3 Westerns I Can Watch Anytime...

[PeruvianSkies]

I love Westerns! It's a shame that they are such a gamble these days and we only get a few here and there. TNT puts out a few made-for-TV ones that are decent. In recent years there have only been a handful of big-screen ones that were worth mentioning. OPEN RANGE comes to mind. It's a shame that even after THE UNFORGIVEN that more doors would be open. The Western was once (like the Old West itself) a booming good ole' time. Hollywood has since moved on, but there are 3 Westerns in particular that I have seen a gazillion times and I never grow tired of. They are:

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968) Just perfect. Possibly one of the most perfect of any Western. From the initial setup to the finale, this film is incredibly paced, layered with character development, and has some superb music that is just as much a character in the film as any of the actors. Bronson, Robards, and Cardinale are well cast and truly make this film memorable, but even more important is the role filled by the great Henry Fonda. Who would have thought to make him a villian? Well, none other than Sergio Leone, who wanted a villian that could have steel cold blue eyes and Fonda portrayals one of the greatest Western Villians ever! He's malicious, calculated, and just plain ugly to the core.

http://www.leninimports.com/claudia_cardinale_gallery_20.jpg

THE WILD BUNCH (1969) Bloody violent. Superb first-rate Western with all the chemistry in the world to boot. I love the fact that we have these aging gangsters who are up against harsh odds, which just makes for great entertainment as we sorta realize the inevitable, but at the same time we want them going down in a blaze of glory and if that isn't just the case.

http://imagesource.allposters.com:80/images/pic/72/039_24190~Wild-Bunch-Posters.jpg

THE GOOD, THE BAD, and the UGLY (1966) While I love many of John Wayne's Westerns, it was Clint Eastwood and this film especially that turned me onto the entire Genre in a way that I can't even describe. It was this film with it's epic magnitude and constant pace that got me going from the first frame to the end. There is never a dull moment, yet the film is also patient at times. Eastwood is very low-key, but at the same time larger than life. The music, the mood, the development of characters is all perfectly in tact here.

http://umd.labrinidis.org/hoff/movies/apr96/GoodBadUgly.jpg

So what are some of your favorite Westerns??? You know...the ones you can put on repeat for days.

[Worf101]

Two "Spaghetti Westerns" and a bloodfest. Well I guess that's why they make these forums so folks can express their opinions. None of these westerns even crack my top 5, two don't even make my top 10. But as they say, there's horses for all courses.

Da Worfster

[Rich-n-Texas]

I think I'm going to be watching a LOT of movies this weekend...

My favorite Clint Eastwood westerns were Pale Rider and The Outlaw Josey Wales. I think your description of Clint in the Good... pretty much sums up his personna in all of his westerns, which I think was what I enjoyed so much about his characters. Quiet yet merciless, cunning yet loveable. Even the supporting actors roles in those two movies were outstanding. Another western I liked a lot was a one that included the western hero Wyatt Erp, but I just can't remember the title. In the movie he was teamed up with three or four other lawmen, but I can't remember who they were, or who the actors were either. :idea:

[Troy]

Deadwood
Unforgiven
Little Big Man
Jeremiah Johnson
Josey Wales

[SlumpBuster]

Westerns are probably my favorite genre along with historical war movies. However, I tend to like westerns from the 80s forward. Sure I like the classics like High Noon, Stagecoach, Shane and the Searchers. Some of the stuff from the 60s and 70s is good too, but for overall watchabilty, its the last 30 years. While the 30s thru 70s might have been the golden age of Westerns, they seem to extreme in their perspective. From the 30s to 50s, indians are bad (except for the one that might be a sidekick), blackhats are bad and white hats are good. The 60s and 70s saw too much counterculture nihilistic influence. Too dark, too heavy, too ambivalent.

No for my money, may favs for overall multiple viewing are:

1. Pale Rider: Here's Clint freely mixing western themes with religious crisis of conscience.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/42/Pale_Rider.jpg/387px-Pale_Rider.jpg

2. Unforgiven: Here's Clint again delivering many of the ideas that were touched on or attempted by the films of the 70s, but doing it in a cleaner more coherent fashion.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4e/Unforgiven_2.jpg/401px-Unforgiven_2.jpg

3. Tombstone: Always competeing in my book with Costner's "Wyatt Earp" but its Tombstone by a nose.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/db/Tombstone_cover.jpg

4. Open Range: Costner quietly delivers the the goods with this movie. Who would have guessed that one of the best westerns of all time wouldn't be made until 2004?!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/29/Open_range.jpg

5. While it is not a classic western per se - Honorable Mention to

Legends of the Fall
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/19/Legendsofthefall.jpg

[PeruvianSkies]

Two "Spaghetti Westerns" and a bloodfest. Well I guess that's why they make these forums so folks can express their opinions. None of these westerns even crack my top 5, two don't even make my top 10. But as they say, there's horses for all courses.

