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David Schmidt
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 11 July 2017
Location: France
Posts: 441
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| Posted: 16 July 2019 at 3:25am | IP Logged | 1
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I love the genre.
And one of my favorite Alpha Flight issue had some western in it (and time travel of course): issue 19!
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Koroush Ghazi
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 October 2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 1648
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| Posted: 16 July 2019 at 5:25am | IP Logged | 2
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Love westerns, especially the classic '50s-early '60s variety. Simple morality tales set among harsh but beautiful countryside, typically with a twist. Sometimes just a triumph of style over substance (the plot of some classic westerns like High Noon or The Searchers can be described in a single sentence), but still great to watch for the characterisations and the overall journey.
Michael Roberts was right when he mentioned Red Dead Redemption 2 - the western-themed game was widely considered one of the best of 2018. The Deadwood movie this year and the Deadwood series in general continue to get lots of positive attention for the genre.
Westerns aren't dead as such, mostly just mishandled. And yes JB, I would love to see your take on a complete western tale.
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Andrew Cate
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 February 2019
Location: United States
Posts: 158
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| Posted: 16 July 2019 at 7:30am | IP Logged | 3
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My point was more that younger generations don't seem to have a strong affinity for the time period or genre not that it is stale today. So it seems that the genre will taper off as years pass.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132286
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| Posted: 16 July 2019 at 8:17am | IP Logged | 4
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My point was more that younger generations don't seem to have a strong affinity for the time period or genre not that it is stale today. So it seems that the genre will taper off as years pass. •• Has there ever been a genre, of any kind, that "tapered off" without eventually making a comeback?
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Andrew Cate
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 February 2019
Location: United States
Posts: 158
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| Posted: 16 July 2019 at 8:30am | IP Logged | 5
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Has there ever been a genre, of any kind, that "tapered off" without eventually making a comeback?
****
Egyptian slapstick.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132286
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| Posted: 16 July 2019 at 8:38am | IP Logged | 6
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Egyptian slapstick. •• Coming soon from Dwayne The Rock Johnson and Eddie Murphy....
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Peter Martin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 15798
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| Posted: 16 July 2019 at 9:26am | IP Logged | 7
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I remember everyone saying the Western was dead in the 80s, and then in the early 90s we had Dances With Wolves and Unforgiven both winning Best Picture and succeeding at the box office.
However, in the 80s if you had to tried to argue the Western was alive by citing a film from the 70s, you would have been laughed at for your desperation. Particularly if the film wasn't really a western. Which is why I find it odd to see 2007's There Will Be Blood being cited as evidence of the genre being hale and hearty in 2019. It brings to mind a thread we had in the past about what does a film need to have to be considered a Western. For the record, I really don't consider There Will Be Blood to be a Western.
However, I would point to The Revenant winning a bunch of Oscars, including best actor and director a few years ago. Around the same time we had The Hateful Eight from Tarantino, which also won a major Oscar. So not exactly moribund, despite Disney dropping a wedge of cash with The Lone Ranger not too long ago.
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Bill Collins
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 May 2005
Location: England
Posts: 11249
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| Posted: 16 July 2019 at 1:17pm | IP Logged | 8
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Don`t forget Young Guns was an early 90`s hit, as was
The Quick and The Dead. Recently we had True Grit and
3,10 To Yuma, both remakes, but both fairly successful.
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Stephen Churay
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 March 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 8369
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| Posted: 16 July 2019 at 1:46pm | IP Logged | 9
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I don't know if that Disney LONE RANGER film qualifies as
either a western of a Lone Ranger film.
On the comic book front, I've been trying to pick up
books set in the Western period. I've managed to hunt
down three of the Blueberry books. Joe Kubert did a Tex
Wheeler book and IDW recently published a complete volume
if RIO by Doug Wildey. All amazing stuff. Sad, I find
most of the best American Western books are created by
Europeans.
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Steve De Young
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Joined: 01 April 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 3488
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| Posted: 16 July 2019 at 2:05pm | IP Logged | 10
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I read an editorial near the beginning of the resurgence of superhero films. It basically argued that superhero films had taken the place formerly held by Westerns in that they press some of the same buttons. Clearly identifiable good and bad guys. Good guys protecting a town/city. Crime and justice. Complete with the later evolution of conflicted heroes in spaghetti Westerns being parallel to more violent, conflicted superheroes.
I would even go so far as to argue that Logan was more of a Western than a superhero story.
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Michael Roberts
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 14812
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| Posted: 16 July 2019 at 2:13pm | IP Logged | 11
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I would even go so far as to argue that Logan was more of a Western than a superhero story.
-----
You mean all the SHANE references weren't subtle enough? Plus "Old Man Logan", the comic story LOGAN was based on, was a shameless take on UNFORGIVEN.
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David Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Posts: 3008
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| Posted: 16 July 2019 at 9:14pm | IP Logged | 12
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I don't think the Western is doomed, it's just their market saturation reached a tolerable level. According to this site, Hollywood produced an average of approximately 100 Westerns a year for 25 years. I love a good western, but I don't need 10 of them, or a hundred.
In contrast, 2019 will see the most superhero movies ever released in a 12-month period, a staggering... twenty. A few years ago people complained half that was too many.
As y'all have noted regarding Logan, a lot of Western storytelling has been co-opted by other genres. Reportedly much of what made Star Wars exciting was the way it grafted Western tropes onto Sci-Fi. Audiences can get the thrills and joys of a Western without sitting through a period piece.
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