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Bad Girls (1994/I) More at IMDb Pro »

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28 comments in total

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19 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
TWO LEGS BAD!!!!!!, 22 June 2003
Author: nifabs

Agreed, the acting could have been a bit less melodramatic but the actresses concerned did a good job when they weren't looking like supermodels.

The trick about it was "they had to look good" and they did look good. Madeleine Stowe's "Cool Cody", Andie McDowell's Elegant Eileen, Mary Stuart Masterson's "Arch Anita", and Drew Barrymore's tomboyish "Li'l Lilly", were fetching and gave rise to Girl Power credence.

I couldn't take my eyes off Barrymore who had come a long since E.T. and her drug/alcohol fuelled periods of teen angst/pain.

The fight at the end in the corral blew me away, those girls proved they could outshoot anything on two legs!!!

There should be a sequel!!!

4 out of 5

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15 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
Top Notch, 5 April 2005

Author: Buddy-52 from Boston, MA

Best expression of women in westerns I have seen so far. This eclipses the Sharon Stone film The Quick and the Dead. The latter film softens the lead character by making her survival depend wholly on the Russel Crowe character. In Bad Girls Madeline Stowe eats up the dust on the west and shows a no nonsense gunslinger that has been rare since the Man With No Name hit his stride with a trilogy of spaghetti westerns that made Clint Eastwood a universal star. I can hardly ignore the great cinema style and the substance of this movie that transcends the gender of it's hero. Make no mistake about it this is Stowe's movie to win or lose and she comes away having broke the bank at Monte Carlo. See it with open eyes if you like westerns. If you don't see something else as this will surely disappoint. It is a western all the way.

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Cast off the shackles that bind women of the West, 24 April 2006

Author: Nicholas Guldner from New York

Jonathan Kaplan's Bad Girls leaves an interesting taste in my mouth. It is an energetic and fun film, offset by its ridiculous characters and plot. The believability factor in this flick is low, which encourages its audience to view it as a swirling maelstrom of metaphor and symbol. Woman, as defined by the early 90's, can overcome any impediment and still be beautiful, no need to become manly (and lose her femininity) to assert herself. The Western genre serves as a perfect tableau for this discourse because it is one traditionally dominated by men. Likewise, the men in Bad Girls each represent an institution of American culture that is dominated by men and their mentality, conveniently dispatched by the bad girls.

Four whores raise hell by killing a Colonel and running out of town, complete with unnecessary slow motion of Drew Barrymore shouting "heeyah!" and the humiliation of every man who crosses their path. The military, traditional justice, and Christianity are trampled upon, left wondering how these motivated and hard working women could escape their clutches. The film from here takes some twists and turns, and several complete circles. In short, the whores chase a dream of establishing a home for themselves around a mill that Mary Stuart Masterson's late husbands owned, countering the murderous advances of men with their own sexual flaunting. Gunfights, smarmy dialogue, pseudo-lesbianic encounters, and female flesh fill the film to to a near bursting capacity, much like Barrymore's bosom.

It is not what I would call a smart film, however it does present itself as an interesting fable about the empowerment of women by women who remain women. I would liken Bad Girls to that of the Freudian dreams of those who struggle against "the man." I feel that it deserves to be seen at least once.

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10 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
If you are a female and a horse lover, then you will like this movie!, 24 April 2004
Author: lillisam from United States

I really liked this movie because I love horses and I like the actors in this movie. The storyline is simple and it is a great action chick flick. It has humor, adventure and a great overall girl bonding feel to it. It is the story of four friends who work in a parlor house who find themselves getting into trouble and having to go on the run. It is a story of the depth of friendship, strength, starting over, finding love and fighting back. Who said women can't kick some butt. A real feel good movie that is great to watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I would recommend adding this movie to one's movie collection. This is one movie where women are the heroes of the movie.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
"Bad Girls", 4 May 2006

