Customer Reviews

American Outlaws [VHS]

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

Yes, I have heard that "American Outlaws" isn't always historically accurate! But you know what? Who cares? It's a terrific movie, that takes you on a wild and hilarious ride with Jesse James and his gang. All the actors are well-cast and did a great job portraying their characters, although - in my mind - Colin Farrell (the next big thing!) and Ali Larter (Hollywood's most underrated actress) do stand out among the others! If you are looking for a history lesson - go to the library. But if you are looking for a fun movie with lots of action, a great cast, good script, a bit of romance, and some truly unforgettable moments, then don't miss out on "American Outlaws"!!! It's become one of my all-time favorite movies! Plus, the DVD has really great bonus features ... trailers, tv spots, photo galleries, DVD Rom features, and 4 great featurettes - check out "How to be an Outlaw" for some nice shots of the guys in cowboy camp ... showing off their muscles during what would later be know as the hottest summer in Texas' history :o)

Wow what a great movie!!!!! This movie is jammed with cowboy action that just gets better and better! When you watch it you will be introduced to Jessie and his mom and Bob which Jessie learned how to shoot from. They're are more characters who show up along the way. They're constenly having problems with thier enemy putting up wanted signs and hanging farmers that are just plane innocent. They have a huge problem with them sneeking up on them every second and attacking. The one thing they don't do is run away, even if thier in the middle of robbing a bank or store they will countinue what their doing and fight back at the same time. It kind of makes them look like the enemy when they go up to banks and try to rob them, But thier still the good guys in the movie. I think this movie deserves 5 stars! This is a great movie for all ages. Families that love western movies will defiantly enjoy this!!!!

American Outlaws, one of the first Westerns of the new millennium, is an adaptation of the life of legendary 1800s outlaw bank robber Jesse James and his band of men, the James-Yonger Gang.

It's the story of "tradition vs. progress." Following the Civil War, James and friends returned home to the farm where the "big bad" railroad was trying to expand west by buying out all the farmland from the people in its path. The people of James' town did not want to go quietly so a huge war begins between the farmers (with James and friends as their warriors) and the railroad tycoon when the railroad "goons" begin to rough up the townsfolk.

Overall, though there are a few historical inaccuracies, the movie is a fun action romp (tons of humor) through the old west with cowboys, LOTS of gun battles, stage coach robberies, train robberies, saloons, horses and lovely southern belles.

Highlights:

- TONS of shoot outs/gun battles (on trains, banks, battlefields, etc)

- Daring escapes

- Hilarity with wanted posters

Overall, this was a great movie to catch, harkening back to the days of the good old Westerns. The action was solid and the humor was "just right." This was a solid way to spend an evening (or afternoon).

Recommended

I must immediately say that this film is a whole lot of fun. The actors are young, cute, talented, and obviously having a great time. Colin Farrell and Gabriel Macht have clearly captured the spirit of the James brothers; Scott Caan has his father's looks, charm and very good handle on the boldness and ruthlessness of Cole Younger; Will McCormack is a scene-stealing comic, and Ali Larter is--well, she's very pretty. The show is helped out immeasurably by veterans Timothy Dalton and Kathy Bates. (Bates would have been an even more natural choice for the James boys' mother if the part had been written closer to history, which it wasn't.) There are some wonderful action/adventure Indiana Jones-y stunts and the pace of the film is brisk. It's a Saturday afternoon kind of movie--fun, good-looking,and not mentally taxing.

My problem was that I bought the film to give me some insight into the history of the James Gang, and if you are looking for reality, this isn't it. It's a combination of half-truth, made-up-out-of-whole-cloth falsehood, and so many anachronisms we lost count. Anachronisms can be charming--as "A Knight's Tale" illustrates so well-- and part of the movie's charm is the 21st century Saved-by-the-Bell language that these kids bring to their roles as famous desperadoes. If you know anything about the James Gang, the Civil War, or the history of western expansion, parts of this movie will drive you crazy. A partial list:

1. The opening scene takes place during the last days of the Civil War with Frank James taking out a Gatling Gun with his sharpshooter's Winchester rifle, a' la' Sergeant York. Gatling guns were not used in the Civil War (except as a test case), and Frank's Winchester is an 1880's invention.

2. Cole Younger was never about to be hanged by Federals and so the James boys didn't free him from the gallows, but it IS a great scene to watch.

3. Most of the climactic scenes involve Jesse's escape from captivity. Jesse James was never captured. He was shot in the back of the head at his home by a former gang member for reward money.

4. Mrs. James (her name was Zerelda Samuel) was not killed by the Pinkerton Raid. She lost an arm but lived well into old age. However, not mentioned by the movie was that her 8-year-old son Archie Samuel, the James boys' half-brother, was killed in the raid.

5. Jim Younger wasn't shot dead as a teenager after some bank job--he killed himself in his 50's after he was paroled from prison.

6. Pinkerton never saw the James Boys in person, but directed the hunt for them from Chicago.

7. In the film, Nathaniel Arcand brings ethnic diversity to the Gang as "Commanche Tom," but I can't find a record of anyone named Tom in the James Gang and no one who was obviously Native American. I think his role was just a token; if you have "cowboys" you have to have an "Indian" too.

8. Ali Larter was just precious, but her loose flowing Breck-girl hair and Gap-style gauzy clothing were anachronistic. And the idea the she led a raid to free (the never-imprisoned-in-the-first-place) Jesse, guns blazing, is totally out of character for her or most women of the age. The directors DID manage to present "ladies of the evening" as something less than Hollywood-beautiful, which is probably closer to the truth, however.

