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  #241  
Old 15th May 2023, 10:07 PM
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Excellent write-up Dem. I really like both Django Unchained and Tarantinos next Western The Hateful Eight.
Thank you.

The Hateful Eight is really good. Going off my one and only viewing on dvd - i've got it on Blu-ray now, from when Poundland sold loads of them - it's better than Django Unchained.
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  #242  
Old 7th July 2023, 09:50 PM
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The War Wagon (1967)

Fresh out of prison, John Wayne puts together a crew, including Kirk Douglas and Howard Keel, to rob the gold mining baron who put him there and took his ranch away.

John Wayne and Kirk Douglas are always value for money. This is another of those lesser Wayne movies where he walks about like a giant among men but his sparring with Douglas is at the center of this film and it's just as well as the first hour and ten minutes is pretty slight as far as story goes.

However the last half hour with the raid on the armored stagecoach of the title, loaded with gold which is surrounded by mounted guards, makes up for earlier shortcomings. The War Wagon with it's swiveling Gatling gun emplacement a great piece of almost tank like machinery and the robbery involving marauding native Kiowa is a bullet strewn ballet in which shit really blows up.

For the most part The War Wagon is an inessential western yet the finale somehow makes it seem pretty darn good.

A big thanks to Mr.Barlow for sending me this now out of print addition to my western collection
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  #243  
Old 14th August 2023, 02:37 PM
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Rancho Notorious (1952)

Fritz Lang's final western stars Arthur Kennedy as a frontiersman searching for the man who murdered his fiancee during a bungled robbery. His search meets him up with Mel Ferrer's gunfighter who takes him to Chuck-a-Luck - a horse ranch cum criminal hideout run by Marlene Dietrich's former saloon girl.

I watched this to see whether i actually thought it had improved in the many years since i last saw it brought on by my thoroughly enjoying Shanghai Express, another Dietrich film, the other night. The good news is that i did. Lang's direction is tight and Dietrich is nowhere near as OTT as i thought previously.

As with so many Fritz Lang film it deals with love, betrayal and retribution in what is a moral movie that examines Kennedy's change in behaviour as he slowly becomes just like the killers and thieves holed up at the ranch, so much so that he goes on a robbery with them, luckily his decent side wins out in the end.

The only genuine issue with Rancho Notorious is that it's mainly studio shot meaning it looks cheap when it should look vast and expansive but it does give the film more of a noirish feel about it than just merely a western.

I very much enjoyed Rancho Notorious this time round and at a mere 85 minutes it doesn't outstay it's welcome.
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  #244  
Old 14th August 2023, 02:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs View Post
Thank you.

The Hateful Eight is really good. Going off my one and only viewing on dvd - i've got it on Blu-ray now, from when Poundland sold loads of them - it's better than Django Unchained.
I rate that a lot more than Django Unchained. I find that to be a load of bollocks to be honest.
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  #245  
Old 14th August 2023, 03:00 PM
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The Outlaw Josey Wales 1976.
Another that used to be on regular telly rotation back in the day I really love this film. It's got all the Eastwood regulars and a great script. I like these revisionist western films the best.
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  #246  
Old 17th January 2024, 05:58 PM
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Growing up i used to always watch westerns with my father and grandpappy little western humor there for you sorry ill get my stetson the jokes keep on coming

Anyway its a genre i have neglected for some reason and reading through this tread sooooo many films i haven't seen my gawd where to begin. Settling down and watching a good western always puts me in a good mood. Just like the Gothic thread time to dig in and boost the collection. Recommendations are always welcome from other.
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  #247  
Old 17th January 2024, 06:03 PM
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Originally Posted by Nordicdusk View Post
Growing up i used to always watch westerns with my father and grandpappy little western humor there for you sorry ill get my stetson the jokes keep on coming

Anyway its a genre i have neglected for some reason and reading through this tread sooooo many films i haven't seen my gawd where to begin. Settling down and watching a good western always puts me in a good mood. Just like the Gothic thread time to dig in and boost the collection. Recommendations are always welcome from other.
The easiest way to recommend something is to know what you already own.

Over to you my friend.
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  #248  
Old 17th January 2024, 06:08 PM
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As a starter you could do a lot worse than this lovely collection.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Westerns-Co...d%2C538&sr=1-3

You get John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Gregory Peck, James Stewart, Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Sam Peckinpah, Warren Oates, Ernest Borgnine, William Holden. It's a terrific set.
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  #249  
Old 17th January 2024, 07:17 PM
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The easiest way to recommend something is to know what you already own.

Over to you my friend.
Mostly John Wayne and Clint I have a couple of spaghetti western double packs from America like I said most of the westerns I have seen were on TV.
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  #250  
Old 17th January 2024, 07:44 PM
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I’m in the same boat and I asked Dem last year for some suggestions and he recommended the Randolph Scott films which are on Indicator Blu-ray and I loved them all.
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