Quigley Down Under (1990)

A Masterpiece!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

There is simply nothing you can't like about the movie...it has the old west flavor, with a healthy British colonial backdrop. Add the humanitarian element with the Aborigine plot, and you have an excellent 2 hours of sheer entertainment.I don't know if it will ever muster enough votes to make it a classic, but I do know I watch in every single time it shows up on TV...If you don't want to wait for TV scheduling, I'm sure it is a pretty economical buy in DVD, and well worth having it in your collection...

Magnum is hired from America by an Australian rancher so he can shoot aborigines at a distance. He takes exception to this, so the rancher tries to kill him for refusing, and Quigley escapes into the bush with a woman who calls him Roy and are helped by aborigines. Quigley returns the help, before heading back to the ranch.....From the sound of the title, you would think that the makers of this movie were hoping for some sort of franchise opener, and although the film does have the odd flash of genius, it's just overlong, and very dull in places.Selleck is as good as he ever is, and one thinks that this should have been his Indiana Jones, Quigley does have all the traits, but a few more quips from the titular character wouldn't have hurt the movie.Rickman steals the film from everybody though, made between Die Hard and Robin Hood: POT, this just goes to show what an impressive screen presence he is.Australia is wonderful to look at though, but as already stated, it's just a tad too long

In Hollywood, it's the industry's job to captivated audiences. Indeed, when a superior film emerges containing the right ingredients, it isn't hard to understand why said effort can easily becomes an instant Classic. This is a film called "Quigley Down Under." A Western to be sure, but one set in Australia. A rich and powerful rancher, named Elliott Marston (Alan Rickman, superb acting) is bent on eradicating the native Aborigines off his land. Unable to destroy them with conventional pistols and rifles, he sends for and seeks to hire the finest Long Range sharpshooter in the world. An American, Matthew Quigley (Tom Selleck) answers his advertisement, believing he is to hunt and kill the wild dogs called 'Dingos' Quigley arrives, but is uninterested when Marston explains his job is to murder the native peoples. Confrontation explodes as Marston is thrashed out of his own house and Quigley is badly assaulted and left to die in the vast outback of Australia. With him is 'Crazy' Cora, a female convicted of murdering her own child, now a common prostitute. Among the many obstacles Quigley must contend with aside from Cora, are the wild animals, the immense untamed and often uncharted territory and British Major Ashley-Pitt (Chris Haywood) who reminds him that 'Americans are uncouth misfits'. Learning Quigley is not dead but has sent word, that Marston's days are numbered, Marston put a bounty on his head and offers $1,000 pounds to the man who kills the individual, whom the Natives call, 'The Spirit Warrior.' Now it becomes a test of wills between the powerful land baron and the American who doesn't carry a side arm. The conflict is not a new one, but the battle between right and wrong is foremost and the actors are all to be commended for the success of this incredible film. Highly Recommended for all audiences. ****

One of the factors that can help us understand why westerns are so rare nowadays is that long ago there was a certain magic in the West. It is not there anymore, lost in the freeways of Los Angeles. What Quigley brings us with the Outback of Austrália is that mysterious magic of an unknown new world. Put that together with a great musical score, a fabulous performance by Tom Selleck, spectacular scenes with thousands of Aboríginials, a remarkable rifle that shoots from a great distance and you have one of the best westerns ever made. There is a scene where the dingoes, the wild dogs of Australia are threatening the desperate Laura San Giacomo with a baby. The villain, Alan Rickman has a fascination with the west and the Colt and he is impressed to know that Quigley has been to Dodge City. But Quigley, who thought that he was contracted to kill dingoes, will never accept what Marston (Rickman) wants to use him for. Don't miss this film.