The landscape of the Spanish Almeria desert where they were filmed is so drab and colorless compared to the American deserts where the classic U.S. westerns were made. Almeria's rocks and mountains are all dull grey and look like big piles of backyard dirt. Monument Valley, the Big Bend of Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, California, etc. all have beautiful red sandstone rock formations that add so much to the mood of the movies shot there.
shareThis is true, but places like eastern Oregon, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, large swaths of Utah, northern Nevada and Colorado don't feature that red rock that you speak of. They are beautiful in their own way though.
We're Canadians from BC and we've made the drive to South Dakota twice in the past decade because the country is so pretty. Heartbroken that the border is closed this year because we had our hearts set on a trip to the deep south.
I never thought about that. I think backyard dirt may be overstating it, but it is a different landscape than Monument valley and similar locations.
shareCompare the backgrounds in these two pics from two Apache-themed westerns. First is Ulzana's Raid, filmed in the USA.
https://cdn-images-1.listennotes.com/episode/image/ee7e4cf5de26464e9e62a4adde6b4d9e.jpg
Next is Chato's Land. While not technically a Spaghetti western, it is a British production filmed in the same locales as the Italian Spaghettis.
https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/f1/08/003f08f1.jpg
It sort of fits with the marxist leanings of the majority of the spaghetti western directors.
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