Your Favorite Westerns?

[Mennonite]

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.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Raiderhader

If anyone is looking for something different in a western I’d recommend Bone Tomahawk with Kurt Russell. It’s billed a horror western. It’s different. Different enough that I’ve only seen it once but, will inevitably watch again, if no other reason than it stars Kurt Russell.

Pretty good chunk of that was hard to watch and I don’t get squeamish. Good flick though.

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Do ‘The Hateful Eight’ and ‘Django Unchained’ count as westerns?

I came here to post Hateful 8. The other contribution I’d made is Hell on Wheels. More railroad than western but I think it works.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Was just talking with a buddy of mine about him watching Young Frankenstein.

The guy probably looked grizzled when he was 14 years old.

But yeah, very probably the most underrated great actor of his era. Never quite understood why he wasn't considered among the all-timers.

Simmons had a pretty thorough breakdown of Hackmans career in the Enemy of the State rewatchables Podcast. I don’t remember the particulars but I think they were thinking he lacked the big blockbuster movie.

IMO he’s one of the best actors that’s ever done it.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Simmons had a pretty thorough breakdown of Hackmans career in the Enemy of the State rewatchables Podcast. I don’t remember the particulars but I think they were thinking he lacked the big blockbuster movie.

IMO he’s one of the best actors that’s ever done it.

Man - that's a pretty damn narrow definition of Blockbuster, then.

The French Connection was huge. Hoosiers may have been the pre-eminent mainstream sports movie for a decade. Superman was a worldwide phenomenon. The Poseidon Adventure spent 12 weeks at #1 from 1972 into 1973 and hit #1 again on a re-release in 1974. I think it's probably fair to call him the 2nd lead in Unforgiven, right - anyone wanna argue that's not a blockbuster? Crimson Tide is a Tony Scott tentpole with Denzel at his peak that also opened at #1 and again, it just doesn't work without Hackman.

I dunno - it seems like Simmons is trying awfully hard there to avoid saying "Because people are stupid..."

Because I'm pretty sure that's the answer. People are stupid. If I'm going to avoid saying it's because people are stupid I think I'll say it's because he was a fairly prolific television actor for several years before he made a splash in movies. And back then, TV was just second billing. TV actors might as well have been garbage men. So it took so much 'political capital' so to speak to get over the 'oh he's just a TV actor' hump that there just wasn't enough momentum left to push him into superstardom.

But again, it's probably just because people are stupid.

[EPodolak]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Was just talking with a buddy of mine about him watching Young Frankenstein.

The guy probably looked grizzled when he was 14 years old.

But yeah, very probably the most underrated great actor of his era. Never quite understood why he wasn't considered among the all-timers.

Definitely didn't get as much copy as the handsome leading men of his time, and he worked in an era when "ethnic" actors like Pacino and Hoffman were in vogue. He was well-respected during his career though. There's never been a more talented character actor to play the role of an Everyman than Gene Hackman.

[HC_Chief]

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Once Upon a time in The West
Django Unchained
For a Few Dollars More
The Outlaw Josey Wales
A Fistful of Dollars
The Revenant
The Hateful Eight
High Plains Drifter
Little Big Man
Pale Rider
Unforgiven
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
Tombstone
Young Guns

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Man - that's a pretty damn narrow definition of Blockbuster, then.

The French Connection was huge. Hoosiers may have been the pre-eminent mainstream sports movie for a decade. Superman was a worldwide phenomenon. The Poseidon Adventure spent 12 weeks at #1 from 1972 into 1973 and hit #1 again on a re-release in 1974. I think it's probably fair to call him the 2nd lead in Unforgiven, right - anyone wanna argue that's not a blockbuster? Crimson Tide is a Tony Scott tentpole with Denzel at his peak that also opened at #1 and again, it just doesn't work without Hackman.

I dunno - it seems like Simmons is trying awfully hard there to avoid saying "Because people are stupid..."

Because I'm pretty sure that's the answer. People are stupid. If I'm going to avoid saying it's because people are stupid I think I'll say it's because he was a fairly prolific television actor for several years before he made a splash in movies. And back then, TV was just second billing. TV actors might as well have been garbage men. So it took so much 'political capital' so to speak to get over the 'oh he's just a TV actor' hump that there just wasn't enough momentum left to push him into superstardom.

