Quigley Down Under
| Quigley Down Under | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster by Steven Chorney
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| Directed by | Simon Wincer |
| Produced by |
Stanley O'Toole Alexandra Rose Megan Rose |
| Written by | John Hill |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Basil Poledouris |
| Cinematography | David Eggby |
| Edited by | Peter Burgess |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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17 October 1990 |
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Running time
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119 minutes |
| Country | Australia/United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $18 million |
| Box office | $21,413,105 |
Quigley Down Under is a 1990 Australian-American western film starring Tom Selleck, Alan Rickman and Laura San Giacomo, directed by Simon Wincer.
Matthew Quigley (Tom Selleck) is an American cowboy and sharpshooter with a specially modified 1874 Sharps Buffalo rifle with which he can shoot accurately at extraordinary distances. He answers a newspaper advertisement that asks for a man with a special talent in long-distance shooting, using just four words, "M. Quigley 900 yards," written on a copy of the advertisement that is punctured by several closely spaced bullet holes.
When he arrives in Australia, he gets into a fight with employees of the man who hired him, who are trying to force "Crazy Cora" (Laura San Giacomo) onto their wagon. After he identifies himself, he is taken to the station of Elliot Marston (Alan Rickman), who informs Quigley his sharpshooting skills will be used to eradicate the increasingly elusive Aborigines. Quigley turns down the offer and throws Marston out of his house.
The aborigine manservant knocks Quigley over the head and Marston's men beat him and Cora unconscious and dump them in the outback with no water and little chance of survival. However, they are rescued by Aborigines. Cora now reveals that she comes from Texas. When her home was attacked by Comanches, she hid in the cellar and accidentally suffocated her child while trying to prevent him from crying. Her husband had then put her alone on a ship to Australia. Now Cora consistently calls Quigley by her husband’s name (Roy), much to his annoyance.
When Marston's men attack the Aborigines who helped them, Quigley kills three. Escaping on a single horse, they encounter more of the men driving Aborigines over a cliff. Quigley drives them off with his deadly shooting and Cora rescues an orphaned baby she finds among the dead Aborigines. Leaving Cora and the infant in the desert with food and water, Quigley rides alone to a nearby town. There he obtains new ammunition from a local German gunsmith, who hates Marston for his murdering ways. Quigley also learns that he has become a legendary hero among the Aborigines.
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Wikipedia