Your Favourite Modern Era Western

[perry]

Another thread has gone a little off track and rather than keep it on it's steady decline I thought I'd start a new thread about what your favourite western's are, made in the last - Ohh say , 20 years. This genre has fallen out of favour there for a while with Hollywood but as I think about it there could have been a couple of dozen.

In no particular order I have really enjoyed the remake of True Grit starring Jeff Bridges.

Grey Owl - was good

Deadwood - potty mouthed but enjoyable mini series.

Quigley Downunder, my kids where discusted when I assured them white fella's did drive Aboriginals off cliffs

and another Tom Sellick flick Crossfire Trail was a beauty

3:10 to Yuma, I t5hink I've seen it, was that the one where Russel Crow was a prosoner and his gang was following

Kevin Costners Dances with Wolfves is a classic. He did another called Open Range which was mediocre until the last 20 minutes. Wyatt Erp was not bad

I have not seen Appoloosa and I'm sure there's a few more as well. What do you recommend? Tell me about them.

regards Jacko

[g_r]

Blueberry with Vincent Cassel is great but psychodelic

Seraphim Falls with Pierce Brosnan is also great

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Is "Avatar" a western?

[jindydiver]

Is "Avatar" a western?

You bet it is.

Unforgiven
Pale rider
The outlaw Josie Wales

(I am a big Clint fan)

[TomMcDonald]

Back to the Future III

[Chase N. Nocks]

These were the ones I mentioned before..

Pale Rider
The Unforgiven
3:10 to Yuma (remake)
Appaloosa

Perry you have seen Appaloosa you nong. You almost had to be sent from the room because of the 8 gauge shotgun.

Yep I enjoyed the potty mouthed Deadwood immensely. Unfortunately the series' success exceeded all expectations and none of the actors were locked into a fourth season contract.

Yes "Seraphim Falls" was a very good film and I had forgotten "Dances With Wolves"

"Siverado" is also a favourite.

Tombstone and Wyatt Earp were both good but would have to give the nod to Tombstone as the better film.

Clint is great both in front of and behind the camera. His man with no name series which some argue culminated with Pale Rider is unbeatable. Officially in terms of being based on novels The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was the last man with no name movie.

[Chase N. Nocks]

Back to the Future III

Blazing Saddles
The Three Amigos
Cactus Jack

[TomMcDonald]

Back to the Future III

Blazing Saddles
The Three Amigos
Cactus Jack

Ah the 3 Amigos, one of the greatest movies ever made in ANY genre.

[wishsong]

Ah the 3 Amigos, one of the greatest movies ever made in ANY genre

Tom, you are a man of taste obviously .
A film of , and for our times .
I love that film !

Also Silverado, Tombstone, are great but I loved Open Range ...
Maybe Hidalgo would be considred a western ? For us Horse heads it kinda is .

[TomMcDonald]

Ah the 3 Amigos, one of the greatest movies ever made in ANY genre

Tom, you are a man of taste obviously .
A film of , and for our times .
I love that film !

Also Silverado, Tombstone, are great but I loved Open Range ...
Maybe Hidalgo would be considred a western ? For us Horse heads it kinda is .

Hehe

The Last Outlaw was a good one in my opinion.

[looseplucker]

Silverado, Shanghai Noon.

[Nephew]

They reckon this new version of "True Grit" is supposed to be alright.
I don't know if this is within the boundaries of being a "Western", but I liked Nick Caves "The Proposition".
"Unforgiven" was just great! Also "There Will Be Blood" was one that made an impression.

[g_r]

oh, i forgot some.

Jesse James with Brad Pitt (though i dont like him very much )

American Outlaws

Ned Kelly (just one of the best ive seen! EVER)

[GrahameA]

Morning All.

Gettysburg
Gods and Generals
Last of the Mohicans

I thought I'd start a new thread about what your favourite western's are, made in the last - Ohh say , 20 years. This genre has fallen out of favour there for a while with Hollywood but as I think about it there could have been a couple of dozen.

Perry - what is a Western? As an example Gettysburg, is it a western? It is set in the eastern states of the US rather than the Western. What about time period. It is set in the American Civil War - however the Last of the Mohicans is set during the French and Indian Wars and very much in the Eastern states.

Most people would say that the "Magnificent Seven" is a western so is the "Seven Samurai" a western - same story but two different locations.

Are the recent Zorro movies westerns?

Can Quigley be a western when it is set in Oz.

Need some guidelines.

[jindydiver]

Most people would say that the "Magnificent Seven" is a western so is the "Seven Samurai" a western - same story but two different locations.

