Top 5 Westerns

Heck, I could run off my top 100 though it would be a bit of a cheat 'cos I only own around 75 of them.

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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

I wonder if the genre will ever be born again. You get a hint every now and then with movies like Open Range but for the most part it seems dead and it doesn't look like there's going to be any movie that can bring the western back to life anytime soon.

It's almost hard to believe that they were the norm back in the 40's and into the early 70's, since in my lifetime they have never really been the "in" thing.

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Hi westerns specialists! ;-)
is there someone who may know what old or new western movies had genuine Native American languages spoken in them by some characters? (apart from Dance with the Wolves)??? thanx for yr help, i've been looking for a while now, and couldn't find anything on the Net...
D.

Windtalkers (2002) is the true story of Navajo Indians who were used in WWII for communications by US Marines. They spoke in "code" - Navajo.

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"Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others."- Groucho Marx

I don't exactly think Windtalkers is a western.

Not only isn't it a Western, but John Woo's movie also has about twelve total minutes of "truth" in it. Other than the basic story of the Navajo codetalkers (which is a fascinating chapter of history), the rest is pure bullsh!t. And not even interesting bullsh!t at that. Very, very poor, dumbed-down movie. There are great books on the subject. Seek them out instead.



As for Injun flicks, check out THIS thread.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

I think Chicago is interested in movies where Native American languages were spoken. I was trying to remember if there were English subtitles to any substantial dialogue while an Indian language was spoken besides Dances with Wolves?

Black Robe, A Man Called Horse, Cheyenne Autumn?

I know in the Searchers Scar tells Ethan he speaks "good Comanche" but it was only a few words.

Would Geronimo (1993) fit? Can't remember if any of it was subtitled.

thanx a lot already, i'll look into these movies, if they have them at my videostore...
:-)

No Bad Company anyone?


I absolutely adore this movie. Something about it is just so odd and wonderful, from the almost Vince Guaraldi does Scott Joplin-esque score to the both dull and amazingly beautiful photography. Not to mention this creepy sort of spectre of the civil war that kind of hangs menacingly over everything.
It feels a lot at times (and I think it's a sort of precursor to The Tin Drum's treatment of the holocaust in this regard (I know the book was already written, I'm saying the style of the movie)) like it's a depressing western guided by very innocent interpretations of the genre.
T
he bad guys are bad, but not above sitting down to coffee with the good guys. A man is selling his companion for prostitution (his daughter? His wife? Doesn't matter to the boys), and everyone involved kind of good naturedly jokes about it.
And yet, when it gets right down to it, the gunfights are gruesome. You see a man kick at the air as he's hanged in one long take. When the boys shoot a man, and he yells out "I'm dead!" it's funny at first, but not so much when you notice his finger is plugging a bloodied bullet hole in his neck.
Yet the movie has the respect for its audience to let you deal with the questionable aspects, while it just keeps chugging along to its upbeat piano music.

It really is a magnificent little film.
Not probably my favorite Western, but surely one I feel is worth mentioning.

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It's an excellent film but outside my top 5.

Other westerns that are knocking on the door:

High Noon
The Long Riders
Stagecoach
My Darling Clementine
Ride The High Country

Haven't seen an awful lot of Western, but this is my count as I can remember them.

1. "The Good The Bad and The Ugly"
2. "Once Upon A Time In The West"
3. "For a few dollars more"
4. "They Call Me Trinity"
5. "Trinity is still my name"

The last two because of their bad, bad humour.

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Ever since you posted this I have been thinking about it and watching.

I re-watched

A Man Called Horse
To me a great movie. Everyone speaks Sioux except for Richard Harris and a French Canadian Indian captive who speaks Enlgish and Sioux. To me, Very underrated.

I also saw for the third time Black Robe

The Indians really come off as savages in this but I really like the fact that they speak their own languages. The gauntlet line was very realistic. Huron, Algonquin and Iroquois spoken. As good as it gets in this genre.

Along with Dances with Wolves , the 3 best, to me.

The 5 Westerns that entertain me the most:
Fist Full of Dollars
Silverado
Tombstone
Pale Rider
Open Range

Hollywood doesn't put out many good Westerns anymore, but rumor has it that "The Magnificent Seven" is being shopped around as "remake" material and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before someone with the right clout ***cough, George Clooney, cough*** gets the ball rolling.

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on a related note, what Westerns have good gunfights/showdowns?

Hmm, I think I should rephrase my question:

in your opinion, what Western has the best cinematography for a showdown?

The final confrontations in all four of the Leone Westerns (A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, The Good the Bad & the Ugly and Once Upon A Time in the West) are all brilliant. OUATITWest is less elaborate than the previous three, but it has the most emotional impact as we finally get the full reveal of the flashback and the reason Harmonica (Chuck Bronson) has come to kill Frank (Hank Fonda). The Good the Bad & the Ugly is the most complex and stylized. The bit with the watch in For A Few Dollars More is wonderful, and the first effort with the boilerplate for a makeshift bulletproof vest is classic.

You just can't go wrong with Leone.

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Oh, and another one of my all-time favorites that doesn't involve Leone is final stand off the steps of the old mine between Newman and Richard Boone and company in the excellent Hombre (1967 - Martin Ritt). It's not elaborate, but the whole movie has been building to it, and it is quick and sharp.



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I like the The final shoot-out in Shane between Shane and Jack Wilson.

what about the showdown in The Quick and the Dead? Haven't seen it completely though, just glimpses at HBO.

Favourite Westerns

The Wild Bunch
Once Upon a Time in the West
Stagecoach
Fistful of Dollars
Tears of a Black Tiger

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