Friday, August 16, 2013

Favorite Scene Friday! Quigley Down Under: The Duel

Is it possible to make a good western anymore? I know the answer to that question isn’t necessarily “No”, but after this summer’s Depp-bacle (see what I did there?) The Lone Ranger, it really seems like they don’t make ‘em like they used to.

Yes, to get a really good western we have to go back, and not even that far...how about 1990?

Wikipedia

Quigley Down Under might be my favorite western. To be fair, I’m certainly no expert on the genre. Hell, fellow Hatcher Tiff posted a scene from a Western long before I did, and even Pax from Cavalcade of Awesome stopped by to share one a while back. But Quigley is an excellent movie, so I stand by my claim.

The film follows Matthew Quigley (Tom “MUSTACHE” Selleck), a marksman cowboy who’s traveled to Australia for work. You see, Quigley is, to put it lightly, skilled with a Sharps rifle, (see here) and a rancher named Elliot Marston (Alan Rickman) has hired him to kill dingoes. Rifles are rather foreign to the pistol loving Marston and did I mention he doesn’t want Quigley to shoot dingoes but rather Aborigines? Needless to say, Marston and Quigley don’t see eye to eye there.

So jump to the end of the film. Marston and his men have caught Quigley and are forcing him to duel with one of Marston’s beloved pistols. Quigley’s tired. He’s outnumbered. His rifle has been taken from him. He’s down...but is he out? I don’t wanna give anything away but, let’s just say the scene culminates in a fantastic “Oh Shit” moment.

This is such a good scene. I really love the dialogue, particularly Selleck’s “This ain’t Dodge City,” line. I also get a kick out of the little laugh Alan Rickman (who’s just a great, slimy bad guy throughout the whole film) gives after his “...I was born on the wrong continent,” quip.

Enjoy the scene and have a great weekend! And if you’re gonna watch a Western, make it a good one.

2 comments:

  1. I do love me some Magnum P.I. but somehow I have never seen this film. It is actually a good western too? Gonna have to try and give this one a watch.

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    1. If you like Selleck and you like westerns you probably won't be disappointed. I grew up watching it so I might be a little biased (it's at 56% on Rotten Tomatoes). Thanks for reading/commenting!

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