Silverado (1985) User Reviews

I didn't want a fight, but I'll give you one

[view_and_review · 8/10 · 17 January 2020]

"Silverado" is nice throwback. The 80's wasn't a decade of many westerns so this was a welcomed sight. It was simple, straight forward, and good. You knew the good guys, you knew the bad guys, and you knew there'd be a shootout.

Silverado is the name of the town where everything took place. It all boiled down to the bad guys: the McKendrick gang plus the bought sheriff, Cobb (Brian Dennehy), and the good guys: Emmett (Scott Glenn), Paden (Kevin Kline), Jake (Kevin Costner), and Mal (Danny Glover). Naturally, the good guys were outnumbered but that's OK because the good guys have ways of evening the odds.

There were a couple of added wrinkles in the story. The main wrinkle was with Paden; would he stand idly by or would he get involved. Every other good guy had a vested interest in fighting the town terrorizers, but Paden only had a loose connection to the whole matter. He was a key figure that could tip the scales in the favor of the wronged party. The only problem was that he worked for Sheriff Cobb.

Decisions, decisions.

Brian Dennehy as Sheriff Cobb was a perfect fit. The only guy who could've been as good or better would've been Gene Hackman. Dennehy and Hackman were born to play bad guys. It's like it's in their DNA. I don't know if it's their look, their voice, their easy smugness, or all of the above, but they play such hateful and hateable guys. If there were a Hollywood hall of fame with a wing for bad guys they'd be in it.

Kevin Costner played a different role than I'm used to seeing from him. He's normally a calm, reserved, strong silent type. In "Silverado" he was an amped up cocky fellow and he played it well.

The whole movie played out like you'd hope. There was enough injustice from the antagonists to get you hot and bothered. The good guys were ostensibly on the ropes. When things seemed their direst the rallying music played, the posse was formed, and things got to jumpin'. Yeah, it was everything you wanted in a western.

A robust, large scale, and diverting Western.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 1 May 2015]

Co-writer, producer and director Lawrence Kasdan did his part in keeping the Western genre alive with "Silverado". It may not be innovative, but that may well have been the point, as Kasdan aims to pay tribute to a beloved movie genre that dated all the way back to the silent era. Admittedly, this one came along when the Western was going through a bit of a dry spell, which made it all the more welcome.

Four very engaging stars - Kevin Kline as Paden, Scott Glenn as Emmett, Danny Glover as Mal, Kevin Costner as Jake - are an interesting combo, as these characters, united by circumstance, eventually band together to fight against the injustices occurring in the town of Silverado. More than once, they prove their worth, in a story (written by Kasdan and his brother Mark) that is fairly episodic.

"Silverado" is extremely well shot, by John Bailey, in widescreen. It gets the look of a classic Western just right. It hooks you right away with an opening moment of quiet suddenly interrupted by a gunfight, and promises a substantial amount of entertainment to come when we're introduced to the tough and resilient Emmett and get a load of the majestic New Mexico locations. Admittedly, this doesn't work quite as well when you start to think about it too much, so it's better to just go with the flow and appreciate all that Kasdan and his cast & crew have packed into this presentation. Certainly, it would be hard not to get roused by that stirring and wonderful music score composed by Bruce Broughton.

There's a lot of acting talent to go around here, but giving things a curious quality is some unexpected casting. Linda Hunt? Jeff Goldblum? JOHN CLEESE? Rosanna Arquette is fairly appealing if somewhat aloof as the gal who catches both Klines' and Glenns' eyes. Jeff Fahey makes his film debut as scruffy psycho Tyree. Lovely ladies Amanda Wyss and Lynn Whitfield play local girl Phoebe and Mals' sister respectively. Recognizable character players in the cast include Marvin J. McIntyre, Sheb Wooley, James Gammon, Ray Baker, Joe Seneca, Earl Hindman, Jim Haynie, Richard Jenkins (also making his film debut), Pepe Serna, Ted White, and an uncredited Brion James as Hobart, the wagon master. The real standout for this viewer is Brian Dennehy, who never overplays his role as villainous sheriff Cobb, instead suffusing the character with a good deal of charm.

The pacing rarely slows down, and the action scenes are first rate. Especially good is a scene involving a stampede.

While lacking the overall impact for this viewer to consider it great, it's still pretty fun while it lasts.

Seven out of 10.

