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The Magnificent Seven (2016) 1 Attachment(s) The Magnificent Seven (2016) Since were talking a remake of a remake,its pretty hard to criticize on that score at least,and since this remake has very little to do with the film that starred Yul Brynner, Horst Buchholz, James Coburn, Steve McQueen and Robert Vaughn etc,then its more in the way of what kids call a re-imagining,which is I suppose the same as what John Sturges did with the Seven Samurai.The difference being that I cannot see this new version being repeated in forty years time and become all time classic,that the Sturges film became.The real main difference being is that the 1960 version had a pretty amazing cast of actors that portrayed a rather great bunch of anti heroes. Unfortunately although there is a fairly good cast of actors in Antoine Fuqua's film,including Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt and Ethan Hawke none of them can hold a candle to the likes of Charles Bronson, Yul Brynner, Horst Buchholz, James Coburn and the great Steve McQueen. In the new film the story now takes place in the mining town of Rose Creek ,where Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard) and his bunch of gun totting henchmen,want to take over the town and the surrounding area for its lucrative mining. After a massacre at the church which left Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) husband killed and half the towns folk slaughtered,she takes a bag full of money and rides out to hire some help.There is obviously some major plot changes here between this and the 1960 version,and I have to say not for the better. WAS it because they did not want to stereotype the Mexican community or did they just run out of those funny looking Mexican cowboy hats.Also they really push the ethnically diversity amongst the bunch,its almost like they had to fill a quota. In its favor the film does look good and is well directed by Antoine Fuqua,but the main problem definitely lies with the story and script,you really do not feel any sympathy at all for the towns folk, and even less for the seven,even if they are out numbered and out gunned. Casting wise while Denzel Washington who plays Sam Chisolm is ok,the only other character which had any real personality was Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Vasquez. At best the film is average at worst it has no real passion or spark,and certainly not as good as some recent modern westerns like 3:10 to Yuma (2007). |
Great review, Inspector. I love the Sturges film. It along with The Great Escape was the sort of thing i grew up watching. It's a shame you don't rate it but from your words i doubt i will either. Oh and i totally agree with you about 3:10 to Yuma. That's superb, actually far better than the original in my opinion which gets quite slow in it's middle third. |
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Did you see the Aussie film Red Hill? Although it's set in the modern day you'd never know and is basically just a very good old school western. |
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What i'm trying to say is you should be able to get it fairly cheaply. Slip cased as well. |
http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/59...6df63f023b.jpg APACHE DRUMS (1951) A gambler is told to leave town along with the 'dancing girls' as they are not welcome anymore. Out of town he comes across the stagecoach of the girls and discovers they have been killed by Apache. Racing back to town he tells that the Apache are on their way but no-one believes him. Later the stagecoach arrives back at the town riddled with arrows and they now know he was telling the truth. The Apache kill a young man from the town and put the body down the well, polluting the water supply. A group from the town ride out to get water and are joined by a handful of Cavalry who help fight off the Apache who come charging at them. The Apache attack the town and everyone takes refuge in the church in a last stand against them... One name made me seek this film out. Val Lewton. Lewton produced the great RKO horrors and I had heard his touches were to be seen in this film. The film is very atmospheric. In one scene the gambler Sam is in the desert rocks alone. The music and camera angles give a real sense of foreboding. The church siege has all the Lewton horror hallmarks. Apache appearing at open windows and dressed like devils as they jump down screaming from the high windows. The whole of this church siege takes place in the last 25mins and we never move from there. It's dark and the drums beat outside suddenly changing tempo as the attack begins. All you can see through the high windows is the flicker of the town burning. Several other motives come in to play here such as religion between a priest and an Indian scout and the playfulness of Sam as he plays magic tricks for the crying children inside the church when they think that all hope is lost and to prepare for the worst. Adding to all this is a music score by horror Maestro Hans J. Salter. A great little film which now resides along side Val Lewton's RKO gems. :first: |
