WATCH NOW
I came to appreciate the The Long Riders after savouring Keith Carradine as a western actor in a movie known as Last Stand at Saber River. This piece revealed to me why I was so fascinated by Carradine when he played a retired special agent in the show Dexter. His role was engraved in my mind as one where he possessed odd traits. My weird attraction to him at that point made no sense, but now feels justified. His exceptional prowess in horse riding accompanied by that debonair voice made things clearer. Therefore, I did what any of us would do. I went on a quest to hunt for more Carradine westerns. The Long Riders is a f*cking jackpot. Seriously. Three Carradines, two Quaids, two Keaches, two Guests, and a partridge in a pear tree. How could you not NEED to see a Western about the infamous James-Younger Gang, stacked with that many acting families?! For starters, the movie is fascinating and offers talent from all over the area. Carradine alongside Quaid and Keaches makes having the iconic Cast seem so effortless. It is genuinely astonishing just how good Carradine is in this movie. The western genre is terribly neglected. The best part is that it’s not a hollow gimmick. Even though it gained poor reviews and faced criticism owing to the box office loss, in my opinion the critics can shove their disapproval in the trash. The portrayal of initial western cavalry and cowboy history is astounding. Where it misses out is attempting. It tries too hard to be catchy, and it’s not at all an interesting plot. There are plenty of movies based on this set of events which makes it common and stale. The Long Riders excels in jaw-dropping action.
The Long Riders has as much of the well-known Jesse James lore as other Jesse James movies, but has proven to be closer to reality than fiction. The movie starts with a bank robbery. While Jesse (James Keach) is involved in the robbery, he kicks Ed Miller (Dennis Quaid) out of the gang for being too reckless, thus there is a split.
Some reviewers were not impressed with the first half of the movie’s attempts at fleshing out the story for the Younger brothers. I personally found it to be great because I get to appreciate all that Carradine screen time. Plus, for once it’s not all about Jesse James.
Cole Younger (David Carradine) is visiting his lover Belle Starr (Pamela Reed), who is known for her infamous acts. Jim (Keith Carradine) has his eyes on Jesse’s soon to be sister in law, Beth Mimms (Amy Stryker). Cole continues to bonk Belle while keeping his distance, and when Jesse and Zee get married, Beth ends up getting engaged to the sociopath Ed Miller instead of Jim.
While everyone seems satisfied with their mundane lives, they suddenly get the itch to do bad. With Jesse’s help Clell (Randy Quaid) decides to target the rich Northfield bank in Missouri.
That’s when all hell breaks loose. Almost everyone aside from the James boys gets blasted. Then Jesse is all, “you guys suck, I’m outta here” and takes off with his not so willing brother Frank (Stacy Keach), leaving Cole, Jim, Clell and Bob Younger (Robert Carradine) bleeding and vulnerable.
This isn’t the glorified James-Younger Gang in films like American Outlaws. Cole and Jim Younger are still charming, but the over all feel is more sinister and brutal.
These James brothers are blunt and deadpan. Stacy Keach played the quieter of the James brothers but certainly gave his character more than his brother who plays Jesse, who gives a one-note performance.
Stacy Also wins the competition for best moustache in The Long Riders. In the first half of the movie everyone is clean shaven except Frank and Cole. In the second half it seems the gang may have been issued prop facial hair.
David Carradine is what the whole movie is about. Cole Younger is the primary character but there’s more to it than that. Carradine’s leathery, squinty thing works SO WELL in Westerns.
But his best contribution to The Long Riders is his physical skill. Keith Carradine’s sam and streer fighting stances were all on display in the furious tussle frey he engaged in with Sam Starr (James Remar) while fighting over Belle. In an ornate salon duel with Sam Starr, Keith Carradine’s Jim’s boxing, martial arts, street dances, and other graceful skills were on full display. Keith Carradine’s Jim is stronger but more slow to develop. He begins with a classic forlorn romantic storyline (broken up with that smart-ass wit he often plays), and then descends into violence when Bob gets shot off of a horse and lands next to him… literally right off the back. I’m not even kidding, I rewatched it in slo-mo multiple times because holy shit, is that some impressive stunt work. I hope they paid their horsey stunt people well, because the major action scenes are just stacked with trick riding that made me cringe. It turns out I do know what it feels like to hit the ground off a speeding horse, and I usually only do that once a year. The other parts of the actions sequences are flawless as well. Leg, arm, torso, and face (Keith Carradine) bullets rage directly through a mix of effortless blood.
Everything is slowed down, which allows you to see the details of the hit and the reaction to it. It’s vaguely enjoyable.
Both Quaids are acceptable. For Dennis, with Ed Miller, he is trembling in rage and jealousy, and for Randy, he is friendlier and more rednecky (typical Randy Quaid). Christopher Guest as Charlie Ford is hardly recognizable to me, because to me, he will always be The Six-Fingered Man.
Without a doubt, The Long Riders is the type of movie one would watch if he or she is a fan of the actors, or an expert on the James-Younger Gang mythology. But it also has a good shot (no pun) at pleasing fans of the more rough and violent Westerns.
Just a random piece of trivia that I learned on my own: with the exception of David Carradine, most of the actors have almost exactly been born 100 years after the men they portray in the movie.
To watch more movies like The Long Riders visit 123Movies.
