Great film with some great songs - The Deadwood Stage, The Black Hills of Dakota, A Woman's Touch, Windy City.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kk9HBlS9SQ


Doris Day steals the show as Calamity who crackles with energy , some fantastic songs . Even though it's supposed to be a romance between Calamity and Wild Bill it seem it was more a love story between Calamity and Katie. If this doesn't put a smile on your face and have you tapping your toes, your probably dead. 8/10


Now watching Django (1966)

Hatfields and McCoys (2012)

An interesting, at times exciting and often informative four and a half hour mini series about the very bloody feud between two families - the Hatfields and McCoys.

Although Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton head the field (It serves as a reminder that the late Bill Paxton was a fantastic and very underrated actor) the rest of the cast including Tom Berenger, Powers Boothe and Sarah Parish are also very good and the production values are high.

What i did like was the way the script had me rooting for one family then the next depending on which despicable act was carried out. Whilst it doesn't really match up with the best the western genre has to offer it's still very watchable and a good addition to my dvd collection.

Django (1966)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc2I95IMZmM

The movie opens with Django dragging a coffin behind him , he soon comes across a woman tied to a stake and being whipped , saving the woman he makes his way to the nearest village , which is in the middle of a war between a racist ex general and a group of bandits. Quite violent for its day with some good scenes, when we find out what's in the coffin and when a mans ear is cut off and he is forced to eat it are a couple. 7/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW9o2nR11DM

A stellar cast tell the story of the West from one family's point of view . 7/10


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0i0RSpQEf8

A wild West show down on its luck enters a hidden valley that's the home for dinosaurs, they mange to capture one and being it back to put on show, of course something goes wrong and the beasties escapes. 7.5/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPnr983684I

A man with no name enters a small village that's is home for two waring gangs, he plays the two sides against each other. Vintage Clint with some fantastic scenes and one of the best soundtracks ever! 8.5/10



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDRNEwFOttw

The legend returns as the man with no name , this time he's a bounty Hunter seeking a bandit leader and his gang , another bounty Hunter( Lee van Cleef) is also seeking them. First at logger heads they soon develop a mutual respect and team up together. Another fantastic soundtrack and a film that proves there will never be anyone as cool as Clint! 9/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKayG1TrfuE


The best and funniest comedy western ever made, so many classic lines and scenes a film I never get bored of watching . A classic .

It's Hedley! 10/10

The Undefeated (1969)

In the aftermath of the Civil War, Union cavalry men heading towards Mexico cross paths with a band of Southern soldiers and an uneasy friendship is formed especially when the men get caught between Mexican rebels fighting their government forces.

Shot entirely on location, Andrew V. Mclaglen's western is epic in scale and beautifully shot, complete with vast cattle drives and circle the wagons shoot em' ups galore. Both John Wayne and Rock Hudson as the leaders of the two former warring factions are both excellent, and the involving screen play brings beautifully to life even the smallest performances.

Recommended.

3:10 To Yuma (2007)

Christian Bale plays a drought ruined rancher who helps take a dangerous outlaw to justice by transporting him to the town of Contention where he will board the 3:10 train to Yuma prison.

Ford v Ferrari (2019) and Logan (2017) director James Mangold takes what is in reality a rather plodding western from 1957, updates it with new scenes of intensity and creates one of the best remakes in the western genre if not in cinema itself, leaving the original film flailing about in the dust.

Mangold isn't alone in this achievement of course. He's helped by a sharp script, a memorable score, and brilliant performances from the charismatic Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Logan Lerman, Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol and a superb Ben Foster as Crowe's fearsome right hand man who is as wild as a rabid dog.

As well as some tense action sequences the film focuses on complex moral issues especially where Crowe's villain is concerned culminating in a surprising finale.

Death Rides A Horse. 1967.

A young boy witnesses his family killed by bandits, 15 years later he vows to hunt them down with the help of a ex convict who is hunting the bandits.

Gripping and exciting as this film was when i first saw it years ago and after re-watching it, it's still a great western and much more appreciated now, It wasn't just another round em up and shot em, this was a clever laid down plot that focuses on two men from different backgrounds hunting for revenge. Lee Van Cleef plays the ex convict Ryan and and John Phillip Law as Billy the lone survivor of a massacred family and brilliant background score by Ennio Morricone.

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Night Passage (1957)

After a slow burn build up including an excruciatingly bad first few minutes, Night Passage transforms itself into a terrific western with James Stewart ably supported by Audie Murphy, Dan Duryea and Jack Elam, culminating in an excellent shoot out at a saw mill.

The film boasts extensive location work in Durango, Colorado and is beautifully shot in Technirama Technicolor which allowed the Autumn colours to positively sparkle with the scenery throughout stunning.

The Scalphunters (1968)

Burt Lancaster headlines this lively western that combines action, humour, sparkling dialogue and a sharp satirical commentary on race relations with a final scene that goes to show we are all just the same race after all.

Despite Lancaster, Shelley Winters and Telly Savalas being the 'stars', Ossie Davis as escaped slave Joseph Lee steals the film from under their noses.