Young Guns II Blu Ray Review (Umbrella Entertainment)
Young Guns II is a 1990 Western film directed by Geoff Murphy (Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, Fortress 2, The Quiet Earth, & The Last Outlaw). It was a sequel to 1988’s Young Guns. It was produced & written by John Fusco (Young Guns, The Highwaymen, Thunderheart, & The Forbidden Kingdom). It was produced by Joe Roth (Nightbreed, The Exorcist III, The Final Terror, Dead Ringers, Major League, & Revenge of the Nerds II), James G. Robinson (True Romance, Young Guns, Ace Ventura 1/2, Diabolique, & The Exorcist franchise), & Gary Barber (Unbreakable, The Lookout, Howling V: The Rebirth, Bad Moon, & G.I. Joe franchise). Jon Bon Jovi’s “Blaze of Glory” song hit # 1 on the charts & he ended doing a whole album inspired by it after it’s success. The budget was $10 million & it made over $44 million worldwide at the box plus it was a hit during the video rental craze!!!!
Young Guns II is a great sequel & it’s almost as good as the original. Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, & Lou Diamond Phillips all return for this follow up. They get back into their characters like they never left & the chemistry between them is amazing. The best additional to this sequel was Christian Slater! His performance was great & his character was hilarious. Young Guns II had a nice mix of comedy thrown in with all the action & violence. Young Guns II delivers on both of those. The rest of the supporting cast was top notch that included William Petersen, Balthazar Getty, James Coburn, Alan Ruck, Jenny Wright, Bradley Whitford, Scott Wilson, R.D. Call (State of Grace), Robert Knepper (Prison Break), Viggo Mortensen (Green Book), Leon Rippy (Deadwood), & Tracey Walter (Batman). Jenny Wright isn’t shy here either, she gets naked on the horse like it’s nothing. So many familiar faces were featured in this Western. It has some nice cameos for a few that I didn’t mention. You might laugh at this but this is one of my all time favorite soundtracks. The score was awesome & Jon Bon Jovi killed it. This one is so much fun & it’s beyond entertaining, the replay value is very strong. It’s a nice to see this under-rated film get a blu ray release from Umbrella Entertainment!!!!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Umbrella Entertainment! This 1080p (2.35:1) transfer is a major improvement compared to the older DVD & VHS releases that were previously available on home video. For a catalog title, this is a nice upgrade, Young Guns II is very stylized & the cinematography elevates the entire production. It has some real interesting locations & it takes you back to the old west. The English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is very impressive here. The dialogue is crystal clear, all the action has a killer boost to it, & the awesome soundtrack plus score is elevated. It’s the best presentation that it’s had on home video so far. Unfortunately, it has no extras on the disc. It has reversible artwork. On the back it says Region B but this blu ray is actually Region Free. It’s been cheaper than the U.S. release at a decent amount of spots. It’s available at a variety of spots, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
I liked this, whole cast did a good job and Arkansas Dave Rudabaugh is my favorite. Emilio Estevez did great as Billy The Kid too! I do not ever remember seeing the first one and this one was being reccomended to me by several people over the years.