Great entertainment

[pswanson00 · 8/10 · 11 January 2005]

I love this movie, so much that I finally got tired of renting it and bought a copy. I tell anyone who asks that it's "...the western for 12-year-old boys of all ages." I'd guess that women would enjoy it also, if for no other reason than the superb male cast. I can't think of a film which has a cast with greater depth. I love the humor woven through the episodes of action and buddyhood, and nearly fell out of my seat laughing when John Cleese first appeared on screen. His first line is an all-time great, right up there with Tommy Lee Jones' "My my, what a mess" in The Fugitive (I won't quote it, in case you haven't seen the film). If you want to be thoroughly entertained for a couple of hours, and don't require powerful social import in your viewing choices, I'd recommend Silverado strongly. Actually, the relationship of Danny Glover to the main protagonists IS socially important, so enjoy that too.

Cult Classic Tribute to Western Clichés...

[cariart · 2 June 2004]

By 1985, the movie 'western' was a genre long dormant, with film critics quick to point out that audiences had become far too 'sophisticated' for old-fashioned "shoot-'em-ups". Two film makers decided to test the waters, however; Clint Eastwood, reviving an older version of his "Man with No Name", directed and starred in his SHANE homage, PALE RIDER; and Lawrence Kasdan, fresh from the huge success of THE BIG CHILL, fulfilled his life-long dream to make a western, with SILVERADO. Neither film was successful at the box office, and pundits predicted they would soon be forgotten...but a new force in the movie industry was emerging, video rentals, and SILVERADO, with it's spectacular action sequences, charismatic heroes, and sweeping, unforgettable music score (by Bruce Broughton), was an unexpected and overwhelming hit, drawing Hollywood's attention to the new market, and lifting the film to the near-classic cult status it enjoys today.

While PALE RIDER would focus on Clint Eastwood's continuing demythologizing of the West (which would culminate in 1992's UNFORGIVEN), SILVERADO embraces all the 'classic' Western clichés, serving them up with such exuberance that they seem 'fresh'. The story of four likable 'shootists' of nearly superhuman skills, bonding, and ultimately taking on a corrupt sheriff and his brutal gang of deputies in the town of Silverado, trots out one traditional element after another, from the classic 'bushwhack' (with a John Ford 'Doorway Framing' homage shot) to the 'pretty widow' in a wagon train; from the 'saloonkeeper with a heart of gold' to the 'crooked gambler with a concealed weapon'...and even climaxes with that most traditional of finales, as two ex-partners face off on a dusty street in an old-fashioned Western shootout.

The four leads couldn't have been cast more perfectly; Scott Glenn channels Gary Cooper as a laconic cowboy fresh from an undeserved 5-year prison stretch; Kevin Kline exudes his signature charm as an ex-gang member whose life changed because of "a dog"; Danny Glover is warm and reassuring as a man moving west from Chicago to help his family, armed with a legendary Henry rifle; and, best of all, young Kevin Costner, in his breakout performance, is irresistible, wild and acrobatic, as Glenn's ever-optimistic, carefree younger brother, a part Kasdan wrote specifically for the actor, after his scenes were cut from THE BIG CHILL.

The supporting cast is equally superb, with standout performances by giant Brian Dennehy, John Cleese (as a sheriff who knows 'where' his jurisdiction ends), Jeff Goldblum, Linda Hunt, James Gammon ("You led a posse to my best hide-out??"), Jeff Fahey, and, in a wonderful if brief role, breathtaking Rosanna Arquette, as the widow courted by both Kline and Glenn. With a cast THIS good, it is remarkable that the film had to 'go to video' to achieve success!

The final line of SILVERADO, "We'll be back!", shouted by Costner as he and Glenn ride 'into the sunset', has had countless fans wishing that a follow-up movie had been made (a 1999 nationwide video poll chose SILVERADO as the film "Most Deserving of a Sequel"), but time has, sadly, eliminated that possibility. The film that 'failed' when released, in a genre that 'experts' considered passé, is, after nearly 20 years, still winning new fans.

As Kevin Kline and Linda Hunt say, as a toast: "Here's to the good stuff...May it last a long time!"

Entertaining...

[namashi_1 · 7/10 · 23 May 2011]

'Silverado', Co-Written & Directed by Lawrence Kasdan, is an Entertaining Western Flick, that manages to hold your attention in the goings-on. Even the performances, are well-done, that only add to it's booty.

'Silverado' depicts a chance encounter between a group of cowboys who travel to the town of Silverado, where they thwart the plans of a rancher and a corrupt sheriff.

Though the entire concept of the Good challenging the Evil, has been told on celluloid a dozen of times, 'Silverado', however, manages to convince it's viewer, thanks to it's interesting screenplay. Lawrence & Mark Kasdan's Screenplay is nice, and plays it safe. The Action Sequences are very well shot, while the Cinematography is good. Editing & Art Design deserve a mention.

Performance-Wise: Kevin Kline is good. Scott Glenn is efficient. Kevin Costner & Danny Glover are in form. Jeff Goldblum, Linda Hunt, Rosanna Arquette & John Cleese lend very good support. Brian Dennehy is excellent as the corrupt sheriff.

