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General => Movies and TV => Topic started by: WildRanger on September 14, 2018, 10:04:41 AM

Title: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: WildRanger on September 14, 2018, 10:04:41 AM
Which one is your fave?

Wild Bunch for me.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: bosk1 on September 14, 2018, 10:13:29 AM
I never liked early westerns.  Not sure why.  Just never connected with the genre.  I liked the take on the genre that was done in the late '80s and early '90s with films like the Young Guns movies and Tombstone, for example.  Tombstone is probably my favorite, and is one of my favorite films of all time.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Grappler on September 14, 2018, 10:52:34 AM
Voted for Unforgiven, since I just re-watched that last month for the first time since I originally saw it in the 90's. 

Tombstone will also always be my favorite western.  In the early 2000's, my family took a trip out west to Vegas & Arizona.  We stayed at my mom's boss' winter home in Tucson, with plans to visit the city of Tombstone.  The night before we went to Tombstone, we were walking through a mall and saw the dvd of the film.  We bought it and watched the movie that night, and then went to old Tombstone the next day to see the actual OK Corral and get the real story.  The movie was incredible anyways, but is extra special to me for having that connection to a family trip and seeing the real city the very next day.

YOU TELL HIM I'M COMING, AND HELL IS COMING WITH ME!   :metal
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Adami on September 14, 2018, 10:55:26 AM
I'm not a fan of westerns, so I'm probably not the right guy to post or vote.

That said, I voted for Unforgiven but it was a close call with The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. I think those are two of the only one's I've seen too.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: bosk1 on September 14, 2018, 11:03:21 AM
Somehow, I never saw The Unforgiven.  I need to.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Adami on September 14, 2018, 11:06:13 AM
Somehow, I never saw The Unforgiven.  I need to.

Oh it’s great.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Podaar on September 14, 2018, 11:23:23 AM
Unforgiven for me as well. Although, if I'm channel surfing (who does that anymore) and I see The Good, The Bad and The Ugly I'll stop and watch it every time.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: King Postwhore on September 14, 2018, 12:26:38 PM
I love unforgiving but right now that western I can't stop watching every time it's on TV is Open Range.


Another shout out to Silverado.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Cool Chris on September 14, 2018, 12:36:45 PM
The Good The Bad and the Ugly is one of my favorite movies of any genre. I wanted my walk-up music during my wedding to be The Ecstasy of Gold. If the poll was for the best, I would have voted for Unforgiven.

Like other people here have said I am also not a big fan of the traditional 40s-50s westerns. I don't think I've ever seen a John Wayne western all the way through.

My personal story for The Good the Bad and the Ugly.. I was in jail for a brief stint in my youth. It was work release so the rules were more lax than normal. They let us choose which channel we wanted to watch on the TV, so there were expected disagreements and as such there were never more than 1/3 the inmates in the TV room at any given time. One day someone was flipping channels and The Good the Bad and the Ugly was on, so they stopped there. I swear within 10 minutes the entire floor was in the room, cheering and loving every second of it. Of all the things on TV to bring such a diverse group of dudes together, it was this low budget "spaghetti western" from the 60s.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: The Walrus on September 14, 2018, 12:48:49 PM
Kind of cheating for me to vote since I've only seen one of those, but I really like the original True Grit (as well as the newer one).
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Indiscipline on September 14, 2018, 04:55:31 PM
A Fistful of Dollars.

The Dollar Trilogy is a masterpiece - Sergio Leone has truly changed the grammar of moviemaking and revolutionised the use of music inside narration -  and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is its zenith in many regards, yet the first act has an unique irresistable edge.
It even wins the musical challenge, although Morricone's three scores are overall stellar. 
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Cool Chris on September 14, 2018, 06:06:10 PM
Somehow, I never saw The Unforgiven.  I need to.

Oh it’s great.

When I first saw it I was hoping (expecting?) more action, more gun play, a faster pace. (also, oddly? saw it on a date). I walked out feeling disappointed. When I saw it again years later, I saw it for what it was, and loved it immensely. I am glad Clint got recognized for his efforts on it with all the accolades it received. 
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Adami on September 14, 2018, 06:14:34 PM
See, I love slow movies. I love movies that are more focused on character than faced paced story telling. Of course I also like my Marvel movies, so Unforgiving was immediately great to me.

So was TGTBATU. The slow tension in that movie is outstanding.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Cool Chris on September 14, 2018, 06:21:03 PM
The pacing of Unforgiven was definitely hard for 16 year old me to grasp.

