McCoy Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 With the release of Star Wars III, I've been thinking about Campbell's idea of the monomyth, and wondering if it would be reflected by the 20th Century American mythos, the Wild West as presented in the movies. If you were to make a list of the ten or 12 movies that absolutely define the genre of the Western, movies only please no TV series, what would you include on the list? The only one that I am sure of at this point is The Magnifecent Seven. How the West Was Won is on the "maybe" list, but I realize that I may be too emotionally attached to that move and it may not be as good as I think it is. Anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTesla Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, is all you need. Sure there is also Shane, Rooster Cogburn, High Noon, and dozens of others that are good for defining various aspects of the west. However, in my opinion they are nothing compared to a good spaghetti western when it comes to looking at the genre that has an appeal to gamers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time True Grit (the first Rooster Cogburn movie). The movie where Wes Studi played Geronimo was good. (at l east I liked it) I can think of plenty I liked but dont belong in a top 10 list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KA. Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time High Noon. A person does what is right. Not because it is safe, easy, profitable, or popular. Actually because it is none of those things. Just the right thing to do. KA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted June 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time The movie where Wes Studi played Geronimo was good. (at l east I liked it) Geronimo - An American Legend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThothAmon Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time For making of myths I'd choose: Once Upon A Time In The West Outlaw Josey Wales Rio Bravo Cat Balou The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Blazing Saddles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barwickian Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time It's hard for me to think of a "classic western" because I actually prefer westerns that break free of the genre in some way. For me, The Outlaw Josie Wales would top the list, followed rapidly by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Once Upon a Time in the West. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly comes in about fourth. Unforgiven ranks highly. Not truly great movies, but for the sheer fun factor, I really like Young Guns I & II as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebuchet Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time The Outlaw Josey Wales would head my list. While Unforgiven would formerly have been my #2, I'd now place Open Range in that spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox1 Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time Seven come right to mind... True Grit The Shootist A Few Dollars More Once Upon a Time in the West She Worn a Yellow Ribbon My Name is Nobody The Magnificent Seven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Archer Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time In no particular order, save The Searchers. It is in the correct position The Searchers Rio Bravo High Noon The Outlaw Josey Wales My Darling Clementine The Ox-Bow Incident Shane Shenandoah Ride the High Country The Big Country Man Without a Star Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted June 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time Shenandoah The one with Jimmy Stewart? Great movie, but considering it's set in Virginia in 1861 don't know that I would call it a Western. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starwolf Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time That would be Shanandoah with Jimmy Stewart. My list would be: Lonesome Dove Open Range Quigley Down Under The Quick and the Dead The Unforgiven Chatta's Land They Died with their boots on For a few dollars more A fistful of dollars and the all time greatest western of them all RUSTLERS RHAPHSODY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinanju Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time For me, the list would have to include: El Dorado - Classic ranchers vs farmers conflict with gunfighters getting involved on both sides. Quigley Down Under - Proves that "the western" isn't limited to the traditional West. Silverado - If for no other reason than the climactic gunflight, with the town and church framed behind Kevin Kline while the villain stands with nothing but desert wastelande behind him. Subtle? Not at all. But as a 1000-word picture it was right on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time Western Movie Resources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_movie List of Western Movies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Western_movies IMDb Top 50 Western Movies http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Genres/Western/average-vote/ TQM's top 5 pics 1. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 2. The Magnificent Seven 3. Maverik 4. Fort Apache 5. The Outlaw Josey Whales Clint Eastwood was the man. It's really too bad the He and the Duke never made a film together. Cheers QM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gewing Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time The Cowboys McCLintock The Shootist The outlaw josey Wales My name is nobody Silverado Purgatory Big Jake good teh bad and the ugly, I guess... I can't believe I forgot Quigley!