On the whole, 'Silverado' succeeds by entertaining it's viewer.

An Entertainng, Underrated Western

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 24 June 2006]

If you are looking for a very entertaining western, it's hard to top this one. It's fairly long at 134 minutes, but the deep cast and always-interesting story make the time fly by.

The first half of the film is about as good as it gets but two climactic scenes at the end get a little too carried away with the "Rambo" mentality of good guys not getting shot when they should have, etc. But, overall, it's so good it is still very highly-recommended. Among the "lists" you see on this website's message boards and elsewhere, you rarely see this movie mentioned among top westerns and that is a huge oversight.

There are four main "good guys" that are played by well-known actors: Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner and Danny Glover. I especially liked Kline as "Paden" with his gentlemanly manner about him and Glenn's voice always makes him interesting. Costner is so young looking he almost looks like a teenager.

Brian Dennehy, as the villainous "Sheriff Cobb," is verbally restrained in here, which was nice to hear, for a change but he's still intense and fascinating. (This movie marked the 10,000th time Hollywood made a lawman the villain since the 1960s).

The story is fun, a straight cowboy movie with no romances or gratuitous sex scenes thrown in and has the usual beautiful western scenery and photography. The only problem was the sound. The soundtrack is so loud so have to crank up your center speaker to hear the dialog over the music.

"I'm not a great believer in doin' nothing."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 29 November 2006]

The highly improbable logistics of the opening scene with the exploding stove top sets the viewer up for a fun ride, one in which you don't know what to expect as the opening credits roll. Kevin Kline and John Cleese - is it a Monty Python Western? Scott Glenn looking like a misplaced Carradine brother. Kevin Costner way back in 1985 - with not a thought of "Dances With Wolves" or "Open Range" in sight. Brian Dennehy, Danny Glover, Rosanna Arquette, you have to pinch yourself over the names that back then weren't household words, but combined here make up one of the more eclectic casts in the genre.

It's too bad actually that Cleese didn't have more to do here. His first appearance on screen as Sheriff Langston is so out of place that it adds another layer of ambiguity to the film. I couldn't restrain myself from cracking up over his line after Mal (Glover) breaks up the barroom - "I don't tolerate this kind of thing, it's hard on the peace and hard on the furniture".

The on again, off again relationship of the four companion protagonists is nicely balanced with focus on the characters as individuals as well. Kline's character Paden is probably the most rounded, particularly in his relationship with Stella the Midnight Star (Linda Hunt). His final showdown with Cobb (Dennehy) relives the classic falling out of partners seeking vengeance and justice in a gunfight with only one outcome possible.

Still, the film winds up confusing at times, like in the treatment of Rosanna Arquette's character. She starts out married, feigns a flirtation with Paden, is eyed by Emmett (Glenn), and then winds up without a partner by the time it's all over. There's also the separate rivalries between the good guys and Cobb's men, as well as the good guys and the McKendrick bunch. I kept wondering how all the elements would eventually tie together, but they don't. It seems to me the story's flow would have been better served by a buildup to a single confrontation in the tradition of your standard Western. However I don't think director Lawrene Kasdan was going for standard in his homage to the genre. If you go with the flow of the story, you're better served by the action scenes, gorgeous cinematography, and exciting music score when each take their turn.

Great

[dworldeater · 8/10 · 20 April 2019]

Silverado is Lawrence Kasdan's western, westerns were scarce in the 80's, but went on to be a big hit at the box office. Kasdan, at this point was best known for screenwriting on blockbusters like The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi. On this film, Kasdan pays his homage to the western genre, by resurrecting it from the dead(besides the occasional Clint Eastwood western) in a more modern and refreshing way with a great ensemble cast of Scott Glenn, Kevin Kline, Brian Dennehy, Danny Glover and a young Kevin Costner in an early role. The story and direction is tight, the film looks great and is driven by a lot of action and solid performances. Although this is a movie that would be appropriate viewing for the whole family, Silverado is far from stupid and holds its own pretty easily against other classics of the genre. Overall, I think Silverado is a great movie and was done well.

having some good ole time

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 28 September 2013]

Emmett (Scott Glenn), Paden (Kevin Kline) are a couple of guys bonded over their bad luck with criminals. Emmett and Paden goes to Turley and finds Emmett's brother Jake (Kevin Costner) locked up to be hung. Mal(Danny Glover) is thrown out of town after bigoted men refuse his 'kind' in the bar. When Emmett and Paden break Jake out of jail, Mal helps to keep the posse from catching them. The four horsemen find a wagon train that's been robbed, and they set out to retrieve the money.