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This is the DVD I have Dem. It's from Koch Media and the picture quality is excellent. http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/6a...1931d3ff41.jpg It is available from and supplied by Amazon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Apache-Drum...s=apache+drums |
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Westworld (1973) |
some clint |
Ride the High Country (1962) Western icons Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott as former lawmen assigned to transport an assignment of gold from a mountainous mining camp to the Californian town of Hornitos. On their way they meet up with a young cowboy and a naive young woman who wishes to marry one of the miners. Ride the High Country might just be Sam Peckinpah's best film, i'd certainly say it 's his best western. His use of Scott and McCrea feels like a last hurrah for both the actors and the genre. Indeed it was Randolph Scott's final film role as he retired soon after at the age of 64. As for the genre itself, well of course it would continue and is still arguably going strong although with a much slower output to this day, but Peckinpah's film certainly does feel like final love letter as the two western heroes take one last ride with some witty and at times sad sparring dialogue between the two. As well as it's occasional feeling of melancholia the film also has a slightly disturbing edge to it when we get to the mining camp. It's clear that when young Mariette Hartley marries her beau she's going to become a ride for himself and his four brothers at their pleasure and whilst there is no on screen rape it's certainly implied it will happen and almost immediately following her wedding. Luckily none of this occurs, how could it when you have Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea on your side and the final descent down the mountain with it's lush green scenery (a long way from John Ford's Monument Valley landscapes) is a western fans dream as Scott and McCrea make one final stand against the inbred miners in a set piece that would influence film makers especially Spaghetti western ones for years to come. Ride the High Country is an excellent western and highly recommended. |
https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...a0&oe=595E79E9 Doctor Who: Classic - The Gunfighters Doctor Who: Nu-Who - A Town Called Mercy The Prisoner - Living In Harmony Star Trek - Spectre of the Gun Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Fistful Of Datas Star Trek: Enterprise - North Star Quantum Leap - The Last Gunfighter Battlestar Galactica - The Last Warrior Red Dwarf - Gunmen Of The Apocalypse Lost In Space - West Of Mars Any other suggestions? Single episodes and not science fiction shows that are hoss operas in space (i.e Firefly, Westworld) |
Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973) John Wayne is at his grizzled best in this later western. Standing alone against gangs of bad guys is no problem to him but his two sons aged 11 and 17 are a different matter since their mother died, especially when they join up with George Kennedy and rob a bank. Whilst not one of Wayne's best westerns, Cahill is still a lively 90 minutes or so with Andrew V McLaglen directing some violent shoot outs whilst adding (true) grit to proceedings by putting the 11 year old lad in genuine peril whilst at knife and gun point. In fact i doubt they'd get away with the knife sequences on a child today. Naturally Wayne stands tall throughout and he has a good rapport with Neville Brand who plays a Comanche chief cum tracker for Cahill. They spar off each other well and their camaraderie is as much to the films fore as Cahill realizing he's been a lousy father and having to make up for it. When it all comes down to the said and done Cahill U.S. Marshall is a vehicle for John Wayne. John Wayne the cowboy and John Wayne the legend and he doesn't disappoint with some brilliant lines only he could deliver. For example whilst arresting a black gang member who refuses to disarm - "Mister, I ain't got a bigoted bone in my body. You don't drop that axe I'll blast you to hell as quick as I would a white man" And when a local posse gets in his way - "Well, there's no use prodding around. I'm willing to die trying to keep 'em. The question is, are you willing to die trying to take 'em. Now I'm cold and hungry and wet and tired and short-tempered, so get on with it!" - naturally Wayne just strides on through and no one raises so much as a finger to stop him. Classic John Wayne in an enjoyable film. Recommended. |
