Does anyone have a favorite Western?

I love My Darling Clementine too... in fact it's probably my favourite Western of all, although I'd also consider The Searchers, Man of the West and Heaven's Gate.

Love the following:

Unforgiven
Dances With Wolves
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
The Searchers

__________________
"George, this is a little too much for me. Escaped convicts, fugitive sex... I've got a cockfight to focus on."

Hey Rodent, nice one with WWW. Wow, I went to see that with a friend and his family, not expecting much and getting even less. I can't even watch it for kicks and giggles on television. The tv series, while a bit campy, was loads of fun, and the movie version came in the days of "Let's put Will Smith in everything." I like Will but it was a sad mistake to cast him as Jim West. My friend and his brood loved the film, which is his right as a consumer, but I don't talk about the movie with him because I'd have to bite my tongue to keep from spewing hate about it. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but I put this one right down there with Battlefield Earth.

Ahem, back on topic, my favorite Western is The Outlaw Josey Wales. From its grim start, through its action set-pieces (with bits of humor sprinkled throughout), to its unexpected "community" ending, all with great dialogue, this one played against all my expectations of a Western and soon set the standard for what I look for in a Western.



One of my favorite scenes above.

__________________
"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

My top 5 faves:




5. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
The first example of the lightning captured in a bottle that is the Newman & Redford combo. I like Newman's character more though in this movie than in the Sting. We get to see more of him as Butch Cassidy & the relationship with his fellow bank robber, Harry Longabaugh. A really unique western that is both lotsa of fun & tragic at the same time.

4. Magnificent 7 (1960)
Y'know, there may be cowboy movies that are better filmed, with stories that are better written, that capture the western history more accurately, that have an impact that is more poignant or even have characters that are more iconic.
But very few other cowboy flicks (those being a couple of them that were made with a dash of spaghetti sauce on 'em) were more bad-ass than this one.

3. High Noon (1977)
Real time in the Old West.
A simple tale of suspense building tension, as a newly wed marshall must make a decision between a new life by flying the Coop, or staying and standing as a "lone star" until the strike of twelve, in a town that has turned its back against him.

2. Unforgiven (1992)
I guess this film could've also been called The Final Chapter Of The Man With No Name, But Now We've Given Him A Name, Punk.
And yeah, I know, I know ..... it's not fashionable for those who study Western films to like this movie. Luckily, for me, I'm one of those who never studied.

1. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (1966)
At the outset of the first western movies, the cowboy characters had been categorized between two basic types: Those who wore the white hats, & those who wore the black ones.
As time passed though, the hat colors began to blur between who was bad, who was bad, & then to eventually who was just plain ugly.
Though the final film in the "Man With No Name" trilogy, IMO, the best & most definitive one of the three.
It's almost impossible to think of the genre of the spaghetti western, let alone this particular series & not think of the iconic trio of Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef & Eli Wallach.

__________________
Right now, all I'm wearing is a mustard-stained wife-beater T-shirt, no pants & a massive sombrero.

Nice touch there, Celestial. Great list, too!

Ford clearly has about 0% interest in providing an accurate account of the Earps and the gunfight at the OK Corral. He treats it more as a myth which can be adapted to suit his particular themes and concerns. To say it's a bad film because it's not historically accurate completely misses the point of what Ford was trying to do. It's a film, not a drama-documentary.

1. Unforgiven

2. Tombstone

3. Open Range

4. Good Bad and the Ugly

I didn't say that the historical inaccuracy made it a bad film. I said the inaccuracy was my biggest problem with the character of Doc Holliday; so don't jump to conclusions or put words in my mouth.

Though I do love how you criticize the Yuma remake for taking too many liberties with its source material yet completely dismiss - and even defend - the same issue when it comes to Clementine.

I disliked My Darling Clementine because it was slow moving, poorly cast, poorly acted, and - yes - blatantly historically inaccurate. The one thing I require of any movie I watch is the ability for me to emotionally connect with the characters on the screen. Clementine failed at that.

__________________

Rio Bravo

Used to love the bud Spencer and Terrance hill films, trinity is my name etc, funny

__________________
What business is it of your's what I do, read, buy, see or take into my body as long as I don't harm another human being whilst on this planet? And for those of you having a little moral dilemna on how to answer this, I'll answer for you. NONE OF YOUR ****ING BUSINESS Take that to the bank, cash it and take it on a vacation outta my ****ing life. And stop bringing shotguns to UFO sightings, they might be here to pick me up and take me with 'em.

What words did I put in your mouth? Historical inaccuracy was the only substantive point you'd made until then. Stop being so bad-tempered.

