Dennis Quaid's Early Western Is A Hidden Gem That Prime Video Fans Have To Watch

Westerns have seen a major resurgence over the last decade, especially on TV, where hits like "Yellowstone," "1883," and "American Primeval" have dominated. Now, fans just discovering the genre have a chance to look back and discover the best movie Westerns of all time, like "The Searchers," "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," and "Unforgiven." But one movie that deserves just as much recognition and is available to watch on Amazon Prime is 1980's "The Long Riders," starring Dennis Quaid.

Directed by Walter Hill, who also helmed fan favorites like "The Warriors," "48 Hrs.," and "Red Heat," the film tells the story of infamous James-Younger Gang led by legendary gunfighter Jesse James. The gang was comprised of four sets of brothers, and the film casts four real-life sets of Hollywood siblings to play those roles with James and Stacy Keach as Jesse and Frank James, Dennis and Randy Quaid as Ed and Clell Miller, David, Keith, and Robert Carradine as Cole, Jim, and Bob Younger, and Christopher and Nicholas Guest as Charley and Robert Ford. 

But the film is much more than just a casting gimmick, as its actors dazzle with believable chemistry. It also boasts one of the most explosive set-pieces ever in a Western, with the infamous bank robbery gone wrong delivering epic gunslinging action. Though not as famous as others in the genre, true Western fans know that "The Long Riders" is cowboy action at its very best.

"The Long Riders" was most famous in its day for the stunt casting of the four sets of real-life brothers. Believe it or not, though, it's not the only '80s Western classic to feature real-life siblings. Though it doesn't get much attention, 1988's "Young Guns" was, at the time of its release, a major movie that brought together Hollywood brothers Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen to tell the story of Billy the Kid and his gang of gunslingers.

A less-than-historically accurate film, "Young Guns" was more of a Hollywood blockbuster type of film, with fast-paced action and over-the-top performances. Essentially a Western version of "The Fast and the Furious," it emphasized big stunts over intense drama, and it delivers that and more. But the two stars don't play brothers; Estevez plays Billy the Kid, while Sheen acts as Dick Brewer, a member of the Regulators, Billy's legendary criminal gang. Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Dermot Mulroney round out the youthful cast.

A successful Western that brought a new kind of spectacle to the genre, "Young Guns" kicked off a brief run of films with both Estevez and Sheen together. They'd re-team two years later for the misfit comedy "Men at Work" and later for "Young Guns II" — which added Christian Slater to the cast — in the same year. In 2025, Estevez announced that "Young Guns III" was finally set to happen.