Modern Westerns Mentioned in this Article
- Hostiles (2018 film) – https://amzn.to/40dX8ov
- Old Henry (2021 film) – https://amzn.to/41PBYyk
- The Homesman (2015 film) – https://amzn.to/3PgUk3G
- The Proposition (2005 film) – https://amzn.to/3BXfyAw
- Hell or High Water (2018) https://amzn.to/3PnuTxj
- Unforgiven (1992) – https://amzn.to/49ZFx7h
- The Magnificent Seven (1960) – https://amzn.to/3Pnv1gh
- The Mandalorian Series https://amzn.to/3BPY8FZ
- Seven Samurai (1954) – https://amzn.to/3VW7cju
Hollywood churns out a lot of Westerns. They are not always set in the old American West. Sometimes they are in Australia, modern day suburbs, feudal Japan or even outer space.
The successful Disney Star Wars series “The Mandalorian” is an example of a Western-like story with similar scenes and situations liberally borrowed from Western classics such as “The Magnificent Seven” released in 1960 which of course was a retelling of Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 Japanese film “Seven Samurai“.
Westerns often deal with themes of exploration, survival, greed, colonialism and power struggles. These same themes show up in a lot of sci-fi movies. What makes pure Western dramas so compelling is the reduction of the conflict to wit, determination and guns. They are more relatable than a story set in some far, far, away time and place.
Bullets seem to have more impact than any laser beam. Even if you think about the Mandalorian’s Amban sniper, a pulse weapon that turns victims into vapor, the result is more cartoonist than reality. Get hit with a real bullet and we understand the pain and often slow death the results. In Westerns based in reality, getting hit with a lead bullet in the stomach results in a slow agonizing death as opposed to being instantly vaporized. This gives the other characters around the dying one more chances to show their compassion or lack there of.
Will Munny : Give him a drink of water, goddamn it. Will you give him a drink of water, for Christ’s sake? We ain’t gonna shoot. (Clint Eastwood’s character in Unforgiven (1992).
True Westerns also come with a sense of real history. In a sci-fi world one can make up just about anything whereas in a pure Western there are historical restraints that bring about an authenticity to the film.
The futuristic technology within a sci-fi film always to the viewer to remove themselves from the conflict whereas a Western, even one set in modern times such as Hell or High Water (2018) , the audience can relate to the same technology and situations depicted in the film.
New to Westerns? Start here – Recommended Western Films:
- Unforgiven (1992 film) – https://amzn.to/49ZFx7h
- The Magnificent Seven (1960 film) – https://amzn.to/3Pnv1gh
- Open Range (2003 film) – https://amzn.to/4fD5afd
- 3:10 to Yuma (2007 film) https://amzn.to/3ZTeLZz
- Lonesome Dove Collection (various release dates) https://amzn.to/4gW6ATe
- Hostiles (2018 film) – https://amzn.to/40dX8ov
- Old Henry (2021 film) – https://amzn.to/41PBYyk
- The Homesman (2015 film) – https://amzn.to/3PgUk3G
- The Proposition (2005 film) – https://amzn.to/3BXfyAw
- Bone Tomahawk (2015 film) – https://amzn.to/4fE8sil
- The Hateful Eight (2016) – https://amzn.to/41Y6mXh
- Tombstone (1993) – https://amzn.to/4iTR4Jc