Following the success of The Warriors, director Walter Hill took his cameras west. Departing the New York City streets for the rural areas of the 19th century, Hill was tasked with bringing the saga of Jesse James and his band of outlaws to life in The Long Riders.
Written, produced, and starring James and Stacey Keach, The Long Riders arrived during a pivotal year for the Western. Released the same year as Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate, a western epic infamous for going over budget, The Long Riders separates legend from fact regarding one of the West’s most notorious outlaws. Streaming on Prime Video and Tubi, audiences can saddle up with one of the most stylish Westerns of the 1980s.
Divorcing Folklore from Historical Fact
With the exception of Billy the Kid and possibly Wyatt Earp, no other figure from the Old West has been romanticized more than Jesse James. As head of the James-Younger gang with his brother Frank, Jesse James’ robberies gave him a folk hero status, a sort of Robin Hood figure who struck back against the wealthy. Separating the real-life figure from the antihero persona he cultivated over several decades presents a challenge.
The Long Riders departs from the colorful and heroic depictions of Jesse James that were pervasive in the formative years of cinema and the many pulp novels that sprang up following his death. The Western is largely faithful to historical fact and takes steps to humanize the outlaw. Rather than depict him as the antihero, Jesse James and the members of his gang are fleshed out and shown as individuals with real bonds and relationships with each other, their families, and romantic interests. At the same time, Hill doesn’t water down the callous nature of the outlaws, depicting their holdups and shoot-outs as violent crimes spurred on by greed and vindictiveness, where innocent people are killed in the crossfire.
Jesse James (Robert Keach) is portrayed as a rather complex individual, tending to his family while taking part in brazen holdups. There is no comparison to Robin Hood, just the actions of a criminal enterprise. The Long Riders, while not shying away from the reality of who Jesse James was, also doesn’t sanitize the blood that ends up in the hands of all the parties involved in his misdeeds. The film is honest when it comes to innocent parties, most notably the outlaws’ family members and accomplices who get caught up in the crossfire and die as a result of overzealous law enforcement.
Hill deconstructs the many myths of the James-Younger gang with a human touch. Separating the gang from their deeds and private lives becomes crucial in depicting themes of poverty and desperation. The juxtaposition of domestic life and violent crime reminds us that the actions of those who live outside the law, however abhorrent, are perpetrated by ordinary individuals who have things in common with all of us.
Presenting a Stylized and Accurate Portrayal of Historical Fact
A term that best describes Hollywood’s relationship to the Old West is “glamorized.” Presented through the lens of Technicolor cameras and their ilk, directors have always treated the period in history with romanticism. The Long Riders and Heaven’s Gate, both of which had different receptions among critics and audiences when released in 1980, share common ground for their vibrant style and stunning realism pertaining to the period.
Walter Hill, who, in 1980, was fresh off directing The Warriors, brings the same action-oriented focus to the Old West as he did to the streets of New York. Seamlessly blending multiple characters into a cohesive narrative that never loses momentum, The Long Riders exemplifies Hill’s ability to depict two benevolent forces at odds with one another. Just like the gangs of New York pursuing the Warriors to Coney Island, the James-Younger gang desperately attempts to stay one step ahead of law enforcement.
Cinematography from Ric Waite complements Hill’s flawless direction, which navigates between sentimentality and violence. Waite captures the expansive and sprawling landscapes of the West before the rapid expansion occurred. The “wide open spaces,” as one popular song might have put it, establish the vast untamed frontier of the Old West.
The most memorable aspects of Hill’s direction and Waite’s cinematography are the action sequences that highlight the exploits of the James-Younger Gang. Action has always been Hill’s forte, and he doesn’t disappoint in capturing the violence of the era with the trail of carnage it leaves behind. The climax, which centers on a botched robbery, implements fast-paced sequences that capture the desperation of a daring escape. Waite’s use of slow-motion photography at the point of death, which is used throughout The Long Riders, brings about the gravity of a character’s final moments. There isn’t a single moment in The Long Riders that isn’t impactful, or a moment that feels wasted. Walter Hill engages the audience from beginning to end, immersing them in a world that no longer exists, except within the confines of celluloid.
A Genuinely Underrated Gem
So, where does The Long Riders rank in the annals of the Western genre? The term underrated tends to be overused in film criticism. However, The Long Riders is just that. It might not be as well-known as others in the genre, but it deserves a healthy amount of praise. Walter Hill’s effort places presentation and the deconstruction of mythology hand-in-hand. In the long line of films about Jesse James and his exploits, The Long Riders dispels the colorful notions of a persona cultivated over multiple generations.
The Long Riders, Walter Hill’s Western opus, is currently streaming on Tubi and Prime Video.
