Are they all laughably dated, would i be better off going for a Deadwood or Yellowstone?
There is a charm about watching really old shows just wondered if any are genuinely worth looking up
Just turn on MeTV or GRIT during a weekday afternoon.
shareHave Gun Will Travel
The Rifleman
Maverick
All are really good though with Maverick it depends which Maverick you get, Bret and Bart eps are usually good.
Outlaws (1960 tv series) with Don Collier
shareThough Steve McQueen went on to become one of the biggest movie stars ever from Wanted: Dead or Alive, I prefer Richard Boone's Have Gun Will Travel, which I think may have been even more popular. Boone went on to movie stardom "above the title but rarely the star" in a bunch of good movies, but eventually faded back to TV stardom. I thought he was great in the movies, with more flavor to his personality than on Have Gun. (A hero on Have Gun, he played some great Western VILLAINS opposite Paul Newman in Hombre and John Wayne in both Big Jake and The Shootist.)
Evidently, the borderline ugly Boone(who nonetheless had a macho moustache, a sexy smile and a great VOICE) got tons of female fan letters. He was catnip to ladies "dreaming of a knight in shining white armor."
Funny thing (to me) about Leo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton as Jake Cahill in "Bounty Law." Tarantino got the black-and-white look right, the music right, the opening credits and station break shot right, the opening scene "fade out" right, the WRITING right.
But he got one thing wrong: the TV series STAR. Leo DiCaprio as Jake Cahill simply didn't look tough enough, or manly enough(even 50 ish?) as the other Western series stars of that 1958-ish era. McQueen, Boone, Chuck Connors, Brian Keith, Clint Walker, Ty Hardin, John Russell, even James Garner(Maverick) were more macho looking guys. Brad Pitt would have filled the bill more appropriately as a TV Western lead than Leo -- but Pitt had the better role to play here.
Yet again, the long luck of Leo's career -- one of the biggest and richest stars in Hollywood almost by accident, landing in Scorsese movies, QT movies, hit after hit and Oscar bait alike -- miscast him here. (He was better as the REAL Rick Dalton, a stuttering , drunken mass of hasbeen insecurity.)
The Wild Wild West
Kung Fu
Bonanza
Gunsmoke
Little House on the Prairie
I dont know any western tv shows but I can name lots of Spaghetti Westerns that are fantastic.
sharePlease do.
I watched a few random ones on channel i found from amazon prime which weren't bad.
Sabbatta? with Lee Van Cleefe honestly anyone watch the first 10 minutes and tell me Tarantino did not pinch anything, almost identical.
Also saw another wth Charles Bronson and that handsome French bloke as the baddy, was directed by the Bond guy and you see Ursulla Andress boobs, pretty decent i preferred Sabbatta though
Also saw Fist full of Dynamite this film is so underrated it's as if it doesn't exist when people talk about the Leone Films it's not as good as the others but still quality
Great! Spaghetti westerns are a true love of mine. Oh, and yes, QT was all over this genre.
Since you know Leone films, I’m sure you’re familiar with his greats The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), which are total perfection. You may have already seen all of these I’m about to list also. :)
And God Said to Cain (1970) is one that has a gothic feel starring the weirdo Klaus Kenski that is fabulous, with a great score and lots of genre regulars. Directed by Antonio Margheriti, who I’m a big fan of was known for using lots of miniatures. There’s one in this film that I’ve always thought was nicely crafted.
Companeros (1970) Corbucci directs Franco Nero and Tomas Milian, who have great chemistry together in this buddy / Zapata western. Phenomenal score and you get Jack Palance for the bad guy. One of my favorites. The Mercenary (1968) also by Corbucci with many of the same cast is also great. The scene where Dcaprio is shot through his carnation in Django Unchained is lifted straight from this film.
Death Rides a Horse (1967) is a revenge western, and my favorite performance by Lee Van Cleef. Again, QT had to have seen these flash back scenes here. Most of the streaming options out there are unfortunately of a horrible quality. If I’m ever going out for revenge I want the theme from this one playing.
Django (1966) is epic and only to be watched in Italian. Many crucial elements are lost in the English dub, and you don’t get Nero’s actual voice.
The Great Silence (1970) Corbucci again with a fantastic opening score and credits. Set in the snow with one of the bleakest endings ever. Highly recommended.
A few others I’m a fan of:
The Hell Benders (1967)
The Taste of Vengeance (1968)
Django Prepare a Coffin (1968)
And…
Keoma (1976) which is wonderful if you can take the I’ll fitting music.
Thanks very much you have definitely sold them to me me. I love Van Cleef for me Few Dollars more was my favourite out of the whole series (Still Haven't seen West yet but it's bought and paid for sitting on my watchlist)
Death Rides Horse sounds up my street i think ill attack that one first and go from there.
Laramie
Big Valley
Bonanza
Gunsmoke
Rawhide
Wagon Train
The Virginian
Cheyenne
Wanted Dead Or Alive
The Rebel
Have Gun Will Travel
These are all worth watching. Just take into account that most of these shows ran for a long time and so the quality rose and fell over their course. You'll sometimes get very generic stories or recycled plots and sometimes basically straight up slapstick. So don't give up on them if you come to some sub-par episodes, I promise you there are many episodes that are excellent and very much stand up even today.