Both written by the by a legendary writer/director

[g_r]

Morning All.

...what is a Western? .....

Need some guidelines.

with samurais it would be a eastern. so lets say quigley would be a southern

[Gringa Bows]

I'm with Ben,Avatar.....its the only movie i've seen for years except for Harry Potter and Narnia...........

[GrahameA]

Morning All.

with samurais it would be a eastern. so lets say quigley would be a southern

Nah.... "Quigley" would still be a western if based on Geography as it is set in Sandgroper Country (Western Australia). The best thing about Quigley is the rifle ... and if you like that then you would also like..

Valdez - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCKLiumEPHg
Lonesome Dove - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23UhypY-pUg

Now what do we call "German Westerns"? e.g. Die Söhne der großen Bärin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umoAMcZXQf8. Perhaps even stranger "Tecumseh" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJA2Q5kx2yY - an East German film and told from the India side, but it is 40 years old so misses Perry's request of 20 years..

[g_r]

Morning Grahame,

didnt know those, thanks fr the links.

Now what do we call "German Westerns"?

I would call them ...bad, or waste of time...or simply nonsense

But in the whole history of East German movies there were not many worth watching, IMO.

[wishsong]

so , and apols Perry as it may be off topic . where does Red Sun fit in ... Mifune and Bronson out west ...

As for Avatar ? Really ? I though, graphics aside it was awful movie ...

Looking forward to True Grit ... I loved the original and the Coen Bros are the best going round at the moment. Does "no country for old men " count as a western, albeit modern day western ... if so put it in my top three ...
"extreme Prejudice" for modern western as well

I think i'll go and watch Tombstone

[perry]

And lets not forget "Legends of the Fall" which I was sure I'd hate, {the Brad Pit thing} and did not watch it until the middle of last year and found it surprisingly good

Some of those films are a little older than 20 years fella's but there's some dandy's amoungst them

Grahame, Why must you complicate these things you stirrer - I don't know hows is if you gotta ask you don't get it sound I think a "Western" goes beyond Cowboy's and Indians or depicting the mid to late 1800's in the USA I think a Western can just as easily be set with a SCI FI theme or in the early 1900's like "The Wild Bunch" was. Avatar was an example of this. There was a recent SCI FI series who's name escapes me that was a Western set in outer space

Troy - a simple reminder would have been good but too call me a Nong is distressing and I'm hurt I enjoyed Appoloosa when I watched it at your place last year. Was that the day we annoyed our lovely wives with the running commentry. For some reason the name of the film did not make as much of an impression as the 8 guage.

I don't know if you remember the old Tanglewood Bowhunters club when they moved from near Kingscliff [where you ungraciously smashed all of my new arrows I kindly loaned you] to a the back of Murwillumbah. The new coarse was reminesant of a scene from Apocalypse Now. It had a fruit bat colony that the Banana Farmer used to get into. We found an old 8 guage shell while poking around near the Colony.

regards Jacko

[Chase N. Nocks]

AAHHH yes mate. How could I have forgotten that great Sci Fi series "Firefly" ......"We aim to misbehave"

Yes we did annoy the wardens that day.....these are the simple pleasures left to us in the twilight years. Luck we are so good at it hey.

Yes I enjoyed Legends of the Fall as well and came at it from much the same angle and time frame as you did...must have been starved that weekend for entertainment and found a gem.

Red sun outside the time frame but yes a definite favourite as well. I think I have it on DVD somewhere.

Speaking of Charles Bronson..."Death Hunt" with him and Lee Marvin is a classic. Some don't count it as a western but I certainly fits the criteria.

Grahame as much as "Gettysburg" was an excellent movie I think it must fit into the war genre slightly more comfortably with the probably even more excellent "Glory". On a side note I have to say that the beards in Gettysburg almost allow it to sit into the comedy genre as well.
You have reminded me though that I was much impressed by the Professor of Rhetoric come minor General, Joshua Chamberlain. An incredibly talented scholar who showed up many a professional officer. He also had a profound mix of duty and decency. His book "The Passing of the Armies" is one that has taken too long to add to my library. Wiki says

On the morning of April 9, 1865, Chamberlain learned of the desire by Lee to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia when a Confederate staff officer approached him under a flag of truce. "Sir," he reported to Chamberlain, "I am from General Gordon. General Lee desires a cessation of hostilities until he can hear from General Grant as to the proposed surrender."[5] The next day, Chamberlain was summoned to Union headquarters where Maj. Gen. Charles Griffin informed him that he had been selected to preside over the parade of the Confederate infantry as part of their formal surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 12.[6]

