Favorite Westerns?

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by wormraper

lol, must be why you liked it. I lOVE good westerns. but I hated this movie with a living passion

that's very ironic
i love slower paced films, so this was perfect for me. and most westerns i've seen (on tv as films or tv shows) always seem so... cheesy and goofy to me. i've got nothing to connect to. i blind bought The Proposition because i heard it was a darker and more serious Western, but i still didn't like that a whole lot (3/5 from me).

it's almost like watching a film through a window or something. i just don't "connect" with it like i do all other genres. only film i loved and connected to was Jesse James. weird.

[benbess]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

that's very ironic
i love slower paced films, so this was perfect for me. and most westerns i've seen (on tv as films or tv shows) always seem so... cheesy and goofy to me. i've got nothing to connect to. i blind bought The Proposition because i heard it was a darker and more serious Western, but i still didn't like that a whole lot (3/5 from me).

it's almost like watching a film through a window or something. i just don't "connect" with it like i do all other genres. only film i loved and connected to was Jesse James. weird.

You must like Rango too. I would count that as an animated Western. Have not seen JJ. Will look out for it.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by BostonMA22

if you name No Country for Old Men and even The Treasure of Sierra Madre as MODERN Westerns...

The Wild Bunch takes place in Mexico in 1913. Treasure of the Sierra Madre takes place in Mexico in 1925.

One of them is a great western but the other might as well be Star Wars.

Why? Because they're set in different eras.

I dunno...

Is it possible these lines you're drawing aren't quite as black-and-white as you're making them out to be?

[BostonMA22]

Originally Posted by octagon

The Wild Bunch takes place in Mexico in 1913. Treasure of the Sierra Madre takes place in Mexico in 1925.

One of them is a great western but the other might as well be Star Wars.

Why? Because they're set in different eras.

I dunno...

Is it possible these lines you're drawing aren't quite as black-and-white as you're making them out to be?

the big difference between Peckinpah's film vs. Huston's is that it follows an outlaw gang (Western archetype) trying to remain efficient in a modern-turning world, in the end of the American West. The Treasure of Sierra Madre takes place AFTER that time period has ended, AFTER the Mexican Revolution, in the age of capitalism.

the main theme of The Wild Bunch is the cessation of the West, so the events we see depicted are the very last of its time (in Peckinpah's vision at least), and one of Madre's is attempting to stay alive in a post-Western world when the West is dead.

that's the difference that sets the two apart to me, the line that separates them. not that one is a top notch Western and the other is some Sci-Fi flick (c'mon now...). both films are masterpieces, but they belong to different genres.

[Oblivion138]

Originally Posted by BostonMA22

no. the time period is good enough, especially since the Australian Outback greatly resembles the American Old West in terms of the land and the people who inhabit it. i should've been more specific (or less in this case) but yeah, i think you knew the point i was making..

Well, I figured that since the term WESTERN denotes a locale, rather than an era, setting would be as important as era, if not more so.

your posts seem to carry a layer of hostility and i'm not sure why.

Persecution complex, maybe?

Because there's no hostile intent...not every disagreement is an attack.

Originally Posted by BostonMA22

the big difference between Peckinpah's film vs. Huston's is that it follows an outlaw gang (Western archetype) trying to remain efficient in a modern-turning world, in the end of the American West. The Treasure of Sierra Madre takes place AFTER that time period has ended, AFTER the Mexican Revolution, in the age of capitalism.

the main theme of The Wild Bunch is the cessation of the West, so the events we see depicted are the very last of its time (in Peckinpah's vision at least), and one of Madre's is attempting to stay alive in a post-Western world when the West is dead.

that's the difference that sets the two apart to me, the line that separates them. not that one is a top notch Western and the other is some Sci-Fi flick (c'mon now...). both films are masterpieces, but they belong to different genres.

So Yojimbo is a western, then. It explores the exact same themes, and during the correct time period (the end of the Edo period). And since you say it's the era that's vital, rather than the setting....

[BostonMA22]

ugh Oblivion, jeez man, you are too much...

Originally Posted by Oblivion138

Well, I figured that since the term WESTERN denotes a locale, rather than an era, setting would be as important as era, if not more so.

like i said, i should've been less specific. my mistake on that part.

Persecution complex, maybe?

Because there's no hostile intent...not every disagreement is an attack.

i never said you were attacking me. i said your posts were layered with a touch of hostility.

So The Proposition is not a western, then, since it takes place during the right time period, but the wrong locale. Namely, the Australian outback. Funny...it's been roundly referred to as a western by pretty much everyone, including renowned film critics and film historians, who certainly know a western when they see one. So which is right in this case? Your rigid definition, or...well, basically everyone else?

well, uh...yeah.

So Yojimbo is a western, then. It explores the exact same themes, and during the correct time period (the end of the Edo period). And since you say it's the era that's vital, rather than the setting....

here we go again.

