I have really loved all the Leone films since I was a kid, but to be honest it was Keoma which made me realise there were other directors making spaghetti westerns which were actually good.
Death Rides A Horse. Being a huge cult/horror/70s/exploitation freak, I was watching a DVD of Grindhouse trailers, and Death Rides A Horse surprisingly came up. I purchased one of the cheap multi-movie sets, put it on one Saturday night, and completely fell in love.
I was awestruck. Even though I was aware and familiar with Leone’s work, I had always-up until that time-placed such films as The Good The Bad and The Ugly in their own pantheon, simply due to their massive, cross-section appeal.
When I watched Death Rides A Horse, however, I firmly saw how much of an influence this film was to Tarantino, how surprisingly violent it was, yet also how it brimmed with style, pacing and substance.
I watched Minnesota Clay next, and that was it…I was officially hooked, and have been hunting down DVDs and soundtracks ever since.
Like your quote there george.
For me, and you’ve probably heard this a million times before, it was The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Back in 2005, it was the first western I had ever watched all of (unless you count Back to the Future, Part III lol). The first non-Leone one though was probably Django if I remember correctly. These films totally changed my pre-conceptions of what a western was and could be and I have been in love with the genre (particularly the spaghettis) ever since.
Thanks, mate! Cheers. 8)
imdb list it as one of their top 100 westerns. lol! :o
REALLY?!?! That’s pretty funny. Maaarty! We have to go back…TO THE FUTURE!! 
Yeah! They also list City Slickers, Maverick, and The Wild Wild West. Oh yeah they also include Shanghai Noon and Shanghai Knights. :o :
RE: Shanghai Noon and Knights-What…the…F@CK?! If we’re gonna do shanghai, how about The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe?
Silly on City Slickers and Wild Wild West, also. Although I’ll confess to having a soft spot for Maverick Always had a crush on Jodie Foster. Don’t judge.
Hell, at this point I wonder if IMDB classifies Yul Brenner’s Westworld as western or sci fi?
I tried to bring up the complete list to post a link because it is hilarious, but imdb’s website will only show me the top 50. It will show me the whole list on my imdb app on my droid, guess they want people to spend that extra money and up grade to pro. Corporate deush bags! 