Silverado (Lawrence Kasdan, 1985)

One of the more known western of the 80s. This one had a big budget and a “A” cast. It somewhat combines western and action genre. You’ve got a typical true American western hero in Scott Glenn and more of a sw antihero in Kevin Kline. There are two other main characters played by Glover and Costner but the story revolves clearly around Kline and Glenn characters. There is also an American realistic approach to it and SW more like action style.

The story might be a bit confusing since there are just too many unfinished plot lines and too many characters that appear on the screen for just few minutes. You tend to expect them to play some major parts and see more of them but this not the case. They just appear for a certain purpose in the movie. The relations and plot lines are so tangled it is almost like a pilot to some tv serie. As you have 4 main characters you have as well several villains but only Brian Dennehy’s Cobb gets enough space to be considered a well written character.

The movie has its own style. It is cheesy (80s are visible here but the better of it) and at the right moments also surprisingly dramatic. There are quite a few tense scenes. It’s beautifully shot and unlike the plot the score is truly memorable. I’d say the thing you’ll remember the most about the movie is just the music and the movie’s positive vibe that will make you want to see it again some day. You won’t probably remember much of the story as it is as stated above eveything but linear. Silverado celebrates the genre and is unlike any other western I’ve seen.

So what do you think of the movie? This one seems to divide the fans of the genre.

I want to like Silverado more than I do. It’s got everything going for it except an interesting story and, unfortunately, even though that’s its only sin, it’s the biggest sin a movie can commit. It’s got a “big movie” gloss to it which isn’t always an especially good look within a genre as gritty as the western but it somehow gets away with that, and it’s certainly got enough about it to keep me returning to it every so often to see if I’ll enjoy it any more this time around. So far though, I’ve always come away from watching Silverado with the same opinion: It’s big, bold and beautiful, but it’s all a bit dull.

All that said, I quite fancy giving it yet another go. I’ve got the blu-ray but I haven’t seen it in years.

Saw SILVERADO fairly recently, it is certainly a big gloss production. I think it is a traditionalist western, the kind of film Howard Hawks would have been making if he was still kicking around in the mid 80s. There is a possibility it doesn’t fit the time it was made.
I think the cast make it a more interesting film, if the main cast was different it would be standard stuff at best. It is a lot better than Kazdan’s Wyatt Earp, well I think so.