What are your top 5 Western DVDs
Comments
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Found this on the web.
Tombstone (1993)
Factual Errors: Curly Bill Brocious is shown as the leader of the "cowboys" prior to the arrival of the Earps. In truth, the "cowboy" band was under the control of "Old Man" Clanton until his death, during a rustling expedition into Mexico, about 1-1/2 years after the Earps arrived.
Factual Errors: The 3 Earp brothers, Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan are shown arriving in Tombstone. In truth, Wyatt, Virgil, and James Earp arrived together. At the time, Morgan was already en route, and Warren Earp would soon follow.
Factual Errors: At the time of the Earp's arrival, Tombstone is portrayed as a prototypical (i.e. studio backlot) rowdy cowtown, with lots of new wooden buildings. It was, in fact, a mining boom town in the early stages of development. The few wooden buildings were outnumbered by adobe ones, which were in turn outnumbered by tents.
Factual Errors: Upon arrival, the Earps are greeted by Johnny Behan, the sheriff of Cochise Country. When the Earps really arrived (1879), there was no Cochise County. Tombstone was still in Pima County and Charles Shidell was sheriff. Cochise County was gerrymandered out of Pima County in 1881, when Democrat Behan was appointed sheriff by the Democrat governor. Much of the history involved the conflicts between Republicans (miners, townspeople, the Earps) and Democrats (Behan, ranchers, the "cowboys").
Anachronisms: Marshall Fred White is shown being killed after the Earps visit the Bird Cage Theatre. White was actually shot on an empty lot where the Bird Cage Theatre was later built.
Factual Errors: Virgil and Morgan Earp were not ambushed during the same evening. Virgil was shot in December, 1881, Morgan was killed in March, 1882.
Revealing mistakes: After Morgan dies from the gunshot wound, Wyatt goes outside into the rain, which is localized to 20 feet around him.
Factual Errors: The Earps did not shoot at Ike Clanton in Fly's Photography studio.
Factual Errors: Mattie Earp didn't die shortly after leaving Tombstone, but met up with Big Nose Kate and lived for another 8 years.
Factual Errors: Numerous other errors regarding the lives of the Earps.
Crew or equipment visible: As Marshall White steps up to Curly Bill, prior to Curly Bill shooting him, a wire is clearly visible emerging from his pant leg and trailing off camera. Presumably this is for the upcoming "shot in the chest" special effects.
Incorrectly regarded as goofs: During the OK Corral gunfight, many people believe that Doc Holliday fires three shots from his shotgun without reloading. The third shot is in fact the second one again, filmed from a different angle. This is evidenced by the dead man receiving the same wounds in each frame.
Incorrectly regarded as goofs: In the gun fight at the O.K. Corral, gun shots are being fired from all participants and yet the horse still rears at a blast from Doc Holliday's shotgun later in the battle. That gun was louder than the others, and possibly closer to the horse.
Revealing mistakes: When White is shot, he turns and falls to the ground and the tube pumping fake blood from his gunshot wound is visible sticking out of the hole in his shirt.
Anachronisms: In Tombstone a 50-star US flag is flying from a building (it should have had 38 stars).
Continuity: When they are making their final ride to finish the cowboys, five riders are visible in one shot, but there should only be four (one had already been killed).
"At the first bend, I had the clear sensation that Tazio had taken it badly and that we would end up in the ditch; I felt myself stiffen as I waited for the crunch. Instead, we found ourselves on the next straight with the car in a perfect position. I looked at him, his rugged face was calm, just as it always was, and certainly not the face of someone who had just escaped a hair-raising spin. I had the same sensation at the second bend. By the fourth or fifth bend I began to understand; in the meantime, I had noticed that through the entire bend Tazio did not lift his foot from the accelerator, and that, in fact, it was flat on the floor. As bend followed bend, I discovered his secret. Nuvolari entered the bend somewhat earlier than my driver's instinct would have told me to. But he went into the bend in an unusual way: with one movement he aimed the nose of the car at the inside edge, just where the curve itself started. His foot was flat down, and he had obviously changed down to the right gear before going through this fearsome rigmarole. In this way he put the car into a four-wheel drift, making the most of the thrust of the centrifugal force and keeping it on the road with the traction of the driving wheels. Throughout the bend the car shaved the inside edge, and when the bend turned into the straight the car was in the normal position for accelerating down it, with no need for any corrections."
