - a John Wayne , a Gary Cooper - we now got twisted portraits of men whose guns were compensating for something.

In "Young Guns II," I didn't even feel those Freudian scars; the bad guys in this movie are simply misunderstood, or took a wrong turn, or might benefit from counseling. There is no sense that they are desperate for a reason, that they like committing crimes, that they reject society for any better reason than that it rejects them. There's a lot of bold string music in the film, wide-open-spaces compositions, and a lot of horses and dust and gunfire, and even the obligatory shot where the hero gets a bath from the prostitute who understands him, but there isn't really a Western here. There are moments when the actors themselves seem to be on to something, but the screenplay doesn't give them the material to let us know what it is. The old-timer narrates the film from time to time, in a wheezy, ancient voice, recalling dim events from far ago. The events themselves have about as much energy.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Young Guns II (1990)

Rated PG-13

104 minutes

Lou Diamond Phillips as Chavez Y Chavez

William L. Petersen as Pat Garrett

Alan Ruck as Hendry French

R.D. Call as D.A. Ryerson

James Coburn as John Chisum

Christian Slater as Arkansas Dave Rudabaugh

Kiefer Sutherland as Doc Scurlock

Produced by

• Paul Schiff
• Bruce Green
• Alan Silvestri

Photography by

• Dean Semler

Directed by

• Geoff Murphy

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Screen Rant

Young guns ending explained.

The 1988 Western movie Young Guns concludes with an action-packed battle, but the clarity of some of its events gets lost in the gunfire.

• Young Guns is a cult favorite Western movie with a stacked cast and a bloody, action-packed ending.
• The movie revolves around the Regulators' war with the corrupt Lawrence Murphy, who wants to kill their friend Alex due to his knowledge of corruption and intent to take down Murphy's ring.
• Billy the Kid's killing spree in the movie is driven by his desire to get the attention of President Hayes and bring an end to Murphy's reign. In the end, the Regulators come out on top against Murphy's men in a climactic shootout.

Young Guns is a bombastic Western that has become a cult favorite, but given how eventful the movie is, not every detail of its bloody ending is clear. Based on real events of the Wild West, the 1988 movie follows Billy the Kid and his gang of Regulators, who fight the corrupt Lawrence Murphy in the Lincoln County War. Though Young Guns wasn’t critically acclaimed, it was a box office hit with a stacked cast, spawning a sequel and nearly leading to a third installment. These days, it's even considered among the best Westerns of the 1980s .

Throughout Young Guns , the Regulators take out Murphy’s henchmen while they’re on the run from the law, but they’re called back to Lincoln County when their friend Alex’s life is threatened. When they arrive to protect Alex, a massive brawl breaks out between the remaining Regulators and Murphy’s massive group of henchmen, bringing all the tensions between the two groups to a head. Despite the odds being against them, the Regulators manage to come out on top, although their path to victory isn't always a clear one.

Young Guns 3 Updates: Why It Didn't Happen

Why murphy wanted to kill alex.

Despite having already killed the Regulators’ original leader, John Tunstall, the villainous Lawrence Murphy sets his sights on taking out the man's lawyer, Alexander McSween, as well. Murphy’s plot against Alex becomes a major focus of the end of Young Guns , leading the Regulators to return to Lincoln County, New Mexico, despite being wanted men as a result of Billy’s antics. It initially seems confusing that Murphy has such a vested interest in Alex, who seems unrelated to Tunstall and Murphy’s feud. However, there are several reasons why Murphy would want Alex McSween out of the picture.

Prior to Tunstall’s murder, he had approached Alex about trying to expose the corruption of the Santa Fe Ring caused by Murphy. After Tunstall died, Alex was left as the only person with the knowledge of Murphy’s corruption who also had the power to do something about it due to his legal connections. Additionally, Alex voiced his intentions to take over Tunstall’s cattle ranch, which rivaled Murphy’s own cattle operation. Alex posed a huge threat to Murphy, who decided to kill the lawyer before he became a bigger problem.

Where Was Young Guns Filmed? (Every Location)

The regulators’ war with murphy, explained.