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) Henry Fonda leads an all star cast in this terrific conscience provoking western about three men taken for murdering cattle thieves by a local posse intent that justice will be done. Although the star of the film, Fonda doesn't actually do an awful lot except watch proceedings unravel as Dana Andrews and Anthony Quinn are tried by street justice. The film is delightfully acted with a script and dialogue Tarantino would kill to have written. The way it plays with people's blind prejudices leading to what amounts to the cold blooded murder of innocents is a subject no less poignant today. Andrews is excellent, it's clear to the viewer he's innocent all along yet the posse's blinkered viewpoint never flinches. Whilst watching i did feel The Ox-Bow Incident would make an excellent companion piece for 1957's Fonda starrer 12 Angry Men in the way it deals with hatred and prejudice. Highly recommended. |
Rawhide (1951) Classic western adventure about a way station taken over by a band of outlaws as they wait for a gold shipment to pass by. Starring Tyrone Power (Someone i've heard of but never seen in a film before - what a name - Tyrone Power) and Susan Hayward as a couple held hostage along with their child by Hugh Marlowe as the terribly well spoken ring leader and Dean (X-The Unknown) Jagger and a madly unhinged Jack Elam as his cohorts, Rawhide is a tense affair with some surprisingly brutal sequences such as Elam shooting at the young child and him also strangling Hayward with the veins popping out of his arms as he does it. The film is pacy and director Henry Hathaway keeps things interesting throughout despite it largely having a cast of six, with gripping games of cat and mouse as Power and Hayward attempt to escape. This film has nothing to do with the long running western tv series of the same name. The dvd from Signal One Entertainment is part of the Hollywood Classics range that seems to have been spread around several distributing companies. The print positively sparkles and is housed on an extras laden disc. Recommended. Jack Elam and Susan Hayward. |
twiglets 12 Attachment(s) I knew that the Twilight Zone had done some western themed episodes,there seems to be at least 12 episodes that fit the bill.
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Unforgiven 63 Attachment(s) |
The Wild Bunch (1969) 64 Attachment(s) |
The Bounty Killer (1965) After being on the receiving end of some hard knocks, mild mannered Willie Duggan decides the way to make some quick money and provide for his new love is to become a bounty hunter. The Bounty Killer is a genuinely surprising film. Playing out quite differently to other films of the period. Dan Duryea is excellent in what is essentially a character study of how a man's personality changes through the terrible business of killing. Duryea isn't someone i'd normally associate with nice roles as Duggan is in the film's first few acts but he carries it off with charm and ease as he falls in love with saloon singer Audrey Dalton. His transformation from character actor to leading man, effortless. His metamorphosis into a sawn off shotgun wielding killing machine is shocking to witness. The film isn't perfect though. In truth Duryea is, at 55, too old for the role and especially as a lover for Dalton who was 26 years his junior and the final scene is predictable and you'll see it coming (perhaps not who though) a good ten minutes before it happens. Oh, finally. Look out for Larry 'Buster' Crabbe, from the old Universal Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials. On the whole, The Bounty Killer is an excellent western that i really enjoyed. |
Right Inspector Ron Dakin You've tipped the balance. TWB it is this weekend. Beggin' yr pardon ...but due to this thread ... have dug out Joe Kidd ... Jeremiah Johnson ... HPD ... Red River..... and will add to this the moderns Jane Got A Gun, Forsaken and probably Bone Tomahawk agin. ;) |
The Great Silence (1968) 62 Attachment(s) |
Nice post, Inspector. I really need to buy this film. :nod: |
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I'll second that. Well worth the wait etc ...enjoy!!:nod: |
The Great Silence is excellent. One of the finest western films, despite (or because of) the odd snowy setting. I rate it highly. As a matter of fact, it is a personal favourite - especially because of its downbeat mood. |
