Your Favourite Western...

[Sir Calumn]

In a bid to make this forum a little more interesting, every week there will be a different poll with ten leading films from a different genre and you will be encouraged to vote for your favourite and tell us why.

Westerns this week, please feel free to vote for your favourite from the list or draw attention to one that isnt there.

 

[INFESTA]

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

It has everything: great characters, amazing shots that made film history, and a soundtrack that everybody knows by heart even up to this day.
One of my 5 fav films ever! I've seen it over 50 times.

 

[Tom]

This is very hard, but ive gotta go for High Noon

High Noon is so good for two reasons, one its a very early genre-setting western that hundreds of other films have used and secondly; taking place in "real time" is a very original concept for such an early period in film making. Gary Cooper plays dubious out-of-favour Marshall Kane, who manages to win around the general public against some classical bad guys. Lon Chaney Jr. makes a wonderful appearence as a horrible bad guy that rounds off a fantastic movie.

High Noon is simply sublime, and despite how amazingly good The Searches, Butch Cassidy and The Good the Bad and the Ugly are, they cant compare to the original western in my opinion.

TROD.

 

[Sir Calumn]

I personally voted for Once Upon a Time in the West - I just feel it is such a masterwork and yet so original. Throughout the 'Dollars' trilogy, Leone prettymuch writes the rulebook for what a good western should entail until he reaches The Good, the Bad and the Ugly inwhich he applies these rules to make the perfect western, resulting in a fantastic film. However, having set in place the rules by which more other westerns of the Leone school follow (the opposing being the Ford school), he then completely turns them on their head for the amazign OUaTiTW which is just so unlike anything that went before. All of Leone's usual skills are employed to make it fantastic, such as his incredible ability to built suspense, he mastery of getting the music right and his amazing talent at getting the best out of actors which is the bedrock of this phenominal film, but also the fact he completely does away with the need for a 'good guy' or 'hero', or the need for a totally sinful 'bad guy', (really, Henry Fonda is no worse than any of the others) aswell as making the very bold decision to get rid of angelic women and replace them with whores or schemers who are just as capable as the men. The plot is intricate, the length epically satisfying and everything just perfect.

 

[Tom]

i see where you're coming from Sir_Didier_Drogba, its a great film i must admit.

Nice distinction between the Sergio Leone and Ford schools of westerns, never thought of it like that before.

TROD.

 

[rpvankasteren]

Same as Hugo, but I've only seen it 8 times.

 

[Hakeem]

agree, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

and great work there Sir_Didier_Drogba with the Leone/Ford essay. I'm a Leone fan between them too


we should make a newer Westerns Poll: I loved The Quick and the Dead with Hackman, Sharon Stone, Russell Crowe and DiCaprio, and Kevin Costner's Open Range was ok though nothing great. Everything else has been crap after Unforgiven.

 

[SlayerDeuS]

I regret to say that I haven't seen a single one of those films, I need to catch up on the classic western films.

 

[Hakeem]

I've seen most of them because of my father. I would never see classics if it were for me

 

[Sir Calumn]

I was first introduced to classic westerns by my dad but now I can't get enough of them.

He has an excellent taste in films though - he introdruced me to Bergman, Fellini, Greenaway and pretty much every other arthouse director whom I'm a fan of.

 

[INFESTA]

Eheh, guess our dads introduced us to the Western genre.
It was quite popular when they were kids, so it figures.

Hakeem, I also like 'The Quick and the Dead'. Had the chance to see it again this past weekend on tv. Hackman has a very solid performance. Man, I really wanted to kill him.

 

[IceBlu]

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid for me

 

[manutd4eva]

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Just about the only Western I've ever watched.

 

[aftab]

I grew up on westerns, my mum and dad used to like watching the old cowboys and indian films, and we played cowboys and indians in the school playground!!!

I love all the Clint Eastwood westerns but my favourites has to be any starring James Stewart. He was my all time favourite.
He was in Destry Rides Again, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, etc....

people always rave on about John Wayne westerns, I guess it is a matter of taste.
I personally thought he talked too much




Pale rider...does that count?

They're all quite good, apart from BUtch Cassidy which i don;t like....hmmmm ok im just gonna go for The Good The Bad and the Ugly

 

[nird]

little house on the prairie, yaaaaaaay

 

[Sir Calumn]

I grew up on westerns, my mum and dad used to like watching the old cowboys and indian films, and we played cowboys and indians in the school playground!!!

I love all the Clint Eastwood westerns but my favourites has to be any starring James Stewart. He was my all time favourite.
He was in Destry Rides Again, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, etc....

people always rave on about John Wayne westerns, I guess it is a matter of taste.
I personally thought he talked too much




Pale rider...does that count?

They're all quite good, apart from BUtch Cassidy which i don;t like....hmmmm ok im just gonna go for The Good The Bad and the Ugly

I didnt enjoy The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance at all, I have no idea why it is so highly rated. In terms of 'second teir' western actors I prefer James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Henry Fonda, Jason Robards Jr, Rod Steiger, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Lee Marvin, Ernst Borgnine, William Holden and Robert Ryan all to James Stewart.

I do like lots of other John Wayne films though, despite the stupid American nationalism I do think he is actually a fine actor and his films are interesting and exciting. Very different from the Leone westerns but I can see how some could prefer them.

I really liked Butch Cassidy too, except for the song in the middle, in my opinion Paul Newman makes a great western actor as Hud was a great film and he was really good in Hombre, let down by the script.

 

[Tom]

I didnt enjoy The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance at all

yeah i'd have to agree, admitidly i saw it about 4 years ago but at the time i found it quite boring and a little as you said; overhyped.

Not one of my favourites.

TROD.

 

[Sir Calumn]

I did find it pretty dull and also a bit silly, lots of poor jokes and stupid characters (like the martial). The message it puts across is original and solid but otherwise I didnt think much of it as a film - about the most complex film John Ford made and I would say that from this evidence he just wasnt cut out to make complex films.

 

[Internazionale]

I love the Tombstone & Young Guns.

Those are still class Western movies !

I love the Tombstone due to its great action Western movie that I've ever seen. Young Guns, yeah...I love the story of Billy the Kid along with the actors: Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, & Lou Diamond Phillips.

 

[Andreas]

Western Movies

I just bought "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" yesterday, since I had heard so much good of it. And oh my god, this is my new favourite movie!

After watching this one last night, today I ordered "A fistful of dollars", "For a few dollars more" and "Once upon a time in the west"

I also have "Unforgiven" in my collection, not at all as good as TGTBTU, though.