Western Hall of Fame II

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The Shooting (1966)

I saw this for the first time earlier this year and watched it again last week. I'm not going to say much about it because I think it's one of those movies that's best if you go into it kind of blind. What I will say is it's not a shoot 'em up reeaal gooood kind of western. Everyone does a really nice job as far as acting but I really liked Warren Oates. He is probably best known as Sgt. Hulka, the Big Toe, in Stripes and this is the only other movie I've ever seen him in (I think) and he's great. Got a feeling this may be a love it/hate it movie and if you hate it, well, it's only an hour and twenty minutes.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
I remember coming across the DVD for that at HMV years ago, and considered blind buying it since it looked like one of those "so bad it's good" type films. Since you considered nominating it, does that mean it's legitimately a decent movie?
Actually, it is a very good film. Seen it a number of times. You may actually get a kick out of it as well.

Let me know if you check it out and what you think if you do
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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
With the exception of The Cowboys, the movies nominated are all well-known, top-rated movies that are on many top westerns lists. I'd be surprised if most people don't watch them for the countdown without them being nominated in this HoF.

If I had joined, I probably would have nominated either A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966) or The Electric Horseman (1979). Those are both movies that I think are worth watching for the countdown, but they're likely to be overlooked by most people.
Exactly why I nominated it. To get some attention, and hopefully, some love for it.

Love Big Hand/Little Lady. Especially the finale.





Soldier Blue (1970)

I really liked this movie because it was such a stark contrast from how the soldiers in blue were typically portrayed, and for the time I thought the acting was much more realistic and less melodramatic. Now, don't get me wrong, there was melodrama, but the melodrama was realistic melodrama not stylised like the way almost every John Wayne line sounds over the top in many of his films. Some people said they didn't like it because the male protagonist is too whiny, but I think they did a good job of criticising his naivete and showing what it takes to break a strong delusion.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Out of curiosity, which spaghetti westerns have you watched so far?
I'm not 100% sure of the definition of spaghetti westerns, (which is why I said I think I hate spaghetti westerns), but these are the movies that I've seen that I think are spaghetti westerns:

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
For a Few Dollars More (1965)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
Duck, You Sucker (1971)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
Pale Rider (1985)

The last two (The Outlaw Josey Wales and Pale Rider) were probably the best of these movies, but they're still not my type of movies.
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I'm not 100% sure of the definition of spaghetti westerns, (which is why I said I think I hate spaghetti westerns), but these are the movies that I've seen that I think are spaghetti westerns:

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
For a Few Dollars More (1965)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
Duck, You Sucker (1971)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
Pale Rider (1985)

The last two (The Outlaw Josey Wales and Pale Rider) were probably the best of these movies, but they're still not my type of movies.
Spaghetti western just refers to Italian western movies. So The Wild Bunch, Josey Wales and Pale Rider aren't spaghetti.
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You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Spaghetti western just refers to Italian western movies. So The Wild Bunch, Josey Wales and Pale Rider aren't spaghetti.

Thanks for the info. Is that why it felt like the sound was out-of-sync from the video by just a little bit in some of these movies? At times, it felt like I was watching the martial arts movies where the English is dubbed.



The trick is not minding


Soldier Blue (1970)

I really liked this movie because it was such a stark contrast from how the soldiers in blue were typically portrayed, and for the time I thought the acting was much more realistic and less melodramatic. Now, don't get me wrong, there was melodrama, but the melodrama was realistic melodrama not stylised like the way almost every John Wayne line sounds over the top in many of his films. Some people said they didn't like it because the male protagonist is too whiny, but I think they did a good job of criticising his naivete and showing what it takes to break a strong delusion.
Did I miss this being nominated?
Either way, I’ve heard of this film and was curious about it. Going to start tonight on this HOF and fit it in between my comedy HOF viewings this week



The trick is not minding
Oops, I got the thread mixed up. I meant to post Soldier Blue in the Western Countdown thread.
Don’t be. I would have forgotten about this film if you hadn’t reviewed it. I’m going to have to search for it sometime down the line now



Seeing how we're talking about Solider Blue. I reviewed it awhile ago and here's what I wrote.

Spoiler free, so safe to read if you haven't seen the movie.


