Which other Epic Westerns would you recommend? - How the West Was Won (1963) Discussion

[–] thbryn 13 years ago

I really wouldn't consider this a "Western" in the traditional sense. Most if not all or the genre would not be like this format. Really nothing like this picture out there.

A few favorites would be "Red River, Gunfight at Ok Corral, Virgina City,Dodge City, Long Riders, Tombstone, Hondo" and of the light entertainment variety I'd probably go with Rio Bravo."

Four more thematic classics would be "High Noon, Shane, The Searchers, One Eyed Jacks."
The B Western kings Randolph Scott and the great Tim Holt did lots of low-budget stuff that was still good on the strength of their personas.

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[–] greenleafie 13 years ago

The Big Country.

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[–] !!!deleted!!! (2212087) 13 years ago

I must concur. I love "The Big Country". I have always thought that the Gregory Peck character was quite a sophisticated creation: a man who didn't care what anyone thought about him, but tried to follow what he believed in and his ability to live up to his (quite high) standards.

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[–] joekiddlouischama 10 years ago

I really wouldn't consider this a "Western" in the traditional sense. Most if not all or the genre would not be like this format. Really nothing like this picture out there.

Sure, the narrative and visual scopes are epic, but the actual material is very traditional for the genre.

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[–] bnwfilmbuff 10 years ago

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, All of the Jimmy Stewart/Anthony Mann collaborations, The Professionals

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[–] ScotchRox 13 years ago

Lonesome Dove

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[–] Tresix 13 years ago

I wouldn't call High Noon or Rio Bravo "epics", although I like them both. Most of John Ford's work would fall into this category, especially The Searchers. Red River qualifies as well.

Yippee: "For king!"
Yappee: "For country!"
Yahooie: "And, most of all, for 10¢ an hour!"

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[–] g_dekok 13 years ago

"She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", and "Fort Apache" are two of my favorites! Of course, I'm a John Ford fan, much to my wife's dismay...

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[–] iray-2 13 years ago

LITTLE BIG MAN !

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[–] ThePosterWasMeanToMe 13 years ago

Like somebody else said - this is not your typical western. Even epic westerns like Once Upon a Time in the West, Cheyenne Autumn and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly do not have the historical sweep of HTWWW.

For that truly epic "epicness" you could try the TV mini-series Centennial. Only problem? It has a running time of over 20 hours.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076993/

http://www.amazon.com/Centennial-Complete-Series-Raymond-Burr/dp/B0018 RKEQO/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1333893140&sr=1-1

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035369/

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[–] Diana_Christensen 13 years ago

My Darling Clementine

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[–] Tresix 13 years ago

I wouldn't call that one "epic" neither. Nor would I classify Tombstone as one. How about the original Cimarron, the first western to win the Oscar for Best Picture? Dances With Wolves would qualify too.

Yippee: "For king!"
Yappee: "For country!"
Yahooie: "And, most of all, for 10¢ an hour!"

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[–] buddyboy28 11 years ago

The Searchers

- - -
Fill your hand you son of a bitch!

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[–] pt100 11 years ago

Almost any western directed by John Ford. Just look up his credits and go from there. If you have TiVo, just make a wishlist using movies/western as the category and John Ford as the director.

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[–] cwente2 11 years ago

I enjoy Cimarron (the 1960 version as well, despite the critics' pans). Don't forget DeMille's Union Pacific, certainly a Western of epic proportions. His The Plainsman, too.

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[–] pt100 11 years ago

The AFI's top 10 westerns list is also a good place to start:
http://www.afi.com/10top10/western.html

Although I don't necessarily agree completely with their rankings, the list is pretty good. And I agree that 'The Searchers' belongs at the top, where they put it. See them in HD if you can. Any of Ford's classic westerns are stunning in widescreen/HD, especially the footage taken in Monument Valley.

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[–] joe_538 11 years ago

As others pointed out, How the West Was Won is very rare type of movie, but touching on some of the same subjects;

Jeremiah Johnson: The life of a fur trapper in the 1840's
The Alamo (1960): There was a clip used in this film
Gettysburg: The Civil War
Custer of the West: Not a classic or very accurate, but it depicts the expansion of the railroad and the plains Indian wars, including Little Big Horn
Jesse James (1939): The exploits of the James Gang (More fun than accurate)
Last Days of Frank and Jesse James (1986 TV) Good mix of entertainment and accuracy

Into the West was a TNT mini-series covering the Western expansion. I didn't particularly like it, but some people do.

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[–] 11 years ago

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