Rating of
2.5/4
"The Long Riders" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 05/19/12
Another typically rose-tinted telling of the James-Younger gang's story by action aficionado Walter Hill. A novel cast in which the sets of brothers are all played by real-life siblings combines with a gritty authenticity to give a real feel of the old west. Hill's specialty really is the action side of things though, as the story barely pauses for breath to deal with their personal relationships and the sense of time passing is non-existent, making the film feel very episodic. This is more than made up for by the shoot-out sequences which are some of the most realistically bloody you are ever going to see; the classic Northfield hold-up sequence is one Hill's mentor, Sam Peckinpah, would have been proud of himself.