Author: zephyrean1 from United States

"Bad Girls" (1994) directed by Jonathan Kaplan is definitely a typical Western. It has the riding, the gun slinging, and the cowboys and prostitutes to fill it out. Yet with one large modification, the roles of the women are very different from what has come to be expected as the norm in this genre. The four leading women, even in their given roles as prostitutes, lead the movie and drive the storyline. The first woman, Cody Zamora (Madeleine Stowe) shoots a man for not stepping away from Anita Crown (Mary Stewart Masterson) her friend and fellow harlot. A group of religious zealots that happened to be protesting the hotel where the women worked brought her out to be hanged. Anita and the other two women, Eileen Spenser and Lilly Laronette (Andie MacDowell and Drew Barrymore) pack up to rescue Cody from the noose. From that point on, they are wanted women. They have strong wills and challenge the men that wish to capture them, or humiliate them. I like the idea of this movie in that you would turn gender roles in Westerns on its head, but there are so many instances that made the movie predictable and played down the intended role for the women. The women, regardless of how capable they are at shooting a gun and getting out of bad situations, seemed to just make trouble for themselves. This might have been a way to show the human fallibility, but it further perpetuates the Western genre classification. The only way they got out was though "movie luck," the event where the antagonists' bullets never reach the protagonists or miss them completely, while the protagonist has perfect aim. My opinion of this movie is that it gets a little tedious, has seemingly unnecessary nude scenes, and is fairly predictable. This movie is merely entertaining on a superficial level.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Silly but cute..., 29 April 1999

Author: Cyk from USA

This movie is pretty silly. The plot is laughably obvious, although there is a bit of interest at the end. It's cute though because the female outlaws are so perky. The leading ladies are ex-prostitutes who want to run their own ranch. One of them has a deed to some land, but en route to where they're going, they get involved accidentally with a robbery. The plot gets more unbelievable from there. This is a good movie if you're looking for a grin. Don't expect high action or compelling drama.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
real good western like movie. Drew couldn't be cuter, 28 March 1999

Author: zombie-22 from bronx , ny

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Cool western that tells about 4 women who are best friends on the run after one of them kills the sherriff. They had plans to start a sawmill in Oregon which go bad but everything ends happily. Drew Barrymore was excellent and smoking!!

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Start with a ridiculous premise, add a cliché-ridden script and bad acting,, 19 January 2008

Author: ahope-3 from United States

And you will end up with this nonsensical mish-mash excuse for a film. Individually, I like the actresses who portray the "Bad Girls", but they are totally wasted in this steaming pile of horse $**t. The concept of making a western that expands and amplifies the contributions of women in the Old West has merit, but this kind of "girl-power" fantasy is a disservice to that concept. "Sarah, Plain and Tall", "Thousand Pieces of Gold" or even the classic "Stagecoach" (1939 version) take that concept and run with it, but this so-called movie instead erects a totally fictitious framework of... empowering prostitutes(?) to try and make some kind of bogus feminist point (whoring for success, I guess). Avoid this film. There are better films for those who like eye candy, better feminist/oppressive men movies (try "Thelma and Louise), and Heaven knows, better Westerns. I liked "The Daughters of Joshua Cabe" a hundred times more than this road muffin.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
A fun, fast paced movie for all, 11 November 2005

Author: Bob Rose (RCRGreenberet) from United States

When I pick a movie to watch there are four elements that draw me to it. The cast, the story line, excitement and most of all I want the movie to be fun to watch. Bad Girls incorporates all four of these elements. The story centers on four former saloon prostitutes who are on the run after one of them shoots and kills a prominent citizen of Echo City. The four girls, Cody Zamora played by Madeleine Stowe, Anita Crown, played by Mary Stewart Masterson, Eileen Spencer played by Andie MacDowell and Lilly Laronette played by Drew Barrymore are great together. The story line may not be totally accurate from a historical standpoint but the action and acting are good and more than make up for whatever may be wrong. For me the story was more about the relationship that existed between the four girls without going over the line and making it sexual. For me, Bad Girls was a winner.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
fun entertainment...beautiful ladies, 8 October 2005

Author: wyatte-1 from United States

I think I could have enjoyed Bad Girls a little better if I felt that ladies, particularly in the west were pathetic, helpless victims of the boorish, stupid, chauvinistic men.

Oh well, I really enjoyed the fairly realistic town scenes and particularly the talent of the ladies....

Drew Barrymore was quite fetching if not (like the rest of the movie).. even remotely....believable.

I'd watch these ladies do just about anything....but riding horses, shooting guns, in bawdy western wear, corsets.... was pure entertainment "on the hoof".

The gritty lines were as good as I've ever heard...even the old widow of the dead officer whore monger...."bag of manure"...good stuff.

Beautiful scenery....human AND location.

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