What is your favorite western film?

[sonofabeach]

Inspired by the True Grit thread....

A few months back at my job the county library came through with a load of books and dvds to recycle.
One of the dvds was Sergio Leone's "Once Upon A Time In The West" in new condition.
I'd never seen the movie, only heard of it but I own "The Man With No Name" trilogy so I took it home and watched it. I loved it! From the way it's shot to the opening scene at the train station, Henry Fonda playing a badass and Charles Bronson etc. Good stuff. It's quickly became my favorite western unless some other one pops in my head soon.

What is your favorite western movie?

[ragtopW]

Inspired by the True Grit thread....

What is your favorite western movie?

HMMM WOW be tough to pick just one..

[SMLCHNG]

"Silverardo" or "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"

[sonofabeach]

Inspired by the True Grit thread....

What is your favorite western movie?

HMMM WOW be tough to pick just one..

Well then name a few..

I also like Pale Rider, Rooster Cogburn, The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Unforgiven.
Quigley Down Under.

[JollyMon66]

I'm with Penny - I'd put Butch Cassidy up there but I would also add two Clint Eastwood movies...The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and Pale Rider.

Now here's a picture of a cowboy!

[LIPH]

I agree with Penny's 2 choices and I'd add The Magnificent Seven.

[sonofabeach]

I'd add The Magnificent Seven.

My dad always tells me I need to see that movie as well as The Wild Bunch.

[LIPH]

The Wild Bunch was OK, but The Clash never wrote a song about it.

[Tiki Torches]

The best Western ever made:

[pbans]

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Outlaw Josie Wales
Pale Rider
Sons of Katie Elder
Cat Ballou

[sonofabeach]

Yeah there are a lot of good ones.
I also like "Geronimo:An American Legend" as well as "Tombstone".

[SeattleParrotHead]

Oldies . . . The Virginian
Newer . . . Silverado

[JollyMon66]

What? Isn't someone going to say Blazing Saddles?

[JollyMon66]

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Outlaw Josie Wales
Pale Rider
Sons of Katie Elder
Cat Ballou

Thanks .... forgot about that one...add Josie Wales to my list as well.

Although it was a different kind of western I would add Last of the Dogmen to the list. If you've never seen this one...check it out.

What about Dances with Wolves? OK my list is growing.

[sonofabeach]

What? Isn't someone going to say Blazing Saddles?

or The Villain?

& I liked the remake of "3:10 to Yuma" a couple years back.

[ragtopW]

mclintock, Big Jake Both Rio's both Support yout Local's , Big Jake!, Blazing Saddles
The Avenging Angel, Cat Ballou

I could name several louis l'amore
novels that would rock..

[Bicycle Bill]

Far too many to pick from, and many of them good in their own right. Would definitely have to put "The Magnificent Seven", "High Noon", "Shane", and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" on a short list; along with most any of the John Ford-directed westerns, especially "Stagecoach", "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", "Fort Apache", and "Rio Grande".

"Cat Ballou" is a guilty pleasure, chiefly because of Lee Marvin's Oscar-winning character.

Trouble was, as times shifted, so did the plot emphasis in Westerns. They started to get too deep and philosophical — "Little Big Man", for example — and in some cases even revisionistic.

-"BB"-

[sonofabeach]

Trouble was, as times shifted, so did the plot emphasis in Westerns. They started to get too deep and philosophical — "Little Big Man", for example — and in some cases even revisionistic.

-"BB"-

Little Big Man is one I remember from when I was a kid. A few years ago I watched it and it really did not seem that good to me.
I guess because when I was a kid all I remember are the parts with fighting.

I just remembered The Searchers was good imo.

[Tiki Torches]

Trouble was, as times shifted, so did the plot emphasis in Westerns. They started to get too deep and philosophical — "Little Big Man", for example — and in some cases even revisionistic.

-"BB"-

Westerns can't be "deep and philosophical"? That's a new one on me. As for being "revisionistic", how do you feel about Deadwood? When Westerns first became popular Native Americans weren't even allowed to act in the movies that portrayed them. Were we supposed to be taking those old Westerns as fact?

[Bicycle Bill]

Trouble was, as times shifted, so did the plot emphasis in Westerns. They started to get too deep and philosophical — "Little Big Man", for example — and in some cases even revisionistic.

-"BB"-

Westerns can't be "deep and philosophical"? That's a new one on me. As for being "revisionistic", how do you feel about Deadwood? When Westerns first became popular Native Americans weren't even allowed to act in the movies that portrayed them. Were we supposed to be taking those old Westerns as fact?

From the Wikipedia entry for "Little Big Man":

Little Big Man is considered an example of anti-establishment films of the period, subtly protesting America's involvement in the Vietnam War by portraying the U.S. Military negatively. In her book Conversations with Pauline Kael, Kael says of the Vietnam War's depiction in American films, "It doesn't look at the facts of war, of what we were doing there. And that was the attitude of a lot of American films during the war years, even Westerns that deal with an early period of American life. The Americans are racists who shoot up the Indians for the careless joy of it-Little Big Man, for instance. It was a sophisticated criticism. The Indians, for instance, would have Vietnamese faces. The key girl we saw killed in slow motion in Little Big Man was definitely an Oriental." Arthur Penn has also stated in an interview featured on a TCM promo that elements of the film were comments on American genocide depicting events "closest to The Holocaust."

In my opinion, this takes away from the intent of a Western. I feel the same way about people who try to read great social commentary into things like "Gilligan's Island". College papers have been written claiming each of the castaways represent one of the seven deadly sins, for example.

Movies are movies, and (to me, anyway) are meant to be entertainment. If you want to send a message, try the Post Office.

-"BB"-