It was definitely missing the all important Clint factor. Charles Bronson did good, but he ain’t no Cliint.
oh my, … i feel responsible 
You should cause that’s why I watched Young Guns and you know. Can’t say I enjoyed it. Peyote scene was good. But Emilio laughing like an idiot all the time got old so fast.
How about Maverick (the film, not the tv show). Not a true western I suppose, but a lot of fun to watch.
I felt the same way, but it’s been a LONG time since I tried watching Once Upon a Time in the West (and I used to feel that 2001: A Space Odyssey was boring too once).
I really like Leone’s “trilogy” with Clint Eastwood, particularly For a Few Dollars More (I think–and I know I’m in the minority here–that The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is slightly overrated).
A recent western I really, really liked was the remake of 3:10 to Yuma. Just a cool, cool movie. Also, the Australian western (set in the outback, so it’s not a western in the American mythology sense of the genre, but there are still lots of points of connection regardless) The Proposition was fantastic. Strangely quiet and lyrical for long stretches…and then it gets BRUTAL…till things calm down again. Very disconcerting film.
Sort of like Citizen Kane in that respect. But I really love Eli Wallach’s portrayal of Tuco. For me, that sets the film apart from most.
I love the western genre and agree with all the recommendations here. Especially open range as an example of a very pure, simple western with all the classic elements. Also executed with great care by Kevin Costner and crew.
A few other recomendations. For classic westerns, I recommend everyone see the Sam Peckinpah film “The Wild Bunch”. Up unitl that time real “violence” had not yet been seen in a western. It was always alluded to or stylized somehow. In “The Wild Bunch” we see a no holds barred torrent of violence, particularly at the end highlighting the fact that this was not a rowdy, fun time in our history, but a violent and unpleasant one. Not a time in which I would have wanted to find myself.
Also, I HIGHLY recommend the HBO series Deadwood. It is about the goldrush town of Deadwood, South Dakota post civil war. It’s all about the odd jumble of characters who run the town, always on the brink of total anarchy. It’s also a really interesting study in language in that the construction of dialogue is very much 19th century in form, but completely laced with obcenities. Sounds wierd, but it works. Again, a MUST see for any western genre fan.
Also, don’t forget “Once Upon A Time in The West”, and of course, “The Magnificent Seven”.
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Funny thing there. They did indeed swear a lot, but their idea of swearing was largely based upon blasphemy (God Damn It! etc.) That sounds quaint to our ears, so they swapped it out for modern ‘sex and bodily functions’ swearing.
Yes! Deadwood. Love Deadwood. Maybe my favorite TV series of all time.
If you listen to the special features and audio commentary on Deadwood, series creator David Milch is pretty clear on why the show uses some much profanity.
According to his research, that’s more the way people really talked back then.
We’ve been kinda brainwashed by typical Westerns to think that the cowboy/gunfighter was a quiet, stoic man who didn’t talk much.
But cowboys were only portrayed that way in movies because of the Hayes laws that forbid foul language.
In contrast, Deadwood, he says, uses language the way people REALLY talked back then. F-word, and xxxxsucker etc were used liberally.
He even points out one scene where the word “motherfxxxcker” is used and says that poetic license was used there because that particularly wasn’t used in the culture of that day----which implies that he did some rigorous research on all the other words the WERE used back then.
Interesting.
Oh, odd. That’s somewhat counter to what I heard. I’ll have to look into that.
@Default, Take a look at the remake of 3:10 to Yuma. Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. Out Law Joesy and Tombstone I’ve seen but I love 3:10. Check it out and let me know. Western films are not for everybody though. Same as zombie films. Check Yuma out and let me know what you think.
DP, I am telling you, growing up with a father who is a HUGE John Wayne fan, if you do westerns & don’t include him, you are doing yourself a huge disservice. In modern thinking people see Joyn Wayne as a dinosaur, a relic of a time past. BUt I’m telling you, his acting is top notch & for the most part his movies are excellent & well worth your time.
I’d surely want you to watch Silverado, Tombstone, and the original True Grit. Grit is the oldest and probably hokiest of them, but John Wayne and Kim Darby in it are a must-see.
The Outlaw Josey Wales is tops in my book too.
There is a new one that is a must see “Rango”, took my kids to see it today. It was really brilliant.
Some of my other favorites Tombstone ("I’m your your Huckleberry); Silverado; Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and My Darling Clementine (all 3 a John Ford Films with either John Wayne or Henry Fonda); all the spaghetti westerns; True Grit ( the New one, haven’t seen the old one.); and of course the best Western of all time Blazing Saddles ("More Beans Mr. Taggart).