Quigley Down Under (1990)
Western | Adventure | Drama

Tom Selleck gives the boldest performance of his career in this "new style, revisionist western with the panoramic scope of a movie epic" (Los Angeles Times). Fierce gunfights, forbidding landscapes, breakneck chases - all hallmarks of the classic western - are reinvented in this hard-pounding actioner that "revitalizes the genre" and comes out "a sure winner" (The Hollywood Reporter)

Arriving in Australia with nothing more than a saddle and his prized six-foot Sharps rifle, American sharpshooter Matthew Quigley thinks he's been hired to kill off wild dogs. But when he realizes instead, that his mission is murder - to "eliminate" the Aborigines from a wealthy cattle baron's land - Quigley refuses and quickly turns from hunter to hunted. Forced to wage a savage war against his former employer, Quigley proves that no one gets the best of a steely-eyed American gunfighter - no one, that is , except the mysterious beauty (Laura San Giacomo, sex, lies, & videotape) who rides by his side and captures his heart.

User Comment: Jason C. Atwood Suffolk, Virginia • Those who haven't grown up with Wayne or Eastwood should take a fair glance at QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER, an excellent recreation of vintage cowboy movies with brilliant qualities that make a traditional standard among others. With modern styling, this will grow on you if Westerns haven't been your brand. It deserves high merits for top-notch costuming, make-up, and scenery that gets all dusty and brown. Acting is extremely well done, considering the late stage it's in. "Crazy Cora" is a cheerful rendition to lady-pokes everywhere in Western cinema, and one who keeps calling "Roy" all the time, plus Tom Selleck shows us what a true cowboy should be like. The orchestrated music will stick to your mind in years to come. One familiar old problem that Westerns would normally have is being more like the rest of them, but then again, this film provides testimony that there is great need of reviving the Western genre, which would still be hard to appease today. Highly recommended!

Summary: A classic Western that is back on the saddle again.

--- JOYA ---

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