The Wild Bunch (1969, Sam Peckinpah) The film that made me like Westerns. Holden a tarnished knight ... Johnson shifty to the core ... Borgnine loyalty personified ... and Ryan a man caught in a trap .... Strother Martin auditions for Wind In The Willows :lol: I digress. Chasing that 'big score' the Bunch entangle themselves in a tricky but profitable situation ... A horse Opera indeed. :nod: Recommended highly. :nod: |
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 1 Attachment(s) |
^ In case anyone missed this. The restoration project of the Sad Hill cemetery. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrEQPe7l6zU |
Good The Bad and the Ugly 8 Attachment(s) Just started watching this, this evening and I totally forgot this was the extended cut with the extra scenes, most notably when Tuco goes and finds his buddies before they try and kill Blondie in his hotel room. |
Good The Bad and the Ugly phew...its have been ages since I watched this...how can a film that long just seem to fly by... https://s9.postimg.org/pxwaf8ixb/TGTBTU_3837.jpg |
1 Attachment(s) This may be of interest to some members :nod: From FAB Press: “Coming from FAB Press in 2018... RENEGADE WESTERNS. Stay tuned for details of how to get hold of the very limited hardcover edition, each copy signed by the authors.” Attachment 200468 |
The Hunting Party (1971) Gene Hackman stars as a wealthy business man whose wife (Candice Bergen) is kidnapped by a ruthless gang of cut throats led by Oliver Reed. Hackman vows revenge and goes after the gang using newly invented long range hunting rifles. One of the most nihilistic and brutal westerns i think i've seen. Much of it is extremely distasteful featuring multiple rapes, brutality against women and a horse fall that i can't un-see. Not to mention the many extremely bloody killings on show.This British western from Don Medford remains a decent enough and original film well, original if you haven't seen The Most Dangerous Game that is, which has a spaghetti vibe to it aided by a fine score from Riz Ortolani. There's barely a chink of light to be seen in this dark brooding affair where a case of Stockholm Syndrome between Bergen and Reed remains the only vestiges of humanity on offer. The Hunting Party isn't one of the great westerns but it does offer something different to the norm and is well worth seeing although i do wish i'd seen the cut British print because as i said i can't un-see that horrific horse trip. |
No Name on the Bullet (1959) Audie Murphy (below) stars as John Gant, a hired killer who rides into a town where no one is sure whose name is on his bullet. Several townsfolk all with murky pasts believe it's them he's come for. An intriguing little thriller, perhaps short on action but still high in suspense as paranoia quickly takes over and the sleepy little western town is suddenly awash with guilt and betrayals. Former World War II hero Murphy is terrific as is Charles Drake as the town doctor as the two collide head to head as the townsfolk begin accusing each other and keep the viewer guessing as to who Gant's target is. Anyone who enjoys classic Hollywood westerns could do a lot worse than check this out. |
Last Of The Mohicans (1936, George B Seitz) Phew, for a minute there I was thinkin' that there were a few too many powdered wigs in this cornsarn western :lol::lol: .... luckily Randolph Scott is at hand to save the day. Decent audio and print on this Hen's Tooth US release. Big heap un PC as well :laugh:. Scott personified the 'straight shooter' and this is one of the reasons it seems. He makes Clark Kent look like a try hard :lol: for a start. Recommended! |
Forsaken (2015) John Henry Clayton returns from ten long years away when he learns of the death of his mother, his guns firmly retired, he attempts to repair his relationship with his father he becomes embroiled in a local land grabber's attempt to drive the people from their homes. Regular 24 director John Cassar brings together father and son Donald and Keifer Sutherland in this classic style western with barely an original bone in it's body. The two, both in good form here are joined by an excellent supporting cast including the villainous Brian Cox, Demi Moore and a scene stealing Michael Wincott (below) as a hired gun seemingly channeling Val Kilmer in Tombstone. Despite referencing many other classics of the genre from Unforgiven and Pale Rider to older fayre like Destry Rides Again, Forsaken is an extremely enjoyable film with stunning cinematography, memorable characters and tension that builds beautifully from the start. Excellent. Highly recommended to western fans. |
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