Western Hall of Fame II

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The trick is not minding
thanks! Had to shovel outside and clear the snow/ice mixture on my car. Slippery out there from all the ice. Now it’s off to a relaxing night of watching movies.



thanks! Had to shovel outside and clear the snow/ice mixture on my car. Slippery out there from all the ice. Now it’s off to a relaxing night of watching movies.
Ah, sounds cold I probably shouldn't tell ya it was sunny and 50 degrees here today I'm off to watch John Wayne in The Shootist in an hour or so.



The trick is not minding
thanks! Had to shovel outside and clear the snow/ice mixture on my car. Slippery out there from all the ice. Now it’s off to a relaxing night of watching movies.
Ah, sounds cold I probably shouldn't tell ya it was sunny and 50 degrees here today I'm off to watch John Wayne in The Shootist in an hour or so.
Enjoy! I’ve been eyeing that up as its available on Amazon. Once I finish western HOF and knock off a few 21st HOF, I aim to do a Western binge.
Between this and The western countdown, I’m hooked on westerns now.



Yup I love westerns. I'd like to watch all of John Wayne's films, but I don't think I'll have the time before the Western Top 100 Countdown deadline for list submission is up. But I'll probably wait until the last minute to send in my Top 25 western list.



Yup I love westerns. I'd like to watch all of John Wayne's films, but I don't think I'll have the time before the Western Top 100 Countdown deadline for list submission is up. But I'll probably wait until the last minute to send in my Top 25 western list.
I’ll be waiting a while as well, still haven’t even reached 25 I can vote for!



I’ll be waiting a while as well, still haven’t even reached 25 I can vote for!
Keep watching! If you liked The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, check out other of the Dollars trilogy and check out other Clint Eastwood westerns. I don't think he's made a bad western. A lot of people like The Outlaw Josey Wales and of course The Unforgiving. I just seen High Plains Drifter and that was pretty cool and shot really stylish. I'm thinking my own voting list will be heaven on John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Gregory Peck. Probably Glen Ford and Jimmy Stewart too.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Keep watching! If you liked The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, check out other of the Dollars trilogy and check out other Clint Eastwood westerns. I don't think he's made a bad western. A lot of people like The Outlaw Josey Wales and of course The Unforgiving. I just seen High Plains Drifter and that was pretty cool and shot really stylish. I'm thinking my own voting list will be heaven on John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Gregory Peck. Probably Glen Ford and Jimmy Stewart too.

Have you seen The Bravados (1958) starring Gregory Peck? I watched it recently and I liked it a lot. It might even make my Westerns list.
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OPEN FLOOR.







The Salvation was my pick for this Hall of Fame, I didn't think it would do well but I felt like it deserved a look for the top 100 Westerns and to add a modern Western into this Hall. The film uses duality to illustrate the different effects of PTSD both lead characters are survivors of a war. Mad's of the Second Schleswig War a battle between Germany and Denmark, and Delarue of the US/Indian war. Both men have been twisted by war where one looks towards building a family while the other focused on putting together a gang and building a town.


Both are drawn into conflict with each other because of the deaths of their families. Salvation starts off with a wonderfully claustrophobic and brutal Stagecoach scene and pair of escape scenes on a train and in the desert and finally a man against the gang in the town. The director does a great job of checking every western box with his film.


The script also has some great dark character scenes, one of my favorite scenes is a jail sequence between the leads brother and the Sheriff where the brother just emasculates the Sheriff. And a nice little trivia fact almost every actor in this film actually comes from a different country. The filmmakers did a great job of picking different actors from different nations to play the different roles. The french woman is scarred and silent, the British guy is the mayor and a little corrupt and the heroes are from Denmark and Sweden and the Heavy's are the only American's cast. This is a great twist on the typical European Western formula.



The trick is not minding
Keep watching! If you liked The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, check out other of the Dollars trilogy and check out other Clint Eastwood westerns. I don't think he's made a bad western. A lot of people like The Outlaw Josey Wales and of course The Unforgiving. I just seen High Plains Drifter and that was pretty cool and shot really stylish. I'm thinking my own voting list will be heaven on John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Gregory Peck. Probably Glen Ford and Jimmy Stewart too.

Have you seen The Bravados (1958) starring Gregory Peck? I watched it recently and I liked it a lot. It might even make my Westerns list.
It was one of his picks for the first Western HOF





The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is a fitting title for this film because my thoughts on the film are good, bad and ugly. The good is the performances and the film is generally good, the bad is it drags on but yet to me fails to feel like an epic, and the ugly is it's just not as pretty and good looking as other Westerns from this era. The film is definately a mixed bad for me, I love the introduction scenes and most of Eli Wallach's work in this film. However the second hour of this film drags on and the Civil War stuff felt almost tacked on instead of the major plot point for the film.



