Iconic Western Films For Inspiration?

[Scorpio]

For actual painting inspiration, it's all about the HBO series Deadwood.

But movie-wise? It is by no means a good movie, but I love The Quick and the Dead. It's a guilty pleasure, and positively comic-booky in places. But I am a-OK with that.

I also agree with the Emir that Rango is a lovely tribute as well.

[WillieB]

The finale of Wild Bunch is hard to beat.
The last charge in Major Dundee ( make sure you get the full version!) is simply magnificent.

Staying in Mexico, Deaf Smith and Johnny Ears. Pure entertainment!

And of course ' The Professionals' My all time favourite Western.

[Malamute]

And of course ' The Professionals' My all time favourite Western.

Excellent choice, its certainly in my top ten.

[Legion1963]

My childhood was dominated by 'Bandolero' which is classic '60's wetern movie. Later on i Later on i became engrossed in the somewhat typical '70's (style) movie like The man who shot Liberty Valance, in the 80's came the excellent The Long Riders and i quite liked the first episodes of the series How the West was won. But my all time favorite is Jeremiah Johson, with Robert Redford.

[Landsknecht]

The Outlaw Josie Wales and Silverado are my favorite Westerns.  As far as television, my favorites would be The Sacketts followed by Lonesome Dove.

[Digits]

On the strength of this post I just bought the Deadwood complete boxed set for £20.  I can't believe I didn't watch this on telly - bloody awesome!  Three episodes in, and I can't wait to watch the next few....

[Elbows]

I found Deadwood to be very brutal, and interesting...as far as I believe it represents a lot of very reasonable facsimiles of western life.  However, I got bored with it halfway through season two, and haven't finished it.  Just very slow moving, and...I find myself not caring about any of the characters much.

[chops749]

I am a huge fan of the Cavalry movies that John Wayne starred in (She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Fort Apache, Rio Grande) as a veteran Cavalryman!

I have to say that my favorites encompass all of the Clint Eastwood westerns (My father and I watched them on a regular basis). I have to say, Chief Dan George in "Josey Wales" is a character I would like to have for "Shoot N Skedaddle."

[Digits]

I forgot to mention Ride with the Devil, more civil war than western but good theatre.  Also, I'm looking forward to watching Django Unchained. ....

[Viper1959]

The Cimarron Strip, all 23 movies with Marshal Jim Crown, or The Culpepper cattle company, Monte Walsh, My name is nobody, Fistful of Dynamite aka Duck you sucker, Once upon a time in the west, Duel at Diablo, Fire Creek, Fastest gun alive and Unforgiven.

[Elbows]

Anyone with Netflix discovered any hidden treasures?  There are literally hundreds of (admittedly horrible looking...) westerns on there.  Looking for a few diamonds in the rough.

[bennyj]

'Bad Company' has a some good bits
'McCabe and Mrs Miller' for a great 'different' little town and shootout in the snow
'Dead Man' for something odd
'Shalako' just for aristocrats facing off against apaches

not seen 'red sun' but will now have to!

[Viper1959]

For Inspiration, try this gem of a site. 

http://www.westernsontheweb.com/

[admiraldick]

i've got an 8 month old daughter who doesn't sleep so well at night, so i watch a lot of films at the moment. rather than constant having to keep flicking through the guide to decide what to watch i just set my Tivo to record all the westerns that came on. big mistake. i recorded 100 in less than a week. anyway, right at the moment i'm watching about two a day as most are pretty short; and i've watched the full range of movies (though not so many spaghetti westerns as there didn't seem to be many on). here's a run down of some of my favorites:

- Across the Wide Missouri: Ok, i'm going to be honest from the outset. pretty much nothing happens in this film. that aside the thing that is so catching about it is the way it looks. its about free trappers and so is filmed almost entirely outside on location. obviously lots of westerns are, but some how this film manages to capture the enormous grandeur of the US in a way that i haven't seen in other films. it really does feel like wide open spaces with rolling mountains in the background. even if there isn't much adventure in this particular film, you know that there is a land were such adventures could happen, and that's quite inspirational. also, they build a cool fort.
 
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: i went and saw this film in the cinema because i'm a fan of Brad Pitt's later movies (now that he's gotten over that whole Hollywood Heart Throb thing) and i was instantaneously hooked. it leaped straight to my favorite film and has pretty much been lodged there ever since. i know its slow. i know its miserable. i know it has Casey Afleck in it. but none of those things stop it from being one of the most truly atmospheric westerns ever made. it makes me feel like i was really there.

- Guns for San Sebastian: Mexican villagers are being hassled by bullying vaqueros and seek help from an outside source. if you think you've heard this storyline, i urge you to keep reading. if i was going to have to choose between this film and The Magnificent Seven i would be very hard pushed. TM7 is a 'classic', but the characters are mostly threadbare after their introduction. whereas this film has only a single anti-hero who has plenty of time to establish himself and what he's like. also, its not down to him to save the town, he inspires the people to make a stand, which makes for a much more positive and enjoyable watch, because you know that the peons actually matter and aren't just fodder.

- The Quick and the Dead: not the smartest film in the whole world, but seriously entertaining. And, probably more importantly for this forum, very inspiring scenery.

- Rio Lobo: This film has some pretty serious faults, chiefly how quickly the Union and Confederate Soldiers seem to get pally with one another after the war; i mean, they hadn't even left the concentration camp before they were offering to buy each other drinks. that aside, the train robbery at the beginning is genius and once they get down to the action its a really good watch. i was immediately led to start jotting down some ideas for a prisoner exchange scenario.

- The Tall Stranger: probably not to most people's tastes, but i loved it. ex-union soldier, Bannon, is returning home after the war and is ambushed and left for dead by an unknown rustler. he's rescued by ex-confederate settlers, being lead by a shifty looking outsider, who are heading to California. co-incidentally they plan on taking a route through Bannon's home, where he is heading to settle an old score with his brother. lots and lots of complex relationships and intrigue.

- True Grit: i feel compelled to throw in my vote for the modern version of this film. the original is rubbish. the original was so quaint and 60s that you would have been hard pushed to say that anyone in it had 'what you might call 'true grit''. conversely, Jeff Bridges did an astonishing job bringing Rooster Cogburn to life. when he was drunk, you knew it, you didn't have to rely on all the supporting characters telling you he was drunk. the film felt more epic and dramatic than any other western i can think of (and it was ably aided by its brilliant soundtrack). i loved it, and everyone in that film (apart from the pony sales man) had true grit. as a side note, the sequel to the original, Roster Cogburn, was a much better film than its forebear.

Runner Up
- Broken Arrow: this film is all about the brokering of peace between the Apache Nation and the US, so i couldn't give it top billing, because its just too tame. but there were two reasons i felt i should include it a)i hadn't already mentioned a film with James Stewart in it, and almost all westerns i've seen with him have been worth the effort (go and watch The Far Country, How the West Was Won or Shenandoah) b) at a time that Native Americans are almost always portrayed as faceless subhumans that can be shot dead without any concern or moral questioning, this film completely breaks the mold and shows the Apache as true humans, who think and reason and want to see peace. its a breath of fresh air in a world where Native American culture is still seen as a novelty.

[Elenderil]

I really enjoyed the TV series ‘The English’ inaccuracies and all.  There are a couple of great scenes showing a town under construction which I really liked.