Silverado [Region 2]

Buy This Item Silverado [Region 2]  Available from Amazon  Click 'BUY IT NOW' to get price.  on 11-29-2008     Director Lawrence Kasdan (<I>The Big Chill</I>) clearly set out to make an old-fashioned Western, but he couldn't help bringing a hip, self-conscious attitude to the proceedings. <I>Silverado</I> thus finds its own funky tone--sometimes rousing, sometimes winking. Four cowpokes converge on a little Western burg called Silverado; they're played by Kevin Kline (a distinctly modern kind of Western hero), Scott Glenn, Danny Glover, and the rowdy young Kevin Costner. Kasdan peppers the somewhat generic action with smart dialogue and a parade of quirky supporting players, including John Cleese as a sheriff who seems to have stepped straight from a Monty Python sketch into an Old West saloon. Bruce Broughton supplies the music, a real throwback to the glory days of thundering Western themes. One thing's for sure: <I>Silverado</I>'s a lot more fun than the later Kasdan-Costner Western, <I>Wyatt Earp</I>. <I>--Robert Horton</I> Reader Reviews "Silverado" is a 1985 Western about two brothers (Scott Glenn & Kevin Costner) and two other gents (Kevin Kline & Danny Glover) who become friends and ultimately team-up to take on the corrupt sheriff of the New Mexican town Silverado. The first time I tried to watch "Silverado" was in the mid-90s and something turned me off. I now know what that was: "Silverado" doesn't have the downbeat, ultra-realistic, amoral vibe of most post-50s Westerns. This is a rip-roaring Western in the truest sense of the word. There are a few moral ambiguities (e.g. Jeff Goldblum's character and Kline's conundrum in the story) but, for the most part, the heroes are heroes and the villains drip with evil. My main problem was that certain situations or events struck me as a bit unrealistic, almost verging on Indiana Jones territory, which is easy to explain since writer/director Lawrence Kasdan also wrote "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Upon seeing it again recently I decided to accept the few implausible heroics to glean from (and enjoy) the meat of the picture, which is essentially a serious story running the gamut of the human condition (e.g. injustice, action, drama, comedy, etc.). I only bring this up so that viewers who insist on realism in their Westerns like, say, "Open Range" or "The Wild Bunch" will make the necessary mental adjustments before attempting to digest the film. One aspect of "Silverado" I like, which most post-50s Westerns lack, is the palpable spirit of life, freedom and joy that the heroes (and their friends) possess. Despite the various evils they experience (which we can all relate to in one way or another) they maintain a certain joy of living, the jubilance of life and freedom itself. Hence, the film isn't a downer. It's somehow uplifting. Stories like this need a good villain and Brian Dennehy more than fills the bill. In fact, he's horrifying as the corrupt sheriff of Silverado. Remember Dennehy as the sheriff in "First Blood"? This is essentially the same role multiplied by ten, as in ten-times WORSE. The main hero is Kevin Kline. The only other film I've seen him in is "Grand Canyon." I liked him in that film and feel the same here. I don't know, he's just good at playing the perfect, likable everyman. Scott Glenn is a quintessential Westerner and Kevin Costner plays his younger gung-ho brother. Costner is quite different here than in other Western roles like "Dances with Wolves," "Wyatt Earp" and "Open Range." In "Silverado" he's young and spunky, an expert and deadly gunslinger, but full of mirth at the same time. Another item that turned me off when I first saw "Silverado" was that the story is convoluted. There are numerous characters and each has his/her own sub-story (think of Kasdan's "Grand Canyon"). Heck, we don't even see the town Silverado until a full 45 minutes into the film. But the good thing about a story like this is that it's not superficial; hence, it's worthy of numerous repeat viewings (because you're not likely gonna digest it all in just one or two viewings). I enjoyed certain subplots like Kline's love for the midget saloon bartender (Linda Hunt), love in a son/mother manner, that is. As well as the love and loyalty of the four heroes; the fact that Glover is a black man is of no issue. Love in its purest sense is spiritual in nature and transcends blood, skin color or raw lust. You never know who you'll meet in life and form a strong love-bond with. It's amazing. Unfortunately some subplots obviously got left on the cutting room floor. For instance, Rosanna Arquette and Jeff Goldblum. So why not 5/5 stars? I didn't find the story ultra-captivating like, say, Kasdan's "Grand Canyon." I had to struggle a bit to keep attentive here and there. Other than that "Silverado" has everything you'd ever want in a Western (in fact, maybe overkill): gunfights, fast-draw showdowns, smoke-filled saloons, saloon girls, homesteaders, wagon trains, outlaws, posses, jailbreaks, stampedes, box canyons, glorious Western locations, and more.

Silverado [Region 2] Available from Amazon Price: Click 'BUY IT NOW' to get price. Updated on 11-29-2008.

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