Quigley Down Under

Rating:
Summary: Super music from a super movie
Review: An excellent musical score from one of all-time favorite movies

Rating:
Summary: Great music to revive the moods of the movie.
Review: I long-sought the album, and finally found it. The movie, one of my all-time favorites, had music the mezmorized me from the beginning. The composer (I'd butcher his name without it in from of me) is the same for "Red Dawn" and "Hunt for Red October", and does an outstanding job of capturing the mood of scenes from movies in music that will stay in your mind with a haunting presence. The western-meets-Austrailian-outback music is indicative of the old-west era of US history. But that's just my opinion

Rating:
Summary: I'm still amazed I'm giving it five stars
Review: This movie was fun with a great setting. Tom Selleck took his role research seriously and Laura San Giacomo was memorable as the crazy whore with the sad secret. Alan Rickman was well cast as the deplorable rich landowner with the sniveling bravado and the posse of cruel but incompetent mercenaries. The scenes of Aboriginal magic were very well done--eerie, yet with a feeling of integrity that threw the greed of some of the white men in the movie into perfect contrast.

The ending was very satisfying. I was amazed to check myself and find how totally absorbed I'd become. Since I'd started off the movie guffawing sarcastically at Tom Selleck swaggering off the ship in his Quigley sharpshooter gear, I chalk it up to good storytelling to say I was a changed woman as the last scene rolled.

I was also gratified to see that they really did film it on location, near Alice Springs, rather than an American desert or Hollywood back lot; and the shore scenes were done in Victoria--which is a long way from Fremantle, WA (Western Australia) but at least it was still on the Australian continent.

Rating:
Summary: One Of The Best Modern Westerns
Review: Although Clint Eastwood and Kevin Costner are probably considered the top modern Western moviemakers, Tom Selleck can't be ignored as perhaps the most active of the bunch. He has taken a film genre that many consider a has-been and made it a staple of cable television. Just turn on TNT or TBS on the weekend and you're guaranteed to see at least one Western on with Selleck in it. He has become a staple of the genre, as well as a top spokesman for the cowboy way(not to mention the NRA, huh Rosie O'Donnell?)

Selleck made this gem for the big screen about fifteen years earlier than this writing. It stands as one of the last major Westerns released on the big screen that actually found some success. It isn't as realistic as "Open Range," isn't as funny like "Silverado," and doesn't stand up to greats like "Tombstone" and "Unforgiven." What it does manage to do is give the viewer a great tale of the really wild, waaaay southwest(at least of Texas)about a sharpshooting Wyoming cowboy hired to hunt dingos on a ranch in Australia. When he arrives down under, he finds out the dingos are actually Aborigines who seem to be in the way of Alan Rickman's progress on his ranch. Rickman plays the wicked ranch baron to a tee. He is supported by a wonderful cast of bad guys who range from Irish to Scotch in background. Selleck's character, Matthew Quigley, decides that he has to help the Aborigines gain their freedom from Rickman. Along the way he picks up a "not all there" prostitute(Laura San Giacomo) who eventually becomes his love interest. The tale is quite captivating, and the acting is superb.

The action in the film is wonderful to watch. Quigley's first interaction with his co-workers at the dock is rather John Wayne-like, but that only adds to the film. The scenery is both beautiful and dangerous.

In all, this western will fit in perfectly with any other title in the genre. Although I think Selleck has made better Westerns, "Monte Walsh" comes to mind, this film is very good and I promise that it won't let you down. If you're in the mood for a good Western set in the wilds of Australia, "Quigley Down Under" is the best choice.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Simply wonderful
Review: Tom Selleck shines in this movie as a marksman who comes to Australia as the finest long range rifleman in the world. Instead of just doing the shooting, we see him reading the wind, judging distance and putting thought into the shot before pressing the trigger on the Sharps 45-120. We see the results of a long range shot, two men are taken down towards the end of the movie from great distance, being hit before the sound of the rifle arrives. Probably the best line of the whole movie is at the end, when Selleck tells Rickman, "I said I never had much use for one (a revolver), I never said I didn't know how to use one." This fits the bill of a true rifleman: a handgun is what you use to fight your way to your rifle. Quigley never had much use for a handgun because he was aware of his surroundings, avoided trouble, and eliminated any threat before it got too close to him.

Rating:
Summary: Ride, shoot straight, and speak the truth.
Review: I think the creators of this movie had it clear in their minds they were making an unapologetic "guy film," and therefore the result is an unconfused and satisfying film for guys, in the tradition of James Bond.

The good guy is clearly good (and omnipotent, or nearly so), the bad guys are clearly those who need to be defeated. There is a pretty and buxom young girl (Laura San Giacomo), plenty of guns, and "good" violence, i.e., good triumphing over evil. We guys are not complicated. Give us guns, girls, a good war, and hey, we're satisfied (a cold beer doesn't hurt, either).

The introduction of a new twist on the Western theme by taking it to Australia works well. Giving Quigley's Sharp's rifle star quality, and portraying the Aborigines as noble savages just works. This is a satisfying movie.

Alan Rickman, as arch-meanie Elliot Marston, is very strong in his role as a villain who is not without virtue; he is smart and cunning and also good with a six-gun -- good enough to be second best -- but he is not a depraved psycho. He is a man who is fatally flawed; this adds plausibility to the story.

If you're an RBAM (Red-Blooded American Male), you'll probably like this movie. I recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Great comedy
Review: This is an American Western to be sure, filmed in the outback! Classic good vs. bad! And lots of fun with the interaction between crazy Cora and Quigley! Fine acting all around and a nice twist at the end! Very enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Boring CD, good movie
Review: In glancing at the reviews I see that many of them are for the moive which is much better than the soundtrack. I've liked the title theme since I first heard it and always wanted the CD for that reason. Out of the 11 tracks I was disappointed to find that I really liked only about three selections, maybe one or two more than that. #1 Main Title is good and #11 Matthew Quigley amounts to about three different versions of the tune, it might be even better.
Out of the eleven tunes six have varying degrees of the theme worked into them in some way, thats what makes the CD boring, so little variety. I think I did like #4 Marston's Murderers, actiony but no Quigley bits. #4 Native Montage had no Quigley and certainly nothing Native to it, guess it was all right otherwise.
All I can really recommend this album for are the two Quigley selections, easily the best on the CD. Shiloh Rifle, the company that made the Sharps that Selleck used in the movie still uses the title selection on their website 12 years later, that's how good that tune is.