Westerns today

[Shoeless Joe]

Spinning off the True Grit thread, I've been watching a lot of old Westerns lately. I prefer cavalry movies to cowboy stories. It got me thinking, could John Ford make his cavalry trilogy today or would the PC police go into overdrive slamming a movie about the Indian Wars? Heck, Fort Apache might draw NCAA sanctions ;D.

I'm not thinking exclusively, the Ford/Wayne cavalry trilogy (Ft. Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Grande) but could they make any old school Western today they did back in the 50s?

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Spinning off the True Grit thread, I've been watching a lot of old Westerns lately. I prefer cavalry movies to cowboy stories. It got me thinking, could John Ford make his cavalry trilogy today or would the PC police go into overdrive slamming a movie about the Indian Wars? Heck, Fort Apache might draw NCAA sanctions ;D.

I'm not thinking exclusively, the Ford/Wayne cavalry trilogy (Ft. Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Grande) but could they make any old school Western today they did back in the 50s?

shirt yes. Easily.
I say that mostly because in the 50s the censors -anything post 1934 - was rigidly censored. Filmmakers could get away with much, much more today that during Ford's era.

 

[KJIM]

Westerns today: "Cowboys and Aliens."

I thought the preview was a joke.

 

[Shoeless Joe]

Spinning off the True Grit thread, I've been watching a lot of old Westerns lately. I prefer cavalry movies to cowboy stories. It got me thinking, could John Ford make his cavalry trilogy today or would the PC police go into overdrive slamming a movie about the Indian Wars? Heck, Fort Apache might draw NCAA sanctions ;D.

I'm not thinking exclusively, the Ford/Wayne cavalry trilogy (Ft. Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Grande) but could they make any old school Western today they did back in the 50s?

shirt yes. Easily.
I say that mostly because in the 50s the censors -anything post 1934 - was rigidly censored. Filmmakers could get away with much, much more today that during Ford's era.

Oh, I know they could make it, but would they be protested at every turn by the same groups that protest the Redskins, Braves, etc?

 

[qtlaw]

I remember I thought westerns were dead in the mid-80's until Lawrence Kasdan made "Silverado." That was hilarious and cool at the same time.

 

[I'll never tell]

Are you asking if they wouldn't make them b/c they couldn't be real enough?

 

[DanOregon]

One of the things that bugged me about True Grit was the visual effects used in the final scenes. Don't know if it was a rush job or what - but the thing I love about Westerns is that the natural environment is a big part of the story telling. the snow in Jeremiah Johnson, the wind blowing in Unforgiven, mud, dust, mountains, rivers.
Everything is basic, the environment provides a level playing field, we see how characters respond, thrive or falter in their quest.

 

[Shoeless Joe]

I saying would anyone dare make a movie that showed the cavalry/cowboys as the heroes charging into battle against the indians without someone that's as white as I am claiming to be 1/32 Kiowa on his step great aunt's twice removed side threatening lawsuits and boycotts.

As for the natural environment, absolutely. John Ford even admitted as much that the scenery was the real start of his movies. That's why he shot mostly in Monument Valley no matter where the story was set.

 

[I'll never tell]

I saying would anyone dare make a movie that showed the cavalry/cowboys as the heroes charging into battle against the indians without someone that's as white as I am claiming to be 1/32 Kiowa on his step great aunt's twice removed side threatening lawsuits and boycotts.

As for the natural environment, absolutely. John Ford even admitted as much that the scenery was the real start of his movies. That's why he shot mostly in Monument Valley no matter where the story was set.

I think it all depends on what Hollywood is in. If they'll forget about an old man having sex with a 13-year-old, who knows? Plus, they've made plenty of ugly movies before. Whether or not they portray the white man as a hero, I don't know.

I just want them to make a Deadwood movie.

 

[JR]

Funny. HC & I started watching the John Wayne "True Grit" the other night (before we saw the Coen Brothers version) and couldn't take any more after about fifteen minutes.
The fact that John Wayne won a friggin' Academy Award is still inexcplicable--kinda like Forrest Gump winning Best Picture over Pulp Fiction

I think two movies, both made in the 70's changed the way people looked at the Western's mythology: Arthur Penn's "Little Big Man" and Altman's "McCabe & Mrs. Miller"

After those two, the old style Western propaganda movies were pretty much dead as filmmakers started deconstructing the entire genre.

The question isn't could someone make an old-time western today but why would anyone?

After you've seen something like "Unforgiven" or more recently, "Deadwood", you couldn't go back

 

[Shoeless Joe]

I watched Unforgiven once when it came out and don't remember a single reason I've ever wanted to see it again. Deadwood was great, but I began losing interest before the end.

I'd love to see modern remakes of Ford's classics. I think we could use some old-time Westerns. I watched John Wayne's True Grit again on Sunday, and enjoyed the heck out of it. I watched The Horse Soldiers last night and liked it just as much as ever.

 

[nmmetsfan]

Given the success of True Grit it wouldn't surprise me to see more remakes. I'd bet it's drawing movie goers that normally don't make the effort.

My uncle went to see it and he hadn't been to a movie in more that 20 years. He liked it so much he went again, this time taking his parents who are elderly and hadn't been to a theater in probably 50 years.

As long as we don't see another Two Mules for Sister Sara I'm all for it.