| Director | Kevin Costner |
|---|---|
| Genre | Western film, drama film, film based on a novel |
| Runtime | 133 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $22 million |
| Box office | $68.3 million |
In Montana in 1882, "Boss" Spearman is an open range cattleman, who with hired hands Charley Waite, Mose, and Button, is driving a herd cross-country. Charley is a former Union soldier who served in a "special squad" during the Civil War and feels immense guilt over his past as a killer of both enemy soldiers and civilians.
Boss sends Mose to the nearby town of Harmonville for supplies. The town is controlled and the saloon owned by ruthless Irish immigrant and rancher Denton Baxter, who hates open-rangers for using his land to feed their herds. Mose is badly beaten and jailed by the town's corrupt marshal, Poole, after defending himself in a fight with some of Baxter's men. The only Harmonville inhabitant willing to openly defy Baxter is Percy, the livery stable owner.
Boss and Charley become concerned when Mose does not return. They retrieve him from the jail, and Baxter gives them an ultimatum to leave the area before nightfall. Mose's injuries are so severe that Boss and Charley take him to the local physician, Doc Barlow, and meet his assistant, Sue. Charley is attracted to her but assumes that she is the doctor's wife. They decline her invitation to stay the night in a spare room, since it would look improper.
After catching masked riders scouting their cattle, Boss and Charley sneak up on their campsite that night and disarm, humiliate, and injure them. At the same time, other riders trash their camp and shoot Mose and Charley's dog Tig dead. Button is badly injured after being shot in the chest. Charley and Boss vow to avenge their friend. They leave Button at the doctor's house and go into town; with help from Percy, they capture Poole and his deputies, subdue them with chloroform stolen from the Barlows, and lock them up in their own jail.
Charley learns that Sue is the doctor's sister, not his wife. He declares his feelings for her, and she gives him a locket for luck. Charley leaves a note with Percy, in which he states that if he should die, money from the sale of his saddle and gear are to be used to buy Sue a new tea set since he accidentally destroyed her previous set while suffering a flashback to his war days.
Boss and Charley, with support from Percy, are pitted against Baxter and his eight men when they ride into town. Charley shoots Butler, the hired gunman who killed Mose and shot Button, after he brags about it. An intense gun battle erupts in the street, with Boss, Charley, and Percy outnumbered until some of the townspeople join the fight against Baxter. Baxter's men, Poole and his deputies, and the saloonkeeper are killed one-by-one, and Baxter ends up wounded and alone, trapped in the jailhouse. Boss blasts off the jailhouse door hinges with a shotgun and engages him in a close-quarters gunfight, which leaves Baxter dying and asking to be killed. Boss declares that he won't waste a good bullet to put him out of his misery.
Sue's brother tends to the wounded townspeople while the dead are buried and the town is put in order. Charley speaks to Sue, telling her he must leave soon. She counters that she has a "big idea" about their future together and that she will wait for him to return. The next day, he proposes to Sue, and she accepts. After Button has recovered, they leave town to deliver their herd of cattle. Boss tells Charley that he's decided to retire from the cattle business and take over the saloon. He asks Charley to be his partner, and Charley responds that he can't afford that. Boss tells him that he should let Sue, "the brains of the outfit," make the decision. They ride off after Charley tells Sue he'll be back.