True enough. And believe me, some of those spitters would have been leaving with no teeth…
But yes…here’s to 2008, and as you so often say, I’ll drink to that! 
I watched “Soldier Blue” the other night, nothing special though.
I drink to 2008 aswell ;D, and may we all watch some great westerns in 2008 !
I saw this one recently on the tv, and have to say i was slightly disappointed too. I’d read a lot about it and it didn’t really deliver. Plus it was one of those films with a political conscience that doesn’t so much lay it’s cards on the table as beat you over the head with them…something that always annoys me a bit.
True !
The film is all about being political correct.
I was disappointed too - have you seen Apache Woman. Similar sort of vibe but in a very gratuitous sw way? Shit - I was going to bed!
edit - have I got double vision ??
[quote=“Reverend Danite, post:1686, topic:141”]I was disappointed too - have you seen Apache Woman. Similar sort of vibe but in a very gratuitous sw way? Shit - I was going to bed!
edit - have I got double vision ??[/quote]
I have seen it, but it’s a long time ago so I don’t remember much.
Do you have the pre-cert of Apache Woman Reverend?
Indeed I do (entertainment in video) - another one of yours ENNIOO?
Could be Reverend!..may have to do a trade when you get a moment…
I have a few moments at the moment ??? - I’ve pm’d ya.
Cheers!
[quote=“Dorado, post:1682, topic:141”]I watched “Soldier Blue” the other night, nothing special though.[/quote][quote=“Dorado, post:1685, topic:141”]True !
The film is all about being political correct.[/quote]
In my opinion Soldier Blue is not a great film, but it’s a bit funny that you think of it as being ‘political correct’.
Soldier Blue, and more films of the late '60s, early '70s, were so-called revisionist movies, movies in which American directors re-evaluated both American history and a typical American genre like the western. Political correcteness, in the sense of ‘expressing exactly those ideas you’re supposed to express’ is a phenomenon of recent date, and this was certainly not what those directors had in mind (although some of the ideas they expressed were popular in certain circles).
The western, for most part, had shown the Old West not as it was, but as it should have been: an idealized, romantisized part of history, populated by noble heroes who defended poor people against ruthless bandits and renegade Indians (of course I’m simplifying things a little). Films like The Wild Bunch, Little Big Man, The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid, Ulzana’s Raid and Soldier Blue were questioning this historic vision, just like (albeit in a different way) Sergio Leone did in his movies.
As such they were courageous attempts by filmmakers to tell something about the society they were part of that most people did not want to hear, and therefore was - above all - not politically correct.
But, as said, this doesn’t make Soldier Blue a good film.
Scherpschutter wrote: “…Political correcteness, in the sense of ‘expressing exactly those ideas you’re supposed to express’ is a phenomenon of recent date, and this was certainly not what those directors had in mind (although some of the ideas they expressed were popular in certain circles).”
You have a point there. Times have changed and the film should be taken for what it was meant to tell when it was released and not what it’s purpose would have been had it been made today.
Scherpschutter wrote: “…The western, for most part, had shown the Old West not as it was, but as it should have been: an idealized, romantisized part of history…”
This is really the reason why I prefer the Spaghetti Western over the american western even though there has been made some great american westerns over the years.
John Wayne is not high on my list for for obvious reasons, my favorite american westerns are High Noon, Hang em high and High Plain Drifters.
[quote=“Dorado, post:1695, topic:141”]Scherpschutter wrote: “…The western, for most part, had shown the Old West not as it was, but as it should have been: an idealized, romantisized part of history…”
This is really the reason why I prefer the Spaghetti Western over the american western even though there has been made some great american westerns over the years.[/quote]
Well said the both of you. I also have the same reasons for prefering many of the grittier spaghettis over the American product.
The American western is too clean. Up until the SWs. the towns were always painted, no horse manure in the streets and everyone was clean cut. The Spaghetti westerns although comic book super heroes set in a western imaginary landscape, comes closer to what the West was really like. Full of ugly, hardbitten inhabitants just trying to stay alive and live life. The towns look like they were made from whatever material they had at hand and full of dirt, dust and dung. When you watch a SW you can hear the wind blow and almost smeel the stench of each town. That’s what makes them so great, is they are closer to what the American West must have been like during the frontier period and even up until the early 1880s. Yes the West had big towns with sophistication but they were few and far between. Most were small mining and trading towns that have now disappeared or become ghost towns. This is the setting for the European movies we see on film.
Mud, mud, glorious mud … a major player in many a good sw. I mentioned previously in the ‘May God Forgive You …’ thread - there’s actually a cow taking a dump just as our love interest arrives. They left it in.
Watching ‘Apache Woman’ at this very mo. (I’ve seen it a while back, so I’m not missing a lot as I type.)
[edit: Despite the (maybe) gratuitous nakedness, this is a pretty gritty, hard-hitting - yet very moving, sw. Definately not an ‘American’ western.]
Three Godfathers (1948)
-John Wayne
Three outlaws on the run discover a dying woman and her baby. They swear to bring the infant to safety across the desert, even at the risk of their own lives.
Minor John Ford/John Wayne classic. Lots of fun and perfect for the Christmas season.
Happy New Year Everyone!!
Over the Holiday break I watched the following:
Spaghetti Westerns (got a bunch of new ones for Christmas!):
If you Meet Sartana, Pray for your Death
Bullet for Sandoval
Texas, Addio
Charge (aka Those Dirty Dogs)
Seven Dollars on the Red
Viva Django
Non-Spaghetti:
Silverado
The Gunfighter (Gregory Peck)
Man of the West (Gary Cooper)
Hang 'em High