Quigley Down Under

Summary

“Throw him in the wagon, take him two days from here and dump him. Let Australia kill him.”

A few years back, Shout! Factory released Quigley Down Under on Blu-Ray. Since it is one of my favorite films from the early Nineties, I quickly snatched up that release. I was happy with that release even though it was sourced from an older master. Shout! had done more for it by a good amount than the antiquated MGM release, so I had no real reason to complain. When I saw that Shout! had acquired the film once again for a 4K release with a brand new transfer from the original camera negative, I rejoiced. To me, Quigley Down Under is a perfect family film. The Eighties and early Nineties were blessed to have so many wonderful adventure films – the Indiana Jones series, The Goonies, Romancing the Stone, Jurassic Park to name a few – and Quigley Down Under is one of my absolute favorite adventure films from that era. It is a Western, but it is a Western that takes place in Australia. The film was directed by Simon Wincer who also directed the excellent Lonesome Dove miniseries. He was able to transport the humor and character driven aspects that defined that series to the outback thanks to a strong script by screenwriter John Hill. Wincer had reworked the script slightly with screenwriter Ian Jones to set the film in the 1860s and make the film more historically accurate. With a winning cast, the film became something special. I have loved the movie since viewing it with my family as a kid, so I was extremely excited to see it on 4K.

After three months on a boat, Matthew Quigley (Tom Selleck) arrives in Australia. He has been brought there with the promise of a high paying job for a rifleman. At the port, Quigley immediately starts defending a girl from some supposed attackers. The men were trying to take some white women back to their boss. The girl they were trying to wrangle is known as “Crazy Cora” (Laura San Giacomo). She latches onto Quigley and yells out “Roy!” She seems to have mistaken him for somebody else and she is immediately attached to him. The boss that the men are taking the women towards is actually Elliott Marston (Alan Rickman,) the man that Quigley has come to see. Quigley rides in a wagon with the men and the couple prostitutes. They make their way across the dessert to Marston’s ranch. Marston has hired Quigley on for his long distance rifle skills. He wanted the best long distance rifleman, and Quigley is renowned for his skills. Quigley has a unique weapon. It’s a Sharp’s long range rifle – a long distance breechloader marked up to 1200 yards. He claims that he has shot it as far as 1500 yards. Quigley makes his own rounds for the rifle. Marston quips towards Quigley about his “experimental weapon with experimental ammo…. an experiment.” He asks for Quigley to demonstrate his prowess by shooting a bucket from far out. Matthew hits the bucket three times in a row from long distance to prove his abilities. Afterward, Marston is brought two deserters by his henchman. Marston callously kills the two deserters with his revolver before inviting Quigley to dinner. Marston’s weapon of choice is “The Army Revolver” from Sam Colt. At dinner in their conversation, Matthew brings up that he was hired to kill dingoes, but he points out that there is a small army around to kill dingoes. Marston explains that his parents were slaughtered by aborigines. They come onto his ranch and mess with his livestock. The Australian government has allowed “Pacification by force.” Marston explains that “as primitive as they are,” the aborigines have learned how to stay out of range of rifle fire. Hearing this, and realizing the true purpose of his employment, Quigley knocks Marston out the window… twice. While in the house and ready to take on the attackers from the front, an aborigine butler surprises Quigley and knocks him out. Quigley is badly beaten by Marston’s men. Marston orders his men to take Quigley out to the desert and let Australia kill him. Cora is taken into the desert and dumped along with Quigley. Quigley cleverly kills the men who dumped them out there. He also retrieves his rifle and ammo. In the desert, the tribe of aborigines give Cora and Matthew water and help heal them. Matthew and Cora firsthand see the brutality that the aborigines face against Marston’s men, and Quigley begins to make his way back to the ranch to stop Marston and his men from carrying out their genocide.

As I said earlier, to me Quigley Down Under is a perfect family film. I hate the completely sanitized films that are aimed at families these days. There is nothing to enjoy about them because reality has been washed away until all that is left is completely hollow. Quigley is exciting and sweet natured, but it still allows the right amount of violence necessary to create a memorable conflict. Unlike movies from the Fifties, there is blood when people are shot (or dragged by horse.) The bloodshed doesn’t trample the overall joyous feeling of the picture. It is very fun to watch.

