Need Western recommendations ... (1 Viewer)

[Bradley-E]

LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL - Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

"Lonesome Dove" - It wasn't a theatrical release, but it was possibly the best western from the last 20 years.

Also, I don't think anyone has mentioned the following yet

"Destry Rides Again"
"The Man from Snowy River" (so western it crosses the Pacific Ocean to Australia!)
"Hombre"
"Support Your Local Sheriff!"

Regards,

 

[Arnie G]

Does anyone know of a good site that specializes in info on Westerns?

 

[Lenny Rakes]

Don't forget the Shootist, also directed by Don Siegel.

 

[BethHarrison]

I could be here all day listing westerns I loved;

Canyon Passage
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
High Noon
The Ox-Bow Incident
Forty Guns
They came to Cordurra
Vera Cruz
Yellow Sky
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Ride the High Country
Jesse James
The Return of Frank James
Blood on the Moon
Dead Man

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

Many great ones have already been mentioned. I will mention a few more worth looking into:

The Long Riders
Quigley Down Under - It's an Aussie-set Western & one of Tom Selleck's better non-Magnum vehicles
Valdez Is Coming
Vengeance Valley
The Indian Fighter
Springfield Rifle

2 Randolph Scott 3-Packs worth looking into:
Man Behind the Gun/Thunder Over the Plains/Riding Shotgun
Colt .45/Tall Man Riding/Fort Worth

Not yet on DVD:
Doc
Tell Them Willie Boy is Here
The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid
A Man Alone

 

[Richard--W]

With so many excellent recommendations, I would like to draw attention to three made-for-cable westerns that are particularly memorable.

THE QUICK AND THE DEAD (1987), directed by England's Robert Day in northwestern Arizona locations, stars Sam Elliott in a Louis L'Amour story about a not-quite-civilized frontiersman who protects a tenderfoot wagon from marauders. Kate Kapshaw is the married pioneer woman who finds herself unexpectedly attracted to Elliott's wild ways. Elliott is absolutely authentic and believable as the saddle tramp who has more in common with the marauders than he at first realizes.

Kevin Jarre, who won a lot of praise for his script TOMBSTONE (1993) began his career with THE TRACKER (1989), an original script directed by England's John Guillermin in hitherto unfilmed northern Arizona locations. Kris Kristofferson offers a deeply felt performance as a retired lawman looking forward to a quiet married life with his young bride, when he is called upon to lead a manhunt against a particularly vicious Mormon kidnapper, played by Scott Wilson. It is one of the best in the manhunt sub-genre of western, lit for mood.

In 1992 the Western Writers of America, an association of professional authors and editors, voted CONAGHER (1992) the best western ever made. Directed by former dp Reynaldo Villalobos in northeastern New Mexico locations, this romantic drama resonates with emotional dimensions that Louis L'Amour's source novel didn't have. Sam Elliott is at his most terse and laconic, and Katharine Ross is a prairie widow worth riding over the next hill for. Their hardscrabble courtship captures the stoicism and formality of western people with truth and conviction. There's plenty of action and cow-punching, too.

All three films are pictorially beautiful and way western. The DVD's are dirt cheap and in outstanding picture quality.

I should also mention the sleeper HEARTLAND (1979), directed by Richard Pearce in Montana locations, starring Conchata Ferrell and Rip Torn in a poignant and bittersweet drama about a mail-order housekeeper in 1906 Montana who decides to embark on her own ranching enterprise in defiance of the elements and common sense. Performances by the two leads are an experience to watch. The film makes no concessions to Hollywood formula or wishful thinking, and achieves the status of a true classic. You can really feel the weather in this one. The western genre needs a lot more of what HEARTLAND has got.

HEARTLAND is available on a typically over-priced Hen's Tooth DVD, but it looks great and it's worth owning.

 

[troy evans]

I recently saw a good one called "Renegade"(2004) it stars Micheal Madsen (whose one of my favorite actors), Juliette Lewis and Vincent Cassel in the lead role of Marshal Mike Blueberry. This was a good film , let alone what genre it's in. I also really liked "American Outlaws". I know these are not classics by no means, but, I still think the're fun.

 

[Richard--W]

I have the first two but I didn't know Hell's Hinges was on DVD ?

 

[Phil Florian]

Don't give up on the Spaghetti Westerns. These were some fun, if odd, takes on the genre. I won't bother naming the Eastwood ones since TNT or a station like that plays them nearly weekly. But there are a ton of great ones that most folks have not seen that make for some interesting takes on the Western:

"Have A Good Funeral My Friend...Sartana Will Pay" is a wonderful oddity. Gianni Garko (hip!) plays a killer so cool he will pay for burial fees of those he guns down. The more he respects you, the better the funeral. This is fun stuff. I think this is the second Sartana movie and there are a bunch of them but this was my first and a hoot.

"Django" stars the charismatic Franco Nero (wasn't he the Mcguffin in Die Hard 2? The bad guy they were bringing into the country?). He drags a coffin with him wherever he goes (can't remember why, for the life of me). He fights an evil general and the Mexican army, if I recall. It is short on dialogue and long on atmosphere. Good stuff.

"Black Killer" is kind of lame but it has Klaus Kinski as a black-clad lawyer with stacks of law books...which basically all contain a one-shot pistol. Why? Don't know. But it is Klaus Kinski, so why ask?

"800 Bullets" is a wonderful movie from 2002. It is a Spanish movie set on an old Wild West movie set where a bunch of down and out actors do their best to entertain tourists from around the world. The set is supposedly one used in many of the old Spaghetti westerns and the leader of the bunch claims he was a good friend of Clint Eastwood's back in the 60's, though Clint just doesn't seem to be returning his calls. It is about this man's attempt to keep the place open even with its lack of money and an attempt by a Big Corporation to mow it down for a theme park. It has a lot going on in the story and is funny, sometimes a bit sad and has a knock-down ending appropriate to an homage to Spaghetti Westerns. A must see, if you ask me.

There are TONS of these Spaghetti's out there but a lot are hard to find or are in poorly created DVD's (many are pan and scan, badly dubbed, etc.) but when you find a good version, it is some amazing stuff.