Her Imperial Majesty was very late getting home tonight due to a memorial service she had to attend, which left me in the position of being able to watch whatever I wanted on the big TV of an evening, something very rare. After catching the end of True Grit, I put on two of my favorite Westerns: Westward the Women and Red River. Hardly your run of the mill Westerns, I know, but both of them are much more nuts-and-bolts than your average Western, especially Westward the Women. I mean by that they show much more of the activities of daily living than most Westerns do. That sort of movie always appeals to me.
I too think The Searchers is a classic and I also agree with Shane. for the longest time I thought it was corny but with each watch it gets better. The characters are real and by god the guns sound like guns. Guns are loud and every shot is NOT a ricochet thank you very much. Although many a movie gunfight features many many more shots I don't think you can beat the saloon shootout in Shane. The only one close is the final shootout in The Shootist.
There are just too many good OLD westerns. River of No Return, High Noon, almost ALL of the Ennio Marricone, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence.....Too many to mention.
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The old B&W version of "Stagecoach" with John Wayne and Claire Trevor. Don Knotts in "The Shakiest Gun In The West" makes me laugh myself silly every time I see it. "Big Jake" is awesome. My favorite revenge western is "Hannie Caulder" with Raquel Welch, Robert Culp and Ernest Borgnine. "The Sons Of Katie Elder" is another great western. But if I had to pick an overall favorite, one that stands head and shoulders above all others, it would would be "The Magnificent Seven" with Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Horst Buckholz, James Coburn, Charles Bronson and Robert Vaughn. It is simply the best western I've ever seen.
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'There is nothing new under the sun. It has all been done before.' -Sherlock Holmes
John Wayne: El Dorado, Big Jake, True Grit
Clint Eastwood: The Outlaw Josey Wales
Silverado: I named my son Paden from that movie.
James Garner: Support your Local Sheriff.
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Blazzing Saddles, LMAO. Seriously though, love this movie.
But on a more serious note, I truly never got into the whole Western movies. Not my time growing up when they were huge. Not they aren't good, just not as interested in them as I am with other movies. I find them lagging and taking forever to get started. While I can get into an old James Bond movie instantly and enjoy the entire movie.
Somebody mentioned Hannie Calder for a revenge western which brought "Nevada Smith" starring Steve McQueen to mind. Now since I mentioned McQueen I also liked the movie "Tom Horn".
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