This is a rip roaring old fashion shoot em up western. Kevin Kline has some fun playing around. Lawrence Kasdan has renewed the western but not necessarily reinvented it. The good guys are good. The bad guys are bad. And the good guys have fun while they rewrite wrongs and battle evil.

"Let's get 'em!"

[crowrobot · 10/10 · 22 October 2005]

That one line from Jake (Kevin Costner) as he, Paden (Kevin Kline), Emmett (Scott Glenn), and Mal (Danny Glover) are riding into town for the last battle against a corrupt sheriff (Brian Dennehy) exemplifies everything that is great about 'Silverado'. It's a high-spirited adventure that is fun, does not take itself too seriously (well, maybe a little), and cheerfully reenacts Western clichés. It's the kind of movie where you can tell the actors had fun making it, and you have fun too.

The acting is uniformly excellent. Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, and Danny Glover all bring quiet dignity as well as low-key humor to their roles, but it's Kevin Costner who impressed me the most. As Glenn's cocky young brother, Costner doesn't even bother to contain his glee at being in a Western. He gives the most fun performance in the movie, and it's good to see a younger Costner not taking himself nearly as seriously as he does now. The supporting cast has some nice players: John Cleese shows up as a fair-minded sheriff who seems to have walked over from a Monty Python skit; Academy Award-winner Linda Hunt ('The Year Of Living Dangerously') steals scenes as a strong-willed bar owner who Kevin Kline befriends; and Brian Dennehy is thoroughly slimy as the villain.

The action is fun, and director Lawrence Kasdan shows a gift for this material (granted, he was the person who wrote 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'), and the screenplay (also by Kasdan) is joyous in the way it resurrects the Western. The movie also has one of the best action scores I've ever heard by Bruce Broughton, and I was humming the title theme as the movie concluded.

'Silverado' is a shining example of the Western genre, and it stands as one of the greatest pure entertainment Westerns ever made.

Silly, but entertaining

[jeremy3 · 7/10 · 7 July 2007]

This is a cross between High Noon and Blazing Saddles. There is a lot of comedy to the movie, and much seriousness. It is a cast of greats. Many of these actors have gone on to be huge stars. The movie never was boring, despite having all the clichés of any other western movie. John Cleese actually had a serious role as a mayor of a small town. There were some good lines. I liked when Danny Glover's character said "you really don't know much about 'being human'"? That's true. You can spend your whole life not knowing about people and how to deal with people. Kevin Kline was great as a very cool, intelligent gunfighter. He wanted to keep his friendship with his old friend played by Brian Dennehy. It took him a little time to look into things and find out that his buddy had become a really bad guy. QUESTION: Why did the gambler (Jeff Goldblum) try to kill Danny Glover's character? He never appeared to be in with the sheriff. My guess is that the gambler was doing it for publicity. He thought he could take the guy on and live to brag about it.

"Silverado" carries us out into the overpowering grandeur of the American West...

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 9/10 · 16 April 2006]

One of the cruel twists that sometimes appears in the showdown is the spectacle friend facing friend at opposite ends of a gun… Kline faces his friend and fellow lawman Dennehy… And the two come into direct conflict… They know that the only true test can be when one outdraws and kills the other… The inexorable outcome is a tense showdown… With such equal abilities a split second is the difference between life and death… The two friends square up and draw in the same instant and simultaneously… Kline is surprisingly effective as the cowboy with a troubled past and Dennehy, as Sheriff Cobb, generates a palpable menace…

Scott Glenn is a professional gunslinger, not an angel or a traditional 'goodie' by any means but a man with a certain honor and nobility… His life is a series of confrontations… He plans to start life over in California with his brother Jake but, as ever, there are always punks who wants to take him down…Glenn does not have the screen presence of some of the other characters of the film, but the action-oriented films ideally suited him…

Kevin Costner is charismatic as the sympathetic young hotshot gunslinger, soft at heart… He measures his self by his fancy double gun belt… Wearing two guns, he kills two armed guys in a couple of seconds with two shots— one bursts from each pearl-handled gun—and he didn't even aim…

Danny Glover must overcome the racism of Turley to find the 'baddies' who killed his old father and wounded his sister… No doubt racism is rampant in this part of the country… The film succeeded in introducing a strong black character with a look of high expectation on his face…

Villains in Lawrence Kasdan's "Silverado" are all quite good… Ray Baker (Ethan McKendrick) is totally without moral redemption whose job it is to run settlers off their homesteads… John Cleese, is the nasty sheriff (Langston) dressed rather elegantly in suit and bowler... Jeff Goldblum remembers me Lee Van Cleef in a scene from "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral". In this scene, Cleef prepares himself to kill Kirk Douglas by a small gun hidden in his left boot… Goldblum, in "Silverado" lifts his pant leg, at the poker table, and reveals the handle of a long knife secreted in his boot…

