Why did Westerns become so unpopular?

Yeah, I mentioned that film earlier in the thread. It's actually a key plot point, because the crazy Mexican gang drags one of the Wild Bunch guys behind a car in order to torture him in the film -- grueling to watch.

There's also post-Civil War Westerns, like Dances with Wolves. That's a huge scene at the beginning where Kevin Costner's character is so fed up with the war he attempts a suicidal horseback ride but somehow manages to live, they fix up his wounds and promote him to lead a fort out West... and then he goes off in a different direction. I think it's still a Western in that it's a period piece with guys on horses shooting guns at each other, but perhaps not so much with native Americans.

 

I love the longer version.

 

I was very surprised -- usually I see a longer version and think, "oh, they were so right to cut this down." But the longer version of Dances with Wolves -- which Costner called "The Lieutenant Dunbar Version" -- is a much better film. Costner told me that producer Jim Wilson did the lion's share of the work on it, but he liked what was done and was very glad that the new version was widely accepted and enjoyed.

 

TV has done some seriously good westerns: Deadwood, Lonesome Dove, Broken Trail, Godless. Some of the best that I have ever seen.

 

Totally off topic :
Stone carvings in Central America (not Central USA ) show Norse features and full beards. Possibly crossing with the ocean current from southern Europe. No need to come down the US east coast.

 

Cowboys and Aliens = 2 thumbs down
I actually paid to see this Western? Sci-Fi?..... Popcorn was good though.

 

I've never seen "Cowboys and Aliens", I don't think it'd be my cup of tea...

Besides, everyone knows that spaceships/aliens didn't exist until the nineteen forties...

 

Deadwood - one of the most frustrating things I've tried to like. Could've been so good, but it got seriously lost in the second series I reckon. Not seen the others you mention.

I have a personal, nostalgic love of the 70s TV western - High Chaparall (?), The Virginian, Alias Smith and Jones.

 

A personal favorite I haven't seen mentioned is JEREMIAH JOHNSON.

 

Man those 50's & 60's TV westerns are just bad TV. I do like some cowboy movies

 

You're entitled to your opinion, but I'd disagree with it: I think "Gunsmoke", "Rawhide", "Have Gun, Will Travel", "Wagon-Train", and "Wanted- Dead or Alive" are all great shows...

 

One of the main reasons I get Srarz is because of the western channel with the shows you've mentioned.

 

And The Virginian....

 

What killed the western?

Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson as cowboys, for me.


Luckily, along came Clint.

 

Costner seemed to lose his mojo after Dances.

 

Duke wasn't a fan.

 

His films have run hot and cold, but he's been surprisingly successful if you take a closer look. If nothing else, he's been pretty busy, averaging about a film a year for 20 years.

 

I think Clint Eastwood was playing Rowdy Yates in "Rawhide" before the film "Rio Bravo" came along...

In any case, I thought "Rio Bravo" was pretty good... Ricky Nelson was an experienced actor by that time in his life (due to his parents' show), and I thought he did alright in the role... I do think part of the reason he was cast though was due to his being a "teen idol" at the time and the producers probably figured having him fill the role would drag in teen girls who might not ordinarily go to see the film... (And while technically not a Western, not much later than that, Fabian was being cast in "North to Alaska" with John Wayne, and another teen idol of those days, Frankie Avalon, was in "The Alamo".)

 

Not true:
FACT CHECK: Viking Ship Discovered Near Mississippi River

 

I liked them both in Rio Bravo which is one of my many favorite westerns.

Also liked Dean in Sons of Katie Elder.

 

Basically they have been replaced by Westerns in Outer Space like Star Wars, or Westerns in Dystopia like Mad Max, or Westerns in long underwear and capes like X-Men. There are more opportunities in those permutations and it’s easier to use CGI effects. The end result is less US-centric so they travel well to overseas markets.

Of course, the reasons for the decline of Westerns are varied and complex. However if a good one comes along people turn out to see it.

I just saw a great one this weekend, The Three Godfathers from 1936. I liked it better than the John Ford version. It should be required viewing in the Christmas season. I recommend it.

 

He apparently was early on. There was talk of them doing a movie together, until Clint made High Plains Drifter, and John Wayne thought that film glorified violence too much. At least that is what I have heard. Could you imagine a movie with both of them in the late 60s/early 70s?

 

Wayne didn't like the idea of shooting a man in the back. Clint's character wouldn't balk.

 

Really? The first I remember him doing that was Unforgiven. Of course, he had a hidden gun in his lap in HPD, but I thought I remember him following the cliché rules in gunfights in all of his earlier movies. Always gave the other person a chance to draw, just he was always faster. Maybe I am remembering incorrectly.

 

I like the outdoors of westerns

hombre 1967 with paul Newman (same photography as Hud I think)
True grit 1969 with John wayne

awesome visuals of national parks etc
I cant watch true grit without thinking how awful Glen Campbell is in that movie