At the center of Young Guns is the Regulators’ war with Lawrence Murphy, which has several complex reasons behind it. Initially, Murphy had a feud with John Tunstall over their rival cattle operations. This led to Tunstall's attempts to expose Murphy’s corruption of the Lincoln government. When Tunstall died, his Regulators became Murphy’s next biggest threat, considering their knowledge of his corruption and intent to take down his ring. The fact that the Regulators take down several of Murphy’s henchmen over the course of Young Guns only makes the war more intense.

While the Regulators do detest Murphy’s corruption of Lincoln, they also have more personal reasons for their fight with Murphy. A large reason that the Regulators desire to take down Murphy is because they want to avenge John Tunstall. This combination of altruistic and emotional motivations drives the Regulators’ actions throughout Young Guns , leading to many bloody battles with Murphy and his men throughout the movie.

The Real Reason Behind Billy the Kid's Killing Spree

Although the Regulators were deputized toward the beginning of Young Guns , Billy the Kid decided to kill as many of Murphy’s men as he could rather than going through legal channels. This leads to the other Regulators speculating that Billy “ ain’t all there ,” but in actuality, Billy has clear reasoning behind his killing spree. According to Billy, he is trying to get the attention of President Hayes through his murderous actions, whom he hopes would bring an end to Murphy’s reign. Whether his reasons are valid, Billy’s intentions behind killing so many people in Young Guns are ultimately good.

10 Best Films Featuring Cast Members From Young Guns

Why billy killed mccloskey.

At the beginning of 1988’s Young Guns , one of Murphy’s former men, McCloskey, decides to join Tunstall’s outfit. While the others accept McCloskey with open arms, Billy is suspicious of his intentions. During an early encounter with several other henchmen of Murphy’s, McCloskey tries to direct the Regulators to a different location than they were originally headed for. This heightens Billy’s suspicions, as he now believes that McCloskey is a spy trying to lead them to Murphy’s grasp. Although it is never confirmed or denied if McCloskey was indeed a spy for Murphy, Billy decided to nip the issue in the bud and kill his fellow Regulator.

Why Pat Garrett Doesn’t Take Billy Into Custody

Toward the end of Young Guns , Pat Garrett finds Billy the Kid, but strangely, he doesn’t take any of them into custody for their crimes. Pat mentions that he’s in line to become the new sheriff, which puts Billy on edge and makes him think that Pat has come to arrest him. However, Pat states that he hasn’t come to take Billy since he’s not yet the sheriff. Rather, Pat comes to warn Billy and the Regulators about Murphy’s intent to kill Alex. It’s later revealed that Pat is the one to kill Billy, implying that not being sheriff was the only boundary between him and taking in Billy.

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How the regulators get the upper hand in the shoot out against murphy.

Murphy and the Regulators’ feud reaches a climax at the end of Young Guns when they get into a bloody shootout back in Lincoln at the McSweens’ house. The Regulators are holed up in the house along with Alex and his wife while Murphy and his men fire at them from the outside. Matters get even worse when the house is set on fire, adding even greater stakes to the battle. Given the threat of the fire and the fact that the Regulators are greatly outnumbered by the opposition, it seems unlikely that they will be able to triumph, but the movie’s main characters manage to get the upper hand.

After Alex’s wife Susan is allowed to leave the house, the Regulators begin tossing trunks and boxes out of the window, which Murphy’s men assume are Susan’s possessions she requested. Unbeknownst to them, though, Billy was hiding in one of the trunks, which he bursts out of to mount a sneak attack. Billy’s surprise catches Murphy’s men off guard, and the attack perfectly coincides with Chavez’s return with horses in tow. The timing of these events gives the Regulators the upper hand in the shootout, allowing Billy to kill Murphy and Charlie to shoot Kinney, thus bringing down the two major kingpins involved in Lincoln’s corruption.

20 Greatest Western Movie Endings Of All Time

The regulators’ fates after young guns, explained.

After the resolution of the shootout between the Regulators and Murphy’s men, Kiefer Sutherland’s Doc gives a voiceover that reveals the fates of the Regulators after the plot of Young Guns . According to Doc, he and Yen Sun married and left Lincoln for the East Coast, while Chavez changed his name and left for California, finding work on a fruit farm. Billy the Kid continued to ride as an outlaw, eventually being killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett. Doc states that Billy is buried near Charlie and that someone snuck into the cemetery and engraved the tombstone with “ Pals ,” a final testament to the Regulators’ brotherhood in Young Guns .