Rosanna Arquette's short scenes in the movie look to be going to a romantic relationship involving her and the two heroes (Kline and Glenn) but nothing ever occurs… Even Lynn Whitfield as Glover's sister has so little dialogue and screen time that she doesn't emerge well in her true character… Linda Hunt makes her best as Stella, the 'Midnight Star' in a velvet dress, who runs the local saloon…

Filmed on ravishing locations around New Mexico, "Silverado" is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre… It is filled with challenge, and excitement… It catches the perfect blue sky above the orange desert and celebrates the beauty of wagon trains moving through pretty, rolling country… splashing noisily across the river… It exhibits expansive saloons busy with gamblers, drinkers, and lovely brightly-dressed girls... It shows fantastic shootouts, ambushes, jail breaks, outlaw hideouts, bar fights, and cattle stampede

30 years later

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 2 May 2015]

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

Genre Exercise Without Spurs

[slokes · 4/10 · 30 March 2007]

A good movie scene can become a cliché, but a cliché can't become a good movie scene. Not unless it's "Airplane," and this isn't, it's "Silverado," director Lawrence Kasdan's heartfelt but cluttered Valentine to the Western.

Heading west, reformed outlaws Emmett (Scott Glenn) and Paden (Kevin Kline) become a band, first by springing Emmett's wild brother Jake (Kevin Costner), then by getting saved from a posse by Mal (Danny Glover), crack shot with a Henry rifle. Then it's off to the beckoning town of Silverado, where Paden finds the bar of his dreams while the others are reunited with family. All is great - until trouble rides in.

"There's nothing' wrong with the land," says Emmett's sister Kate (Patricia Gaul), "it's just some of the people." That goes for Silverado the movie, too. Kasdan was coming off a bumper crop of hits as screenwriter and director, and thus had the ability to do whatever he wanted and work with whoever he wanted in 1985. He had some trouble cutting down on the scope of his ambition. "Silverado" is a big sprawling epic of a western with one of the most eclectic casts ever brought together. Kasdan and his co-writer, brother Mark, didn't know what to do with what they had, and it shows.

Rosanna Arquette is the most obvious casualty, playing a homesteader who floats around the edges of the story. Kasdan admits much of the point of her character was lost on the cutting-room floor. But even parts that made the final cut seem uneven and sketchy. Linda Hunt won an Oscar just before this was made, but she doesn't seem to have any purpose in the story except to trade rueful japes with Kline playing a bar matron with a good heart. Jeff Goldblum drifts in as a gambler, like Kline and Gaul a member of the cast of Kasdan's last hit "The Big Chill." When he played a cowboy in "Buckaroo Banzai," it was supposed to be a joke, but here it's for real, only it isn't as Goldblum never finds a character who serves no point anyway. Glover just glowers lifelessly about "what ain't right." Even Kline, a favorite of mine, feels shallow and flat here. Wearing a beard and duster don't make you a cowboy.

The bad guys come off even worse. Brian Dennehy is their leader, Cobb, who smiles wryly in that Dennehy way and never kicks it into the next gear. He's still got that wry smile on when he faces down old friend Paden at the end. His gang lacks any sense of motivation or personality. "Why are they doing this?" someone asks, only to be answered: "Because they enjoy it." That's not enough to go on here.

The editing is atrocious. Action scenes lack spatial reality. Less than a minute after some bad guys appear out of nowhere to ambush Emmett, Mal pops out of nowhere to ambush them. A few seconds after we see Jake riding out after some villains, he's in a bar getting into a fight over a girl. Kasdan shot too much footage, and without any organic flow to begin with, the result is a hazy mess.

So what did I like? Costner surprisingly plays a goofball to good effect, and Glenn does nice work in the lead Cooper-Wayne role. The opening scenes, of him and Paden finding each other and springing Jake, have a nice flow to them. John Cleese is another example of stunt casting here, only it pays off as Cleese finds a nice blend of humor and menace playing a lawman who's not a bad guy, just narrow and selfish.

But then "Silverado" descends into cliché, bouncing from rustlers' hideout to stampede to showdown in mechanical fashion. It never bores you completely; its desire to entertain is palpable throughout, but it never rises above predictability.

