The Last Western You Watched? ver.2.0

There are films listed in the database like ‘The Ballad of Kid Divine: The Cockney Cowboy’, ‘High Plains Invaders’ and ‘Blueberry’, etc.
But I’m sure you’re right. I’m not really sure what criteria is used.

They are all either spaghetti westerns or Eurowesterns. You have to have some European money involved :slight_smile:

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money, people, companies or locations

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The first is Italian, the second Romanian, the third is French-British-Mexican (with a Dutch director)

Unless they are Mexican? :slightly_smiling_face:

West of the Divide - 3/10
Across the Wide Missouri - 6/10
Randy Rides Alone - 5/10
Villa Rides - 6/10
Sagebrush Trail - 4/10
Paradise Canyon - 4/10
Guns of the Magnificent Seven - 6/10
Colorado Territory - 7/10
L’ombra di Zorro - 5/10
The Dawn Rider - 5/10
The White Buffalo - 5/10

And rewatched for the 2873648634th time - A Fistful of Dollars - 10/10 [obviously]

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My Darling Clementine (1946) - This is a film that has undeniable historic significance - for Henry Fonda, for John Ford, and for the Western genre as a whole. But historical importance doesn’t necessarily equate to quality… so does it hold up today? Not really.

It has its strengths. Fonda’s performance remains impressive even by modern standards (as are all his performances, in my opinion - he was an amazing actor, and the first western actor to be genuinely great). The cinematography is consistently excellent, which was John Ford’s biggest strength. The film also has a handful of memorable moments.

However, overall, the writing is very basic - well executed, but basic and not particularly interesting. The film also wastes a lot of time with slow scenes where people are dancing, having meaningless conversations, or doing mundane activities, with no real artistic intent behind them. As a result, it can be very hard to follow, as it seems to actively try to lose your attention.

The film is also in black and white, but it doesn’t gain anything from that. Westerns look great in color. There are some benefits to black and white in noir and samurai films, but in westerns, there’s no real advantage.

I can appreciate its historical importance, but it’s very much a product of its time. If you’re interested in the history of the western genre it’s worth a watch, otherwise avoid it.

4.8/10

Backlash (1956) - Not much to say about this film, it’s a decent enough western. Nothing outstanding, but an enjoyable watch. The pacing is much tighter than in most 1950s westerns (as is the case with all of the Sturges westerns I’ve seen), and it’s quite short. Sturges’ action sequences also have some direction, which sets it apart from other westerns of the era. It’s still sanitized Hays Code action, obviously, but not as restrained as most films of it’s era. - 6.5/10

So you cannot imagine that film fans nowadays still love MDC, and that some of them would be able to call it a masterpiece?

UMBANGO (THE FUED)

SOUTH AFRICA 1986

DIRECTOR: TONY VAN DE MERWE

STARS: INNOCENT GUMEDE, KAY MAGUBANE & HECTOR MANTHANDA

This is a low-budget western filmed over 18 months starting in 1984 and released in January 1986.The film is the first made entirely in the Zulu language.

It has a traditional western revenge/vendetta theme that ends in a final shoot-out in a small western town.

It is one of at least 400 films made in Soweto, South Africa during the Apartheid years (Apartheid was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s).

Despite this black film makers managed to create an industry that made films for a black audience. In the tradition of Bollywood and Nollywood this industry has become known as Sollywood. They are also referred to as Zaxploitation (country code: ZA + Exploitation). Exploitation genre films produced in South Africa or by the South African film industry.

Despite the budget limitations, cheap sets and some amateur performances I found it very entertaining.

It’s available on YouTube with English subtitles.

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Of course I can - just like there are people who love modern marvel movies and call those masterpieces. There are all sorts of people out there :wink:

Phew … so you don’t understand Marvel films either … :wink:

My Darling Clementine is meanwhile a 9/10 for me, which makes it better than Leone’s first 2 Dollar films.
The churchyard dance scene is one of the greatest scenes ever shot for a western. And probably one of the deepest.

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It still holds up for me, a wonderful piece of cinema!

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Everyone can already see where this is going (again). But it could be quelled by taking your own advice:

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Sure, if we can agree that the film’s quality is roughly equivalent to a modern spider man movie :wink:

HHAHAHAHAHHA

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The Law and Jake Wade (1958) - Sturges’ 50s output just keeps impressing. This is a very good film with a compelling story centered on the rivalry between an outlaw and an ex-outlaw turned marshal, featuring an interesting dynamic between the two. The film also includes some genuinely well-executed action sequences - a fantastic shootout with indians in an abandoned town near the end, followed by a tense one-on-one showdown between Widmark and Taylor’s characters. Richard Widmark delivers a fantastic performance - one of his best, and the rest of the cast does a solid job as well. In typical Sturges fashion, the pacing is ahead of its time and never drags. - 7.5/10

Man of the West (1958) – In typical Mann fashion, it’s frustratingly slow-paced and filled with uninteresting, mundane conversations. The action feels directionless, and the characters are rather dull. This is exactly what I mean when i say the usual snooze fest of the 50s, Mann just didn’t know how to make a compelling film. As the name implies, this is a very uninspired film. However, it’s a well-produced film, with solid acting and good visuals - the cinematography and set design are pretty good, so it’s not entirely meritless. - 5/10

I just watched ‘A Man Called Noon’,’ starring Richard Crenna, Stephen Boyd, Rosanna Schiaffino, Farley Granger, Patty Shepard, and Aldo Sambrell. Directed by Peter Collinson (The Italian Job; And Then There Were None; The Spiral Staircase). Based on the book by Louis L’Amour. Soundtrack by Luis Bacalov. I first about A Man Called Noon in Michael Hauss’s Spaghetti Western Digest (Issue #2 Fall, 2020) I occasionally buy. To give a brief synopsis, the mystery around the identity of an amnesiac gunfighter named Ruble Noon (Crenna) is unveiled after he is hired by a female rancher Fan Dandridge (Schiaffino) for protection. An outlaw named J.B. Grimes (Boyd) helps Noon figure out his past prior to bring shot and almost killed. The film is a British paella/spaghetti production with familiar SW alumni like Aldo Sambrell and Angel del Pozo as well as Farley Granger as a judge and crony Peg Cullane (Shepard), a black outfitted, gun toting competitor to Fan Dandridge. Cullane is convinced Noon murdered her husband. The film is structured differently plot-wise from other westerns (American, Italian, or multi-national melange), which I thought was refreshing. I could easily see the film being more palatable to my friends who struggle with watching Italian westerns with me. The retrograde amnesia and a man struggling to figure out his identity and past theme is appealing for fans of the more recent movie greats, like Christopher Nolan’s Memento (one of my favorite movies). The soundtrack by Bacalov was beautiful and rousing to me at times. However the film had shortcomings in my opinion. Ruble Noon seemed perfectly willing to trust and be guided by J.B. Rimes without question. Especially coming from a man being haunted by amnesia and has only worked alone in the past. Hitchcock alumnus Farley Granger plays a menacing yet effete and fancy-pants judge that has the ear of However, he hams it up to Snidley Whiplash proportions. I really enjoyed this movie and plan to watch this again in the future. Especially since there were so many plot twists and surprises. Rating :3/4.