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David Carradine, Keith Carradine, Robert Carradine, Stacy Keach, James Keach ... see more see more... , Dennis Quaid , Randy Quaid , Kevin Brophy , Harry Carey Jr. , Christopher Guest , Nicholas Guest , Shelby Leverington , Felice Orlandi , Pamela Reed , James Remar , Fran Ryan , Savannah Smith Boucher , Amy Stryker , James Whitmore Jr. , John Bottoms , West Buchanan , Edward Bunker , Steve Chambers , Luis Contreras , J. Don Ferguson , Peter Jason , Tim Rossovich , Lin Shaye , William Traylor , Gary Watkins , Alan Lee Graf , Chris Mulkey , Duke Stroud , Martina Deignan , Prentiss Rowe , Hugh McGraw , Glenn Robards , Thomas J. Sauber

The hook in Walter Hill's mythic retelling of the James-Younger outlaw legend is in the casting; the James, Younger, Miller, and Ford Brothers are played by a string of acting brothers, the Keachs, th... read more read more...e Carradines, the Quaids and the Guests. The film begins as outlaws are robbing a bank. After the robbery, Ed Miller (Dennis Quaid) finds himself kicked out of the gang for needlessly killing a man during the robbery. Jesse James (James Keach) hands over Ed's share of the money and tells him to leave, a feeling held mutually by Ed's brother Clell (Randy Quaid). After the killing the gang decides to split up for awhile. The James boys return to their wives and farms, while Cole Younger (David Carradine) travels to Texas with his prostitute girlfriend Belle Starr (Pamela Reed). After the brief respite, the gang reunites to rob a well-stocked bank in Northfield, Minnesota. The robbery turns out disastrously, with most of the gang either wounded or dying. The James boys are the only ones not seriously hurt, and they leave the rest of the gang behind, escaping while they can. After the James boys leave, the remnants of the gang are captured. But trailing the Jameses is a relentless posse. Frank and Jesse manage to keep one step ahead until the Ford brothers (Christopher Guest and Nicholas Guest) make a deal with the Pinkerton detectives trailing the outlaws. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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70% liked it

5,130 ratings

Critics

78% liked it

23 critics

R, 1 hr. 40 min.

Directed by: Walter Hill

Release Date: January 1, 1980

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DVD Release Date: March 20, 2001

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Stats: 238 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (238)

  • phubbs1
    October 30, 2011
    phubbs1
    Very good western that has been forgotten about and notable for the casting of the Keach brothers, the Guest brothers, the Carradine brothers and the Quaid brothers in the main roles of the James-Younger gang.

    Starts off with a bank raid which goes slightly wrong setting the sce... read morene for a 'Young Guns' type western only with a sensible stance but unfortunately does then become a little dull throughout the middle. There is allot of dialog and family affairs between the gang members which is fine but you do loose a little interest, this does pick up as you head towards the last section of the film of course and very good it is too.

    You can see where the 'Young Guns' notion cam from I think from the final big gun battle sequence of the ill-fated attempt to rob the Northfield First National Bank in Minnesota, the whole sequence is lovely with slow motion gun fire, slow motion bullet hits, horses tearing down the main street and finally leaping through a large glass window riders n all. I would say this film was an inspiration for many modern 'rock n roll' type westerns.

    Despite that the film is completely serious and actually handled very well in terms of historical accuracy and artistic license. Yes allot is fictional but at the same time believeable and there are lots of accounts that have been incorporated into the film which are spot on, mainly the deaths of gang members and of course Jesse James.

    Not your typical Hill film but he sure made a good one here which deserves a place among the best in the genre, its dirty, realistic, uses great locations and has a good bold cult cast line up, watch out for James Remar as Cherokee Indian Sam Starr in maybe the only bad choice of the film.
  • kenstachnik
    July 26, 2011
    kenstachnik
    Like Sam Fuller? Peckinpah? Walter Hill? The Carradine's? The Keach's? The Quaids? The Guests? Then you'll probably enjoy The Long Riders.

    It is however ANOTHER retelling of Jesse James and his gang story, but at least this is one of the better ones.
  • bhobbs1985
    January 17, 2009
    bhobbs1985
    An amazing portrayal of The Wild West and the most famous gang and notorious outlaws ever to live - The James Younger Gang.

    Following Jesse James and his gang from it's high peak down until it's last robbery this movie introduces you to some emotional and trying times in the ... read morelife of James and his counterparts. Historically I found it to be one of the most accurate tellings of The James Legend ever told.

    The idea that the Youngers, James, Millers, and Fords were all played by real life brothers really brought out the chemistry between the actors. You could truly tell they had a love for there brothers and when tension fell between the gang you could truly feel the atmopshere in your heart.

    This movie is an amazing film.

    What stops me from giving it five stars? The ending. The Assination of James scene was one of the worst I ever seen, I don't know how it went wrong towards the end but it went from The James Younger Gangs last robbery - skipped all the way to the assination, and then ended on that note. It forgot about personal relationship and truly you only see the Fords very momentarly. This film would of done itself great to stop directly after the fall of The James Younger Gang and let another movie like "The Assination of Jesse James by the coward robert ford" tell that story.