"What a waste," Dennehy says at the end. I couldn't agree more.

one fun movie

[MichaelM24 · 16 July 2001]

An all-star cast makes SILVERADO one of the most fun movies I've ever see. Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner, Danny Glover, Patricia Arquette, Brian Dennehy, Jeff Fahey, Jeff Goldblum, John Cleese, and many more populate this well-paced wild west adventure about friendship, loyalty, and justice. With the exception of Indians, this film features just about every western element in existence. Director Lawrence Kasdan gets the most out of everything: the wide open spaces, the sleepy little western towns, and Bruce Broughton's rousing western-flavored score. It sometimes seems like the movie tried to pack too much in, but it's handled quite well by someone who obviously knows how to make an entertaining western. The climax is great, with at least three different showdowns going on at once. It's a shame the rumored (and actually scripted five years later) sequel was never made, and it probably never will be, because I wouldn't mind seeing what these characters are up to years after this fun-filled adventure.

A Nice, Modern Take on the Western

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 24 July 2017]

A misfit bunch of friends come together to right the injustices which exist in a small town.

The western genre is not something I grew up with or really cared much for, bu it is starting to grow on me. And films like this help a lot, because it is somewhat unconventional and has an excellent cast. Some of these guys were huge, or just on the verge of being huge. And then casting John Cleese as a sheriff... an Englishman in the Old West? I do wish there had been more Jeff Goldblum, and the ladies never get a lot of screen time. This could have been a big film for Amanda Wyss, but we barely get to see her. At least we have Scott Glenn, who really ought to be a bigger name than he ever was.

Very good Western about four tough gunmen who ride together in search of their destiny at a little town

[ma-cortes · 8/10 · 11 February 2012]

Epic and breathtaking major Hollywood Western dealing with a strong feuding among some good guys and some very bad guys headed by two-fisted rivals . It deals with a misfit bunch of friends come together to right the injustices which exist in a small town . In 1880 , two brothers (Scott Glenn and Kevin Costner) along with an unlikely comrade (Kevin Kline) and an African-American (Danny Glover) arrive in the Old West town named Silverado ruled by a nasty marshal (Brian Dennehy) , there they become embroiled in a violent feuding over a valuable patch of land and flock . The peacemakers travel together , join forces and come across with many risks before they finally get their objective . Furthermore , this magnificent Western pits stubborn gunslinger and a corrupt sheriff , as ongoing adversaries , both of whom carry out an exciting final duel and bringing peace to fateful town.

Impressive , sprawling and big-budgeted Western with action , adventure , cattle stampede , thrills , energetic drama , spectacular scenarios and interesting message about peace and friendship . All of them abound in this interesting action Western . Spectacular images as when the four friends ride side by side to clean up the town of Silverado . Outstanding acting from Kevin Kline as ex-gunfighter forced to take sides in battle , Kevin Costner also stands out as quick-tempered cowboy and Jeff Goldblum as a slick gambler. Special mention to Linda Hunt as the saloon-bar queen and Danny Glover as a upright black-cowboy who seeks vengeance . Brief appearances from John Cleese as Sheriff , James Gammon as bandit and Jeff Fahey as gunslinger . Wonderful camera work in Super Techniscope by John Bailey who photographs marvelously the colorful outdoors and interior . Classic and rousing musical score by Bruce Broughton , one of the best from Western's history and deservedly nominated Academy Award , though wrongly didn't won . This marvelous Western , as long as epic , has become a classic , being stunningly and finely crafted directed by Lawrence Kasdan who also directed another awesome Western as ¨Wyatt Earp¨ . Furthermore , he made other good movies as ¨Body heat¨, ¨The big chill¨ , ¨Grand Canyon¨ and ¨Dream catcher¨ . Rating Silverado : Excellent but overlong as the runtime is approx two hours and some . This famous Western will appeal to Kevin Costner and Kevin Kline fans . Even those who don't usually like westerns are sure to enjoy it . If you never bother with Westerns , this has several reasons why you should . Worthwhile watching and above average .

Silverado: A Question of taste?

[latsblaster · 7/10 · 9 August 2003]

This is a entertaining but hardly original and maybe unrealistic modern Western, with a plot filled of traditional Western-elements. It is similar to the most of the famous Westerns of Ford, Hawks and Leone. "Silverado" shows that Scott Glenn could perhaps be a powerful Western-star, but his whole potential is hardly used to it´s best here, and I guess that the direction from Lawrence Kasdan is overall uneven. Kevin Costner makes the very best performance I´ve ever seen from him, Glover and Cline are solid but Goldblum is miscasted. The best part of "Silverado" is the first hour, the second hour is more uneven. At times a very fine movie, but mostly suitable for more unexperienced Western-fans.

Rating: 7+ of 10.

There shoulda been a sequel

[morrisonhimself · 10/10 · 13 April 2009]

There are two reasons I say there should have been a sequel: One is that, simply, this was so great, so nearly perfect that it deserved and deserves follow-up.