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4K Review: “Young Guns” is still fun to watch The 35th Anniversary release does this classic justice

December 8, 2023 By Summer Brooks Leave a Comment

Young Guns was one of my favorite “modern” Westerns, a nearly anachronistic retelling of the life story of Billy the Kid, his outlaw escapades and his “deaths”.

Overall, the picture is rich, and appears to be a well-done 4K upgrade. Some wider shots are not as sharp as many of the static and closer in shots, but there’s an improved clarity through the entire film. The audio appears to be improved, although the audio in the commentary is out of sync with the picture (you can tell it’s just a hair off, with the movie audio from the version the guys were watching while doing the original commentary track).

The bonus features are good, but not special. The audio commentary track is the same that’s on the Special Edition DVD from 20 years ago, as is the Billy the Kid documentary. These do not appear to have been remastered, but it is nice they were included… maybe to give folks a reason to upgrade and feel they aren’t losing out of special features they’d had before.

The new “Making of” featurette is a delightful way to revisit the way this story and cast came together to create what’s become a cornerstone of the “new” Westerns of the 1980s and 1990s. What I found funny is that John Fusco and Christopher Cain were mentioning how this was the first Hollywood Western in about 25 years, but Silverado had come out just a few years prior, in 1985. Finding the details about the change in music was informative, and I’d had no idea Tom Cruise had an uncredited appearance in the climactic Lincoln gunfight.

I still hope that someday there will be a short special about how this movie inspired Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive”, and how that had led directly to Jon Bon Jovi creating the theme song for Young Guns II . Who knows, maybe they’ll include more on the 50th anniversary set that will eventually come out?

The fact that Emilio Estevez and Lou Diamond Phillips are still confident that there will eventually be a 3rd chapter in the Young Guns saga is a fun thing to hope for, and maybe we could eventually get a comprehensive set with a lot more features and multiple commentaries.

Watch these interviews: Emilio Estevez talks about making the ‘80s Western “Young Guns” YOUNG GUNS 3 – Lou Diamond Phillips Interview [Movieweb Exclusive]

Either way, this is a disc set that would be a very nice addition even if you already have one of the previous home releases of Young Guns .

SPECIAL FEATURES · Audio Commentary with actors Dermot Mulroney, Lou Diamond Phillips and Casey Siemaszko · How the West Was Wild: Making Young Guns (NEW FEATURETTE featuring new cast/crew interviews) · Billy the Kid: The True Story · Teaser Trailer · Theatrical Trailer · Exclusive character art cards as part of the Best Buy release

Available in stores on December 5, 2023: National 4K Ultra HD™ + Blu-ray™ + Digital (SRP: $34.99) BEST BUY EXCLUSIVE National 4K Ultra HD™ + Blu-ray™ + Digital (SRP: $37.99)

Thank you to Lionsgate for providing the disc for this review

The year is 1878, Lincoln County. John Tunstall, a British ranch owner, hires six rebellious boys as “regulators” to protect his ranch against the ruthless Santa Fe Ring. When Tunstall is killed in an ambush, the Regulators, led by the wild-tempered Bill the Kid (Emilio Estevez), declare war on the Ring. As their vendetta turns into a bloody rampage, they are branded outlaws, becoming the objects of the largest manhunt in Western history.

CAST: Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney, Casey Siemaszko DIRECTED BY: Christopher Cain WRITTEN BY: John Fusco

4K Review: "Young Guns" is still fun to watch

• Feature Presentation (sound & audio)
• Bonus features

I wish they’d included more about how Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive” inspired the cast during the making (something that had been in the movie & music news during one of the Bon Jovi tours after the movie had been released), and how that had directly led to Jon Bon Jovi creating the theme song for Young Guns II .

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A group of young gunmen, led by Billy the Kid, become deputies to avenge the murder of the rancher who became their benefactor. But when Billy takes their authority too far, they become the ... Read all A group of young gunmen, led by Billy the Kid, become deputies to avenge the murder of the rancher who became their benefactor. But when Billy takes their authority too far, they become the hunted. A group of young gunmen, led by Billy the Kid, become deputies to avenge the murder of the rancher who became their benefactor. But when Billy takes their authority too far, they become the hunted.