Enjoy this film. It is meant to be enjoyed. Just don't take any of it seriously.

This movie is such an awesome movie, however you need to watch it with people who are willing to actually "listen" to it. The humor is hilarious but its sarcastic under the breath humor so if your not listening for it you won't hear it.
I thought this movie was great. Especially for the ladies, these cowboys are mighty fine! And this movie came out before Collin Ferrel's bad boy roles he plays in videos now.
Excellent anytime movie! 2 thumbs up!

I usually don't go for western movies but the ACTORS/ACTRESSES were SO good. The Jessee James story was told way better than I ever heard! It is an exciting movie, susspenseful. Has a great ending too, which I wasn't expecting! Oh and ladies....COLIN FARRELL will make you "melt"!!! He's so incredibly HOTT & talented!!! ;) BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! You won't regret it. Guys will like it too. It's a cool movie! :)

The ghost of John Newman Edwards must have had a hand in writing the script. The movie is pure legend, with not a shred of history allowed to intrude. I liked it. It worked because they didn't try to play it too seriously. This was the flaw in the Rob Lowe/Bill Paxton movie "Frank and Jesse"--they tried to make us take their hopeless mangling of history seriously.

"American Outlaws" played it for fun, adventure, and legend. It covers only a single year time span during which time they seem to have robbed every bank in Missouri. Busy boys. The gang was also a sensitive, nurturing gang to the lesser-known members (funny scene).

I can't possibly list all the diversions from actual history they made as they barely ever drifted even close to reality. Cole Younger would have hated the movie--they had him portrayed as the dumb guy. Frank was the smart one, and Jesse, of course, was the cute, dangerous one. The Irish guy who played Jesse did a good job. He didn't sound like he was trying to overcome an Irish accent, did a good, flat American, but he didn't really sound like anyone from Missouri either. He almost miraculously managed to always have that ever-so-manly two-day growth of beard ala Miami Vice.

The setting was the film's biggest weakness--it looked much more like California than Missouri. Way too brown and dry, wrong kinds of trees. The town of Liberty looked like a generic Hollywood western town set, not at all right.

So, I recommend "American Outlaws" as a fun action movie, _not_ as history. They did use the perils to returning Rebels pretty well at first but soon lost that to the whole purely fictional railroad plotline. Don't expect anything like "Ride With the Devil" out of this (though there is a nifty battle scene at the beginning).

American Outlaws is set in Missouri just after the Civil War. The railroad is constructing a track that will run west and go right through the town of Liberty, Missouri. The railroad company offers to buy each farmer's land otherwise they will just take it in the name of progress (imminent domain). Well, the railroad company picked the wrong town to go through and ran into Jesse James and company.

The cast is great and it includes Colin Farrell in one of his earliest roles) and also has two other recently known stars Ali Larter (Niki Sanders in Heroes) and Terry O'Quinn (John Locke in Lost).

I cannot attest to the movies accuracy of the story of Jesse James or the accuracy of the imitation of the post-Civil War era, but I can say that this movie is a blast to watch. It contains shootouts from beginning to end in all sorts of different settings (open fields, banks, main street, train). There are escapes/rescues in multiple places, plenty of humor mixed in and even a slight love story to round it off.

The movie itself is shot great and never gets hung up on any story line for too long in my opinion and it seemed to have just the right amount of running time so that you don't get tired of watching it.

If there is a flaw with the movie I would say that it is focusing on the gun blazing battles too much (although I personally didn't mind). I also highly suspect some historical inaccuracies although my knowledge of the James-Younger gang is limited so I cannot say for sure.

Overall, I am not much of a western movie lover but I loved this movie and recommend it for all. In my own situation my wife and I watched it with some friends of ours and every single one of us enjoyed the movie and rarely does that happen.

American Outlaws may not be the greatest movie ever, but it sure beats most of what Hollywood is putting out today. With up and coming stars and a storyline that keeps you watching, you can't help but wonder what will happen next. If the actors seem a bit young, there could be good reason for it. The James/Younger gang was young. I love a good Eastwood western as much as anyone, but he is getting too old for those kind of movies. All in all, this is one of the best westerns in a VERY long time. I highly recomend it.

The incredibly gifted Colin Farrell once again pulls a good one: an Irishman playing Jesse James. But give the guy credit: he does a very good job, although not up to par to some of his other work (Recruit, Hart's War, Tigerland). Obviously not a fact-based work, AMERICAN OUTLAWS, under the astute direction of Les Mayfield, nonetheless is an entertaining western, filled with anachronistic dialogue and music, but also filled with heart, humor and adventure in mind. In this version, Jesse and his brother Frank (well envisioned by Gabriel Macht) and his cousins, the Youngers (Scott Caan, Will McCormack and Gregory Smith) are fighting in the Civil War where we get to see Frank's expert shooting and Jesse's wildass courage and outright idiocy! The war is now over so everyone returns home to find that the railroad companies are forcing farmers to sell them their land. Kathy Bates in a brief but memorable turn plays the James mother, and when she is killed by Pinkerton detectives, the boys take matters into their own.
Wayfield plays the gang as a Robin Hood, with typical jealousy on the part of Caan's Cole Younger. Timothy Dalton as Pinkerton seems James Bondish in his delivery and Harris Yulin pumps up the ham to play the dastardly railroad owner.
All in all, the film is as entertaining as it needs to be and even though Jesse and gang are almost beatified, they still have a little of that bad boy in them to make it believable, even though it's not!!!