MovieChat Forums > How the West Was Won (1963) Discussion > Most disturbing scene ...

Most disturbing scene ...

posted 16 years ago by RenlyStannis
56 replies | jump to latest

I love the movie, a great cast and the best scenery shots ever since "Lawrence of Arabia", some action, some humour, and a plot that spans from the early settlers to the coming of the railroad and the end of the "Wild West".

The only scene I find a little disturbing is when Spencer Tracy delivers the final lines, and they show aerial shots of the urban sprawl of modern cities, motorways, monotonous midwest corn fields up to the horizon ... it is like an anticlimax to the movie with all the beautiful landscapes of the Old West, that are now gone forever, and it made me a little sad.

[–] joeparkson 9 years ago

Ironic that there are people who find the ending disturbing and wish to return to that simpler life while tapping on a computer made entirely of materials dug out of the ground. You really want to return to a time before antibiotics and doctors who didn't wash their hands before fiddling around with your innards? You want to try crossing the continent in a wagon without benefit of a cell phone where you might find yourself snowed in with nothing to eat but the people with you?

No thanks. I'll stick to my superhighways and netflicks.

Soy 'un hijo de la playa'

[–] cblountt 8 years ago

The end of the movie is simply a celebration of how far our society has progressed. That's all. Not really disturbing.

Also, have ever driven across this country? The wilderness is actually still there to see! Just the drive through New Mexico and Arizona is amazing. Lots of wide open landscapes.

[–] cfwente 8 years ago

Quite right. An intelligent, adult comment. Progress is lamented today only by Progressives... What is it now? Oh, yeah -- air conditioning!

[–] Acceler8 8 years ago

It's an illustration of the remark George Peppard quoted from his mother while he was talking with Henry Fonda: that a man ought to make his mark on the land and leave it a little different than the way he found it.

[–] moviewatchinguy 8 years ago

The ending never ceases to make my jaw drop. It's simply beautiful, amazing, and inspiring. What's sad is travelling across the land today you are greeted by mile after mile after mile of hideous, towering wind turbines. All that wide-open, beautiful landscape to admire and it's now polluted by all those ugly monstrosities.

[–] otrnepodahl 8 years ago

I have to agree with you moviewatchinguy; I see quite a few where I reside. I liked it better when you only saw fields and farmhouses. I guess I have to quelch (or squelch) my discontent, by pretending they are modern day/looking windmills.

[–] gary_w_trott 8 years ago

I've always found the ending footage to be very inspirational when combined with the narration. As stated this is what grew out of those crude settlements that many people died creating. Maybe it is because I saw this film as a nine or ten year old at the CINERAMA Theatre in Providence when it was first released. It should also be noted that, if my memory is correct, the footage in question was all shot for the film This is CINERAMA. Even the strip mine is visually appealing due to it's curved contours. The three cameras were mounted in a modified B25 bomber which actually flew under the bridge.