• Christopher Cain
• Emilio Estevez
• Kiefer Sutherland
• Lou Diamond Phillips
• 167 User reviews
• 54 Critic reviews
• 50 Metascore
• 1 win & 2 nominations

• William H. Bonney

• Doc Scurlock

• Chavez y Chavez

• Dick Brewer

• Dirty Steve Stephens

• Charley Bowdre

• John Tunstall

• L. G. Murphy

• Alex McSween
• Susan McSween
• (as Sharon Thomas)
• See all cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia At night, the actors would actually get together to play music and sing. When they were drunk, they'd make Lou Diamond Phillips sing "La Bamba", as he had played Ritchie Valens in La Bamba (1987) .
• Goofs Late in the movie, Doc stands up during the gunfight and bumps the brick chimney. It bounces as though made of rubber.

Charley Bowdre : We work for Mr. Tunstall as regulators. We regulate any stealing off his property - we're damn good too! Mr. Tunstall's got a soft spot for runaways, dareless, vagrant types. But you can't be any geek off the street, gotta be handy with the steel, if you know what I mean, earn your keep.

• Connections Featured in I Love the '80s Strikes Back: 1988 (2003)
• Soundtracks Auld Lang Syne (uncredited) Written by Robert Burns [Sung at New Year's Eve dance]

User reviews 167

• Jul 11, 2002
• How long is Young Guns? Powered by Alexa
• How did Tunstall really die?Tunstall was killed in Tinnie NM on his way to Roswell there is an historic marker at the site!!! He was headed to telegraph the governor as it was closest safe telegraph office!!!
• Were the Regulators really so close in age?
• How many Regulators were there in reality?
• August 12, 1988 (United States)
• United States
• Young Guns - Sie fürchten weder Tod noch Teufel
• Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA
• Morgan Creek Entertainment
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $13,000,000 (estimated)
• $45,661,556
• Aug 14, 1988

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 47 minutes
• Dolby Stereo

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Young Guns 4K UHD Review

• December 20, 2023

A revitalizing western, Young Guns didn’t necessarily restart the western, but did begin to reframe it. Playing loose with morality and turning historical anti-heroes into legends, Young Guns brought an MTV counter-culture slant to a traditionally stiff genre. Audiences no longer craved pure heroes. In came Billy the Kid, rising against a corrupt system.

Depicting the law as an indistinct, easily altered entity, Billy the Kid (Emilio Estevez) rides with his gang against a local business owner who exerts control over the town. It’s thin and simple – that’s all Young Guns wants or needs.

At the time, Young Guns felt fresh. Now, it feels nostalgic

The pitch is in making the western appeal to modern senses. Hollow bloodshed was an immovable part of genre filmmaking already; Young Guns has plenty, but that wasn’t the primary selling point. Instead, it’s the personalities, who when together, are often framed as if an alt-rock band album cover as an electric guitar backs the action. At the time, Young Guns felt fresh. Now, it feels nostalgic.

Young Guns makes its characters empathetic, a bunch of orphaned kids raised (if that’s the word) by Londoner John Tunstall (Terence Stamp) with a penchant for instilling manners and education. Their rebelliousness is only temporarily paused. With a government still infantile in its design and form, Billy becomes a deputized leader, but without the maturity necessary for such a role.

It’s a film of outrageous massacres, with Billy egotistical and in his own mind, invincible. This isn’t just his film though, and that helps establish Young Gun’s texture. While of the music video mindset, the script takes time to establish Chavez y Chavez (Lou Diamond Phillips) and why he joins. There’s a worried leader in Dick Brewer (Charlie Sheen), and the complex needs of Doc Scurlock (Kiefer Sutherland) to offset the impossibly thin storyline.

This works because the characters do, and when helplessly surrounded in the finale, the tension isn’t for the lawmen outside to succeed, it’s for the men trapped inside who spent their lives suffering. The only way they feel alive is to kill, then run. For them, it’s purpose. A cause. Most westerns detail the older sheriff; switching the demographics does more than help Young Guns feel refreshed, it completely reshapes the perspective. That’s the jolt needed, and gave studios confidence to once again play in this once old fashioned genre.

A truly beautiful, fresh 4K master draws out Young Guns’ naturally. A thin veneer of grain doesn’t pose a problem for the encode (with a few brief exceptions), leaving behind only texture. Whether it’s the western landscapes or the close-ups, Young Guns provides, and makes full use of the format.

