Movie Reviews: Young Guns, Young Guns II and the Gillette Connection

I have liked the expression "Young Guns". To me the term meant a younger talented person breaking into a more competitive sports scene. This will be explained more later. Amongst my friends, the movie "Young Guns" was suggested as a good movie. I am not a big fan of westerns, but this movie had a bunch of popular actors in one of their earlier movies. A little research and I found that some of the same actors also played in a sequel called Young Guns II. So, I found unwrapped DVD's of both movies at Amazon. A few days later and they were delivered to my home.

Young Guns
I watched this movie last night. I enjoyed it. When this movie was produced in 1988, many of the actors were starting their careers. The theme of this movie dealt mainly with Billy The Kid played by Emilio Estevez and his gang. Based in 1878, Billy was taken in by a English Rancher and Storekeeper in Lincoln County New Mexico named John Tunstall. Tunstall mentored young men on his ranch and employed them as "Regulators" to maintain security on the ranch. The six regulators were what we would probably call "at risk youth" today. They all had trouble with the law and were very proficient with their weapons of choice. After Tunstall was murdered by his Irish competitor's gang, the "Regulators" fended for themselves and after being deputized, they waged war against the Murphy gang. The "Regulators" soon became known as Billy The Kid's gang and a price was put on their heads. The movie followed their antics until the final scene when they hid in a house of Tunstall's attorney and friend. The Army shot up the house and set it on fire. Billy and a couple of his gang managed to escape and during the escape, Billy finally managed to take out his revenge on Murphy. The end of the movie was captions about what happened to the remaining "Regulators". This movie was rated "R" probably for violence. I purchased it from Amazon. The quality of the movie and audio was good.

Several younger actors played in this movie during the beginning of their careers.

Young Guns II
So tonight I watched this movie. After the first movie told what happened to the "Regulators", the question is why would you need another movie. Well this one started out with a bit of a surprise. It starts in 1949 when an old man wanders out of the wilderness and meets with an attorney. He tells a tale that he is Billy The Kid and wants to meet with the Govenor. The movie follows his story of what happened to him following the Lincoln County wars and follows the myth of Billy The Kid.

This movie takes place in 1879 following the Lincoln County war. Billy has been running wild, is a wanted fugitive and the Sheriffs and bounty hunters were after him. The remaining two "Regulators" are rounded up and imprisoned and waiting trial. Billy springs them free and along with some new members of the gang, they are on the run around New Mexico. It finally ends with Billy dead. Or is he?

These movies were partially based on true events. There really was a Billy The Kid, John Tunstall, Regulators, Murphy and the Lincoln County war. Also several people have come forward claiming that they were Billy The Kid. But there was never any proof that he survived.

Again, this movie was rated "R" probably for violence. I purchased it from Amazon. The quality of the movie and audio was good.

Three "Regulators" returned for this movie.

The Gillette Connection
I have always liked motorsports and follow the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. A few years ago, several younger racers were brought onto teams to race the Sprint Cup series. These drivers had made their names in the Nationwide series and other lesser NASCAR series races. The Gillette corporation picked up on this and labeled them as the "Young Guns". Many funny and silly commercials were made with these drivers and subsequently a race series was set up that involved the "Young Guns" and prominent sports celebrities from outside of motor sports. Here is a Wikipedia article about the Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race: Wikipedia Article About The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race

These racers have gone on to be well respected competitive racers in the stock car community.

The "Young Guns": Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne.