Morgan Creek-1988
Starring Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Dermot Mulroney, Casey Siemaszko, Jack Palance
Produced by John Fusco, James G. Robinson, Joe Roth, Christopher Cain
Written by John Fusco
Directed by Christopher Cain

Some studio executive obviously thought that putting six young stars together would be a marketing coup, but probably did not bother to actually read anything about Billy the Kid. Billy rode with roughly a dozen Regulators during the Lincoln County War but that was trimmed down to six, apparently because no one could think of a dozen stock characters. Charlie Sheen plays the straight arrow foreman, Emilio Estevez plays the rather psychotic Billy, Kiefer Sutherland is the poet, Casey Siemasko is the nice guy, Dermot Mulroney’s character is the obligatory racist, who constantly taunts the token ethnic, in this case a Navajo/Indian, played by Lou Diamond Philips, which is a pale imitation of the virulent racism that existed at the time. Actually, Lou Diamond Philips commented that the ethnic guy had to speak in Spanish on a regular basis, otherwise people might forget that he is the ethnic character. All of the Regulators have their little specialty to help the audience remember who they are, Bowdre is a pugilist, Chavez throws knives, Dirty Stevens uses a shotgun, and Doc Scurlock carries a Sharps rifle.

The movie sticks to the basics of the story but makes Murphy almost Satanic and Tunstall a saint. It’s a clash of good and evil, not a war between rival cattle barons. Murphy is so evil, he took the daughter of a Chinese laundry owner as his mistress when they ruined his shirt, while Tunstall recognizes the danger of opposing Murphy, but sticks around to take care of his boys, whom he is teaching to read. Tunstall has a store that competes with Murphy’s store, and most local officials including the sheriff back Murphy because their life savings are invested in the store. Murphy’s partner Dolan, who was actually the main force among the two of them, is ignored in the film.

One of my favorite scenes is when Chavez makes them drink peyote to decide where to go. They spend the night tripping while Sheen stays sober, wondering if the godless heathens will flip out and shoot him by mistake. In fact, the tension between real-life brothers Estevez and Sheen plays well on the screen.

The Regulators stand around and bail out Billy whenever he goes crazy and starts killing people, which is surprisingly often, but his psycho attitude starts a war with Murphy. After a lot of bloodshed, the survivors go their separate ways, thus setting the stage for Pat Garrett to kill Billy in Young Guns II.

Writer/producer John Fusco clearly did a lot of research, but he produced a sanitized version. It is the old story of a small band of outlaws fighting against a much larger group of evil-doers, don’t people in Hollywood get tired of this kind of stuff. In the end, it is a historically flexible, but entertaining movie. The acting is good and the action moves along briskly, I just wish that Brian Keith and Jack Palance had been given more screen time, they seemed to be straining at the leash during their scenes.

Even though most of the real Regulators were adults, I was impressed by how the actors avoided portraying them as square-jawed, unflinching two-dimensional heroes. Instead, the boys are well, boys, who are torn between a desire for vengeance and a fear of death, with a definite lack of common sense. It’s funny, they’re good with guns, but they’re kids, not too smart and no patience. Billy is a thrill seeker but the rest of them are scared shitless, which I suspect is accurate, since Billy was the only Regulator who kept fighting, instead of trying settle down.