Soldier Blue (1970)

Director: Ralph Nelson
Cast: Candice Bergen, Peter Strauss, Donald Pleasence
Genre: Exploitative History, Western

Synopsis: A U.S. Cavalry regiment is massacred by the Cheyenne Indians. There are only two survivors: a naive young solider (Peter Strauss) who's ill equipped to deal with the situation...and a savvy tough talking, young woman(Candice Bergen) who'd lived with the Cheyennes and is sympathetic to their plight.

Review: I knew when the prologue words came on the screen sounding like a protest rally, that this film would be different. Sadly what should have been a thought provoking statement on the massacre of innocent Cheyennes is turned into a campy exploitative film.

Candice Bergen's acting is so bad at times that it made the film painful to watch. Peter Strauss isn't winning any acting awards either for this and they're the main focus of the film. We don't ever get to know the Cheyenne as people, we just see them killing and then being killed. For a film that purports to further the Native American plight, the Indians in the film are treated as exploitative material.

Candice's character is political correct, she can swear and belch like any man, but mostly she grates on the nerves with her squeaking angry rants. Peter Strauss plays it so naive and green that he's afraid to kiss Candice, can't say I blame him. His character is done up for a comedy but there's nothing funny about this film.

Worse of all is the preachy feel of the movie that is as subtle as a sledge hammer, topped only by unnecessary gore done in an over the top fashion that makes this film almost camp. Almost is the key word because while camp can be entertaining, seeing a close up of a child's head being decapitated really isn't.

The massacres of Native American people during the 1800s by the U.S. army is a poignant and sadly true story. Maybe this film had good intentions but it's the most poorly delivered message I've seen. The story of the Sand Creek massacre deserved a more dignified film than this.



Recommend films dealing with massacres of Native Americans
Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee (2007)



Thanks for the info. Is that why it felt like the sound was out-of-sync from the video by just a little bit in some of these movies? At times, it felt like I was watching the martial arts movies where the English is dubbed.
I believe most spaghetti westerns are filmed in Spanish or Italian language and then dubbed into English. Which does make some of the characters seem odd as the voice coming out of them isn't their own.



I guess I'll have to add that one to my list.
The Good, the Bad, the Weird might be a tad too whacky for you to love, but I'm sure you'll be entertained. It's from the same dude who directed I Saw the Devil, which we both love.
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I believe most spaghetti westerns are filmed in Spanish or Italian language and then dubbed into English. Which does make some of the characters seem odd as the voice coming out of them isn't their own.
Actually Italians movie back then even dubbed the original language. It's typical for the sound to be slightly off in the original.



Citizen, I really do find your criticism of Soldier Blue intolerable, biased, and unfair. I would be fine with it if you just had higher standards, but those were more sentiment than actual criticism. The way you describe it makes it sound like The Wizard of Gore. Your criticisms of the characters I think demonstrate a dislike for the characters, but not an assesment of their portrayal and execution. I would call the movie a little campy by todays standards, but not for the era, much less the genre. I think it's a case of not liking the movie and just criticising all the things you didn't like.

I was actually kind of annoyed at first, but took some time to think about it more and cool off. I could dissect your post in detail and it could be an interesting debate, but I don't think this is really the time or place.



By the way, official deadline is:
Monday, February 3, 2020.

Hopefully we can finish a little before then so we can squeeze in another.



The trick is not minding
Citizen, I really do find your criticism of Soldier Blue intolerable, biased, and unfair. I would be fine with it if you just had higher standards, but those were more sentiment than actual criticism. The way you describe it makes it sound like The Wizard of Gore. Your criticisms of the characters I think demonstrate a dislike for the characters, but not an assesment of their portrayal and execution. I would call the movie a little campy by todays standards, but not for the era, much less the genre. I think it's a case of not liking the movie and just criticising all the things you didn't like.

I was actually kind of annoyed at first, but took some time to think about it more and cool off. I could dissect your post in detail and it could be an interesting debate, but I don't think this is really the time or place.
If a person doesn’t like your film, never take it personal. Also, I’m not a fan of of calling out a person for how they review. It’s their business how they decide to critique a film, and whether You disagree or not isn’t going to suddenly change their mind on a film.