Dolby Vision firms up the contrast, although it’s slightly warmed, taking some of the top-end energy. That’s okay. The black levels hold enough heft and weight to keep depth a constant. That’s wonderful in nighttime interiors that use limited light, relying on the shadows to deliver the visual power. Crush is inherent to the cinematography, and that isn’t uncommon.

The palette overall, like the contrast, veers toward amber hues. Flesh tones follow, but not enough to diminish the natural qualities. Mostly bathed in earth tones, the warmth aids this color spectrum well. Young Guns isn’t without firm blue skies and can excel in spots, but it’s restricted to match the vintage aesthetic.

A PCM stereo track is available for those looking for untouched audio, but the default is a Dolby Atmos remix. It’s, at times, too much, but no less an impressive bit of audio mixing. Ambiance on farms or in town keeps a steady flow of audible information sweeping through the soundstage, from horse hooves to cows mooing. Fired bullets echo outward, even into the heights. Stereos remain a constant presence, with a wide split in the fronts that’s equally effective as it is in the rears. While in places it’s too obvious, the effect isn’t negated, nor does it ruin the immersion.

Bass lacks intensity or depth, but does offer an occasional shake from the score to show range.

The commentary teams up actors Dermot Mulroney, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Casey Siemaszko. A solid 35-minute making of featurette joins a 32-minute piece on Billy the Kid and trailers.

Full disclosure : This Blu-ray was provided to us for review. This has not affected the editorial process. For information on how we handle review material, please visit our about us page to learn more.

A next generation western, Young Guns plays to a younger audience than the traditional genre film.

User Review

The following six screen shots serve as samples for our subscription-exclusive set of 35 full resolution uncompressed 4K screen shots grabbed directly from the UHD:

Matt Paprocki

Matt Paprocki has critiqued home media and video games for 20 years across outlets like Washington Post, Variety, Rolling Stone, Forbes, IGN, Playboy, Polygon, Ars, and others. His current passion project is the technically minded DoBlu.com . You can read Matt's body of work via his personal WordPress blog, and follow him on Twitter @Matt_Paprocki .

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Young Guns II

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Decked out in cowboy gear and ready for action is the pistol-packing cast of Young Guns II , headed by Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland and Lou Diamond Phillips. Together they look as if they might make a terrific fashion spread or a movie poster. What they can’t make is a watchable movie. The first Young Guns , in 1988, was an endurance test for all but those who think ogling young actors in tight britches is a fascinating way to spend two hours. Though it seems impossible, the sequel is even more excruciating.

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Estevez is still playing Billy the Kid. At the start he appears in old-age makeup, like Dustin Hoffman in Little Big Man , to be interviewed by a reporter who is skeptical that the geezer is really the Kid. To prove it, Billy tells his story from the point where the first movie left off. In flashback, we see the young Billy reunited with the surviving members of his gang. (That means only Sutherland and Phillips, since Charlie Sheen, Casey Siemaszko and Dermot Mulroney didn’t get out of the first film alive.) Christian Slater ( Heathers ) shows up as a smartass who thinks he’s just as tough as Billy. And if you look fast, you’ll spot Jon Bon Jovi in a cameo role. The boys shoot, ride, pose for endless close-ups and speak and behave in the anachronistic manner of modern teens. The main focus of the film is the pursuit of the gang by the forces of law and order, led by Pat Garrett, listlessly played by William L. Petersen.

Working from a formulaic script by John Fusco, New Zealander Geoff Murphy ( Red King, White Knight ) makes an inauspicious American directing debut. The action and the acting are so listless that the only honest reaction to what transpires onscreen is a healthy snore.

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Young Guns II Review

05 Jul 1989

104 minutes

Young Guns II

Taking up where the original Young Guns left off, this sequel recalls the last two years in the life of William Bonney - that's Billy the Kid, shot dead at 21 in 1881 by his former friend and fellow cattle rustler Pat Garrett, and subject of 47 previous movies. What is purportedly new and different with this particular version is the historical accuracy on show and, paradoxically, the possibility of a happy ending - perhaps Billy didn't die after all - but what Young Guns II really has going for it is the central performance of Emilio Estevez, so cunning, witty, childish, irresponsible and credible a left-handed gun that he manages to transcend the movie's several shortcomings.

