Quigley Down Under (1990)

Director:

Simon Wincer

Writer (WGA):

John Hill (written by)

Release Date:

19 October 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

The West was never this far west...The Emmy Award-winning director of "Lonesome Dove" puts the classic Western back where it was meant to be, on the big screen...in a place it's never been before.

Plot:

Sharpshooter Matt Quigley is hired from Montana by an Australian rancher paying a very high price. But when Quigley arrives Down Under, all is not as it seems.

Plot Keywords:

Evil Landowner | Australia | Australian Western | Employment | Australian Aborigine

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Tom Selleck	...	Matthew Quigley
Laura San Giacomo	...	Crazy Cora
Alan Rickman	...	Elliott Marston
Chris Haywood	...	Major Ashley-Pitt
Ron Haddrick	...	Grimmelman
Tony Bonner	...	Dobkin
Jerome Ehlers	...	Coogan
Conor McDermottroe	...	Hobb
Roger Ward	...	Brophy
Ben Mendelsohn	...	O'Flynn
Steve Dodd	...	Kunkurra
Karen Davitt	...	Slattern
Kylie Foster	...	Slattern
William Zappa	...	Reilly
Jonathan Sweet	...	Sergeant Thomas

Also Known As:

Quigley (Australia)
Quigley Down Under (Australia)

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

Australia | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | France:U | Australia:M | Sweden:15 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia

Company:

Pathé Entertainment

Trivia:

The film was to have been Steve McQueen's follow-up to The Hunter (1980), but he fell ill shortly after filming The Hunter (1980), so the project was scrapped.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Quigley and Crazy Cora are taken to a camp by the native Aboriginal people. There they chant and play a Didgeridoo. In this part of Australia, Western and Central there are no didgeridoos. The Yirdaki and Mago Didgeridoo are endemic to only Arnhem Land. In the Western part they use Mago, in the North East part they use Yirdaki. This is at the very northern part of Australia, in a small delimited area. When this scene was cited to have taken place none of the the central and western Aboriginal Australians, namely in the desert, used a Didgeridoo in playing music. Only in later times has it spread more though out Australia.

Quotes:

Elliott Marston: Ah ha. Legendary Sharps.
Matthew Quigley: You know your weapons. It's a lever-action, breech loader. Usual barrel length's thirty inches. This one has an extra four. It's converted to use a special forty-five caliber, hundred and ten grain metal cartridge, with a five-hundred forty grain paper patch bullet. It's fitted with double set triggers, and a Vernier sight. It's marked up to twelve-hundred yards. This one shoots a mite further.
Elliott Marston: An experimental weapon with experimental ammunition.
Matthew Quigley: You could call it that.
Elliott Marston: Let's experiment.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Red Zone Cuba (#7.19)" (1994)

Can't recommend it too highly.

I've been watching Westerns for some 60 years and Quigley Down Under rates in my top 5 along with Unforgiven, The Wild Bunch, The Outlaw Jose Wales and Once Upon a Time in the West. I've watched it 6 times and haven't tired of it yet. The musical score is superb, great story line and beautiful cinematography. Excellent performances by Selleck, Giacomo and Rickman.

Insofar as Quigley's marksmanship goes, there is nothing in the movie rifle shots that are not realistic as far as I'm concerned. During the Civil War, a Whitworth rifle with a telescopic sight had an effective range of 1800 yards and the exploits of Truman "California Joe" Head with his Sharps were lengendary in his own time. Even the Civil War Enfield was fairly accurate to 1100 yards. Given a Sharps with a custom load to match the rifle, it's a matter of familiarity, eyesight (preferably 20/10 or better), practice and reading the wind, the latter of which was shown prior to Quigley's demonstration to Marston and is by far the biggest variable in long range rifle shots. In short, anyone who is an excellent rifle or pistol shot is unbelievable. Check out Bob Munden's .45 Colt demonstrations. Blink and you've missed some of single or double shot feats. Literally!

That's not to say that Quigley is not a mythical character in the movie but no more so than Wild Bill Hickcok, Wyatt Earp or Bat Masterson came to be, usually for only one incident in their lives.

This is a 5 star Western if there ever was one. Can't recommend it too highly.