Timothy Dalton Movie:

Editorial Review:
If you're looking for a showcase for emerging Hollywood talent, American Outlaws is just the ticket. Its handsome young stars, playing Jesse and Frank James and gang, crack wise as if they were in a contemporary high school locker room. Combining authentic costumes and sets with stunt work befitting a Jackie Chan comedy, accompanied by an "Old West" soundtrack that's anything but old and only marginally Western, the film yields a few enjoyable highlights. Seasoned genre buffs, however, will cringe at the movie's clash of visual qualities, as well as the dialogue, which, while not as heinous as that in Maverick, is on par with Young Guns in terms of non-period flavor. It's not exactly a testament to the enduring potential of the authentic Western that was realized by Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, made barely a decade before.

With all the light-hearted action and character interplay, it's hard to tell if director Les Mayfield (Flubber) is taking the material seriously, but this much is certain: the Jesse James here (played with effortless appeal by Tigerland newcomer Colin Farrell) and his brother Frank (Gabriel Macht) have almost no connection to historical fact. Nor do their fellow farm-raised gang members, the Younger brothers Cole (Scott Caan), Bob (Will McCormack), and Jim (Gregory Smith). (And Jesse's fiancée, played by Ali Larter, looks like she dropped in from a Gap commercial.) The gang's post-Civil War battle against a ruthless railroad baron (Harris Yulin) and his Pinkerton henchman (Timothy Dalton) seems arbitrary, irrational (since farmers typically welcomed railroads, not fought them), and riddled with clichés, turning the movie's bloodless shootouts into another opportunity for pretty-boy preening. --Jeff Shannon

American Outlaws [Region 2] Reviews:
Historically inaccurate, but pure entertainment!
2009-11-01 - The only reason I purchased this DVD is because Kathy Bates is in the film, I knew nothing about it. But what an action packed adventure this turned out to be. The casting is excellent as well as the performances of all the actors involved. Having read several books about Jesse James as well as a biography of his mother, my first reaction was negative due to historical inaccuracies , but it was so action packed I couldn't stop watching. There are some wonderful `behind the scenes' in the bonus features that shouldn't be ignored. Great fun!


Good Entertainment!
2009-05-30 - Good fictitious western entertainment but I wish if they were going to make a fictitious movie they would use fictional characters instead of historic people.They take a murderer and thief and turn him into a hero.How would people react if they made a movie about Timothy Mcveigh and made a hero of him?It would not be too cool.
"The James brothers, Frank and Jesse, were Confederate guerrillas during the Civil War, during which they were accused of participating in atrocities committed against Union soldiers. After the war, as members of one gang or another, they perpetrated many bank robberies which often resulted in the murder of bank employees or bystanders. They also waylaid stagecoaches and trains."

An above-average horse opera that knows when to giddy-yap and when to giddy-up
2008-12-09 - As westerns go, "American Outlaws" amounts to an above-average horse opera that knows when to giddy-yap and when to giddy-up. Les Mayfield, who directed "Flubber" and "Blue Streak," stages several exhilarating but bloodless gunfights that owe their epic grandeur to Hong Kong action maestro John Woo of "Face/Off" fame as much as traditional cowboy classics like Clint Eastwood's "The Outlaw Josey Wales." While this blatantly romanticized account of the notorious Jesse James-Cole Younger gang lacks the authenticity of either "The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid" (1972) or "The Long Riders" (1980), Mayfield keeps the action going at a gallop. Moreover, scenarists Roderick Taylor and John Rogers have juggled the chronology of events to heighten dramatic impact. Clearly, "American Outlaws" duplicates the surefire "Young Guns" formula, portraying Jesse as a saintly Robin Hood bandit. While Irish heartthrob Colin Farrell resembles actor Tyrone Power, who starred as Jesse James in the prototypical 1939 Technicolor version of "Jesse James," he looks nothing like the real-life Jesse Woodson James. Nevertheless,western aficionados should applaud the way that Mayfield has kept the conventions of the genre intact while adding enough fresh touches to enhance this superficial but stimulating shoot'em-up.

"American Outlaws" covers the early years of James-Younger gang. The upbeat Taylor & Rogers script doesn't depict the tragic demise Jesse met at the hands of the double-crossing sidewinder who bushwhacked him for the bounty. This flavorful variation unfolds as the Civil War concludes. Federal troops have pinned down Frank James (Gabriel Macht of "Simply Irresistible"), Cole Younger (Scott Caan of "Varsity Blues"), and Bob Younger (Gregory Smith of "Boiler Room") with cannon fire when Jesse (Colin Farrell of "Tigerland") rides to their rescue. Mayfield establishes Jesse's hell-bent-for-leather audacity when our impetuous protagonist launches a fearless charge against an army of Yankees. Farrell imitates John Wayne in "True Grit" as he rides full-tilt into battle, blazing away with two six-shooters while he keeps his horses' reins clenched between his teeth.

After surviving this fracas, our heroes return to Missouri to resume farming. Along come villainous railroad baron Thaddeus Rains (Harris Yulin of "Rush Hour 2") and henchman Rollin Parker (Terry O'Quinn of "The Stepfather") who are stealing property at two dollars-per-acre. When they approach Ma James (Kathy Bates of "Misery"), she wants her sons to gun them down. Frank convinces Ma to hold off. Rains' chief troubleshooter, Allan Pinkerton (Timothy Dalton of "License to Kill"), warns them that was Rains' only offer. Parker retaliates after the James refuse to sell and sends his ruffians to dynamite their farm. Ma James dies in the explosion, and Jesse and Frank saddle up with the Youngers to wreck vengeance on the railroad.

While "American Outlaws" doesn't qualify as a classic, this better-than-average sagebrusher provides a glimpse of the old West we haven't seen in many moons. As Jesse's stalwart wife Zee Mimms, Ali Larter of "Final Destination" has a way with stopping trains dead in their tracks. A crackerjack supporting cast, especially Dalton as Pinkerton, makes "American Outlaws" fun to watch.

Arrived early always a good start!
2008-12-06 - Being delivered to Australia I was surprised and happy to receive it early. Product in perfect condition. No complaints here !

Great Movie
2008-01-24 - This is a great western and my dad loves it. Thanks so much for your help with this gift.