    Overall though the movie was a great flick and deserves to be owned by any western genre fan.
  • YLOWBSTARDreturns
    February 8, 2008
    YLOWBSTARDreturns
    Way underappreciated mood western. One of Walter Hill's finest films.
  • garyX
    October 25, 2007
    garyX
    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 real... read morely 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.
  • hypathio7
    February 19, 2012
    hypathio7
    The gimmick is all the acting siblings playing siblings, but I like it. The Carradine brothers, David, Keith and Robert, play the Younger brothers. The Keach brothers, Stacy and James, play the James brothers. The Quaid brothers, Randy and Dennis, play the Miller brothers. And th... read moree Guest brothers, Christopher and Nicholas, play the Ford brothers. Ed Miller (Dennis Q.) quickly gets eliminated from the James-Younger gang, but his brother Clell (Randy Q.) stays on as a major organizer with Jesse James (James K.). Frank James (Stacy K.) stays ever close to his brother. The three Younger brothers are loyal and proud members of the gang and are led by oldest brother Cole (David C.), who sometimes clashes with the decisions made by Jesse James. The Ford brothers want to join the gang, but can't get the James and the Youngers to take them seriously. They are ALL good 'ole boys from the South. The main reason they have taken to a life of crime is because they fought for the rebel Confederate force, the losing side. This movie tells a plain and simple story that seems to stick closely to the facts, rather than idealizing these wild west figures. Several of the men have steady women in their lives. Some just rely on prostitutes. Cole Younger has a tricky relationship with Belle Starr (Pamela Reed), a strong minded soiled dove and saloon owner. There is a gap of time in the middle of the story when they all scatter to live more domestically before trying another bank heist. Director Walter Hill slows down a lot of the action shots and even has horses jumping through the big picture windows of buildings in town. The Pinkerton detective agency has been on the trail of the James-Younger gang for a long time and eventually most of the gang gets filled with bullets like Swiss cheese. It has the look of being in the real locations and avoids stylized dialog and camera work. The soundtrack was also very enjoyable with authentic sounding music.
  • fb704730572
    July 23, 2011
    fb704730572
    Though it pales in comparison to The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Long Riders is still a fine western in its' own right. The cast is especially interesting, with the James, Younger, Miller, and Ford brothers played by actual brothers. This is largel... read morey successful, save for the casting of James Keach as Jesse James, he simply doesn't have enough charisma or presence to carry the role. On the flip side, David Carradine was fantastic as Cole Younger. To be sure, there are moments of uneven pacing, and the action sequences are often too heavily edited. But all in all, it's a successful gritty and atmospheric western.
  • cacutshaw
    January 17, 2008
    cacutshaw
    The "gimmick" of this film works very well, casting real brothers to play all the leads. Along with the gimmick though, this is one great western.
  • broadwaymo
    April 8, 2007
    broadwaymo
    At the risk of being beaten mercilessly, I'll say it... Not one of my favorites.
  • BenRogers84
    November 6, 2011
    BenRogers84
    This should have been called..."The Everybody and their brother Riders" because that's pretty much what it was. You had all the Carradine,Keach,Guest and Quaid brothers as western outlaws, who rob trains,stage coaches and blow away sheriffs.
    This was a pretty good early 80s west... read moreern effort directed by one of my favorite directors...Walter Hill. Coming off the comic book like action packed gang movie "The Warriors" this was a totally different direction than I think most people expected from him but it was just as good as his other more well known work. One of the best westerns ever In my opinion and if you haven't seen this, you're really missing out.

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Critic Reviews

Richard Schickel
October 7, 2011
Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine

Hill is very much in the American grain, the inheritor of the Ford-Hawks-Walsh tradition of artful, understated action film making. Full Review

Dave Kehr
February 5, 2008
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

Walter Hill's first outright failure. Full Review

Variety Staff
February 5, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

What's ultimately missing is a definable point of view which would tie together the myriad events on display and fill in the blanks which Hill has imposed on the action by sapping it of emotional or h... Full Review

James Plath
May 4, 2012
James Plath, Movie Metropolis

The Long Riders isn't quite sure which way it wants to ride, but the action scenes and cinematography make up for any misdirection. Full Review

Walter Chaw
October 18, 2011
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central

On revisiting it for the first time in twenty years, I was dismayed to see how far The Long Riders had fallen. Full Review

Peter Canavese
July 1, 2011
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews

Hill's lean, mean approach never had a more appealing texture than it does here... Full Review

Fernando F. Croce
February 14, 2010
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

A Western Nirvana Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
June 27, 2008
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

The casting problems aside, this is a fairly solid, but not particularly extraordinary film. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
April 2, 2008
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

One of the more idiosyncratic James gang westerns but not necessarily one of the better ones. Full Review

February 5, 2008
Film4

Sacrificing investigations into the mentality behind America's most feared band of outlaws, Hill plumps for an evocation of time and place. He does a magnificent job. Full Review

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The Long Riders Trivia

  • Which movie stars David,Keith and Robert Carradine, James and Stacy Keach, Dennis and Randy Quaid, and Christopher and Nicholas Guest ?  Answer »
  • What movie was accurate about the James/Younger gang and ALL of the main actors are really (in real life),related?  Answer »
  • In the "Long Riders" there are four sets of brothers played by four sets of brothers. What are the names of the acting brothers?  Answer »
  • Which of the following sets of brothers does NOT appear in "The Long Riders?"  Answer »
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