Silverado 1985 spoilersAs far as westerns go there're two big names Clint Eastwood and John Wayne. I would like to submit another name for the famous western actors Kevin Costner. Kevin Costner has been in Wyatt Earp, dances with wolves, open range, etc. My favorite Western to feature Kevin Costner is Silverado. As a whole I feel Silverado is under appreciate. The story is unique featuring a group of heroes who are less then honorable. We first me Emmitt (Scott Glenn) in a lonely dusty cabin in the middle of nowhere. The silence is broken by the sounds of gunfire and a battle rages. Next we meet Paden (Kevin Kline) a man left stranded in the desert by his friends. Paden and Emmitt head out to find Emmitt's younger brother Jake (Kevin Costner). Jakes being held in prison for murder. The trio ends up staging a jailbreak and head off toward Silverado. Along the journey, they Mal( Danny Glover) a man headed home to help his Paw. The group of four men end up taking up a common cause and ending the reign of tyranny in Silverado. As far as westerns go Silverado has a lot of heart and Kevin Costner's character Jake made a large impact on me growing u. Jakes the ultimate wild card and the reason I give Silverado an 8/10

It had been a while since I first saw this movie and I just refreshed my memory the other day. And while it remains likable with some fine actors in it, it didn't age well at all. Other reviewers have written about the clichés along the way. But you can't fault a movie for things that are now a given, when they might not have been at the time of the production of said movie.The movie is still good though, but some character choices seem odd to say the least. Kevin Costner is a great actor, but while he seemingly has fun with his free spirited character, you don't really buy it as a viewer. Kevin Kline makes the best impression of all, which all boils down to the fact, that they tried too much. Too many characters, too many things going on, none of which stay long enough to keep the viewer hooked all the way through. This may be nit-picking, but it's what is missing from making this a really superb western

Written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan, "Silverado" (1985) is a strange beast. On one hand, the film is an obvious homage to roughly 70 years worth of Westerns, particularly those by John Ford, Anthony Mann, Howard Hawks and Sergio Leone. On the other hand, the film is a light-hearted adventure in the vein of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Kasdan, of course, famously worked on Lucas and Spielberg's "Indiana Jones" and "Star Wars" franchises, franchises which were themselves postmodern "updates" of 1930s pulp fantasies.Kasdan's approach should result in something flippant and silly. Tempering this is Kasdan's screenplay, which resembles his scripts for "The Big Chill" and "Grand Canyon", both of which were fairly serious, sprawling melodramas. The result is a film which is constantly pulling in multiple directions. "Silverado" is a highbrow western, but also a lowbrow crowd-pleaser. It's a comedy, but also a drama. It's a film packed with caricatures and cartoonish archetypes, but also one which attempts to sketch a large community of "serious" characters. And so on and so on."Silverado" is at its best during its first act, where Kasdan presents the jaunty adventures of well-meaning rascals. Amongst these are Emmet (Scott Glenn), Paden (Kevin Kline), Jake (Kevin Costner) and Mal (Danny Glover). Today, Mal's tale is the most interesting. An African American cowboy who's tired of being beaten down, Glover's character offers a sanitised version of 1970s blaxploitation heroes (particularly Fred Williamson's "Boss N****r" films) and also serves as the midpoint between John Ford's "Sergeant Rutledge" and Tarantino's "Django Unchained". In 1985, you simply didn't find westerns with black heroes like this.The rest of "Silverado" is less interesting, particularly its last act, which combines typical 1980s blockbuster excess (lots of gunfights), with a familiar plot about a corrupt sheriff (Brian Dennehy). A funny performance by Kevin Costner makes the film's second half tolerable, but it's not enough. "Silverado" becomes too humourless, too loud, too serious, a stance which the film is too dumb to make work. In a way, it's the Hollywood version of Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West", another cut-and-paste movie which, weighed down by pastiche, inexorably gets too big for its boots.7/10 – For those looking for better westerns, both high-brow and low (in that order), consider: Altman's "Sitting Bull" and "McCabe and Mrs Miller", Martin Ritt's "Hombre" and "Hud", "Ulzana's Raid", "Will Penny", "Ride with the Devil", Cox's "Walker", Benton's "Bad Company", Pontecorvo's "Burn!", "Dead Man", Siegel's "The Beguiled", "Lonely are the Brave", "Red River", "Dances with Wolves", "Viva Zapata", "Two Mules for Sister Sara", "My Darling Clementine", "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", Corbucci's "The Great Silence", "The Long Riders", "Wild Bill" (1995), "The Ballad of Cable Hogue", "Tombstone", "The Shootist" and Costner's "Open Range".

Lawrence Kasdan directs this return to Old West adventure for a new generation of fans. Four unwitting heroes cross paths on their way to a small town called Silverado. They have no idea that their friends and family in the tiny town are controlled by a corrupt sheriff that can command a murderous posse at the snap of a finger. Emmett(Scott Glenn), Paden(Kevin Kline), Jake(Kevin Costner) and Mal(Danny Glover)meet trouble before even getting to Silverado, but the whiskey drinkin', hard fightin' quartet are hard to take advantage of. After getting to Silverado, they end up breaking each other out of jail and methodically try to figure out the bad guys from the good guys; and then go about cleaning up and restoring law to the sleepy little town. Very authentic look and fun watching tricks of the trade to restore the peace. Costner actually proves to have a comedic streak; and I found a new respect for Kline's talents. This outstanding cast also features:John Cleese, Brian Dennehy, Linda Hunt, Jeff Fahey, Rosanna Arquette and Sheb Wooley.