# Just getting into Westerns **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 4, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249 "2010-05-04T03:55:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/1 "2010-05-04T03:55:08Z")
Probably as a result of the upcoming game _Red Dead Redemption_, I’ve given the genre another look. Previously I never really considered the genre, never saw any of the films beyond a vague awareness, viewed it as kind of old-hat and having a ‘Sunday afternoon’ feel. But I think I’ve misjudged the genre. I’ve seen _The Proposition_, which I thought was brilliant (although not technically a Western, since it’s set in Australia). Just working my way through Leone’s _Dollars_ trilogy, although did it a bit bass-ackwards since I watched _The Good, The Bad & The Ugly_ first, fortunately it’s more of a prequel, so I wasn’t too confused. What other films (modern or classic, although being spoiled cinematography wise these days I generally prefer more modern films) should I take a look at? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/2 "2010-05-04T04:08:35Z")
In no particular order: _The Outlaw Josey Wales True Grit Little Big Man Lonesome Dove The Long Riders Silverado_ Just to name a few. Also, Kurosawa’s _The Seven Samurai_. Set in feudal Japan, it really is a Classic Western. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/3 "2010-05-04T04:09:53Z")
Although the Leone/Eastwood fims are often called a trilogy I don’t think they have anything in common with one another character-wise or plot-wise. Clint wears the same poncho in each - I think that is the extent of the continuity. As for your question, investigate the names John Ford, Howard Hawks, Budd Boetticher, and Sam Peckinpah. That’s a good start. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/4 "2010-05-04T04:10:16Z")
_True Grit_–greatest movie ever made. _The Outlaw Josey Wales_ _High Plains Drifter_ _Shane_ _Blazing Saddles_–ok, not your usual “western”, but everybody needs to see it. In the original form, not edited for TV. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/5 "2010-05-04T04:13:47Z")
_The Searchers_ _Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid_ Although you shouldn’t see it early on, since it sets the conventions of the genre on its head, Clint Eastwood’s _Unforgiven_ is superb. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/6 "2010-05-04T04:21:45Z")
[List of Western films](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Western_films). Too many for me to go through right now, to see which I liked. But off the top of my head you can add these to the list: _The Oxbow Incident_ _Tombstone_ (if you can stand Dana Delany’s acting in it) _Pale Rider_ (Not one of my faves, but a lot of people like it.) _Heaven’s Gate_. Most people hate it. I hate the Graduation scene and the Roller Skating scene, but I love the rest of it. And Isabelle Huppert is nekkid. _Straight To Hell_. Hey, I’m a Pogues fan. _Young Guns_ _Greaser’s Palace_. Seriously weird. _Jeremiah Johnson_. One day I’ll get me a .50 caliber Hawken. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/7 "2010-05-04T04:33:00Z")
A regular topic: [Top Western Movies](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=493305) [Best Western](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=558313) [Best Western (movie)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=556655) ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/8 "2010-05-04T04:34:54Z")
_No Country For Old Men_ _3:10 to Yuma_ _Tombstone_ _The Good, the Bad and the Ugly_ Those are my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/9 "2010-05-04T04:39:10Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > _Silverado_ Seconded; excellent film. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/10 "2010-05-04T05:00:45Z")
Thanks for the suggestions fellas, the sheer number of films in the genre is rather daunting to the uninformed. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/11 "2010-05-04T06:15:27Z")
Red River The Shootist and so many more… Westerns are the American version of Zen. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/12 "2010-05-04T06:35:50Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > I watched _The Good, The Bad & The Ugly_ first Well, too bad you’ve already watched the best western in existence. _Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid_ is a close second. _Red River_ is good, but quite older. _True Grit_ is good . . . in a way . . . it gets better towards the end but the first 3/4ths of the movie is almost more of a parody of a western than a western. John Wayne had his moments of unbelievable awesomeness on screen, but it always nags me that he seems to have been such a dick in real life. _Unforgiven_ is good. _The Magnificent Seven_ is good. _Django_ is good. _Tombstone_ is damn good. Now here’s where a lot of folks may disagree with me, but I think _Young Guns_ is real good. _Shane_ is good. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/13 "2010-05-04T06:36:50Z")
Well in addition to being good films, many Westerns are simply beautiful to look at, even really crappy ones in terns of story and character can be startlingly beautiful. “The Searcers” and “Silverado” being two great examples, but the point is, even a bad Western can be worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/14 "2010-05-04T06:37:26Z")
My favorites are _True Grit_, _The Shootist_, _The Outlaw Josey Wales_, _Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid_ and even though it’s not set in the classic time period, _Hud_. Can you tell I spent a lot of time watching TV and going to the movies with my grandfather as a kid? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/15 "2010-05-04T13:33:03Z")
_Stagecoach_. _The Wild Bunch_. _The Apple Dumpling Gang_. Pick two out of three. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/16 "2010-05-04T13:36:15Z")
\*Ride the High Country Rustler’s Rhapsody She Wore A Yellow Ribbon Major Dundee\* ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/17 "2010-05-04T13:49:58Z")
I watched The Cowboys last night. Worth watching in my opinion. Rio Bravo is good. What’s the black and white one with John Wayne and the baby in the desert? I like that one. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/18 "2010-05-04T14:19:03Z")
For a more modern take on the classic western, I have to suggest _The Quick and the Dead_. It’s not the world’s greatest movie or anything, but it’s a good time. Honestly, though, the best western of the past few decades was, for my money, the series _Deadwood_ on HBO. Well worth checking out. Not your normal horse opera. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/19 "2010-05-04T15:35:49Z")
_Open Range_ (2003) is a great, great movie. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249/20 "2010-05-04T19:02:31Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > _The Searchers_ Not only a classic, notable for being the only movie where John Wayne didn’t just play himself. _Unforgiven_ is in my top 10 movies of all time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-getting-into-westerns/538249.md?page=2)