From largest role to smallest (and I don't mean Linda Hunt), the acting was superlative ... and here I have to pause to say it took several viewings for me to finally admit that, yes, even Kevin Costner, whom I generally and thoroughly dislike, was darn good as a cowboy.

I saw this first in a theater, in Hollywood, with people from the industry, and absolutely LOVED it ... except for Kevin Costner.

I was in awe of the script, of the acting, of the photography, of ... well, of everything ... except Kevin Costner.

Well, I watched it recently on Turner Classic Movies and, reluctantly, decided it was just prejudice, however deserved, and in truth Costner really made a very good cowboy.

There is a little secret here I won't completely divulge: Watch how actors mount their horses, and you'll see if they really know Western riding and, for that matter, if the director knows his business.

One of the actors deserving special praise is Brian Dennehy. As far as I am concerned, he can do no wrong. He is one of the very best actors in the business during the last 20 or 30 years, just an absolutely fabulous talent.

Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised, but even Jeff Goldblum was great in this role. Oh, I know he's good, but I would have thought, and did think, that a Western setting would find him out of place. Wrong.

Sheb Wooley has a small part and it was great to see him in what turned out to be one of his last roles. He, of course, was right at home.

Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, and Danny Glover also looked right at home, as if they had been born making Westerns.

Linda Hunt, another actor who can seemingly do no wrong, was in another movie this same year, 1985, the terribly unfairly ignored "Eleni," and it and "Silverado" both were much better than the movie that carried nearly all the awards, and which I won't name here.

That other film might have deserved the Oscar for its score, but even the score of "Silverado" was first class and would have got my vote if I were allowed to cast a ballot. Bruce Broughton, who has scored mostly for television, looked to be on the way to picking up the mantle of Elmer Bernstein, and I even bought the recorded score -- at retail rates! Which I never do. It is excellent music.

"Silverado" is an almost perfect movie.

Oh, and the second reason there shoulda been a sequel: The last words shouted by the Kevin Costner character. Watch this movie and listen.

First viewing, don't think it will be my last

[Mcduff3601 · 7/10 · 21 May 2018]

I really enjoyed this movie. I didn't really know what it was about and glad I ended up watching it. I can see rewatching this in the future. It had everything a good Western should. Kind of reminded me a little of Tombstone but more fun, even the bad guy seemed somewhat likeable.

Best western of the modern era

[HotToastyRag · 10/10 · 8 June 2020]

If you've never seen Silverado, you're missing out on probably the best western to come out of the modern era. Set to one of the best western themes ever written, Bruce Broughton practically conducts the entire movie with his music. I'd listened to the soundtrack for years before I finally watched the movie, and the visuals did not disappoint.

Scott Glenn finds himself the target of an ambush, and on his way to town to try and find the villain who ordered it, he comes across Kevin Kline stripped down to his long-johns and left in the desert to die. He rescues Kevin, and they travel to town together. While there, Kevin has an unpleasant interaction with a former friend, Brian Dennehey, and Scott witnesses a bar fight between Danny Glover and a bartender who refuses to serve him. Scott also rescues his impulsive brother, Kevin Costner, from jail, and the four new pals ride off into the sunset together.

That's just the beginning! The fantastic introductions make you hopelessly attached to all four leads, and as they each pursue their own revenge goals, you'll be on the edge of your seat. The action scenes are fast-paced (even watching it 35 years later) and exciting, and the plot is just complicated enough to keep you guessing but not confused. Plus, an added bonus is four good-looking leads to drool over (if you can get past Kevin Kline's scraggly beard). Scott Glenn is as rugged as it gets, Danny Glover is charming and sentimental, and Kevin Costner is shockingly adorable. This is one of his earlier movies, before he adopted his "too cool for school" attitude, one that perhaps he took on in favor of his next film: The Untouchables. Maybe he took away his wild, youthful enthusiasm to play Elliot Ness and the crusty, unenthusiastic Crash Davis in Bull Durham, and after that, the dye was cast. If he was as cute in all his movies as he was in Silverado, I would absolutely love him.

So there you have it, four fantastic reasons to rent or revisit this classic western, and a bonus reason of a beautiful, exciting musical score. As someone who loves good westerns and hates bad ones, I can wholeheartedly recommend this one.

"We're going to give you a fair trail, followed by a first-class hanging".