Enzo Ferrari -
Once Upon a Time in the West
A Fist full of Dollars
For a Few Dollars More
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The Magnificent Seven -
Magnificient Seven
The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Searchers
Once Upon a Time in the West
Gunfight at the OK Corral
Of course, the sound has NOTHING to do with the quality of the movies.
BDTI plan for the future. - F1Nut -
Turner Classic Movies
The word "masterpiece" gets tossed around far too often but if any film deserves that appellation, it's Once Upon a Time in the West (1969). Director and writer Sergio Leone hit the international film world hard with such spaghetti Westerns as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) but for Once Upon a Time in the West he used elements and specific references from decades of Westerns as an elegiac tribute to the genre. But the film is much more than just the ultimate Western; it's an epic tale of loyalty and mystery, a study of landscapes and faces, a beautiful and all too-human film.
The plot of Once Upon a Time in the West is disarmingly simple. A powerful landowner is waiting for his new bride (Claudia Cardinale) to arrive from New Orleans when he's killed by thugs. The newly installed widow discovers that a railroad is coming through the land, which of course the local railroad boss wants for himself. Complicating things is the railroad boss's cold-blooded killer (Henry Fonda of all people) who is being stalked by a shadowy stranger (Charles Bronson). Complicating things even more is the bandit Cheyenne (Jason Robards) who has his own plans. You can tell Once Upon a Time in the West is going to be a different kind of Western from the opening scene. It's a ten-minute-plus scene of three men waiting for a train to arrive. There's almost no dialogue and very little overt action but it's a gripping visual sequence that was praised for its "almost balletic quality."
Leone had first thought he'd finished with the Western after making The Good, the Bad and the Ugl y and started to plan a film that would later become Once Upon a Time in America . But that project proved troublesome so he turned to the idea of Once Upon a Time in the West. A chance meeting at a screening of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly connected Leone with two collaborators on the story who would later become accomplished directors themselves. The trio hammered out a story drawing from decades of American history and films (though much of the plot came from Johnny Guitar (1954) as they later admitted). The detailed story was expanded by Sergio Donati ( The Big Gundown (1966), and uncredited work on Leone's two previous films) to a full script in about a month. Much later, the English-language dialogue would be written by Mickey Knox, a former actor who worked on numerous translations during this period. (Like nearly all Italian films, Once Upon a Time in the West was filmed without sound so all the dialogue and sound effects were dubbed later, even for the Italian version.)
Most of the cast were chosen for their memorable faces or familiarity among Western fans but Leone had always wanted to work with Henry Fonda. For Leone's earlier films, Fonda was just too expensive but now that he had the money it was a challenge to interest Fonda because of the language barrier. Fonda had passed on the film originally because the hastily translated script seemed clumsy but Eli Wallach told him that he really should meet with Leone. Fonda did so, saw Leone's earlier films, and was so impressed he signed aboard almost immediately. (Oddly enough, Leone was trying to get Clint Eastwood into the film, this time for the role that Charles Bronson would play.)
Filming took place at Italy's Cinecitta Studios and on location in Spain (for the town and ranch-house) and John Ford's favorite stomping ground Monument Valley (for the flashback and several establishing shots and short scenes). Leone turned again to his favorite composer Ennio Morricone and had most of the music already recorded before production began so that it could be played during actual filming.
