Val Kilmer plays Billy the Kid, who takes up the gun to avenge the killing of his boss, rancher John Henry Tunstall.
He gains a reputation as a dangerous young gunman in the ensuring Lincoln County War, during which he and his friend ambush and kill the sheriff who gunned down Tunstall.
Once the violence ends, Billy turns to old friend Pat Garrett (Duncan Regehr) for a job as a card dealer in the saloon he owns.
And he agrees to meet with Gov. Lew Wallace (Wilford Brimley) to negotiate a pardon, which would require his testimony against one of the instigators of the trouble in Lincoln County.
But the pardon falls through, putting Billy and his friends back on the outlaw trail, rustling cattle to make a living, and killing when necessary.
That eventually puts Billy at odds with that old friend Pat Garrett, who wants to settle down and convinces the governor to appoint him acting sheriff.
Garrett then tries to convince Billy to leave the territory of New Mexico.
But the young gun refuses, instead escalating his outlaw activities and constantly evading pursuing lawmen with the help of friends and sympathizers.
When Garrett and his posse finally capture Billy, he escapes and kills two guards in the process.
For Garrett, that means the hunt for Billy is on again. And he’s more determined than ever to bring an end to the violence.
Val Kilmer as Billy the Kid, determined to avenge a good friend’s death in Billy the Kid (1989)
Duncan Regehr as Pat Garrett, an old friend of Billy’s with the job of bringing him to justice in Billy the Kid (1989)
Review:
With the exception of one painfully ridiculous scene, there’s nothing particularly wrong with this retelling of the Billy the Kid story.
But if the story was going to be played out on film yet again, you’d hope the result would have enough of an edge to make it stand out. This telefilm doesn’t.
We get a good-looking, 29-year-old Val Kilmer mumbling his lines as Billy the Kid, acting charming part of the time, quite maniacal at others, showing no hesitation to gun men down to save his skin.
And we get a stoic Duncan Regehr as Pat Garrett, forever doing his duty and trying to bring Billy to justice because the youngster’s too foolhardy to leave the territory in order to save his skin.
The key difference between the two: Garrett realizes the West is becoming more civilized and the importance of changing with times. Billy would just as soon have the West remain uncivilized and rely on himself — not the law or the courts — to dispense justice.
As for that bit of ridiculousness, it comes in the form of a love scene between Billy and his pretty lover Celsa late in the movie. “Billy, are you bad?” she asks.
What do you think, babe? He was just in jail, sentenced to hang for killing several men. He gunned down two deputies in an escape, using a gun your father smuggled to him at your request. And you’re wondering if all that makes him bad?
The film first aired as “Gore Vidal’s Billy the Kid” because it was based on a novel written by the author, who has a bit role as a preacher.
Wilford Brimley as Gov. Lew Wallace, who fails to deliver Billy’s pardon, then demands he be brought to justice in Billy the Kid (1989)
Julie Carmen as Celsa, the pretty widow Billy the Kid falls for in Billy the Kid (1989)
Directed by:
William A. Graham
Cast:
Val Kilmer … Billy the Kid
Duncan Regehr …. Pat Garrett
Wilford Brimley … Gov. Lew Wallace
Julie Carmen … Celsa
Albert Salmi … Mr. Maxwell
Ned Vaughn … Charlie
Patrick Massett … Tom
Mike Casper … Ollinger
Ric San Nicholas … Bell
Gore Vidal … Preacher
Rene Auberjonois … Tunstall’s cousin
John O’Hurley … Dolan
Michael Parks … Rynerson
Burr Steers … Billy
Ned Vaughn … Charlie
Tiny Wells … Cowman
Red West … Joe Grant
Runtime: 96 min.
Rene Auberjonois as Tunstall’s drunken cousin, sometimes a friend and sometimes a traitor to Billy in Billy the Kid (1989)
Albert Salmi as Mr. Maxwell, a loyal friend of Billy’s, getting a warning from Pat Garrett in Billy the Kid (1989)
Memorable lines:
Pat Garrett, explaining his reason for marrying: “In five months, I’m gonna be 30. Time to settle down.”
Billy the Kid: “Thirty? I never want to be that old.”
Garrett: “The rate you’re going, you won’t have to think about it much.”
Tunstall’s cousin: “Don’t frown on luck, my friend. Or luck will frown on you.”
Deputy, after Billy’s escape from jail: “Reckon he’ll be down in old Mexico by now.”
Pat Garrett: “He could be down in hell. Let’s go down and drag him out.”
Celsa: “Billy, are you bad?”
Billy: “For rustling cattle?”
Celsa: “For killing people.”
Billy: “Well, that’s just the way it was.”
Jack Dunlap as Brady, the man who killed Tunstall and is killed by Billy in turn in Billy the Kid (1989)
Patrick Massett as Tom, one of the gang members who dies because Billy refuses to leave New Mexico Territory in Billy the Kid (1989)
Ric San Nicholas as Bell, one of the deputy’s killed in Billy’s jail escape in Billy the Kid (1989)
Val Kilmer as Billy the Kid, mourning the death of John Tunstall in Billy the Kid (1989)
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