[lost-in-limbo · 7/10 · 1 September 2012]

In the mid-eighties Westerns were quite a dying breed, but then "Silverado" came riding along with it's sprawling old-west backdrops, spirited old-fashion heroism and a star-studded cast from its leads to minor support. In all honesty the main pulling power for me was that it featured Scott Glenn and everything else was an added bonus. Kevin Kline (never seen him this charismatic before), Scott Glenn (starch as ever), Kevin Costner and Danny Glover play four unwitting heroes who cross paths on their journey to the town Silverado. But the town is run by a greedy landowner and a corrupt sheriff, where our four heroes all seem to have some sort past to overcome when reaching there. "Silverado" doesn't go that far beyond its common ground, but its compelling enough as it makes up for it with its authentic look and enthusiastic direction in installing the western myths. In support you got the likes of Brian Dennehy, Linda Hunt, Ray Baker, Jeff Fahey, Rosanna Arquette, John Cleese, Jeff Goldblum, Lynn Whitfield, Amanda Wyss and James Gammon. The chemistry between everyone simply clicked. Dennehy, Baker and Fahey were great in their villain roles. Even Cleese in a rather deadpan turn was a hoot. Hunt stood out too. Sadly Arquette was under-used with most of her story hitting the cutting room floor. It's a rollicking adventure, done in a traditional style harking back to those westerns of the 40s and 50s era. Our four protagonists have their own responsibilities, dynamics and the story gives them equal weight to express them as the multiple stories come together in one epic standoff. Gunslingers Kline and Dennehy final showdown goes on to cement the competent, if stagy style that's cemented through out, especially the use of the camera in its scenic positioning. Plus the opening sequences with Glenn impresses too. One thing that did feature heavily in the script was that it didn't take itself too seriously by taking time out for some self-knowing quips. It could have come across as an uneasy mix, but it did seem to pay off more so than not. The music had that grand feel. Well-worn clichés can't harm a flamboyant western with a stellar cast.

"You used to ride with that guy?"

A Constellation of Stars in a Spectacular Western

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 17 April 2004]

While riding to Silverado to meet his brother Jake (Kevin Costner), the lonely cowboy Emmett (Scott Glenn) meets Paden (Kevin Kline) and Malachi 'Mal' Johnson (Danny Glover) in peculiar situations and they become friends. Along their journey to Silverado, they join and protect a caravan of new comers. In Silverado, they find a group of bandits frightening the locals under the protection of Sheriff Cobb (Brian Dennehy), and they join forces to fight against them. This western movie is spectacular. Yesterday, I saw it for the first time, and in 2004, it is amazing the cast joined by Lawrence Kasdan and the producers. With lots of funny situations, full of action, politically correct, with the `good guys' winning the `bad guys', it is impossible not to like this film! The role of the agile Kevin Costner, in the beginning of career, is very funny. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): `Silverado'

Better Than I Expected And A Lot Of Fun

[FightingWesterner · 7/10 · 9 January 2010]

I resisted watching this for a long time, under the impression that anything from the director of The Big Chill and featuring such cosmopolitan actors as Kevin Kline, Rosanna Arquette, Danny Glover, John Cleese, and Jeff Goldblum would be overly pretentious hogwash. I was mostly wrong. It was politically correct but not bad.

This story about four fast friends and their adventures in and around the title city, an earnest attempt to recreate the feel of the epic westerns of the fifties, is pleasant entertainment and worth watching, with Kline effectively cast against type.

I only have two substantial criticisms. One is that the first half with Kline getting back his hat and horse, his and Kevin Costner's big jailbreak, and Danny Glover's introduction, is so good that the second half pales by comparison.

The second is the fact that third-billed Rosanna Arquette's character has nil to do with the story and is pretty much wasted, as if she were (typical of the fifties!) inserted in order to get a female name on the marquee. They should have gave her something to do!

Overall, it wasn't the best western ever made, but pretty watchable nevertheless.

Not a "classic western" by a long shot

[amerlyn · 5/10 · 26 January 2009]

What a shame that Mr. Kasdan couldn't repeat the excellent writing and story he had with Body Heat. In my opinion, in no was is this even close to "a classic western". This kind of sham is likely what did westerns in after all. John Ford, Howard Hawks, Henry Hathaway and others who really knew how to make westerns must have spun in their graves with this piece of stuff came out. Kasdan manages to lift/copy many classic elements from really great westerns: an over-the drivers shoulder shot from inside a covered wagon, from Hawks Red River, the door frame shot near the beginning from Ford's The Searchers, and the line "Start the ball" near the end from Peckinpah's Ride the High Country, just to name three. The cast, most of whom are quite good, never really gets to shine, having to constantly gun down so many others. The number and consistency of killings is mind-numbing and even boring after two plus hours. It's like a cartoon. Apparently there were an almost endless supply of villains to be killed. And also apparently, said villains couldn't shoot worth a hoot, hardly ever hitting or even coming close to the heroes. If the old west was really like this, no one would have survived. Everyone would have been killed. In summary, Silverado is a weak story, of nearly continuous episodes of killings and violence, too infrequently punctuated with dialog or any meaningful exposition.