Young Guns II
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| Young Guns II | |
|---|---|
 original film poster |
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| Directed by | Geoff Murphy |
| Produced by | Paul Schiff Irby Smith |
| Written by | John Fusco |
| Starring | Emilio Estevez Kiefer Sutherland Lou Diamond Phillips William Petersen James Coburn |
| Music by | Jon Bon Jovi Alan Silvestri |
| Cinematography | Dean Semler |
| Editing by | Bruce Green |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox Warner Bros. (DVD) |
| Release date(s) | August 1, 1990 |
| Running time | 104 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Young Guns |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Young Guns II is a 1990 film, and is the sequel to Young Guns. It stars Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christian Slater, and features William Petersen as Pat Garrett. It was directed by Geoff Murphy.
It follows the life of William H Bonney aka Billy the Kid (played by Emilio Estevez) in the years following the Lincoln County War in which Billy was part of "The Regulators" - a group of around 6 highly skilled gunmen avenging the death of John Tunstall, and the years before Billy's documented death. The film however is told by Brushy Bill Roberts - a man who in the 1940s appeared claiming to be the real Billy the Kid.
While the film is not entirely historically accurate it does show some of the key events leading up to Billy's documented death, including his talks with Governor Lew Wallace, his capture by friend-turned-foe Pat Garrett, his trial and his following escape in which he killed two deputies.
Contents |
[edit] Cast
- Emilio Estevez as Billy the Kid
- Kiefer Sutherland as Josiah Gordon 'Doc' Scurlock
- Lou Diamond Phillips as Jose Chavez y Chavez
- Christian Slater as 'Arkansas' Dave Rudabaugh
- Balthazar Getty as Tom O'Folliard
- Alan Ruck as Hendry William French
- William Petersen as Pat Garrett
- Viggo Mortensen as John W. Poe
- James Coburn as John Chisum
- R.D. Call as D.A. Rynerson
- Leon Rippy as Robert "Bob" Ollinger
- Tracey Walter as Beever Smith
- Jenny Wright as Jane Greathouse
- Scott Wilson as Governor Lew Wallace
[edit] Plot
The film opens with a young attorney talking to an elderly man named Brushy Bill Roberts, who claims that he is William H. Bonney (aka Billy The Kid, who was said to have been shot and killed by Pat Garrett in 1881). The majority of the film takes place in flashbacks as the old man recalls his story for the historian.
The movie begins with Billy going to save his old friends Doc Scurlock and Jose Chavez y Chavez out of prison. The group then make a run for the border with Billy's new gang including Dave 'Arkansas' Rudabaugh and Hendry William French and 14 year old Tom O'Falliard. After their escape, the authorities think it wise to hire an old friend of Billy's, Pat Garrett, to hunt him down and kill him. Garret agrees and begins his search for the legendary outlaw.
This adventure goes even worse than the last one did, throughout the film Tom is killed. Late in the film, Billy, Doc, Hendry and Chavez are all cornered, Doc being shot. Doc realizes there's no hope left for him, so to allow his friends to get away he make a final stand against the police while Chavez, Dave and Hendry get away, Chavez being badly wounded in the escape. Doc, is shot and killed as he had planned.
Billy is caught and taken back to be imprisoned and tried in Lincoln county. After the daring feat of killing his two guards Billy makes an audacious escape and goes to meet up with his friends in Old Fort Sumner. He comes to realize that Dave has abandoned them and that Chavez is mortally wounded. Billy is incensed at how his actions have lead to the deaths of his friends while he has been largely unharmed. He takes refuge with a female friend for the night. When he decides to go get something to eat he realizes that he is unarmed just as Pat Garrett makes his presence known. After a short dialouge, Billy turns around, forcing Garrett to shoot him in the back like a coward, Garrett shoots errantly, striking a distant pinata, and in the morning finds his horse missing. The film ends with Brushy Bill walking away after his story while the lawyer chases after him. The prologue reveals that Dave was in fact killed once he reached Mexico and that despite his claims, Brushy Bill Roberts was never credited as being Billy the Kid.
[edit] Soundtrack
Emilio Estevez originally approached Jon Bon Jovi to ask him for permission to include the song "Wanted Dead Or Alive" on the soundtrack[citation needed]. Bon Jovi didn't feel the song was entirely appropriate (particularly the line "On a steel horse I ride")[citation needed]; however, he was inspired by the project and resolved to write a new song for the film, that would be more in keeping with the period and setting. He quickly wrote the song 'Blaze Of Glory', offering it to Estevez for inclusion in the film. Bon Jovi then went on to write and record several more songs, working with legendary guitarist Jeff Beck. Blaze of Glory is Jon Bon Jovi's first solo album, released in 1990. It includes songs from and inspired by the movie Young Guns II. Songs from Young Guns II include #1 hit single "Blaze of Glory" and #2 "Miracle". Approximate sales were in excess of two million copies in the United States. - an album that achieved great success commercially and critically[citation needed].
[edit] Trivia
- The only actors to return from the original film are Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, and Lou Diamond Phillips.
- Tom O'Folliard played by Balthazar Getty was an original member of the Regulators not depicted in the original film.
- Hendry William French played by Alan Ruck is a combo of Jim French and Henry Newton Brown both original members of the Regulators not depicted in the original film.
- Jose Chavez y Chavez (played by Lou Diamond Phillips) did not die during this time, he lived a long life, dying much later in 1924.
- In the movie Josiah Gordon 'Doc' Scurlock (played by Kiefer Sutherland) died the way Charlie Bowdre had died, in real life Charlie walked in front of the door and was shot; Scurlock lived on and became a schoolteacher and died in 1929.
- The scene where Arkansas Dave Rudabaugh (played by Christian Slater) puts a knife through Chavez' arm was added due to Lou Diamond Phillips' breaking his arm during filming.
- No one got away at Stinking Springs a few were injured and Charlie Bowdre died. The Kid and his gang surrendered and were all taken to jail in Santa Fe but Dave Rudabaugh eventually escaped and did flee to Old Mexico. There are two different stories of what happen to him: 1) He was involved in a bar fight and killed two men, and outraged the Mexican people beheaded him. 2) After a year, he left Old Mexico and headed to Montana where he lived a normal life, got married, and fathered three daughters. He lived to be a grumpy old man and died in Oregon in 1928. However, the latter account impossible as there are existing photos of Dave Rudabaugh's decaptitated head taken by the Mexican government.
- Jon Bon Jovi makes a cameo appearance as one of the prisoners in the pit with Doc and Chavez.
- When escaping after sentencing Billy shouts out "Hello, Bob" before shooting Bob Ollinger, and "Goodbye, Bob" afterwards - exactly the same as the real Billy.
- The real Billy never told a judge he could go to "Hell, Hell, Hell," after the judge sentenced him to hang by the neck until he be "dead, dead, dead." In fact he sat there quietly and when asked if he had anything to say on his behalf he kept his head low and just said "No."
- John Chisum (played by James Coburn) convinces Pat Garrett to accept a job as the new Lincoln County Sheriff. Coburn himself played Garrett in Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.