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time Hang'em High was good. I should've mentioned Lonesome Dove. I guess I forgot because it was a mini-series. It was kind of like 4 movies in 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time I have to say, I’ve been getting more and more into the western genre. Especially since I became a Trucker… main reason, my XM radio system, and the theater on it… they have all the old radio classics, and another station with the new ones, but to make a long story short, due to a lot of the good ones being mentioned already, I just wanted to say the classic Red Rider series, the Lone Ranger, and the ever classic Gunsmoke, witch brings in Ponderosa, and I forget the name but the one with the dude where they break his Calvary sword at the opening… something about broken… damn was it called branded? Sorry for running off track, but some of those old series were pretty good also. Of course every couple of weeks they have a book on the audio drama station written by Louis Lamour -Woof yup, it was branded, and then I must mention The Rifleman also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted June 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time High Noon and The Magnifecent Seven are definitely on the final list. Others Suggested include The Big Country Big Jake Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Cat Balou Chatta's Land The Cowboys El Dorado A Few Dollars More A Fistful of Dollars Fort Apache Geronimo - An American Legend The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Hang'em High How the West Was Won Man Without a Star Maverick (the 1994 version with Mel Gibson?) McCLintock My Darling Clementine My Name is Nobody Once Upon A Time In The West Open Range Outlaw Josey Wales The Ox-Bow Incident Purgatory The Quick and the Dead Quigley Down Under Ride the High Country Rio Bravo Rooster Cogburn The Searchers Shane She Worn a Yellow Ribbon Shenandoah The Shootist Silverado They Died with Their Boots On True Grit Unforgiven Young Guns I & II Let's give Lonesome Dove an honorable mention, and put it in a category of its own. Blazing Saddles and Rustlers Rhaphsody are different, even unique, interpetations of the Hero's Journey, but not what I'm looking for here. I'll put them on a different list, along with Little Big Man and The Frisco Kid. Seems to be skewed toward more recent stuff. Any Tom Mix, Tex Ritter, Gene Autry or Roy Rogers that rose above "B" movie status? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barwickian Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time Seems to be skewed toward more recent stuff. Any Tom Mix' date=' Tex Ritter, Gene Autry or Roy Rogers that rose above "B" movie status?[/quote'] If we're going to go older stuff, I'd have to pick Winchester '73 as my favourite. The story of the West following a carbine from one owner to the next. Superb. Stagecoach is damned fine as well. AS to the preference for more modern movies, I believe the Western grew up after the late '60s. It may have been Vietnam; it may have been the influence of Sergio Leone and the anti-hero. It may have been for other reasons entirely. But from Josie Wales onward, Westerns drew on much more mature themes. Incidently, guys, good calls on Quigley Down Under and Open Range. Should have remembered those... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time I'm not much of an expert but for my Deadlands campaigm i followed this recipe: Just take anything from Sergio Leone ( eg.A fistful of dollars) and mix it with Sam Peckinpah ( eg. Wild Bunch), add Clint Eastwood ( eg.Unforgiven) and a touch of some classics ( John Ford would be OK). It worked for me. Ciao PS I'm happy to notice that many people put Quigley Down Under in the list. I absolutely agree, it was a really good movie with an interesting perspective and I'm happy to see that is well considered among the western fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterBaldy Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time Probably my all time favorite western is CATLOW, based on the book by Louis L'Amour. The Magnificent Seven, based on Kirisawa's The Seven Samurai, is a close second. I also love all of the Clint Eastwood westerns, especially Two Mules For Sister Sarah. All of the "Spagetti Westerns" are great films...especially A Fistful of Dollars. A guilty pleasure for me is the movie The Quick and the Dead. I can't explain it. It's not a particularly good film...but I can't get enough of it. Any John Wayne western...especially TRUE GRIT and The Sons of Katie Elder, as well as The Shootist. Quigley Down Under is a good piece as well...Tom Selleck was awesome as Quigley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time Nothing outstanding coming from me. Everything I like has been mentioned. Eastwood's movies, Shane, True Grit, The Sons of Katie Elder. I've never seen The Cowboys all the way through, but the first time I remember it, I was kind of puttering around doing other stuff with the TV on. But when the bad guys were about to hang that one guy and his "final" words were "forgive me for the men I have killed in anger, and for those I'm about to" it hit me like a ton of bricks. That guy had balls like church bells. I really need to rent that movie some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time I'd second El Dorado, (Heck, almost any John Wayne Western is okay by me), The Magnificient Seven, and others that have already been selected. The only one I can think of that isn't on the list, and I'm not sure it is among the greatest, but it stuck in my head... The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean with Paul Newman, if you see it as just a comedy, it will drag in places. If you look for the parts in it about the death of the 'old west' it actually gets a bit thought provoking. It did for me anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowcat1313 Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time I think it was Silverado that had John Cleese as a sheriff Blazing Saddles Magnificent Seven a little earlier than most western genres, but the original version of The Alamo The Cowboys True Grit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobGreenwade Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time I'll agree with (in no particular order) High Noon, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, The Magnficent Seven, True Grit, The Shootist, Maverick, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Blazing Saddles. I'm surprised nobody's mentioned (at least, that I can find) Support Your Local Sheriff, a far superior comedy-Western (IMO) to Blazing Saddles. (Hawmps! was too, and I recommend it though I'd leave it off any "top ten" list.) From behind safe cover I'll also throw in Shanghai Noon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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