Principal of these is a plot which unfolds unevenly and - to anyone not steeped in posses, pioneer power struggles and life on the trail - in a most perplexing fashion. For all its funny lines and exciting set-pieces, this serves only to diminish the predicament in which our hero finds himself. It lessens too our interest in the adversity of his reformed Regulators, of whom Sutherland and Phillips ride again, the former's character Doc completely thrown away, the latter's wooden Indian never very interesting in the first place.

Newboy Christian Slater is given little room to shine, and, as Garrett, Petersen has no opportunity to build the turncoat character of Billy's nemesis - though the contrast between the dramatic beauty of the New Mexico landscape and the grubbiness of those who ride it is well-caught throughout. An affectionate and entertaining tribute to the Western - but, Estevez aside, Young Guns II doesn't exactly add much to the old genre.

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Young Guns II Reviews

The cast is strong, delivering performances that always feel honest and in the moment, thereby making the violence that they must enact and endure all the more tense for us, as well as them.

Full Review | Dec 5, 2023

The film is not really bad, but it is not very good either. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Nov 30, 2022

Full of sound, gunfire, fury and scorchingly beautiful landscapes, Young Guns 2 generates more sheer visual excitement than any Western since Peckinpah and Leone were in their last '70s prime.

Full Review | Nov 2, 2021

Young Guns II is a bad movie, too, but bad in an uninteresting way.

As the movie goes on, a couple of the Regulators are gunned down, and all it really stirred in me was a wish that they not be reunited in that big valley in the sky for Young Guns III.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Sep 7, 2011

Murphy directs cleanly, arranging the shoot-outs and Billy's personal declarations of doubt with a solid rhythm, making the film feel urged instead of assigned.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Aug 7, 2010

Although it's more ambitious than most sequels, Young Guns II exhausts its most inspired moment during the opening credits and fades into a copy of its 1988 predecessor -- a slick, glossy MTV-style western.

Full Review | Mar 26, 2009

Expected western sequel w/young Hollywood cast.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 22, 2008

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | May 7, 2007

The point is that the soundtrack includes Jon Bon Jovi, and that the stars play to the audience with a nod and a wink that says, 'Well, no one takes Westerns seriously any more, do they?'

Full Review | Feb 9, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Jun 11, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 28, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 16, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 1, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 8, 2004

Can you resist a movie with a Jon Bon Jovi theme song? You can? But this was before he turned into a total wuss!

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 16, 2003

The other members of the Lincoln County Regulators, Billy's gang, share a similar boyishness that's geared far more carefully to the tastes of today's teen-age audiences than to the folklore of the old West.

Full Review | May 20, 2003

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 25, 2002

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 12, 2002

Lacks the grit and intensity of its predecessor.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 4, 2002

Why So Blu?

The latest entertainment news and reviews in 4K UHD, Blu-ray, movies and more…

Young Guns – 35th Anniversary Steelbook (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

Set in the 1870s, the film tells the story of how a wayward young gunman, Billy ( Emilio Estevez ), joined the “Regulators,” a posse of cowboys and others who would go on to face many challengers of all types. They are initially led by John Tunstall ( Terence Stamp ), an English rancher doing his best to help these others. They would include Doc Scurlock ( Kiefer Sutherland ), Chavez ( Lou Diamond Phillips ), Dick Brewer ( Charlie Sheen ), Dirty Steve Stephens ( Dermot Mulroney ), and Charlie Bowdre ( Casey Siemaszko ). The plot kicks into gear when a rival rancher, Lawrence Murphy ( Jack Palance ), decides to wage war against the Regulators, causing all sorts of problems for all.

I have to admit that my curiosity, more than anything, intrigued me to finally sit down and watch Young Guns . I had an impression in my head that this film would play it fairly safe and serve as more of an excuse to watch the “Brat Pack” do a western. To my surprise, there’s a movie that features a fair amount of grit. Sure, it’s also a 1988 feature that feels indebted, in some ways, to Top Gun and The Lost Boys as much as it is to Leone or Hawks, but director Christopher Cain didn’t just make a movie about a bunch of pretty boys with a little dirt on their face.

