The Long Riders (1980)
Is another hidden gem, kind-of, sort-of. I mean, it's not totally amazeballs or anything, it's just a relatively decent film that barely anyone talks about anymore.
It's another Jesse James film, if you're into wild-west westerns or the bank robber genre.
A bit like Young Guns in the 90s, its most remarkable feature is that the cast are all groups of real life brothers. David, Keith and Robert Carradine play the Youngers, Stacy and James Keach play the Jameses, Randy and Dennis Quaid play the Millers and Christopher and Nicholas Guest play the Fords.
And I think what prevents it being normal trash tier quality is it's directed by Walter Hill.
Who's Walter Hill? Probably one of the most successful writers, directors, producers of the 1980s. He was one or more of the above for, but not only exclusively, such films as 48hrs, The Warriors, Brewster's Millions, Red Heat, Aliens, Alien.
And it's the direction that adds so much to an otherwise quite conventional Jesse James film. It has the je ne sais quoi that leaves you feeling like you've just watched a good film rather than a generic one.
It doesn't try to paint the JamesYounger gang as the heroes they weren't while at the same time it also doesn't paint them as purely evil banditos. It takes the time to show their human sides, both rational and irrational, heartless and in love, cold and empathetic, leaving the viewer with a surprisingly realistic imagination of what these guys were probably really like as people.
Also, interestingly, Jesse James isn't the lead here, but rather Cole Younger is, played by the biggest of the names at the time, David Carradine. Which adds to the uniqueness.
A good balance of character development and action, though a bit dated looking with a kinda low budget feel and average acting.
6.75/10