Ahira's Hangar

Does anyone have any good recommendations given that some of my faves are:

Silverado
True Grit
Sons of Katie Elder ???

Would I like the tv series Deadwood?

I've seen some bits and pieces of Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns on the classic movie stations, and they do look like they might be good?

My list:
Unforgiven
The Hi-Lo Country
Tombstone
All The Pretty Horses
Red River
Broken Arrow
A Man Called Horse
Dances With Wolves
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Wyatt Earp
Little Big Man
Hombre
The Claim
High Noon
For A Few Dollars More
Jeramiah Johnson
Young Guns
Open Range
Silverado
Into the Badlands
The Missing
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Shane
How the West was Won
Grimm's Prairie Tales

Just saw 3:10 to Yuma with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, it rocked! So did the NM scenery! Watch that and Duvall and Costner in Open Range and you'll be happy!@

I haven't seen a Western in a long time either. The last one I went to see at the theatre was Unforgiven in '92. That was a great movie - I loved it so much I went back to it at least 10 times , and at the same theatre, too. I don't think you have to be a Clint Eastwood fan to like Unforgiven: I went to it simply as a curious moviegoer, and ended up being moved by one of the greatest films I had ever seen. It transcends simple genre labels.

However, I will say there seems to be a...thematic unity (if not actual continuity) that ties all of Eastwood's westerns together, from the early spaghetti ones right up to Unforgiven. It's the idea of the "Man With No Name" as seen through various stages of his existence, from his fearless mercenary days to his humbled life in the person of William Munny in Unforgiven (the "man with no name" given a name, as it were). When you see Eastwood's westerns this way, maybe it provides an appreciation of the big picture Eastwood was drawing (if unconsciously).

But again, Unforgiven can be viewed and enjoyed as a standalone film. As it should be.

I missed out on 3:10 to Yuma, so it's off to the video store for that one. Another recent one I missed but still want to see is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, starring Brad Pitt. (It was partially shot here - the old exchange district of Winnipeg apparently stood in nicely for old Chicago.)

I've been avoiding Deadwood because I feel a bit intimidated by it. A friend told me about the show's intricate writing - that you really need to follow every word of dialogue to know what's going on. That might be true of any show, but it seems especially so for Deadwood. I heard the show's been cancelled, though.

In memory of Richard Widmark's passing I'd also recommend Two Rode Together, The Alamo (Jim Bowie) and Alvarez Kelly with William Holden.

I have heard that Deadwood should be watched with the subtitles on, even if you are a native English speaker, until you get used to the dialog. Apparently it is written in some sort of Shakespearean sort of verse (maybe blank verse? ) with every other word being a cuss word.

Yes, I think it lasted three seasons and was cancelled.


edited for spelling

Now that they are both out on dvd, I am hoping to watch this year's two Oscar's darling movies - No Country for Old Men and There Will be Blood. Now, even though they are not set in the Old West, could these still be considered westerns? Weren't they both filmed in the same tiny town in western Texas?

First I've seen this thread. Me, I'm a reader. Doubt I could name more than a handful of westerns, although I enjoyed them as a kid. Books now, I grew up on Louis L'Amour and JT Edson. Can recommend plenty of those.

As for series though, I recommend Lonesome Dove. In terms of period piece accuracy, that was the best I've seen. They even got right things that nobody else does...split reins, long octagonal-barreled cavalry colts, double girths...very good.

--A

duchess, Deadwood is a MUST SEE for any western fan!!!! i can't recommend it highly enough.

i suggested syl watch it too and he became an instant fan. regarding the dialogue, they spout profanities
the likes of which have, heretofore, not been heard on your television set, but they make is SOUND like
shakespear. its brilliantly written dialogue. the first few shows of the first season, you can tell that the
actors are still a bit uncomfortable with some of the profanity. but as the season goes on and the cast members
grow accustomed to speaking the dialogue, it becomes this unbelieveably lyrical cant. i don't know how else to
describe it.

the humor in this series is fabulous. the attention to historical detail is remarkable. the characters are compelling.
the acting is top-notch.

i can rave for days about Deadwood. for my money, its the best series thats ever been on television. period. bar none.

of course, thats all just my opinion. not carved in granite.

It's been a long time since a good Western, or maybe any Western, has been made. Unforgiven, Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman, might be the last one. I really like that one.

Cinema history interlude following... In the heyday of Western movies, 1960s, 1950s maybe a little of the 1970s, the model followed by the directors of the day were samurai movies of the day. (Before one discounts that I just pulled this out of rear end.) Magnificent Seven, 1960, is an American remake of Seven Samurai, even to the point of copying entire sections dialogue. And another pattern of Westerns is the lone gunman who lives by and delivers his own code of justice and rectitude, using violence when necessary. A pattern seen in many samurai movies; for your information, this particular plot comes from the real life of a 16th Century samurai, Musashi Miyamoto. Understand, I'm not discounting nor diminishing a genuine American narrative tradition that goes through pulp dime novels of Buntline ilk and continues into Zane Grey and others.