Thus Chamberlain was responsible for one of the most poignant scenes of the Civil War. As the Confederate soldiers marched down the road to surrender their arms and colors, Chamberlain, on his own initiative, ordered his men to come to attention and "carry arms" as a show of respect. Chamberlain described what happened next:

Gordon, at the head of the marching column, outdoes us in courtesy. He was riding with downcast eyes and more than pensive look; but at this clatter of arms he raises his eyes and instantly catching the significance, wheels his horse with that superb grace of which he is master, drops the point of his sword to his stirrup, gives a command, at which the great Confederate ensign following him is dipped and his decimated brigades, as they reach our right, respond to the 'carry.' All the while on our part not a sound of trumpet or drum, not a cheer, nor a word nor motion of man, but awful stillness as if it were the passing of the dead.[7]

Chamberlain's salute to the Confederate soldiers was unpopular with many in the North, but he defended his action in his memoirs, The Passing of the Armies. Many years later, Gordon, in his own memoirs, called Chamberlain "one of the knightliest soldiers of the Federal Army." Gordon never mentioned the anecdote until after he read Chamberlain's account, more than 40 years later.

Yes that place (Tanglewood) was definitely "love you long time, boo coo number 1", Apocalypse Now. I especially remember the Mullet Lizards??? as being particularly prehistoric.

There is a great gnashing of teeth and tearing of cloth at my place at the moment...as you have ALL murdered any spare time I might have had over the next couple of weeks.

Cheers
Troy

[GrahameA]

Morning Perry.

Grahame, Why must you complicate these things you stirrer - I don't know hows is if you gotta ask you don't get it sound I think a "Western" goes beyond Cowboy's and Indians or depicting the mid to late 1800's in the USA I think a Western can just as easily be set with a SCI FI theme or in the early 1900's like "The Wild Bunch" was. Avatar was an example of this. There was a recent SCI FI series who's name escapes me that was a Western set in outer space

For me - Westerns are a very distinct genre of films and they must posses the following characteristics as a starter:

Must be set in the Western/Central United States or Northern Mexico.
Must feature a "Good" versus "Evil" theme.
Set roughly between 1800 and 1900.

So films like Gettysburg would not count - it is really a historical film, it is set in the East and there is really no Good vs. Evil theme

"The Wild Bunch" is probably okay but pushes the era boundaries - but it is a great movie.

BTW - "Battle Beyond the Stars", the Seven Samurai set in space and not a very good movie.

*******

Hi Troy

Grahame as much as "Gettysburg" was an excellent movie I think it must fit into the war genre slightly more comfortably with the probably even more excellent "Glory". On a side note I have to say that the beards in Gettysburg almost allow it to sit into the comedy genre as well.

You cannot have everything - the Beards are bad, bt then again have a look at photos of the actual people.

You have reminded me though that I was much impressed by the Professor of Rhetoric come minor General, Joshua Chamberlain. An incredibly talented scholar who showed up many a professional officer. He also had a profound mix of duty and decency. His book "The Passing of the Armies" is one that has taken too long to add to my library.

Joshua Chamberlain a somewhat impressive person. Started as a Lieutenant, left as a Brigadier General, won the Medal of Honour, took the Official surrender of Lee (as you mentioned) and was Governor of Maine.

You should have a read about James Longstreet when you get a chance.

[kerrille]

i liked maverick with all the old tv western heroes mel gibson and jodie foster

...nev..

[excelpoint]

Tombstone, with Val Kilmer, Kurt Russel, Bill Paxton, Sam Elliot. As far as modern Westerns go, far above any.

I must admit, I also quite enjoyed Legends Of The Fall.

[hazard]

What about the true classics "They Call me Trinity!, Trinity is still my name"

[Nephew]

Of Course! Terrence Hill and Bud Spencer, what a classic team!

[NORTHOZ]

F Troop
The new True Grit is a good watch.

[Bandsaw]

I have to say any western with Sam Elliot in it is a winner. Tombstone sticks out in my mind.

Ben

[littlejohn]

I haven't seen true grit, but I would list my all time favourite western as
'Unforgiven'....Clint Eastwood ,Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman..

Clint has too many to list but Hackman has also done some good westerns...I just watched, 'The Quick and the Dead; last nite with my young bloke.......

And 'The Mayor of Casterbridge County', is also a good tale.

I love 'Legends of the Fall', for that fearless spirit of adventure.

Yes I know its Hollywood, but when you live in the real world its an enjoyable sideline..
Pete