The Young Guns
Reunite

Anybody remember Young Guns? It was a 1988 western about a group of young cowhands seeking vengeance by hunting down their mentor's killer. The movie featured a stellar cast, including Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Lou Diamond Phillips, Dermot Mulroney, and Casey Siemaszko. It's one of my favorite films.

I consider it a classic, but I find very few people remember it. Or, more specifically, not many people know about it. Too few for my taste. I remember how big it was when it came out in 1988. It was a hit at the box office and became a defining movie for a whole generation of young actors.

It was even successful enough to produce a sequel, Young Guns II, which came out in 1990. Estevez, Sutherland, and Phillips returned, joined by a new crop of young faces, and though it wasn't as good as the original, I liked it just the same.

With so much nostalgia going on, I'm surprised Hollywood hasn't tried to touch this film yet. Not that I'm desperate for a remake or reboot or anything. In fact, I'm not even sure I'd like it if they did. The first movie was so good, and the cast so excellent, that I cringe at the thought of a failed reboot. If they can't do it right, then don't do it at all!

A reunion is enough for me, and thankfully, that's exactly what I got recently. I just got back from Fan Expo Dallas, where the Young Guns reunited in September for what was billed as one of the most complete Young Guns cast reunions ever assembled.

I can't believe the expo actually pulled it off. These actors have become big names since 1988. They're icons, some would say legends, so I understood why it was hard to gather all of them for a formal reunion in the past. But now, that no longer seems to be the case.

All of them were there at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center: Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Lou Diamond Phillips, Dermot Mulroney, and Casey Siemaszko. The “Regulators” themselves, all together again decades later. They looked older, of course, but still spitfires in their own right.

I don't even think I stopped smiling all day that day. I grinned from ear to ear from the moment I woke up to when I got back to my hotel room. I couldn't contain my excitement at finally seeing them together again, much less seeing them in person for the first time.

When I finally came up to them, I still saw the young guns I loved watching in both movies. Sure, they looked older, but the energy and dignity were all still there. I felt it when I shook their hands, got a picture with each one, and when they signed my movie poster.

Needless to say, that day was the best of my year so far, and I don't think anything better will come for the rest of the year. Meeting them in real life made my whole year, probably even my whole decade. And if there's ever a Young Guns 3, as people keep hoping, maybe that'll top everything else.