Do you want to see ‘The Long Riders’?

The Long Riders (1980)

tomatometer

All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.4/10
Reviews Counted: 22
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 5

No consensus yet.

No Score Yet...

Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 3
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 2

audience

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 5,082

My Rating

Added to your Facebook Timeline. — undo

Movie Info

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, the 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

R, 1 hr. 40 min.

Western, Action & Adventure

Directed By: Walter Hill

Written By: Bill Bryden

In Theaters: May 16, 1980 Wide

On DVD: Mar 20, 2001

MGM Home Entertainment

The Long Riders Trailer & Photos

Cast

Critic Reviews for The Long Riders

All Critics (23) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (5) | DVD (7)

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

October 7, 2011 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine

| Comment

Richard Schickel

TIME Magazine

Top Critic

Walter Hill's first outright failure.

February 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

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 historical meaning.

February 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

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

October 18, 2011 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central

| Comment

Walter Chaw

Film Freak Central

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

July 1, 2011 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews

| Comment

Peter Canavese

Groucho Reviews Source: Groucho Reviews

A Western Nirvana

February 14, 2010 Full Review Source: CinePassion

| Comment

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

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

June 27, 2008 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

| Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

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

April 2, 2008 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comment

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

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.

February 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Film4

It is an action film, an engaging one, and covers old ground with a contemporary style which never feels out of place.

February 5, 2008 Comment

Douglas Pratt

DVDLaser

A superb, nitty-gritty retelling of the story of the James-Younger gang.

February 5, 2008 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

A beautiful, laconic and unsentimental film.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Geoff Andrew

Time Out

Walter Hill's first Western is atmospheric and remarkably authentic by casting real-life thespian brothers as real-life outlaw brothers.

October 21, 2005 Comment

Chuck O'Leary

Fantastica Daily

The Long Riders is well-done film about the legendary Jesse James.

January 29, 2004 Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice

| Comment

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Spirituality and Practice

A so-so effort, with the gimmick of brothers playing brothers its only interesting aspect.

December 17, 2002 Comment

Bob Bloom

Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Long Riders

View All

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 scene for a 'Young Guns' type western only

October 30, 2011

Phil Hubbard

Super Reviewer

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.

May 20, 2007