I find it hard to choose between these two. I think I prefer the first one, by only by a hair. Both are way better than the endless series of imitiations they spawned.
Havenât seen Along Came Jones in ages (at least so it seems), but I remember liking it. I think I saw it on TV, in Christmas time, some 20-25 years ago. A gentle satire on the genre, if I remember well.
along came jones and raw edge are pretty solid
Whatever, Kochâs US western releases are more and more disappointing. They started with several films for which the term classic could be used (Union Pacific, The Last Wagon, Yellow Sky, The Return of Frank James etc), but meanwhile the good ones are rare, and the most are totally forgettable routine westerns. Too often boring stuff, only a waste of time.
The not so Magnificent 7 (Antoine Fuqua, 2016)
The Mag 7 remake (might be better called the 4th sequel) is as uncharismatic as are its characters as are their actors. Even the Denzel remains pale (well, comparatively). Action scenes are not bad, but lack a reasonable structure, and are going on of course much too long. A generous 5/10, which makes it probably the best sequel of the not-that-great-either original.
Finally watched my Dorado DVD of Django Shoots First. Pretty cool to see Sancho play a good guy!
In the past few days I have watched the following.
Navajo Joe
Silverado
Captain Apache
Day of Anger
Posse
My Name is Nobody
The Magnificent Seven
I am watching The Grand Duel now and next is Keoma.
I am watching my They Call Me Trinity Blu-ray I just got in the mail yesterday.
One of the DVDs in my Christmas present pile this year which included a few recent westerns. Watched this with the wife and we both found it pretty enjoyable without either of us being exactly wowed. Still got Forsaken and Hateful Eight to try from the pile.
HIS NAME WAS HOLY GHOST
Watch it, or at least tried to, for the first time in my life last night.
I reached the half-way point before I dozed off and eventueally lost conscience. The comedy really knocked me out.
Good points so far: score, opening scene and Pilar
Bad points: the rest. Even Garko looks bored. Worst thing about it is Huerta. I always thought he was a nice guy, even a bit funny as long as he was one of the villains, but as a comedy actor ⌠yek
Luckily the second half was a lot better than the first
Not a great movie, but at least I finished it without falling asleep for a second time
Same as you, Phil, regarding these last two Westerns. They are among the last remaining few of my âChristnovdecfestâ titlesâŚ
I watched âForsakenâ last night, and enjoyed it immensely.
It was wonderful to see father and son, Kiefer and Donald Sutherland, acting in their first film together; and - judging by the brief âExtraâ that is included on the Bluray - it was a joy for both to work together, not only in cinematic terms, but also in personal onesâŚit was beautiful to behold on screenâŚ
Briefly, itâs the story of a son (Kiefer) returning home to his estranged Reverend Father, played with suitable restraint by by Donald. Of course, after an absence of many years, there are many cracks and wounds in the Father/Son relationship that need to be healed. Donald is a respected âRevâ of the local church, and Kiefer is trying to forget his gun-fighter past.
To prove this, Kiefer returns to his father, minus guns.
Tie all this up with a greedy land-baron, played by the ever-excellent Brian Cox, who is attempting to bully local farm-steaders out of their properties, and you have most definite over-tones of the classic, âShaneâ.
Add to that a stubborn tree stump (remember âShaneâ), and you have the makings of all that we could wish for in a Western Movie.
Half-way through the film, I was not sure how I feltâŚ
Towards the endâŚwith the Father/Son exchangesâŚI fell in love with the film, and could, most definitely, associate with a few of the regrets that âJohn Henryâ (played by Kiefer Sutherland), was experiencingâŚ
Needless to say that Donald Sutherland was - as always - superlative.
I think that, in âWestern Genreâ terms, the film may appear to be simplicity itself; but - depending on your individual circumstances - it could come to represent a darn sight more.
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Buckaroo.
Gave this one a view again. First thoughts were deciding whether Dean Reeds hair style was bigger than his pistol. Anyway I tend to like Reed in his Italian westerns, he smiles and plays the hero in a laid back style most of the time. But the bad guy Livio Lorenzon just pushes all the buttons as the head bad guy that does keep you watching. Viewed a fan dvd from the Italian version of The Wild Coyote disc with added english subtitles. Yet another lost purchase by me as no official english options.
Saw the same version a couple of days ago 
- average spagh for me, but Dean Reed is likeable.
The last 2 westerns I saw were these two parody classics:
LimonĂĄdovĂ˝ Joe aneb KoĹskĂĄ opera (Lemonade Joe, 1964)
Same year as A Fistul of Dollars, different kind of Eurowestern classic was filmed - behind the Iron Curtain. This Czech western musical parodized Western genre, but more than that, it parodized other aspects of western culture like consumerism and capitalism, even racism. It was filmed at the times when Cold War was at its scary heights, but the parody is not mean-spirited and of shallow-propaganda variety. Quite opposite, it is as actual now as it was in 1964. Even more, nowadays when Eastern block has accepted most of the consumerist/capitalist culture, the element of âSoviet Eastâ making fun of âUSA Westâ is gone, and ex eastern-blockers can now recognize themselves in this movie in which gunslinging hero is actually not a gunfigher, but traveling representative of a beverage company who is only interested in advertising of his product. It is not important whoâs bad, whoâs good, whoâs been killed and who has done what, all that matters is - sales. Filmed in sepia black and white, with quirky, dynamic editing, it has not aged that well as our Fistul, but it has not lost it relevance to modern times like, say, Winnetou movies either.
Mel Brooksâs classic, I believe is well known to most of you.
âBlazing Saddlesâ is a rootinâ, tootin, fartinâ classic!
âTHE HATEFUL EIGHTâ
Now, Iâm not a particular fan of Quentin Tarantino, but I sat, with âRuby Portâ, and cheese selection in hand, and watched this near-epic film, last Friday.
First off, I loved the Ennio Morricone scoreâŚvery atmospheric and hauntingâŚ, especially the opening theme.
The opening scenes reminded me of âThe Big SilenceââŚstagecoach, snow-drifts, corpses on stage roofâŚ
Unlike many (going by the Amazon reviews), I was not put off by the filmâs length, 167 mins. If a film is engaging enough, I donât mind the sedate pace.
However, and I am not a prude, by any means, I wonder why Tarantino is so fond of including the âNâ word in his films?
Also: including several fistfuls of âFâ words, and profanity, is not always a good thingâŚ
However, Iâm not complainingâŚI knew what I was getting, when I bought it.
Conclusion: Okay to watch onceâŚbut thatâs about itâŚ
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