Da Worfster

These are not necessarily a list of movies that I think are the BEST Westerns ever made, these just happen to be 3 that I can watch anytime, anywhere, and throughout the years I have seen dozens of times, but never get tired of them.

[Smokey]

I droole over Westerns, and here some of my “other” favorite that endure repeatability:

Westerner (1940): Walter Brennan won an Oscar for best supporting actor, and he well deserve it. He stole the whole movie.
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/Images/MoviePics/w/westerner.jpg

Wagon Master (1950): This movie is so under rated. I can’t even fins DVD copy locally. But it is typical John Ford movie with simple folks traveling west. The movie has the authentic simplicity of folk poetry, with wonderful songs by the Sons of the Pioneers and Ford's trademark great landscape shots.
http://www.dvdclassik.com/V2/Critiques/wagonmaster3.jpghttp://www.dvdclassik.com/V2/Critiques/wagonmaster4.jpg

Support Your Local Sheriff (1969): James Garner stars in this hilarious Western spoof. It make fun of westerns, but with smarts and class. Jack Elam and Walter Brennan also stars.
http://www.movieactors.com/characters/freezes1/Brennan4.jpeg

They Call Me Trinity (1971): You thought Eastwood was fast? Wait to you see Terence Hill draw! Two dirty cloths “brothers” made a hilarious western and nothing is taken too seriously in this film including fancy production values. The only draw back to this original Italian westerns will be to find a prestine copy of movie.
http://guide.dada.net/cinema_comico_/myimg/117995_1.jpg

[Worf101]

My "anytime" Westerns:

1. "Red River" - If for nothing else but the start of the Cattle Drive alone.

2. "Tombstone" - "I'm your huckleberry".

3. "Fort Apache" - "He's a recalcitrent swine and must feel it!"

Da Worfster

[dean_martin]

Attn. Sergio Leone fans: Leone's "Duck You Sucker" a/k/a "A Fistful of Dynamite" is supposed to be released on dvd next week (June 5th).

[PeruvianSkies]

Attn. Sergio Leone fans: Leone's "Duck You Sucker" a/k/a "A Fistful of Dynamite" is supposed to be released on dvd next week (June 5th).


http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews23/a_fistful_of_dynamite.htm

[SlumpBuster]

?Quien es mas macho? James Coburn es muy macho!

[RoyY51]

...re: "Once Upon a Time in the West". C.C. has the 2-disk Collectors Edition in their $3.99 bargain bin (as of Sunday). A good opportunity to see Peruvian's fave and risk no more than pocket change.

[PeruvianSkies]

...re: "Once Upon a Time in the West". C.C. has the 2-disk Collectors Edition in their $3.99 bargain bin (as of Sunday). A good opportunity to see Peruvian's fave and risk no more than pocket change.

Talk about a steal!!!!

[Mr Peabody]

Rich has the right idea; The Outlaw Josie Wales. My next favorite Eastwood, and also in my collection is High Plains Drifter, the Western with a dash of Thriller.

I'm surprised no one mentioned Silverado yet. And, a couple John Wayne's would be on the list but I don't want to go there again.

The two James Garner's are great, was it Support Your Local Sheriff and the other something about a gunfighter.

For goofy comedy westerns I love would be Blazing Saddles and The Shakiest Gun in the West. I'm a big Don Knots fan.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Another western I liked a lot was a one that included the western hero Wyatt Erp, but I just can't remember the title. In the movie he was teamed up with three or four other lawmen, but I can't remember who they were, or who the actors were either.
Slumpbuster, the picture you're showing of the movie Tombstone with Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell... was that a remake of the original?

Doesn't "Gone With the Wind" fit in here? It's characters were southern/western right?

[tdst]

The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Ballad of Cable Hogue
Chisum
The first two "Trinity" movies
Little Big Man
Tombstone