Every generation has their blockbuster genre. The superhero movie of today was the disaster movie of the 90s. Or the Lucas/Spielberg collabs of the 80s. Or the big budget epics of the 60s. But our first blockbuster genre of the talkie era? That’s the Western, reliable for delivering edge of your seat entertainment, and encapsulating the essence of America’s pioneering spirit, good and bad. Below are some examples of classic Westerns you should seek out, including maybe…an Eastern? I’m workshopping that, so don’t judge too harshly. Each film will be judged on the Good, The Bad, or the Ugly scale in honor of Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western masterpiece.
If anyone says anything other than Good, them’s fightin words!
The Hook
Sheriff leads a hodgepodge of folks on a trip from New Mexico to Kansas, dealing with outlaws and Native Americans along the way.
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It’s the movie that created the blockbuster version of the Western we’d see used elsewhere. John Ford does that by creating a series of shady characters with strange pasts and throwing them together. He gets a great lead performance from John Wayne, who’d become a super duper star after this, and he builds to a stellar chase in Monuement Valley with some wonderful stuntwork involving horses and shootouts.
This one’s at times excellent and at times bland, so, Ugly fits.
The Hook
The title, and it’s American tall tale behind it.
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Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas had great 1957 leading performances already, but they team up in John Sturges’s take on the fabled gunfight. They’re paired well: Lancaster the stoic good man learning to bend a little, and Douglas the firebrad outcast finding his conscience. It’s too long and has female character traits of its time, but if you’re not excited as hell when the 6 minute shootout takes place, then I don’t know what to tell you other than you’re a little dead inside.
Relatively Bad for Akira Kurosawa, who has made at least 4 or 5 of the greatest movies of all time.
The Hook
A nameless samurai becomes a de facto teacher to a bunch of impulsive young samurai who want to wage war with corrupt clan leaders.
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The Eastern Western. Kurosawa’s samurai film lacks the epic nature of his Yojimbo or Seven Samurai, but it makes up for it with humor. Toshiro Mifune is his naturally dynamic self, this time using the now well worn mantle of wise cracking mentor who’s been through the fire. Every time the kids get riled up to fight, Mifune’s leader pushes back with an eye roll and makes them think about it, while also kicking ass and taking names with his sword along the way.
There’s some Ugly depictions of Mexicans and Native Americans, so we’ll go with that one.
The Hook
A nameless bounty hunter joins forces with another bounty hunter to track down a dangerous leader of a gang for the cash reward.
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Always be scared of the guy who says nothing but doesn’t back down. Clint Eastwood nails that to perfection as The Man With No Name. The big surprise is Lee Van Cleef, holding his own alongside Eastwood, but carrying secrets and subdued anger in his resolve to get Gian Maria Volonté, who Sergio Leone makes smarter than your average bad guy. Plus Enrico Morricone’s score gives the movie a tense edge that makes it just a little more exciting to watch.
A Mexican border town enlists a disparate group of mercenaries to help defend it against a bunch of gun wielding bandits.
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Magnificent Seven uses Seven Samurai as its guiding light: good choice to follow that amazing story. John Sturges turns the movie into an all star affair, letting Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, and Charles Bronson among others try to take down Eli Wallach’s batch of banditos. There’s lots of fun learning lessons for the townspeople, and inherent stakes in the shootouts, because when you have seven leads, you can stand to lose a few of them in the movie.
One of the really really Good John Ford movies; probably on his pantheon.
The Hook
The title leaves a nice air of mystery doesn’t it?
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Now, I will say, you’ll see the answer to the title’s question immediately. But that’s the special nature of this film: it’s not about just the shooting of Lee Marvin‘s dastardly villain, and ooh boy, he’s damn dastardly. But it’s about developing society in the west. Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne are the building blocks of that society: education and law & order. Stewart’s smarts make his character a fascinating entry into the Western Genre, and Wayne lends his larger than life persona to a man who deserves more credit than he gets.