For his part, Estevez is quite good here; it is perhaps one of his best performances. From what I’ve read, this is surprisingly a fairly accurate representation of the Billy the Kid story, and I feel that informs what Estevez is bringing to the table here. He’s playing Billy as one who respects those who respect him, as well as a wild man behind the gun. Billy cares for his fellow Regulators and will pull his pistol in a second if he believes he has cause. He’s an outlaw, sure, but no different than other romanticized versions of Western characters, and Estevez is channeling what’s necessary.

The rest of the cast provides what’s needed as well, as the film takes itself seriously. There’s no sense of irony here, nor is this a revisionist Western. It’s a straightforward flick featuring a set of people who would say they’re in the right for their actions, even while being challenged. That’s what makes Sutherland and Phillips so good here. Having the most to do outside of Estevez, the two play off their status well. For Kiefer Sutherland, he becomes Billy’s right-hand man and leans into being one of the more sympathetic individuals. Phillips relies on his status as a Mexican-Indian who constantly has to deal with being an outsider of sorts, with a desire to bring justice to his various ethnic backgrounds.

Sheen and the others have less to do, though Mulroney gets to play a man so dirty that even when he bathes, he’s still dirty-looking. The older actors, on the other hand, really get to chew it up. Stamp is fun simply by feeling somewhat against type as a kindly rancher trying to teach his boys manners. Palance is very happy to lean in on his Irish accent and overall villainy in a film that works well with that energy.

That’s the other thing: while the Regulators are serious individuals, this movie is fun. It’s not stepping anywhere near what classic Westerns offer, but it’s also not setting its sights higher than needed. It wants to bring a little realism to the nature of these mythic characters, and the balance in achieving this is quite strong. It makes the shootouts exciting, as the film has its share of violence. Additionally, the stakes are where they should be, as the film doesn’t shy away from taking various pieces off the board (regardless of how well one knows Western history).

While perhaps not joining the leagues of some modern Westerns I love, like The Proposition, Tombstone, or 3:10 to Yuma , I am happy that Young Guns delivers as well as it does. It’s a fun flick that gets in and out pretty quickly, with enough to offer from its ensemble cast and sense of style. It also has me fully prepared to check out the sequel, let alone keep track of the rumored third film. Whatever the case, the Young Guns were loaded and ready for a blast.

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 4K (2160p)

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Layers: BD-66

Clarity/Detail:  Lionsgate has noted this is a brand-new transfer featuring Dolby Vision HDR. While I can’t compare this release to the previous one, I was immediately taken aback by the stylish black-and-white opening sequence, followed by a grainy yet production design-rich feature. Westerns are famously cheap to produce, but that’s due to all the open environments used to work with, and it shines for a release like this. There is so much clarity to take in during the various outdoor sequences. The detail is never less than impressive as we watch various outlaws, cowboys, ranchers, and more in their uniforms, moving through towns or the land. Sure, the grain can settle in pretty heavily at times, but this is a presentation reflecting what was shot at the time about as best as possible.

Depth: Depth is fine. The character spacing registers as well as it needs to, which is helpful for an ensemble cast.

Black Levels: Black levels do enough to add to the atmosphere, with no sign of significant crushing.

Color Reproduction: While it traffics in yellows, browns, and subtle greens, there’s enough here to really see what’s needed to pop, and when colors do surface, they are quite vibrant.

Flesh Tones: There’s a good level of facial detail to be found as the film focuses more on dirty Western faces.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English Dolby TrueHD 7.1, English 2.0 PCM Stereo

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Dynamics: The opening scene, featuring black-and-white imagery, also has the characters firing guns at the camera, which sets the whole tone for the soundscape of this feature. It’s excellent, as is the rest of the film, when it comes to immersion. Plenty has been done to ensure we can take in everything from gunfire, horses galloping, cowboys yelling at each other, and more.

Low-Frequency Extension: With all the bombast from the shootouts, there’s plenty for the sub-woofer to work with.

Surround Sound Presentation: A lot is going on to help immerse the viewer into the film, including music and various sound effects. The rear channels come into play well enough to make the lossless track feel more worthwhile.

Dialogue Reproduction: Everyone registers as they should, Western twangs and all.