And who else but Leone would have a scene at the climax of your film where someone spends 3 minutes looking for a particular tombstone, and follow it with 4 minutes of three guys getting in position for a shootout. Just typing that out makes it sound crazy.

See, we agree on things.... occasionally :)
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Adami on September 14, 2018, 06:30:18 PM
The pacing of Unforgiven was definitely hard for 16 year old me to grasp.

And who else but Leone would have a scene at the climax of your film where someone spends 3 minutes looking for a particular tombstone, and follow it with 4 minutes of three guys getting in position for a shootout. Just typing that out makes it sound crazy.

Totally.

Quote
See, we agree on things.... occasionally :)

DAMMIT DON'T RUIN THIS!
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Phoenix87x on September 15, 2018, 05:31:16 PM
Once upon a time in the west is my favorite. A nice slow burn, very intricate plot and a Leone classic.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: lonestar on September 15, 2018, 06:39:10 PM
Damn, no High Plains Drifter? That'd easily be my favorite.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Phoenix87x on September 16, 2018, 01:32:21 AM
Just watched Unforgiven. A really somber slowburn of a film, but really excellent.

And I know its kind of a goof, but man do I love The quick and the dead
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: PowerSlave on September 16, 2018, 02:15:42 AM
I voted for Unforgiven. King mentioned Open Range, and I really enjoy that one as well.

Other than that, I've never been much of a fan of westerns, but I'm a huge fan of The Dark Tower series by Stephen King and those movies are greatly dependent on the the Sergio movies with Clint Eastwood, so I've gained a certain amount of appreciation for them over the years.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Dream Team on September 19, 2018, 12:00:43 PM
Just watched Unforgiven. A really somber slowburn of a film, but really excellent.

And I know its kind of a goof, but man do I love The quick and the dead

I love TQATD too. Stylistically amazing.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Podaar on September 19, 2018, 12:19:07 PM
I can't believe that no one (including myself) has mentioned the grand-daddies of all spaghetti westerns!

They Call Me Trinity & Trinity Is Still My Name.

Ah, nothing like drive-in double features on a hot July evening.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Indiscipline on September 19, 2018, 12:52:19 PM
Brother, you shame me. Here's to you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFFLQ89bJRM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFFLQ89bJRM)

Such an iconic movie and song for a whole generation around here. Tarantino used it on the final big scene in Django. I've never seen a movie theatre go more wet-eyed hooting nuts in my life.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: ozzy554 on September 19, 2018, 04:43:59 PM
I'm not a fan of most Hollywood westerns, at least the old ones. When I do watch one it's most likely going to be a Spaghetti Western. I Picked The Good the Bad and the Ugly but really any of those 3. Django is also one of my favorites and I just pre-ordered the new special edition by Arrow video.

Also I'm going to give an Honorable mention to the Sartana series. They are damn fun.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Kwyjibo on September 21, 2018, 02:21:44 AM
The Leone films are true classics

but I've got to mention El Dorado as one of my favorites. So cool and so funny.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Zydar on September 21, 2018, 03:22:23 AM
Blazing Saddles of course.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: orcus116 on October 07, 2018, 08:51:02 PM
I wanted my walk-up music during my wedding to be The Ecstasy of Gold.

Having just watched TGTBATU for the first time the other day I've been hooked on this song for the last few days and I've had the same thought. I know I've heard the tune before but never knew the name but damn it may be the best single piece of original score I've ever heard.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Orbert on October 08, 2018, 11:53:31 AM
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

I don't even categorize this one as a Western so much as a "buddy movie".  The original Dollars trilogy is amazing, of course, and so are most of Clint Eastwood's other Westerns, spaghetti and otherwise.  Unforgiven is awesome as something like an epilogue.  I always saw Clint's character as an older, wiser, and sadder version of his Man with No Name.  Heck, the character's name is Bill Munny (Munny -> Money -> Dollars).

All that said, I still have to be in the right mood to watch those movies, because to me they're still more about the mood and pacing than the action.  So the mood has to be right, and I have to have the time.  I can be flipping channels and if catch Butch and Sundance, I stop and watch the rest of the movie from that point on.  Same as with The Sting (the other Newman/Redford combo, also a period piece, and also a masterpiece).  Those are fun, fast-moving movies that have lots of great dialogue.  Different style.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Cool Chris on October 08, 2018, 12:12:32 PM
There was a time I would have ranked The Sting as a Top 10 all-time favorite. That film is just brilliant on all levels. I recall my mom saying if I liked that so much I should check out Butch Cassidy. For whatever reason I didn't enjoy it that much. I think the pacing hurt it for me and I didn't feel much compelling about Butch and Sundance and their journey and relationship as I did with Gondorf and Hooker. I haven't revisited it ages. I wonder if I would view it any differently now.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Orbert on October 08, 2018, 05:32:54 PM
They're very different types of movies.  It took me a few watches to love Butch and Sundance as much as I love The Sting.  I was only 12 years old, just starting to develop a real taste and feel for movies, and after watching The Sting so many times, my biggest issue with Butch and Sundance was that Redford had the mustache and not Newman!  It just seemed weird.  But I got over it.