But again, it's probably just because people are stupid.

I may not be remembering Simmons argument very well but that’s how I remember it. Enemy of the State rewatchables is a pretty good listen if you’re interested.

I agree. He’s up there in my book. You want a role shredded? He’s your guy.

[Mennonite]

I watched News of the World (2020) the other day.

When someone asked about it recently, I said that I had read the book and that it had a bit of an Oprah Book Club election feel to it. I assumed that with Hanks being cast in the lead that the movie would accentuate those qualities and the movie would be a bit sappy and have some light moments. Well, I was completely wrong. The movie is actually kind of dreary. Tom Hanks, a very talented actor, is totally miscast here. His performance is very downbeat and totally without charm or charisma. There was very little chemistry between him and his young costar. An older Robert Duvall would have been ideal casting, imo, if the movie had been made a few years ago.

The plot, centered around a Civil War vet returning a young girl raised by Indians to her white relatives, is very episodic. I don't remember much about it, but I believe that the book flowed more naturally, and had better character development. The movie follows the major plot points of the book for the most part, but it feels like a random set of events.

Coincidentally, it shares a lot in common with an episode of Gunsmoke called "Long Long Trail" in which Matt Dillon has been charged with escorting a young woman across the prairie to a remote fort. There are actually quite a few plot points that are very similar between the two stories. The thing is, Gunsmoke was able to tell a better story in only 50 minutes while using inferior actors and with a (comparatively) minuscule budget.

News of the Word isn't a terrible movie. It's worth watching once, but I don't really feel the need to ever watch it a second time.

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

If Gene Hackman ever gave a bad performance, ive never seen it. He was always great.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Was just talking with a buddy of mine about him watching Young Frankenstein.

The guy probably looked grizzled when he was 14 years old.

But yeah, very probably the most underrated great actor of his era. Never quite understood why he wasn't considered among the all-timers.

He's Michael Caine.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Easy 6

While not technically a western for obvious reasons, I believe Last of The Mohicans belongs as a great in this genre… at one point the Wild West wasn’t in the west, it was in the eastern third of the country

Since this is a fairly recent reference, this video inspired me to revisit an all-time favorite again. Still holds up, and portions, particularly the ending, makes it one of the enduring classics in all of cinema. I've seen it 10+ times and it still stirs and enthrals me.



I'm going to spoiler the ending, so it doesn't get ruined for those who have never experienced it.

It's a historical classic novel, so it's not a big 'spoiler' in the traditional sense, but the ending as great as it is deserves the full context of the entire film preceding it. But I put it here so those who know what it is can enjoy it again.

Spoiler!

[Mennonite]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

one of the enduring classics in all of cinema.

Great score, too.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Man - that's a pretty damn narrow definition of Blockbuster, then.

The French Connection was huge. Hoosiers may have been the pre-eminent mainstream sports movie for a decade. Superman was a worldwide phenomenon. The Poseidon Adventure spent 12 weeks at #1 from 1972 into 1973 and hit #1 again on a re-release in 1974. I think it's probably fair to call him the 2nd lead in Unforgiven, right - anyone wanna argue that's not a blockbuster? Crimson Tide is a Tony Scott tentpole with Denzel at his peak that also opened at #1 and again, it just doesn't work without Hackman.

I dunno - it seems like Simmons is trying awfully hard there to avoid saying "Because people are stupid..."

Because I'm pretty sure that's the answer. People are stupid. If I'm going to avoid saying it's because people are stupid I think I'll say it's because he was a fairly prolific television actor for several years before he made a splash in movies. And back then, TV was just second billing. TV actors might as well have been garbage men. So it took so much 'political capital' so to speak to get over the 'oh he's just a TV actor' hump that there just wasn't enough momentum left to push him into superstardom.

But again, it's probably just because people are stupid.

Mississippi Burning as well. Just an all time great performance there. Maybe his best.

[BWillie]

Westerns died off...which is fine with me but now great police vs bad guy movies are dying off.