While most of the previous features have been ported over from previous releases, one new extra makes this release even more worthwhile. Much like the other recent Lionsgate steelbook releases, Young Guns has a slick slipcover on top, with a nicely packaged steel case within. I like what they went for with the art, and it’s a study design. There’s also a fun set of glossy character cards in the set as well. Extras can be found on the film’s 4K and Blu-ray copies that arrive in this package.

Features Include:

• Audio Commentary with Actors Lou Diamond Phillips, Dermot Mulroney, and Casey Siemaszko – From what I’ve sampled, a lot of comradery is taking place here, even if it’s not the most technical track.
• How the West Was Wild: Making Young Guns (HD, 35:51) – A new behind-the-scenes feature with interviews with the cast and crew. Sadly, while some actors were available, the recent SAG-AFTRA strike apparently prevented this from being more involved. However, there are some archival interviews with the biggest stars.
• Billy the Kid: The True Story (HD, 32:17) – Fairly basic, despite its length, but one could get a good enough sense of the real Billy the Kid from this.
• Teaser Trailer (HD, 1:16)
• Theatrical Trailer (HD, 1:28)
• Blu-ray Copy of the Film
• Digital Copy of the Film

I always want to enjoy what I’m watching, so it was a pleasant surprise to be as engaged by Young Guns as I would. Yep, judging books by their cover and all that has meaning, and this is, indeed, a fun Western with a solid cast and plenty to have fun with. I can see why it’s a cult favorite. The 4K UHD release does proper justice to these Wild West outlaws, as they look and sound better than ever. For anyone who is curious or who has stuck by the Regulators, there’s plenty to recommend with this one.

Order Your Copy Here:

Aaron Neuwirth

Writer/Reviewer, Film Lover, Podcaster, Gamer, Comic Reader, Disc Golfer & a Lefty. There are too many films, TV, books, etc. for me to list as favorites, but I can assure that the amount film knowledge within my noggin is ridiculous, though I am always open to learning more. You can follow me on Twitter @AaronsPS4, see what else I am up to at TheCodeIsZeek.com & check out my podcast, Out Now with Aaron and Abe, on iTunes.

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Young Guns II Streaming: Watch & Stream Online via AMC Plus

By Dipesh Ramdasani

In 1990, the young gunslingers we fell in love with in the original Young Guns (1988) returned for a second helping of Wild West action. Young Guns II , this time, faced off against William Petersen’s relentless lawman Pat Garrett, a former friend turned foe.

Here’s how you can watch and stream Young Guns II via streaming services such as AMC Plus.

Is Young Guns II available to watch via streaming?

Yes Young Guns II is available to watch via streaming on AMC Plus.

The film’s a rollicking good time, filled with showdowns, train robberies, and daring escapes. It picks up where the first one left off, following Billy the Kid and his Regulators as they fight for survival after the Lincoln County War. There’s a great sense of camaraderie between the outlaws, with plenty of banter and humor along the way. But things get serious when Pat Garrett, driven by duty and a hefty bounty, comes after them.

The movie injects a youthful energy and rock-and-roll vibe into the classic Western genre, much like the first film.

Directed by Geoff Murphy. The main cast includes Emilio Estevez as William H. ‘Billy the Kid’ Bonney, Kiefer Sutherland as Josiah Gordon ‘Doc’ Scurlock, Lou Diamond Phillips as Jose Chavez y Chavez, and William Petersen as Patrick Floyd ‘Pat’ Garrett.

Watch Young Guns II streaming via AMC Plus

Young Guns II i s available to watch on AMC Plus. AMC Plus is your gateway to a vast library of binge-worthy content. Dive into exclusive shows, hit movies, and originals made by AMC Networks and their partners.

You can watch via AMC Plus by following these steps:

• Go to AMCPlus.com
• Create a username and password
• $8.99 per month
• $83.88 per year

Users can also subscribe to AMC Plus as a channel via Amazon Prime Video if they are current subscribers to Amazon’s service.

Young Guns II synopsis is as follows:

“Three of the original five “young guns” — Billy the Kid (Emilio Estevez), Jose Chavez y Chavez (Lou Diamond Phillips), and Doc Scurlock (Kiefer Sutherland) — return in Young Guns, Part 2, which is the story of Billy the Kid and his race to safety in Old Mexico while being trailed by a group of government agents led by Pat Garrett.”

NOTE: The streaming services listed above are subject to change. The information provided was correct at the time of writing.

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