History Film / QuigleyDownUnder

In addition to his other problems, Quigley has to deal with Crazy Cora (Laura San Giacomo), who's quite pretty but comes by her nickname honestly, and is apparently convinced he's her long-lost husband Roy. [[RomanceEnsues You don't need us to tell you how that subplot ends, do you?]]

* BornInTheWrongCentury: Marston fancies himself this, as he has a fascination (Almost an obsession) with the American West and traditional Cowboy fare.

* BrokenBird: Crazy Cora

* {{Dehumanization}}: Marston describes the Australian Aborigines as "wild animals." In fact, his job offer was ostentiably for a hunter to take care of wild animals attacking cattle - and he only specified what kind of animals he had in mind once Quigley was already at his station.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Even before Marston reveals he wants Quigley to kill the Aborigines, he makes our hero ''very'' uncomfortable by gunning down two desperate British deserters without batting an eye.

* FriendlySniper: Quigley is a joval, out-going fellow, always first to help people in need. He's also a deadly sniper.
* GoodIsNotSoft: Aside being a genuinely nice and helpful person, Quigley also never shoots anyone InTheBack and always gives his enemies a chance to surrender. Which they [[ISurrenderSuckers unfortunately keep abusing]], wrongly assuming he's too soft to kill them in self-defense.

* TheGunfighterWannabe: Marston fancies himself a good gunslinger. Likewise, one of his {{Mooks}}, O'Flynn, vastly overestimates his own shooting skills.

* ImprobableAimingSkills: Largely averted. He almost never misses, but at anything past point blank range he has to line up his shots carefully, adjust his sights and he often uses a solid base to help prop up and steady his weapon. Just like he would need to do in reality. The only real offender is the very first shot he makes in the movie to demonstrate his skill to the BigBad: first Quigley attaches the sight (previously removed for transportation), and then makes an unsupported shot at a target far enough away that there is noticeable delay between gunshot and impact; he then goes on to fire twice more, hitting the target 3 for 3. In reality the gun would have to be re-sighted once the sight was re-mounted. The shot itself, while not technically impossible, is still being made at very long-range, with a low-velocity cartridge, amid an environment where mirage affects the ability to aim...all without even bracing the rifle. To make such a shot might not require being the best marksman on the planet, but it demands a spot on the short-list.

* InstantDeathBullet: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] twice: first with the {{Mook}} mentioned above in CruelMercy, who faces a slow death from a gut-shot, then [[spoiler:with Marston himself, who lives long enough to have an ironic chuckle at how he misunderstood what Quigley meant when he said he "didn't have much use" for pistols]]. Usually, though, this trope is played straight, and everybody that gets shot by anyone else just drops down dead.

* LeadTheTarget: Quigley excels at this, to the point of being able to hit several {{Mooks}}, riding on horseback at full gallop across his line of fire several hundred yards away, on the first shot. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], as it is established early on that he is one of the best sharpshooters on the planet, [[WeaponOfChoice he is intimately familiar with the ballistic performance of his rifle and its ammunition]], and he takes time to adjust his sights and carefully aim before taking such long-range shots on moving targets.

* OneBulletLeft: Quigley gives a greviously wounded mook with a broken spine a choice when they both realise there is only one bullet left in his revolver: either "win" by killing Quigley or use that last round to put himself out of misery, rather than spend next two-three days dying in the outback, probably with the "help" of hungry animals.

* {{Reconstruction}}: Of the Old Western films. Quigley is still a gruff but heroic sharpshooter, but he uses a rifle instead of a pistol for improbable long distance shots and its treated realistically with him sighting it in and adjusting his aiming tools accordingly. The villain is a dastardly criminal and natives are involved, but Marston's villainy is based off his treatment of the aborigine, whom are portrayed as kind and victims of his and the military's brutality.

* TapOnTheHead: Both averted and played straight. During the fight in the town, Quigley hits a {{Mook}} with the butt of his Sharps and instantly knocks him out. Not even one minute later, though, he drops a ceramic chimney piece on top of another villain, but the guy, though knocked flat for a moment, gets up none the worse for wear.

%%* LandDownUnder

* {{Dehumanization}}: Marston describes the Australian Aborigines as "wild animals."

* ForeignCultureFetish: Marston

* FreudianExcuse: Marton's hatred for the Aborigines stems from the death of his parents.

* ShoutingShooter: After initially panicking during the dingo attack, Cora tells the baby, “Aw Hell, let’s both make some noise!” then starts shouting (and singing!) as she blows away the dingoes. Would almost count as a MadnessMantra, as she clearly sees the predators as the Comanches that looted her home in Texas, but ends up being the catharsis that helps her finally recover.

* ShoutingShooter: After initially panicking during the dingo attack, Cora tells the baby, “Aw Hell, let’s both make some noise!” then starts shouting as she blows away the dingoes. Would almost count as a MadnessMantra, as she clearly sees the predators as the Comanches that looted her home in Texas, but ends up being the catharsis that helps her finally recover.

* BadBoss: Marston is generally a douche to his ranch hands and only gets worse, to the point of having using a man as live bait.

* CavalryOfficer: Ashley-Pitt.

* BondVillainStupidity: Marston's decision to abandon Quigley in the Outback to die of thirst, rather than just shooting him and burying the body. Somewhat justified: the British officers had heard an American sharpshooter was coming and met him on the way to the ranch. They might have asked questions if he'd simply disappeared, so Marston wanted to be able to say they'd wandered off and been killed by the desert.

* FriendlySniper: Quigley is a joval, out-going person, always first to help people in need. He's also a deadly sniper.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The real job Quigley was offered that his sharpshooting skills were needed for? Complete and total extermination of the Aborigines living on land that a white station owner wants. Quigley [[BlatantLies politely]] [[DestinationDefenestration declines.]]

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The real job Quigley was offered that his sharpshooting skills were needed for? Complete and total extermination of the Aborigines living on land that a white station owner wants.

** Yet another layer: the men hogtied Cora -- which would be obvious to anyone who eventually found their bodies and blow the "wandered off" story -- but ''left Quigley completely unbound'' (and apparently not searched, either, letting him trick the aforementioned goons with the promise of gold on his person into [[HiddenWeapon getting shivved]]).

** Yet another layer: the men hogtied Cora -- which would be obvious to anyone who eventually found their bodies and blow the "wandered off" story -- but ''left Quigley completely unbound'' (and apparently not searched, either, letting him trick the aforementioned goons with the promise of gold on his person into getting shivved).

** Yet another layer: the men hogtied Cora - which would be obvious to anyone who eventually found their bodies and blow the "wandered off" story, but ''left Quigley completely unbound'' (and apparently not searched, either, letting him trick the aforementioned goons with the promise of gold on his person into getting shivved).

** Yet another layer: the men hogtied Cora - which would be obvious to anyone who eventually found their bodies and blow the "wandered off" story, but ''left Quigley completely unbound'', letting him trick the aforementioned goons into getting shivved.