Reading through, most of my suggestions have been covered so . . . watch Tombstone again.
If we're expanding to "frontier movies" - I remember enjoying Jeremiah Johnson and Last of the Mohicans, but haven't seen either in a decade or two.
Reading through, most of my suggestions have been covered so . . . watch Tombstone again.
If we're expanding to "frontier movies" - I remember enjoying Jeremiah Johnson and Last of the Mohicans, but haven't seen either in a decade or two.
Everything that I would mention has been covered, but I'll hit a few of my favorites.
Deadwood is as good as you've heard. One of the best TV shows ever, with complex characters, a hell of a story, and dialogue so good it defies description. The closest I can come is "profanity poetry". It also has the incomparable Ian McShane as Al Swearangen. And can you beat Timothy Olyphant playing a western lawman?
Unforgiven is a top 10 movie all time for me. Again, complex characters, very much not black and white. I look at it as a sequel of sorts to the Man With No Name trilogy, sort of how that character would have ended up. Eastwood and Freeman are both tremendous, but Gene Hackman really steals the show. And the ending scene where Munny comes to the saloon is utter perfection. "Any man that doesn't want to get killed, best clear on out the back."
There is no more fun western than Tombstone. Great action, extremely quotable, well shot, and an absolutely loaded cast highlighted by Val Kilmer in a criminally underrated performance as Doc Holliday.
Once Upon a Time in the West is probably the best of the spaghetti westerns, though A Fistful of Dollars is a wonderful, compact story. But OUATITW has such an epic sweep, and a rare villian performance by Henry Fonda that's hard to beat.
Me being partial to James Stewart, who was an actual WW2 combat veteran, not a pretend one like John Wayne:
Django should not be mentioned in the same thread as "family".
Probably a few others.
Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:...Unforgiven is a top 10 movie all time for me. Again, complex characters, very much not black and white. I look at it as a sequel of sorts to the Man With No Name trilogy, sort of how that character would have ended up. Eastwood and Freeman are both tremendous, but Gene Hackman really steals the show. And the ending scene where Munny comes to the saloon is utter perfection. "Any man that doesn't want to get killed, best clear on out the back."
I have to agree. I see Unforgiven as a sort of an "apology" by Eastwood for some of his more goofy / unrealistic westerns. It portrays the "gunfighters" and "hero" Sheriffs as more the brutal bullies that they likely where (not heroes in any way, as commonly portrayed).
I would recommend the movie as a kind of period in your western watching marathon. I think The Outlaw Josey Wales went a little bit this way, but it still had a lot of western trope to it.
I would say the signature quote from the movie would be:
"It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. You take away everything he's got and everything he's ever gonna have."
SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:Django should not be mentioned in the same thread as "family".
Probably a few others.
You aren't wrong in a traditional family but in this case my family is my wife, me and my dad so there isn't children
In reply to aircooled :
Unforgiven is a great movie, not just a great Western.
I really like that Eastwood's character is about as far as it can get away from a standard Western main character
Firefly is definitely a western, and IMO the best series ever made.
The Mandolorian? I don't know, some of it I see but I think that a lot of people hear the soundtrack and think "western" more than anything
Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:Django should not be mentioned in the same thread as "family".
Probably a few others.
You aren't wrong in a traditional family but in this case my family is my wife, me and my dad so there isn't children
Good. I pictured you snuggling up with your kids and popcorn on the couch and suddenly "WTF"!!??
I will say as an adult, that Django was really disturbing to me. It's brilliant, but also horrible.
As an aside, there were a series of Django movies in the 60s. Roughly the same premise, I believe? Haven't watched them, but they commonly make top 50 Western lists
Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:....The Mandolorian? I don't know, some of it I see but I think that a lot of people hear the soundtrack and think "western" more than anything
The Mandolorian is very much a "western". It's not even very subtle about it (as you mentioned, the soundtrack). You could also say it's Samuri movie, but they of course heavily influenced westerns.
Star Wars (the original movie at least) is also very much a "western". Just look at the characters. At least very heavily influenced by westerns.
aircooled said:Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:....The Mandolorian? I don't know, some of it I see but I think that a lot of people hear the soundtrack and think "western" more than anything
The Mandolorian is very much a "western". It's not even very subtle about it (as you mentioned, the soundtrack). You could also say it's Samuri movie, but they of course heavily influenced westerns.
Star Wars (the original movie at least) is also very much a "western". Just look at the characters. At least very heavily influenced by westerns.
I don't disagree but I think it's a "western" rather than a western if that makes sense.
To me a western doesn't include spaceships and green alien babies that can move stuff with their mind.
I did enjoy it a lot though I think a few characters are annoying
SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:Django should not be mentioned in the same thread as "family".
Probably a few others.
You aren't wrong in a traditional family but in this case my family is my wife, me and my dad so there isn't children
Good. I pictured you snuggling up with your kids and popcorn on the couch and suddenly "WTF"!!??
I will say as an adult, that Django was really disturbing to me. It's brilliant, but also horrible.
There's no popping in High Plains Drifter and someone saying " Mommy why is that man dragging her into the barn" don't worry
Also for video games the Red Dead Redemption series is great too, not a great Western game.....a great game overall
Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:Firefly is definitely a western, and IMO the best series ever made.
"I aim to misbehave!" 4 thumbs up for Firefly...
If we are gonna include The Mandalorian and Star Wars, then we should include "WestWorld". (Definitely prefer the Yul Brynner original)
Ok, here's a couple more great ones. Can't believe the original Monte Walsh (with Lee Marvin & Jack Palance) hasn't popped up yet in this thread. Absolutely outstanding, and, now that I think about it, family friendly too. Also, Tom Horn, one of Steve McQueen's last movies and very underrated & overlooked. Enjoy.
Is "City Slickers" really a western? Jack Palance is a badass. Once on a talk show he said "I crap bigger'n Billy Crystal". 
3:10 to Yuma. Both the original and the remake.
Cowboys & Aliens was pretty entertaining.
+11 for Firefly and Blazing Saddles!
Just watched Once Upon a Time in the West again. I'd forgotten how cramped, almost claustrophobic, the cinematography is - no small feat for something shot in wide open spaces. Feels very different to earlier Sergio Leone pictures.
A friend recently turned me on to Warrior.
Sorta pushing what fits that genre, but definitely the right period. It's about Chinese immigrants in San Francisco in the 1870's. It was based off a concept that Bruce Lee had but was never able to bring to fruition. So it's this wonderful mashup of Bruce Lee martial arts, Western, and gangster show.
Also Logan is very much a modern western.
How about Quigley down under?
Not exactly a Western, and I haven't actually seen any of the TV shows, but I'm a fan of the Longmire series of books. If the show is anywhere near as good I'd recommend it.
stuart in mn said:Not exactly a Western, and I haven't actually seen any of the TV shows, but I'm a fan of the Longmire series of books. If the show is anywhere near as good I'd recommend it.
Longmire the show is pretty solid, I didn't watch the last season (two seasons?) but I liked it up till then. Just forgot to go back to the show after a break.
If Longmire is added though, should Justified be? Is it enough of a western despite being set in coal country?
I thought I posted this earlier today. As an aside to the discussion, it's interesting how some standard plots will transfer to a different setting.
From a Time magazine article about Startrek:
Creator Gene Roddenberry pitched his space-adventure series to the networks as a “Wagon Train to the Stars,” a nod to the westerns that were still the gold standard in popular TV drama in the 1960s.
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