What's the best western released since 1969?
Post categories: Film and cinema
| 16:24 UK time, Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Last week saw the 40th anniversary of the first 'buddy-buddy' Western, Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid. It's hard to believe it's 40 years since Newman and Redford paired for William Goldman's Oscar winning script, as it still seems as fresh today as it did back then.
The interesting fact thought is that 1969 was a bit of a golden year for the Western, with Butch & Sundance sharing the limelight with True Grit and The Wild Bunch. Now all three of these films are firm favourites of mine, and get watched regularly in Casa Slay. But there's a certain tinge of sadness mixed with the joy because, in a way, 1969 was probably the year that saw the end of the classic Western.
The interesting fact thought is that 1969 was a bit of a golden year for the Western, with Butch & Sundance sharing the limelight with True Grit and The Wild Bunch. Now all three of these films are firm favourites of mine, and get watched regularly in Casa Slay. But there's a certain tinge of sadness mixed with the joy because, in a way, 1969 was probably the year that saw the end of the classic Western.
So, Sunday I was out having a few birthday drinks in town (16th
anniversary of the 30th birthday, as I like to think of it), and of
course the usual suspects were there to provide company and insults.
As the day wore on, and the conversation inevitably turned to films, I mentioned that '69 was quite a year for the cowboy film. And wouldn't you know it, the question was raised, "All right then, what's the best Western released since 1969?"
It was like a feeding frenzy, as everyone shouted across each other, with titles like The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Shootist, Unforgiven, Siverado, and even Brokeback Mountain being mentioned (that last one was my friend Karen's, and she was rather drunk, to be honest).
The thing is, there's been something of a revival in the western over the last few years, and every time someone mentions the fact that the cowboy film is dead, Hollywood disproves the fact by releasing works such as Tombstone, Open Range, and 3.10 to Yuma.
An hour and a half later the arguments were still raging, but for the most part we'd all agreed that Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven was the best western since 1969, with Silverado coming second by a majority descision. We never did get to decide on the third best, as we got distracted by a repeat showing of the Haye vs Valuev fight (best boxing movie next week, I reckon).
But as this is my blog, and I get final choice on all matters, I'm throwing a bit of a quirky one as my third favourite cowboy film since '69 - The Quick and the Dead. Sam Raimi's highly-stylised Western with a pre-Gladiator Russell Crowe, a very young Leonardo Di Caprio, and a towering performance of nastiness by Gene Hackman. In fact, it's such a cracking film that even having Sharon Stone as the main star didn't manage to ruin it.
So there we are, my top three Westerns since 1969. Anyone else want to argue with those?
As the day wore on, and the conversation inevitably turned to films, I mentioned that '69 was quite a year for the cowboy film. And wouldn't you know it, the question was raised, "All right then, what's the best Western released since 1969?"
It was like a feeding frenzy, as everyone shouted across each other, with titles like The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Shootist, Unforgiven, Siverado, and even Brokeback Mountain being mentioned (that last one was my friend Karen's, and she was rather drunk, to be honest).
The thing is, there's been something of a revival in the western over the last few years, and every time someone mentions the fact that the cowboy film is dead, Hollywood disproves the fact by releasing works such as Tombstone, Open Range, and 3.10 to Yuma.
An hour and a half later the arguments were still raging, but for the most part we'd all agreed that Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven was the best western since 1969, with Silverado coming second by a majority descision. We never did get to decide on the third best, as we got distracted by a repeat showing of the Haye vs Valuev fight (best boxing movie next week, I reckon).
But as this is my blog, and I get final choice on all matters, I'm throwing a bit of a quirky one as my third favourite cowboy film since '69 - The Quick and the Dead. Sam Raimi's highly-stylised Western with a pre-Gladiator Russell Crowe, a very young Leonardo Di Caprio, and a towering performance of nastiness by Gene Hackman. In fact, it's such a cracking film that even having Sharon Stone as the main star didn't manage to ruin it.
So there we are, my top three Westerns since 1969. Anyone else want to argue with those?
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