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* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Bruce Broughton's score fits perfectly with the idea of [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstructing]] the {{Western}} genre after two decades of {{deconstruction}}. It's epic, sweeping, and triumphant.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Sheriff John Langston. It’s kind of inevitable when you’re played by Creator/JohnCleese.
* HamAndCheese: Creator/BrionJames only appear in a few scenes, but he makes the most of it with a gloriously hammy performance.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** The moment where Paden is calmly standing still while loading his gun and aiming, amid his adversary firing quickly and wildly at him--and missing--anticipates ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'''s famous {{Deconstruction}} of FastestGunInTheWest by seven years.
** When J.T. breaks free and overpowers one of [=McKendrick=]'s men, the lower half of his face is still covered by a bandanna, anticipating the identifying character trait of Earl Hindman's [[Series/HomeImprovement best-known character]] by six years.
* MoralEventHorizon: "Emmitt... They took the little boy." Cue RoaringRampageOfRevenge
** Tyree's casual shooting of a dog appears to have been this for Paden, causing him to abandon the outlaw life.
* OneSceneWonder:
** Not exactly one scene, but Creator/JohnCleese's minor role as a straight-laced and overly authoritarian British sheriff in a western town is often cited as a highlight.
** Creator/BrionJames as the gloriously hammy leader of a group of pioneers shows up in about three scenes, probably because had he been in more of the film he would have devoured all of the scenery.
** Creator/JamesGammon as a clever, DeadpanSnarker bandit leader.
* RetroactiveRecognition: At the time of the film’s release Scott Glenn, Keven Kline, Rosanna Arquette, Jeff Goldblum and Linda Hunt had only had a few notable roles between them and were hardly HouseholdNames. Danny Glover and Kevin Costner were unknown. John Cleese was a huge star in Great Britain but only had a cult following in North America. Brian Dennehy was probably the most recognizable actor at the time.
* TearJerker:
** Ezra Johnson's murder
** Paden and Cobb's final confrontation. Old friends who grew in opposite directions, they nevertheless remain [[FriendlyEnemies friendly]] and cordial toward each other even as it becomes clear that either one or both of them will be dead by the end of this. When the time finally comes to draw down, they regard each other sadly before exchanging final goodbyes, knowing that it was finally the end of the line, and either they or their old friend would not be walking away with their life.
-->'''Cobb''': Goodbye, Paden.
-->'''Paden''': Goodbye, Cobb.
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