Yojimbo would most certainly be a western if it followed Western archetypes, like The Proposition does, and it does to a much further extent then most Japanese films, but alas, it doesn't delve into those aspects as deep as it does the Samurai listing, which is why it is classified as a Samurai film.



this is getting ridiculous. my patience is running low with this conversation. i have stated why (more than once) i believe certain films like NCFOM and TTOSM are unworthy of the Western stature (but i DID say that they fit SUB...genres) and what the Western genre specifies (aside from the West time period it has to have the EVEN MORE obvious bullet points of the stetsons, spurs, and revolvers and rifles).

.....

[Canada]

Tombstone
Unforgiven
The remake of 3:10 to Uma
Shane
Open Range

[Oblivion138]

Originally Posted by BostonMA22

ugh Oblivion, jeez man, you are too much...

And I'm supposed to be the hostile party here? haha

I haven't started off any of my posts with "Ugh," nor insisted that you were trying my patience with your "ridiculous" statements. But hey, I get it...I'm the hostile one, you're the innocent guy who's justified in his disgust and condescension.

No one's holding a gun to your head and forcing you to respond...if you have no patience for this discussion, just stop participating. Simple.

[Templar]

3.10 to Yuma. IT was just done so damn well.

Can't say a bad thing about it.

[BostonMA22]

Originally Posted by Oblivion138

And I'm supposed to be the hostile party here? haha

I haven't started off any of my posts with "Ugh," nor insisted that you were trying my patience with your "ridiculous" statements. But hey, I get it...I'm the hostile one, you're the innocent guy who's justified in his disgust and condescension.

you must've missed the calmness in the "ugh...jeez man" section.

i did not group your statements with the notation of ridiculousness. what i meant was that i'm getting annoyed with this redundant, repetitious, exaggerated argument, because it is going absolutely nowhere.

obviously, you feel no need to slow down your mannerisms so by this point, i am done.

No one's holding a gun to your head and forcing you to respond...if you have no patience for this discussion, just stop participating. Simple.

now, when you say gun, what exactly do you mean? are you talking about a rifle, or a pistol? or maybe you meant a laser beam, or perhaps you were referring to a much broader weapon, such as a sword or a pair of nun chucks..

[Oblivion138]

Originally Posted by BostonMA22

you must've missed the calmness in the "ugh...jeez man" section.

i did not group your statements with the notation of ridiculousness. what i meant was that i'm getting annoyed with this redundant, repetitious, exaggerated argument, because it is going absolutely nowhere.

obviously, you feel no need to slow down your mannerisms so by this point, i am done.

Funny, I've been perfectly calm this whole time. I guess you must've missed that.

Mannerisms? haha Yes, I'm gesticulating wildly as I type...good to see that comes through in the black-and-white text.

Anyway, fun talking to you. Pity it has to end.

[AeroK]

That was entertaining.

[Cook]

3:10 to Yuma (remake).

Question: I have watched Unforgiven, and I just don't understand why it is considered to be a classic or great. It was good, but I just don't see the quality befitting its praise. Anyone care to help me understand the praise the film gets?

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Cook

3:10 to Yuma (remake).

Question: I have watched Unforgiven, and I just don't understand why it is considered to be a classic or great. It was good, but I just don't see the quality befitting its praise. Anyone care to help me understand the praise the film gets?

It's a great movie for a lot of reasons. It looks absolutely gorgeous. It has a thoughtful, interesting story. The performances are all excellent. It was a morally ambiguous morality play with truly complex characters that weren't just Hollywood 'hooker with a heart of gold' complex.

I think the fact that Eastwood made it had a lot to do with its appeal too. It was pretty gutsy for somebody so intimately tied to traditional westerns to take such an edgy approach to one. It also added a lot of authenticity to his character. We didn't just accept William Munny's backstory - we grew up watching it. That made a lot of the film's musings on aging ring a lot more true.

It's a very good movie.

[Shagadelic]

Tombstone
Unforgiven
Pale Rider
Blazing saddles
Quigley Down Under

[longhornsgirl]

The Man With No Name Trilogy

[Dust Devil]

Once Upon A Time In The West
The Proposition
The Great Silence
The Wild Bunch

[lethib]

Western for kids :

Most of westerns with John Wayne

Or to give a specific list :

Rio Bravo
Rio Grande
Stagecoach

Or others :

My name is nobody (my favorite as a kid, with Rio Bravo close second)
The good the bad and the ugly
Tombstone
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

I would agree with most of you that the Searchers, Unforgiven, Wild Bunch or Open Range are some of the greatest Western ever made, but they are not for kids, for teenagers more likely.

[Jimbo976]

Rio Lobo and Big Jake just got knocked down to 10.49 at amazon if anyone was waiting for those. I just ordered my copies.

[AeroK]

Originally Posted by Jimbo976

Rio Lobo and Big Jake just got knocked down to 10.49 at amazon if anyone was waiting for those. I just ordered my copies.

Once Upon A Time In The West also dropped. Glad I waited.