Young Guns (1988) on Netflix
New Mexico, 1870s: John Tunstall hires young gunmen, including William Bonney, and his cattle trade angers Lawrence Murphy. When Tunstall is killed, they are deputized to arrest the killers.
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Trailer
Plot summary
In Lincoln County, New Mexico, English cattleman John Tunstall hires a band of wayward young gunmen to work his ranch: Doc Scurlock, Jose Chavez y Chavez, Dick Brewer, Steve Stephens, Charlie Bowdre and the hotheaded William Bonney. Tunstall also sets out to teach them to read. His cattle trade puts him at odds with Lawrence Murphy, a well-connected rancher in league with corrupt officials. Doc courts Murphy's ward, Yen Sun, while one of Murphy's hands, McCloskey, switches to Tunstall's side. On New Year's Day, Murphy's men shoot Tunstall. Alexander McSween, the dead man's lawyer, has the young men sworn in as deputies and hands them warrants for the killers, but Bonney has no patience for Dick Brewer's lead.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Young Guns (1988)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
SPOILER
Tom Cruise briefly appears in a non-speaking cameo as one of Murphy's henchmen, shot and killed by Charlie during the climactic shootout; he made the appearance while visiting friends on the set.- James Horner, whom director Cain had worked with on The Stone Boy and Where the River Runs Black, was originally hired as composer, but his score was rejected and replaced by a new one from Brian Banks and Anthony Marinelli shortly before release, and some early promotional material still lists Horner.
- Among the film's artistic licenses is the age of John Tunstall, who was 24 when he died but is played by the then 49-year-old Terence Stamp and depicted as a father figure to the Regulators, when in fact he was only six years older than Billy and more of a mentor.
- Estevez later said: "John Fusco wrote a magnificent script, but then it was turned into what I call Hollywood's first heavy-metal western. It was just an excuse for a personality piece featuring all these young actors, and I was very disappointed."
- Cain initially wanted Sutherland to portray Billy, but Estevez convinced the director that he himself was suitable for the part.
SPOILER
Lawrence Murphy is shown being killed by Billy during the siege, when in fact he was not present for the battle and died of cancer several months later.- The climactic siege at Alexander McSween's property is truncated for the film: the real event lasted five days while the film shows only two, and the number of Regulators is cut from the historical eleven to six.
