The Long Riders (USA; Walter Hill, 1980)

  As far as westerns go, The Long Riders has all the elements essential to the genre; and then some. Unique among them are the elaborate dance segment, which has a satisfyingly authentic feel to it, and the knife duel between Cole Younger (David Carradine) and Sam Starr (James Remar, who essentially seems to repeat his role as Ajax in Hill's previous film, The Warriors), which involves keeping the two rivals linked together by a piece of cloth kept in place by the duelists' biting on each end. While I would be speculating in stating that these portrayals are historically accurate, I believe the debate in question to be irrelevant in order to appreciate this picture. Actually, one might enjoy it even more if not looking for any historical enlightenment.

   First of all, the story of Jesse James (coupled with the Younger gang this time) has arguably been recycled more than that of any other personality of the Old West, save perhaps Wyatt Earp. James' mythical appeal (added to his cowardly murder) makes him ripe for speculative reformation.

 Except Riders doesn't attempt to reform anything. Instead of trying to offer a comprehensive portrait of the James and Younger brothers, the film seems content with showing episodic moments that center around the gang's feud with the Pinkerton agency, including a random train-jacking and bloody encounters with some Pinkerton men. However, this approach seems to come from the script rather than the directing. Co-written by the Keach Brothers (also executive producers), the script emphasizes the family aspect of the James-Younger gang over their criminal carreer. In fact, one of the film's most attractive qualities is the use of real-life siblings to portray brothers on screen: Jesse and Frank James (James and Stacy Keach); Cole, Jim and Bob Younger (David, Keith and Robert Carradine); Ed and Clill Miller (Dennis and Randy Quaid) and the two Ford brothers, Charlie and Bob (Christopher and Nicholas Guest), the latter being Jesse's murderer. This little casting arrangement makes the picture a tad more interesting, especially after all these years.

   

    Now we come to the cherry sitting on top of most westerns: the final shootout. While no Wild Bunch, the picture does have an extensively bloody final confrontation which is rendered even more chaotic through its visual treatment. Coming off a failed bank robbery, the gang gets shot-at from all directions as they ride their horses through the town looking for a way out, seeminly running around in circles as every exit seems to have been blocked off, bullets coming from every angle as the town is filled with hidden gunmen that have apparently set a trap for the band of outlaws. While I usually object to gunfights filmed in close-ups, with no follow-up shots as to where the fired bullet ends up (as is the prevalent case in Riders), I still found myself enjoying the hell out of this climactic scene, seeing the excessive ammount of shots fired and the sporadic hits that reach the gang members as reflective of the gang's confusion and panic in being ambushed, as well as their against-all-odds luck at getting out in one piece (although Clill Miller eventually dies of his wounds). The heavy use of slow-motion (especially when the gang decides to exit by breaking through a store window, horses and all) also adds to the scene's heaviness.