The film faced many hurdles, from the original director being fired to an ongoing feud with a rival Kevin Costner production. It was assumed in the great Tombstone vs Wyatt Earp battle that Costner’s latter epic would emerge on top. Instead, Tombstone was released first to solid reviews and box office, while Costner’s bloated biopic flopped.
Even then, the film was only considered a modest success. After being reappraised in the decades that followed, Tombstone came to be seen as a true great that could stand alongside Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven or Costner’s Dances with Wolves.
The 1990s, in general, were a strong decade for Westerns after the wasteland of the previous decade. A few movies fell through the cracks though, including a 10/10 forgotten Western gem where Tom Selleck played a sharpshooting gunfighter who heads to Australia during the 1860s.
Quigley Down Under Has The Best Western Showdown Of The 1990s
Quigley Down Under was a critical and commercial dud, but soon found a fanbase on VHS and TV airings. The film is a true underrated gem, which plays as both a rousing Western adventure while also exploring some serious topics. In particular, it shines a light on the horrific treatment of Indigenous Australians in colonial Australia.
The movie is also the second entry in a trilogy of villainous performances for Alan Rickman, between Die Hard and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Quigley Down Under cast Rickman as an odious cattle baron who lures Quigley to Australia for work – only to reveal that the job is shooting Indigenous Australians.
Quigley and Rickman’s Marston soon become enemies, leading to their incredible final showdown. Throughout the story, Quigley has refused to use a pistol and prefers his one-shot rifle. Marston thus assumes Quigley is terrible with revolvers and forces him into a quick-draw contest against him and two henchmen.
Marston’s assumption is dead wrong, as Quigley shoots all three down with lightning speed. The hero of Quigley Down Under then walks over to a dying Marston, quipping, “I said I never had much use for one. Never said I didn’t know how to use it“.
Quigley Down Under Was Buried By The Success Of Dances With Wolves
98th Academy Awards · Personality Profile Which Best Picture Nominee Character Are You? “And the Oscar goes to…”
⚡ The Creature The Outsider Frankenstein
⚔️ The Fighter The Survivor One Battle After Another
🏓 Marty The Strategist Marty Supreme
🔥 Smoke The Redeemer Sinners
01
You walk into a packed room where you don’t know anyone. What’s your move?
02
Someone you trusted completely just betrayed you. What’s your gut reaction?
03
What keeps you going when everything feels impossible?
04
Your friends would say your greatest strength is…
05
You witness something deeply unfair happening to someone who can’t fight back. What do you do?
06
Be honest — what’s the flaw that gets you into trouble the most?
07
When your story is finally told, what do you want people to remember about you?
08
What’s your relationship with trust?
09
What scares you the most?
10
If you could change one thing about your past, what would it be?
The Envelope, Please Your Best Picture Alter Ego
⚡
The Creature
Frankenstein
“I was benevolent and good — misery made me a fiend.” You feel everything with a depth that most people can’t even fathom. The world hasn’t always been kind to you, and that’s left you cautious — sometimes withdrawn, sometimes angry. But underneath the walls you’ve built is a soul that craves connection and understanding more than anything. You see beauty in things others overlook, and your sensitivity is actually your superpower. When someone earns your trust, you love with a ferocity that is both terrifying and beautiful.
Introspective Sensitive Misunderstood Deeply Human
⚔️
The Fighter
One Battle After Another
“You don’t win by being the strongest. You win by being the last one standing.” You are pure, unrelenting endurance in human form. Life has thrown everything at you — loss, exhaustion, impossible odds — and you just keep showing up. Your stubbornness isn’t a flaw; it’s a survival mechanism forged in fire. People are drawn to your grit because it makes them believe they can survive their own battles too. You don’t need applause or recognition. You just need to know that when the dust settles, you’re still here.
Relentless Resilient Courageous Unwavering
🏓
Marty
Marty Supreme
“Everybody thinks they’re playing you. That’s when you know you’ve already won.” You see the world like a game board, and you’re always three moves ahead. Charming, quick-witted, and endlessly adaptable, you have an almost supernatural ability to read people and situations. But beneath the cool exterior and the calculated plays, there’s someone who genuinely loves the thrill of competition — not for the money or the glory, but for the pure rush of being the best at something nobody else takes seriously. Your danger? Sometimes you forget that not everything is a game.
Strategic Charismatic Perceptive Ambitious
🔥
Smoke
Sinners
“You can’t save your soul if you ain’t willing to fight for it.” You’ve lived enough life for three people, and not all of it was pretty. But that’s exactly what gives you your edge — you understand darkness because you’ve walked through it, and you chose the light anyway. You’re fiercely protective of the people you love, driven by a moral compass that was forged in fire rather than handed to you. People sense the weight you carry and respect you for it. When you say you’ll protect someone, they believe you — because they know what it cost you to become the person making that promise.
Haunted Protective Principled Redeemed
According to Box Office Mojo, Quigley Down Under nabbed over $21 million on a budget of $18 million, making it a disappointment for MGM. The film was seen as something of a standard, frothy action adventure by reviewers, and it didn’t help its reception that it debuted right next to a certain other Western: Dances with Wolves.
Costner’s revisionist epic was met with praise and was a huge financial success. It later went on to hoover up Oscars at the 1991 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. In short, Dances with Wolves wiped the floor with Quigley Down Under, even though Selleck’s film is its own type of revisionist Western.
Quigley Down Under Deserves A Bigger Fanbase
Matthew Quigley (Tom Selleck) holding up Crazy Cora (Laura San Giacomo) in Quigley Down Under.
Quigley Down Under has never received a Tombstone-style reassessment, which is a shame. It might not have the incredible ensemble cast or acclaimed screenplay of the Wyatt Earp adventure, but the film is a highly entertaining and surprisingly dark Western with a charming lead performance from Selleck.
Tom Selleck would reunite with his Quigley Down Under helmer Simon Wincer on the TV movie Westerns Monte Walsh and Crossfire Trail.
Quigley Down Under has amassed a loyal following since its 1990 release, but it’s easily one of the most undersung Westerns of its era. The film deserves a little more love, but it seems destined to remain a hidden gem of the era.
