Poll

Favorite classic western film?

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
5 (20%)
A Fistful of Dollars
2 (8%)
For a Few Dollars More
1 (4%)
Unforgiven
7 (28%)
Once Upon A Time In The West
0 (0%)
The Magnificent Seven
0 (0%)
The Searchers
1 (4%)
The Outlaw Josey Wales
1 (4%)
High Noon
1 (4%)
3:10 to Yuma (original)
0 (0%)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
1 (4%)
Shane
0 (0%)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
0 (0%)
Pale Rider
0 (0%)
True Grit (original)
2 (8%)
The Wild Bunch
1 (4%)
Gunfight At The O.K. Corral
0 (0%)
Red River
0 (0%)
Rio Bravo
0 (0%)
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
0 (0%)
Django (1966)
0 (0%)
other (name in the commnet)
3 (12%)

Total Members Voted: 25

Author Topic: Favorite classic western film?  (Read 3533 times)

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Offline El Barto

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Re: Favorite classic western film?
« Reply #35 on: October 09, 2018, 01:36:43 PM »
I know High Noon is a classic old-school western, and I tried to watch it once time with my dad.  I couldn't sit through it.  There seems to be only one musical cue (you know the one) and he uses it over and over for two hours.  It was like the soundtrack literally had one track and someone put it on repeat and called it a day.  The story was okay, but hearing the story summarized in the music for two hours kinda wrecked it for me.
If you're bored I can see how that would beat you down. Keep in mind that the film is essentially shot in realtime. We're waiting the same amount of time as Kane. The musical cue we're talking about is essentially a clock ticking, and it always reminds you that the end is coming. I thought it really ramped up the tension, but I can certainly see how some would find it grating.
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Offline Orbert

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Re: Favorite classic western film?
« Reply #36 on: October 09, 2018, 01:46:46 PM »
I liked the real-time aspect of it.  Definitely a cool way to ramp up the tension, and unusual even today, practically unheard-of back then.  But then they just keep playing the same music, those same eight measures, over and over for two hours straight.  At least that's how it seemed to me at the time, and this was before I was even a music nerd.  I'm sure there were breaks and possibly other musical cues, but then that one theme comes back again, and again, and again...  (and it's not even that great a theme).  So that's what I remember most about that film.

Offline Samsara

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Re: Favorite classic western film?
« Reply #37 on: October 09, 2018, 02:53:35 PM »
Not a classic from back in the day, but my wife and I watched Hostiles, with Christian Bale, on Sunday night. I thought it was really well done. Anyone else check it out. Not a light-hearted Western at all. Pretty grim.
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Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: Favorite classic western film?
« Reply #38 on: November 12, 2018, 02:58:11 PM »
Not a classic from back in the day, but my wife and I watched Hostiles, with Christian Bale, on Sunday night. I thought it was really well done. Anyone else check it out. Not a light-hearted Western at all. Pretty grim.
Haven't seen that one yet (but it's on my list), but another recent, grim (grisly) Western is Bone Tomahawk with Kurt Russell.  Not the kind of thing I can watch over and over again, but very effective.  I recommend it.

I've never been a huge fan of Westerns as a genre, but there are definitely plenty of great ones out there.  My two favorite are Unforgiven and Tombstone.  Eastwood's films with Leone are also highly entertaining, and deserving of their place in pop culture (gotta admit, even though it's nowhere near as good as those, I have a soft spot in my heart for Pale Rider as well). 

The vast majority of Westerns, however, I find trite and cliche.  Of course, maybe that's the point.  White hats, black hats, etc.  Whatever.

The Wild Bunch is fantastic, though.

Blazing Saddles of course.
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Offline Cool Chris

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Re: Favorite classic western film?
« Reply #39 on: November 12, 2018, 06:31:20 PM »
The vast majority of Westerns, however, I find trite and cliche.  Of course, maybe that's the point.  White hats, black hats, etc.  Whatever.

That was the great thing about Leone. He completely blew up those cliches with his Dollars Trilogy ()or whatever we want to call it).
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Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: Favorite classic western film?
« Reply #40 on: November 13, 2018, 08:32:35 AM »
The vast majority of Westerns, however, I find trite and cliche.  Of course, maybe that's the point.  White hats, black hats, etc.  Whatever.

That was the great thing about Leone. He completely blew up those cliches with his Dollars Trilogy ()or whatever we want to call it).
Yes, I agree with you.  Which is why his films are much better (IMO) than any of, say, Gene Autry's films.
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Offline Aelon

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Re: Favorite classic western film?
« Reply #41 on: November 19, 2018, 06:34:41 AM »
I don't know if it's considered a classic, but Lawrence Kasdan's Wyatt Earp is one of my favorite westerns.  It's not afraid to delve into the darkness of the character.
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Offline gmillerdrake

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Re: Favorite classic western film?
« Reply #42 on: November 19, 2018, 08:21:55 AM »
Not sure this qualifies as a Western....but it has that 'feel'. Jeremiah Johnson with Robert Redford. I love that movie.....


Thinking along the lines of a more 'traditional' western.....include me in on 'The Unforgiven', just a top notch movie with a great cast of actors.....and I really liked 'Open Range' with Costner and Duvall as well. Especially the final gun fight.
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Offline El Barto

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Re: Favorite classic western film?
« Reply #43 on: November 19, 2018, 08:44:31 AM »
I don't know if it's considered a classic, but Lawrence Kasdan's Wyatt Earp is one of my favorite westerns.  It's not afraid to delve into the darkness of the character.
That's why I liked Hour of the Gun. The shootout happens in the opening scene, and the rest of the movie is the aftermath, including Earp coming to grips with being a killer.
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