Young Guns II was one of my absolute favorite movies when I
was a teen. I saw both the first and
second in the theater. In retrospect,
Young Guns is the superior film. Better
story, better character development, an overall much more grounded film,
although it’s hard to see that through the lens of the Brat Pack cast. For a 15 year old, Young Guns II was the way
to go. The movie is much closer to the
Schwarzenegger / Stallone / Van Damme action films that filled out my weekends. The shootouts are great, there’s a steady
stream of one-liners, and Christian Slater’s take on “Arkansas” Dave Rudabaugh tips
the cast of characters just over the line to over the top. If Young Guns is trying to be a film,
Young Guns II is comfortably a movie.
It was also the first time I ever fell in love with a saloon
girl, saw a bare behind in a theater, and saw that a bunch of people might just
get naked and drunk together for the sheer hell of it (as Pat Garrett recounts
in the film). Every time this movie ever
ran on cable I’d hang along long enough to see this scene.
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