What Killed the Western?

Dunno, Doc, I consider The UnForgiven to be a high water mark, and that's many years later. Pekinpah was fascinating, though.

 

Tombstone (1993) was another good one.

 

They can't figure out how to work massive breasts and explosions into a good western. That's gonna limit your marketability.

Plus, I don't think we have any larger than life, John Wayne type actors anymore.

I guess there's Clint Eastwood , but he's no John Wayne.

 

Unforgiven was a classic and the high point in the new batch of westerns, some "revisionist", that came along in early-mid 90's. IMO, Eastwood stands up to Wayne in every way as an actor in that genre...he missed the really Golden Age of westerns by a decade or two but managed some awesome movies in his earlier career.

Favorite Eastwood performance is Unforgiven, favorite Wayne is Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, costarring Jimmy Stewart.

Personally I'd like to see a steady supply of westerns and historical epics...examples Braveheart, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven...come out of Hollywood. Bring back the good old 50's and 60's.

 

I suspect that the "western" has lost all it's aura with poor productions. The last major westerns such as Maverick(Mel Gibson) and Wild Wild West(Will Smith/Kevin Klein) has fizzled it out into cheeze comedy. It is very difficult to compete with the all time greats of Westerns.

My next best guess, is that Home Owner Associations have killed the western. Alot of that stuff is against policy, read the contract.

 

Never really cared that much for westerns.
Maybe others felt the same way.

 

Have you seen the previews for the new Zorro?

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/thelegendofzorro.html

Action flick meets western...

 

Sanity

 

Tracts of suburban homes and the automobile. The only horse any kid cares about are horsepower, and it is the under 22 crowd that frequent movies the most.

 

dave, john wayne was great, but i believe clint eastwood is a better actor and has better films. clint is my all time favorite actor . the guy is super cool and has class all day long.

 

I saw the thread title & thought: PCness moiderized it... but you've summed it up already, though I saw no mention about when men were men and women went "baaaa" & not just in the figurative sense.

 

As said before, 500hp Ferrari's...No need for the rope and stirrups anymore.

 

Didn't Howard Hughs try that in the 40's with Jane Russel?

 

It's also generational. When we were growing up, and our parents were adults (as were the people making movies at the time, and remember, in those days, most director/producers were a little more mature in life than today's crop), the West was already gone, but 'spoke' to people as a last great frontier. Today, it has little resonance with the crops of young. Think about halloween costumes of the 50's and early 60's versus today- I'd bet, give kid the choice between going as a cowboy vs. a pimp and he'd pick the latter.
Some day, they'll make movies about going to Starbucks. With tongued pierced slackers, goths, and a whiney sound track by a morose female.

 

John Wayne was also a Friend of Dorothy's.

 

True, you even had fast food places like Roy Rogers...I used to be a member of the Buck-a-roo Club...It was a card that they gave to kids under 12. You could get a free small drink anytime, you didn't even have to purchase anything. I miss the Buck-a-roo Club.

 

Dale: read the border trilogy, you wont miss a movie for even a moment. Not PETA approved, but probably close to what went on at least some of the time.Corbin MacArthy[sp] is a little dark, there aint no good guy most of the time.His current book, "No country for old men" is about current day border and drug related events.

 

Reality shows killed the westerns.

 

along with reality.

 

no one mentioned 'Young Guns' or 'Young Guns 2"
those movies I can watch over and over again........very Anti-Hero....Emillo Esteves played Billy the Kid perfectly....shooting people for no reason...like the Farm Hand

 

Good ones...When i first saw 'Young Guns', i though Emilio Estaves was Lou Diamond Phillips and vice versa....

Lou Diamond Philips looks like his name should be Emilio Estaves, and visa versa....

To my suprise, I learned the truth later.

 

What killed the Western?

Heaven’s Gate.

That nearly killed me, and all I had to do was watch it.