[MOVIES] Westerns

[Zashara]

My mother has been on a Western kick lately - well at least the Movie channels we watch have been, so I've been thinking about it.

 

Yesterday was "The Magnificent Seven" and the day before that was some movie with Charles Bronson and Henry Fonda (as the bad guy) and before that was something else.

 

So, what are some other Westerns worth watching?

 

Also, we don't really have Westerns being made nowadays. Any thoughts on that? It just strikes me as interesting. I personally love Westerns since I was raised watching them and my parents caught like EVERY SINGLE John Wayne movie.

[Alanna]

My sister loves The Magnificent Seven, but I prefer Westerns that are a little less depressing  ;D Even though I do love Charles Bronson and Steve McQueen. I like the funnier ones.  Some favorites are Rio Bravo with John Wayne and Dean Martin, and [/i]McLintock[/i], also a John Wayne film.  I think most of the Westerns I've seen are John Wayne westerns.

[Emperor]

Unforgiven was a Best Picture Oscar winner.

 

Not a big fan of the genre myself.

[Zashara]

Why not Brian?!

[petels]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057298/

 

McLintock! is one of my favorite movies (like maybe top 20) - I grew up watching westerns and war movies and stuff like that with my parents, so there's a nostalgia feeling about them. I like the way life was portrayed - simple, demanding, exciting, dangerous - the kinds of things that make people bond and really live in community with each other.

 

Maybe the reason no one wants to make westerns is because the studios are afraid of offending certain people groups? The only "western" I can think of in recent years is Last of the Mohicans, but I don't think that even counts.

 

Also, what genre has become more popular in the wake of westerns? First one I thought of was comic book (graphic novel) movies.

[Emperor]

Well mostly they are cheesy.. or follow the same plot.  They are also mostly older movies and for some reason I don't watch anything before 1980 and get excited about it.  I have been forcing myself to watch some older classics lately though (like Raging Bull).  It is also why I haven't watched April's Movie of the Month yet.

 

I did like 3:10 to Yuma if I stop thinking about some fundamental problems with the characters.

[Krakalakachkn]

SILVERADO!!!

 

Great movie with a great cast.  Kevin Costner, Danny Glover, Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Brian Dennehy, and most importantly John Cleese

[Zashara]

Well I have to admit taht some Westerns can be cheezy, but they are awesome!

 

I'll have to look up some of these movies again - like Silverado, know that I've watched it but can't really remember it.

 

In terms of recent movies there is "There will be blood" and also "No Country for Old Men", would those count as a Westerns? They were both pretty good and both Dark movies.

 

Genre thats more popular? hmm .. yeah maybe comic books, who knows, may 30 years from now people will think those movies are uber-cheezy.

[Emperor]

NOOOO.  Both are dramas.  Westerns include horses, gun belts and shoot outs in the street. 

 

Firefly was a western!

[Far Dareis Mai]

McKlintock is my favorite western as well. I actually can't think of any other Western that I can sit all the way through--except for some episodes of Bonanza--but I was usually forced to sit through it by my parents.

 

Is Little House on the Prairie considered a Western? I watched that when I was a kid too...heh. :D

[Majsju]

How can you talk westerns, and not mention Clint Eastwood? With a few exceptions, his movies are the only westerns worth seeing in my book.

 

The exceptions would be Soldier Blue and Little Big Man, both absolutely amazing.

[SinisterDeath]

What about Blazing Saddles? How can you not throw this in there?

 

Dances with Wolves, and pretty much any western that guys done, and the 'newer' ones of Eastwood.

[Zashara]

Blazing Saddles ... lol

 

We saw a Clint Eastwood movie this weekend also - he was some badass killer and Morgan Freeman was in it too *nodses*

[Emperor]

Yeah that was Unforgiven... the Oscar winner from...err... 1992. 

[petels]

Ok, I thought about it more, and I remember liking Bad Day at Black Rock.

 

Also, can I be forgiven for not mentioning Serenity first?

 

Along those lines, are there movies made in the last 5 years or so that would be Westerns, except that there are no cowboys? Like, they have the same story arcs, same struggles, just not set in the old West?

 

And, for that matter, what about Shanghai Noon? Does that count as a Western?

[Emperor]

Gar.... Does Shanghai Noon count?  I would place it more firmly in the comedy genre even if it wasn't that funny.

[petels]

I agree. I don't see Shanghai Noon as a Western either.

 

So how do we define a Western? Because Shanghai Noon is definitely about cowboys and the cowboy culture.

 

And what about Brokeback Mountain? (I haven't seen it yet, so don't get mad at me...)

[Emperor]

Brokeback is a drama.

 

BM and SN have western influences but I would never classify them as westerns.

 

From Wikipedia:

 

Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the later half of the 19th century in what became the Western United States (known as the American Old West or Wild West), but also in Western Canada, Mexico (The Wild Bunch, Vera Cruz), Alaska (The Far Country, North Alaska) and even Australia (Quigley Down Under, The Proposition).

 

 

 

[petels]

Thanks.

 

Maybe all the Western stories have been told, and that's why no one is making them anymore.

[Emperor]

Nonsense....

 

*tries to think of non-remake Westerns*

 

The Last Samurai

 

Ned Kelly

 

Open Range

 

Hidalgo

 

The Proposition

 

Serenity

 

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

 

Appaloosa

 

Australia

 

 

The only one I know in the works is the Lone Ranger.

[Zashara]

Yeah that was Unforgiven... the Oscar winner from...err... 1992. 

 

Yeah! That one.

 

 

Ugh, Australia - I don't count that as a Western, its just a whole load terrible!

[Krakalakachkn]

How was Ned Kelley?

[Emperor]

My favorite part was when Wolverine started playing with his nipples in front of Kidman.

[Dunbar]

I loves me some spaghetthi westerns

 

The Good, the bad and the ugly is possibly my favourite film, or my second favourite, not sure. And the rest of the dollars triology is pure gold. And Once Upon a Time in the West. And Unforgiven. And... Well. Yar. Like 3:10 to Yuma a lot. and The Magnificent Seven was ... magnificent : p. I wouldn't say Serenity was a western, but that film sure as hell is f*cking awesome

[Alanna]

Firefly (as in the series) was more Western than Serenity was.  Serenity focused more on the sci-fi aspect of the show.  Firefly was definitely Western, though.