In a way, Butch and Sundance is like The Godfather, another fave of mine.  With The Godfather, they don't spend a lot of time establishing that Don Vito Corleone is a very powerful and respected man.  You have a couple of scenes, you pick up the vibe from how he interacts with people, and then there's the shooting, and really the rest of the film is what happens as a result of that.  With Butch and Sundance, you get one job, then there's a knife fight, and the rest of the film is what happens from there.  I actually just thought of that.  Neither film spends much time on the "glory days" of the respective title characters; instead, the story is what happens following a crisis.

I don't know if that helps you at all.  But I didn't get Butch and Sundance at first either, and now I love it.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: El Barto on October 08, 2018, 06:30:38 PM
A lot of good choices on there. I love westerns so I've seen most of them. Sadly, the best of them is The Big Country which isn't included. All star cast, majestic scenery, great score, a wonderful tale about character, and Oscar winner Burl Fucking Ives. A good western should have a moral component along with the action, and there's something about an enlightened man being true to himself in a country full of meatheads that really works for me.

TGtBatU is fantastic, but not something I want to watch very often. It's one you really have to take in, much like The Unforgiven, which I also don't watch very often. Whereas Fistful shows up about once a year. Great fun. It's not as good a film as GBU, but I enjoy it more.

The Magnificent Seven is another once a year flick. Helluva cast and I'm a sucker for anything scored by Elmer Bernstein.

The Searchers was excellent, but you could really sense that there was a lot they weren't telling you. Which was certainly true given the adult nature of the details and the Motion Picture Production Code. It just felt incomplete. Unfortunately, somebody will probably remake it now that they can deal with the adult subjects, but it will have none of the character of the original.

Speaking of the Motion Picture Production Code, The Wild Bunch and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid are among my favorites. I love that somebody was willing to come along and show you the real awfulness of what was glossed over in earlier movies. The Dollars trilogy was gritty as hell, but it was still highly sanitized. Peckinpah really wanted to show the whole picture, and not just as seen by the good guy.

Didn't care much for Gunfight at the OK Corral, but Sturgis's follow up Hour of the Gun was very good. Whereas gunfight ended with the eponymous shootout, Hour started with it and dealt with the aftermath. Much more interesting story.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Cool Chris on October 08, 2018, 06:34:45 PM
First of all, quit comparing anything to the Godfather. 

But I will concede your point, that the story isn't about their rise to fame, but I didn't feel their story was all that interesting. After a 4 minute chat with Bonaserra you know everything you need to know about Don Vito, and (hopefully) you want to see this drama about him and his family play out. Butch and Sundance robbed a train and I just didn't care. The story may have been weld-told, I just wish the story was more compelling.

Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Progmetty on October 09, 2018, 05:30:35 AM
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly is on my top 10 favorite movies ever.
For TV it's Deadwood, followed by Bonanza, followed by Gunsmoke.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Elite on October 09, 2018, 12:40:32 PM
I voted High Noon, because it's amazing (and probably underrated).

that's not saying that the Leone films aren't good, because they are. In fact, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the films listed here.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: El Barto on October 09, 2018, 12:53:20 PM
I voted High Noon, because it's amazing (and probably underrated).

that's not saying that the Leone films aren't good, because they are. In fact, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the films listed here.
It certainly wasn't underrated at the time, but now it's kind of lost in the cracks. it never really comes up when discussing the great westerns because there are so many great ones to pull from. I've always considered GBU to be pretty much the pinnacle of combining music and cinema, but this one did a fantastic job 15 years earlier. I've always loved how Tiomkin's music won't ever let you forget the clock's ticking on Kane.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Orbert on October 09, 2018, 01:16:22 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.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: El Barto 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.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Orbert 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.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Samsara 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.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: hefdaddy42 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.
I love you.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Cool Chris 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).
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: hefdaddy42 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.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: Aelon 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.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: gmillerdrake 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.
Title: Re: Favorite classic western film?
Post by: El Barto 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.