Also I'm a little confused as to what happened with that stage coach and all the dead confederates. It felt like I missed something and I also thought I was ripped off from a great scene. At the end of the day the film was good enough.





I always feel like the best westerns are the ones that are morality tales. The Ox-bow incident is a great story told on a small scale which ends up with huge consequences. A town that has been economically devastated by cattle rustling forms a posse to go after a group of bandits. They come across three men in the woods and decide to try them against the mob.


I don't want to give away the ending but I love how the film deals with the consequences of the actions that the posse made up. Also unlike say The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance all the supporting characters felt like real people. Henry Fonda is really good in this, but he often takes a back seat to the other actors which I appreciated. It would be a little hard to believe that a pair of newcomers would lead a posse especially with a deputy and a former Civil War major in the group.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Keep watching! If you liked The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, check out other of the Dollars trilogy and check out other Clint Eastwood westerns. I don't think he's made a bad western. A lot of people like The Outlaw Josey Wales and of course The Unforgiving. I just seen High Plains Drifter and that was pretty cool and shot really stylish. I'm thinking my own voting list will be heaven on John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Gregory Peck. Probably Glen Ford and Jimmy Stewart too.
Have you seen The Bravados (1958) starring Gregory Peck? I watched it recently and I liked it a lot. It might even make my Westerns list.
It was one of his picks for the first Western HOF

That explains why it was on my watchlist before the Westerns List was announced.



That explains why it was on my watchlist before the Westerns List was announced.
I'm glad you liked it. I'd think you'd like some of Gregory Peck's other westerns that he made, especially the more well known ones. Have you seen them?



The trick is not minding
The Salvation

Wow. I wasn’t prepared to enjoy a western made by a Danish film maker. Boy was I wrong. The film starts up fast and never lets up, winding its way to its inevitable, bloody and violent conclusion. Much like a spaghetti Western from the 1960’s.
The characters are all well cast in this. Mads as the war weary veteran, his faces tanned by the sun, and Dean Morgan as the villain, menacingly holding a whole town hostage.
Even if it is a little far fetched. I’ve never seen a sheriff so ineffectual.
But the real star here is Eva Green, as the mute widow. Since she can’t talk, all of he acting is done physically. Watch how she stares at Morgan’s character, full of hate. The fear that she expresses. The contempt. Watch those eyes.
And of course, what’s a western without its scenery? This film captured the look and feel of the west. Especially the night time and rain scenes. I do get the feeling some of that may have been CGI however.
A worthy nomination, and glad to have seen it.
This isn’t a top western. It isn’t going to hold up against the best of Ford or Eastwood. It’s simply a revenge tale, much like the spaghetti westerns of old. And you know what? That’s fine.
3 1/2 *’s



The Good the Bad and the Ugly.

This was going to be my nom but it was taken. Still, I might vote for this one because it commands every true aspect of the great western. Clint Eastwood is at his peak performance and his antagonistic charisma with the obnoxious Eli Wallach keeps the wild ride going. I also love how it's so weird to see Lee Van Cleef playing such a convincing and intimidating villain after seeing him as the hero in For a Few Dollars More. And the extra emphasis on the adventure elements what with the constant travelling for a treasure help diversify the movie and help the movie use up its three hour runtime without feeling slow. Easily my top pick for the HoF so far.




The trick is not minding
The Ox Bow Incident

Imagine, if you will, a western that has no shoot out, no villain terrorizing a town, and now climactic duel. Most people would think you’d have a pretty boring western. But add in a moral and ethical dilemma boiling at the surface, and you get one of the most intriguing and best westerns ever.
3 strangers are blamed for a murder. The evidence is circumstantial, of course. But it’s enough in the eyes of a posse, lead by a GeneraL who thinks too highly of himself. Aided by a group of eager volunteers who don’t believe in the law taking its time
There are a few dissenters. Henry Fonda among them, one of the greatest of actors. Here he wrestles with his conscience. He knows it’s wrong. But to stand up would put a bullseye on himself, especially since he already had a few suspicions cast his way.
How the film handles the ending is a tad rushed, but it works nonetheless.
And with only a few gun shots exchanged between them at at that. A western with only a few gunshots? John Wayne must have cringed.

4 *’s. An amazing film.