However, you've made some more points now, so let's take a look:

Slow moving. Well, it certainly isn't an all-action western. Nor is it trying to be. But the story moves forward at a fairly brisk pace and the whole thing is only 97 minutes long, so I wouldn't agree there. On the other hand, any film is slow-moving if you don't like it.

Poorly cast. Both the male leads are deliberately cast against type and I think it words a treat. Mature is the wrong physical type for his role (as I've already said), but he turns in a rather fine performance. Fonda is superb as Earp. The two of them work extremely well together. There's nothing much to object to in the casting of the other roles.

Poorly acted. From my comment above you've probably already guessed that I don't agree. Fonda and Mature are excellent, as is Walter Brennan. Linda Darnell is likeable enough as the tart-with-a-heart. Cathy Downs is a bit forgettable as Clem, but not nearly bad enough to derail the movie. If you're honestly saying the acting in Tombstone is better, then... well, words fail me.

Characters you can relate to. Again, I had absolutely no problem relating to the characters in this film. Fonda, in particular, is immensely likeable. Clearly you don't feel the same, but I can't help thinking that's more a statement about you than the film.

Me too

I already answered this question.

Just because inaccuracy was the only point I'd made when you responded does not mean you can twist it to suit your own needs. But, really, all one has to do to see that historical accuracy is not a high priority for me is to look at my favorite movies list. I can and often do overlook some pretty severe inaccuracies when everything else falls into place. It's only when I'm bored with a movie that such things irritate me.

I found it slow paced. I was bored. The length of a film has nothing to do with pacing. I've sat through short movies that felt like they took forever and long movies that felt like only a few minutes.

Mature turns in the same performance he did in pretty much every movie I've seen of his. I love Mature because he was so bad and because he had no delusions about his level - or lack - of talent. The only role I ever found him convincing in was After the Fox, where he played a washed up actor. Not exactly a stretch at that point.

You know, I'm beginning to think you just have a problem with modern Westerns. Are there any modern Westerns you do like? Or are you one of those "classics" snobs?

Yeah, well, you know what they say about opinions.

I loved Tombstone. I thought that Val Kilmer was the epitomy of Doc Holiday.

Of course, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Once Upon A Time In The West are timeless gems and so is The Wild Bunch.
More current ones that I enjoyed were 3:10 To Yuma, The Missing ( 2003 ) and Seraphim Falls.

Now who's making unwarranted assumptions? There have been a number of fine westerns made over the last twenty-odd years: Unforgiven, Lone Star and Open Range to name just three. There have also been plenty of perfectly watchable, entertaining, journeyman westerns, for example: Young Guns, The Quick and the Dead, and (yes) Tombstone.

The reason I weighed in on behalf of classic westerns was that they seemed under-represented by the thread. Up to a point that's natural enough - we're all more interested in films of our own era - but the western is a genre with a rich history and modern examples tend to draw on or reference that history even when (or especially when) they're re-writing the rules. So, for example, you can happily watch The Wild Bunch without much knowledge of earlier westerns, but the film itself assumes you know about them; in particular, it assumes you have a decent knowledge of John Ford westerns which are constantly being referenced (btw, Peckinpah's favourite western was My Darling Clementine - but what did he know about the genre?). Without that knowledge you are missing a whole level of meaning.

And, in any case, some of those old westerns are damn fine films.

'A Fistful Of Dollars' & just millimetres behind it 'Once Upon A Time In The West'.

'Tombstone' is also a fine western. True story, biopic or not. Just a great western.

__________________
Reverend Arthur Belling was to change our whole way of life, and every Sunday we'd hurry along to St Loony up the Cream Bun and Jam.

I asked a question. You listed a lot of old westerns and, until your most recent post, your only mention of more modern westerns was to point out what you don't like.


They weren't under-represented. The question the OP presented was in regards to favorite westerns - this is a different concept than what is best or even good - and people responded appropriately. Why should they mention classic westerns if their favorite westerns are more modern?

As for me, there are a few older westerns I enjoy, like Fury at Furnace Creek and The Appaloosa, but I don't enjoy them anywhere near as much as those I've already listed.

Fair enough. I very much enjoy all the westerns I listed in my original post.

I don't really care much for westerns. Oddly enough, having said that, I have 3 in my favorite movie list, including my two favorite movies of all time.

Unforgiven
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Open range

I can now add the 2010 True Grit to that list. Beautifully shot, and great performances from Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld. I'm fond of the 1969 John Wayne version but the Coens have delivered a much more satisfying, coherent film imo. Excellent.