The script by John Hill was a solid foundation, and Simon Wincer commissioned Ian Jones to rework the script to take place in the 1860s and to be more historically accurate. The shooting script for the film was rock solid. The characters’ quirks and personalities are charming and the backstory for why Cora became the way she was is really well considered. The villian is excellently written and Alan Rickman brings some gallows humor and pathos to Marston that he was especially well suited to play. Nobody played villains better than Alan Rickman. His three memorable villain roles (Quigley, Robin Hood, Die Hard) are as good as it gets. The other actors for the film were all up to the task. Tom Selleck is great as Matthew Quigley with a good mixture of warmth and grit. He is an excellent leading man and it would have been nice to see him in more Westerns that weren’t made for television, but I don’t think Tom Selleck would complain about the extremely consistent work he has had on television for more than forty years. Laura San Giacomo does a solid job of balancing the difficult aspects of the role of Crazy Cora. This is a part that could easily be overplayed or become somewhat annoying, but her big smile allows the character to become endearing. Tony Bonner is memorable as one of Marston’s heavies, and Chris Haywood also has a solid part as Major Ashley-Pitt.

The cinematography by David Eggby brings the outback to life using wide angled lenses to capture as much of the scenery as could fit on the screen. Eggby had gotten his start years earlier working on a very different type of film from down under – Mad Max. Director Simon Wincer had a strong vision and was given an eighteen million dollar budget to bring it to life with excellent production design. Paying close attention to period details, the film has some very well done sequences that transport the viewer to that time.

Quigley Down Under is a great Western adventure film. It has stood the test of time and makes me nostalgic for these types of films that are so rarely made these days. Shout! Factory’s 4K release looks beautiful and deserves a place in your collection.

Video

Quigley Down Under arrives on 4K with a stunning new transfer from the original color negative in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1. Quigley was lucky enough to have two releases on Blu-ray prior to this release, but the new 4K absolutely blows those releases away. Fans of the film are going to be ecstatic about the final product. Fine detail is very good and the color timing seems very true to the original film release. Grain is extremely well resolved. The film looks extremely rich and vivid without a hint of artificiality. I did not notice any compression issues. This is the definitive way to view the film, and one of the best transfers yet by Shout! Factory.

Audio

Quigley Down Under sports the same DTS-HD MA 2.0 track as the prior release. It would have been great to hear this track repurposed into a 5.1 or Atmos track, but the film’s stereo track still sounds very good overall. I think the film’s excellent score by Basil Poledouris is so strong that it makes up for the lacking LFE and rear channel support. Dialogue is very clearly rendered. Obviously, the lack of surround support makes the action scenes lack a little oomph, but the film is so well done that I think the viewer will be too caught up onscreen to nitpick.

Supplements:

The supplements are on the included Blu-ray Disc.

• This One Shoots a Mite Further – the film’s master armorer Mike Tristano takes an extensive look at the sharp’s rifle from the film. This is actually a really interesting piece. I have not seen many armorers interviewed over the years and I enjoyed hearing the thoughtfulness that went into making the picture as historically accurate as possible.
• Finding Crazy Cora – actress Laura San Giacomo looks back on her experience playing Cora in the film and the experience of filming in the outback.
• Rebirth of the Western – an EPK.
• Two TV Spots 
• Theatrical Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 5/5

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 3/5

Overall – 4.75/5

Quigley Down Under is one of my favorite adventure films from the Nineties. It was a favorite film in my household growing up, and I am very happy to get to share that experience with my wife and children now. Tom Selleck never was given another film role that allowed him to shine like this one, but Quigley showed off his natural charm and charisma that made him such a beloved presence on television screens for more than four decades. He is great in the movie. Alan Rickman is my favorite actor for villains in films, and this is one of his very best villain performances. Laura San Giacomo and the rest of the supporting cast are all capable in their roles. Cinematographer David Eggby worked well with director Simon Wincer to bring the outback of the 1860s to vivid life. The new Shout! Studios 4K UHD is really a stunner with an exceptional new transfer from the original color negative. The special features are enjoyable but brief, and an expanded surround track would have been welcomed if included, but as it stands this is the definitive way to experience Quigley Down Under. Highly recommended!