It seems like there are a lot of western fans around here. What are some of your favorite western movies? TV shows? Books? Songs? Radio programs? Video games?
Movies:
While I actually prefer what was known as the "psychological" westerns of the 1950s my top two favorite western movies are Lonesome Dove (1989) and Unforgiven (1992). Warlock (1959) is probably my favorite 50s western.
TV Shows:
Gunsmoke (fav. episode "Thirty a Month and Found" - Season 20)
The Wild, Wild West
Maverick
The Rebel (fav. episode "The Waiting" from season 2)
The Westerner (fav. episode 'Hand on the Gun")
Favorite western books:
The Searchers by Alan Le May
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Ramrod by Luke Short
The Unforgiven by Alan Le May (not related to the 1992 movie)
Death Ground by Ed Gorman
Songs:
El Paso by Marty Robbins
Big Iron by Marty Robbins or Johnny Cash
Cool Water by Hank Williams
Ghost Riders in the Sky by Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash
Cowboy's Lament by Burl Ives
Radio programs:
Gunsmoke
You may or may not know that the Gunsmoke tv series started out as a radio show. It starred William Conrad and ran for several years. It was excellent.
My Top 25:
02/14/1953 THE ROUNDUP
04/02/1955 BLOODY HANDS
04/30/1955 REWARD FOR MATT
10/02/1954 MATT GETS IT
09/27/1952 THE RAILROAD
07/19/1959 SECOND ARREST
09/19/1953 THERE WAS NEVER A HORSE
10/21/1956 TILL DEATH DO US PART
12/27/1952 THE CABIN
06/06/1953 SUNDOWN
11/10/1956 CROWBAIT BOB
03/20/1954 OLD FRIEND
08/08/1953 SKY
09/23/1956 BOX O' ROCKS
07/22/1956 LYNCHING MAN
02/21/1953 MESHOUGAH
02/26/1955 CRACKUP
03/06/1960 BLOOD MONEY
09/20/1954 THE F.U.
12/06/1959 BIG CHUGG WILSON
01/01/1955 THE BOTTLE MAN
07/02/1955 GENERAL PARSLEY SMITH
11/03/1957 BULL
05/06/1956 THE PHOTOGRAPHER
All those can be listened to for free at the Internet archive.
Video Games:
I'm old so I've never actually played any western games. I've heard good things about the Red Dead games though. [Reply]
Rio Bravo
Tombstone
Wyatt Earp
Silverado
Pale Rider
Unforgiven
Fistful of Dollars
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Edit to add Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid....it was one of the first VHS tapes my Dad bought in the last 70's (through a video club, intro offer so he got it for 40 bucks at a time when VHS tapes were going for $99.99) Love me some Newmann and Redford!
I am sure there are others that I am forgetting. Watched a lot of Westerns with my Papa when I was a kid and rarely came across one I didn't like. [Reply]
Movies - Unforgiven, Josie Wales, Tombstone, Lonesome Dove, High Plains Drifter, Open Range, Magnificent Seven, Young Guns… yes, Young Guns
TV - not much here these days, used to watch Gunsmoke, Big Valley, and Bonanza pretty religiously as a kid, but not so much anymore. If Little House on the Prairie can be considered a western, I do still watch it regularly
Books - Son of the Morning Star about Custer, Geronimo in his own words, Valdez Is Coming by Elmore Leonard [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
I wanna catch The Assassination of Jesse James - I've heard really good things.
It is a good film. Cinematography is fantastic. But it is.............slow, very slow and deliberate. Worth watching once, but it will probably not be in your pantheon of westerns worthy of repeat viewings. [Reply]
Originally Posted by sully1983:
Big fan of the genre
1. Unforgiven - Probably my favorite Clint Eastwood film AND performance. Its a masterpiece imo
2. Tombstone - Insanely loaded cast of heavy hitters. Its baffling that Val Kilmer wasn't nominated for an Oscar for his performance in this. He stole the show.
3. The Assassination of the Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Brad Pitt was so great in this.
4. The Proposition - This is an incredibly underrated western that takes place in Australia.
Plot: In 1880s Australia, a lawman (Ray Winstone) offers renegade Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) a difficult choice. In order to save his younger brother from the gallows, Charlie must hunt down and kill his older brother (Danny Huston), who is wanted for rape and murder.
Its violent as hell but really entertaining. Definitely check it out if you haven't already.
5. 3:10 to Yuma (remake) Christian Bale facing off against Russell Crowe was entertaining to watch. Ben Foster was also such a scene stealer in this as the crazy psychopath Charlie Prince
As far as tv shows or mini series go, I'll go with the obvious mention of HBO's Deadwood (that is one of my favorite shows ever , regardless of genre)
Netflix has a great mini series that was released a few years ago called Godless. Jeff Daniels is an evil bastard in it and thought it was really well done.
I had completely forgotten about Bale and Crowe and 3:10 to Yuma.
I am a Guy Pierce fan so I will check out The Proposition--thanks for the recommendation! [Reply]
Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy:
It is a good film. Cinematography is fantastic. But it is.............slow, very slow and deliberate. Worth watching once, but it will probably not be in your pantheon of westerns worthy of repeat viewings.
Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy:
It is a good film. Cinematography is fantastic. But it is.............slow, very slow and deliberate. Worth watching once, but it will probably not be in your pantheon of westerns worthy of repeat viewings.
Yup, one viewing is plenty… I found it pretty boring tbh [Reply]
My top favorites in no particular order beyond the first two -
Lonesome Dove
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (I like to think the late appreciation this film has received is due in part to my fandom of it)
The Searchers
The Shootist
Big Jake
Tombstone
Unforgiven
Open Range (FANTASTIC gunfight at the end)
Rio Bravo/El Dorado (basically the same movie - as is Rio Lobo - and I enjoy them equally)
High Noon
Stagecoach [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Movies (be prepared for lots of John Wayne):
Red River
The Searchers
Rio Bravo
Big Jake
Chisum (if only because they make murder on horseback seem so lighthearted)
Josie Wales and Unforgiven
The Magnificent 7
Blazing Saddles counts, right?
Modern era: Open Range, Tombstone, 3:10 to Yuma, The Quick and the Dead (Unforgiven is an Eastwood movie, not a modern western). Django isn't quite a western, I don't suppose, nor is The Last of the Mohicans, at least not by my calculus.
But if I'm picking one, it's Red River. Friggen love that movie. I'd have probably said The Searchers a few years back but nah - I was wrong. It's Red River.
I know we’ve discussed John Wayne movies before but, I don’t recall if it was with you that I discussed Red River with or not. It is ALMOST a perfect film, right up until JoAnne Drue shows up. I don’t know if it was her acting or the script but man, she just ruins it. When we first meet her is when Matt and the others ride to the wagon train’s rescue. He’s in the middle of a gunfight and she’s all up in his business asking him why he’s mad. And then that is immediately followed with the typical rushed romance and more bad, writing? I tend to lean that direction because she was fine a year later in She Wore A Yellow Ribbon. I still watch it from time to time but, I just cringe when she makes her appearance and for much of the rest of the film.
Speaking of SWAYR, over the past two nights I watched the “Cavalry Trilogy” in order (plus Stagecoach last night). I don’t was kind of fooling around on line during the watch looking for any thoughts people might have had as to the importance of the three films. I didn’t really find that but, what I did learn is the general consensus is that Rio Grande is the weakest of the three. That shocked me, I have it pegged as number two behind Fort Apache. And I by no means find Yellow Ribbon to be weak, quite the opposite, just a bit weaker than the other two. Of course, I tend to March to the beat of a different drum, so… [Reply]
Originally Posted by Raiderhader:
My top favorites in no particular order beyond the first two -
Rio Bravo/El Dorado (basically the same movie - as is Rio Lobo - and I enjoy them equally)
I'd say they're spiritual successors, to be sure, but there's definitely grounds to distinguish them.
I think Rio Bravo is easily the best of the 3. El Dorado is decent in its own way, but nowhere near the quality of film as Rio Bravo. It's a little more goofy, IMO. Rio Lobo is pretty much an also ran.
And while I do enjoy me some Josephine MacDonald, the latter two movies do not have Angie Dickinson. Apart from being a genuinely good actress, she's just awfully enjoyable to look at.
Feathers is probably the best female character in a John Wayne western. Maureen O'Hara in The Quiet Man is the best female character in any John Wayne movie, but she wasn't as good in the westerns (good in Big Jake, but her part was too small). [Reply]
Originally Posted by Raiderhader:
I know we’ve discussed John Wayne movies before but, I don’t recall if it was with you that I discussed Red River with or not. It is ALMOST a perfect film, right up until JoAnne Drue shows up.
I could see that.
She's a pretty shitty character, for sure. Stupid and inexplicable motivation (not surprising for female characters of the era), grating persona at times and faaaaar too important down the homestretch.
Here's my biggest gripe about Red River -
Spoiler!
what the hell happened to Cherry Valance? He's a super-important character, suddenly Matty's best friend and certified badass.
Dunson shoots him, he rolls off-screen and that's it! That's all we know.
Does he die? Matt watching his buddy get blown away seems to have exactly no impact on him at all. WTF? Feels like something got cut that could've resolved it a bit.
The Proposition is really cool. It is a touch on the arty side, but in a good way, as opposed to a Christopher Nolan mindfuck way.
Another really good Australian western that I love is Quigley Down Under. Tom Selleck as the quintessential American hero and Alan Rickman in another wonderful role as sneering villain.
As previously mentioned, Unforgiven tops my list of favorite westerns. I also really, really, really liked the Cohen Brothers remake of True Grit, which is far superior to the original. Loved High Plains Drifter and The Shootist. Big fan of both (somewhat) recent Wyatt Earp movies, Tombstone and Wyatt Earp. Dennis Quaid was a much Doc Holliday than Val Kilmer.
Another favorite is the mostly forgotten Long Riders, about the James/Younger gang. All the brothers in the movie are played by actual brothers. The Keaches play the Jameses, the Carradines play the Youngers, the Quaids play the Millers, and the Guests play the Fords. Also features my favorite knife fight ever between David Carradine and James Remar.
And while it never made it to DVD or bluray, Son of the Morning Star was excellent - it was a two part miniseries about Custer, starring Gary Cole (Nordberg from Office Space). [Reply]
