Long Riders (1980)

Long Riders: Directed by Walter Hill. With David Carradine, Keith Carradine, Robert Carradine, James Keach. The origins, exploits and the ultimate fate of the Jesse James gang is told in a sympathetic portrayal of the bank robbers made up of brothers who begin their legendary bank raids because of revenge.

“I know, calling it u0026quot;the true storyu0026quot; is a bit much for any film, but I have my reasons. There have been dozens of films about Jesse James, before this one and since, but as a history buff I choose this one as my favorite. Most movies on the subject either make Jesse a misunderstood hero or the villainous target of some (usually fictional) lawman. This movie was called u0026quot;revisionistu0026quot; by some critics when it was released, but the great thing about it is that it just tells the story. It uses a series of lovely little vignettes, each one of them historically verifiable. There are failings, to my mind the slow-motion shootout being the biggest, but on the whole it captures the feel of the period, the dress, the idioms (u0026quot;I would toss the shotgun away!u0026quot;), pretty much everything. It doesnu0026#39;t make them good guys, far from it, but it does take pains to show why their neighbors loved them and hated the pinkertons.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNot the best western ever, by a long shot, but almost certainly the best movie on the subject.”