Once Upon a Time in the West opened in 1969 to somewhat confused critical reaction. Audiences in France loved it but in the U.S. the distributor panicked and chopped out nearly 20 minutes. But sharp viewers (including the directors Stanley Kubrick and Sam Peckinpah ) began to take notice of this masterful achievement and it soon began to acquire the reputation it deserves."At the first bend, I had the clear sensation that Tazio had taken it badly and that we would end up in the ditch; I felt myself stiffen as I waited for the crunch. Instead, we found ourselves on the next straight with the car in a perfect position. I looked at him, his rugged face was calm, just as it always was, and certainly not the face of someone who had just escaped a hair-raising spin. I had the same sensation at the second bend. By the fourth or fifth bend I began to understand; in the meantime, I had noticed that through the entire bend Tazio did not lift his foot from the accelerator, and that, in fact, it was flat on the floor. As bend followed bend, I discovered his secret. Nuvolari entered the bend somewhat earlier than my driver's instinct would have told me to. But he went into the bend in an unusual way: with one movement he aimed the nose of the car at the inside edge, just where the curve itself started. His foot was flat down, and he had obviously changed down to the right gear before going through this fearsome rigmarole. In this way he put the car into a four-wheel drift, making the most of the thrust of the centrifugal force and keeping it on the road with the traction of the driving wheels. Throughout the bend the car shaved the inside edge, and when the bend turned into the straight the car was in the normal position for accelerating down it, with no need for any corrections."
Enzo Ferrari -
"At the first bend, I had the clear sensation that Tazio had taken it badly and that we would end up in the ditch; I felt myself stiffen as I waited for the crunch. Instead, we found ourselves on the next straight with the car in a perfect position. I looked at him, his rugged face was calm, just as it always was, and certainly not the face of someone who had just escaped a hair-raising spin. I had the same sensation at the second bend. By the fourth or fifth bend I began to understand; in the meantime, I had noticed that through the entire bend Tazio did not lift his foot from the accelerator, and that, in fact, it was flat on the floor. As bend followed bend, I discovered his secret. Nuvolari entered the bend somewhat earlier than my driver's instinct would have told me to. But he went into the bend in an unusual way: with one movement he aimed the nose of the car at the inside edge, just where the curve itself started. His foot was flat down, and he had obviously changed down to the right gear before going through this fearsome rigmarole. In this way he put the car into a four-wheel drift, making the most of the thrust of the centrifugal force and keeping it on the road with the traction of the driving wheels. Throughout the bend the car shaved the inside edge, and when the bend turned into the straight the car was in the normal position for accelerating down it, with no need for any corrections."
Enzo Ferrari -
I just watched Jeremiah Johnson for the first time last night, and I have to add it to my list of best westerns. An "old" movie (1972), but a great one, IMO.Mains: polkaudio RTi70's (bi-wired)
Center: polkaudio CSi40 (bi-wired)
Surrounds: polkaudio FXi30's
Rear Center: polkaudio CSi30
Sub: SVS 20-39 PC+
Receiver: ONKYO TX-SR600
Display: JVC HD-56G786
DVD Player: SONY DVP-CX985V
DVD Player: OPPO DV-981HD 1080p High Definition Up-Converting Universal DVD Player with HDMI
Remote: Logitech Harmony H688 -
I love westerns! Some of my favorites include:
John Ford's Calvery trilogy:
Ft Apache (I wish they would release this on DVD)
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon
Rio Grande
Also
Rooster Cogburn
Rio Bravo
Big Jake
Mcklintock
Blazing Saddles
Hang Em HighMarantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2 -
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The Wild Bunch
Unforgiven
A Fistful Of Dollars
For A Few Dollars More -
- Silverado
- Unforgiven
- Pale Rider
- Tombstone (of course)
- The Cowboy'sSource: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2 -
1. Unforgiven
2. Pale Rider
3. Dances With Wolves
4. The Magnificent Seven
5. Outlaw Josey Wales
Does The Three Amigos count as a western?
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-Jeremiah Johnson
-The Long Riders
-Dances With Wolves
-Lonesome Dove
-Unforgiven
Of course anything with the Duke... -
1- Wyatt Earp
2- Unforgiven
3- Tombstone
4- The Quick and the Dead (w/Sharon Stone)
5- Maverick (w/Mel Gibson)polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
MECA SQ Rookie of the Year 06 ~ MECA State Champ 06,07,08,11 ~ MECA World Finals 2nd place 06,07,08,09
08 Car Audio Nationals 1st ~ 07 N Georgia Nationals 1st ~ 06 Carl Casper Nationals 1st ~ USACi 05 Southeast AutumnFest 1st
polkaudio SR6500 --- polkaudio MM1040 x2 -- Pioneer P99 -- Rockford Fosgate P1000X5D -
1. The Wild Bunch
2. High Noon
3. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
4. Unforgiven
5. The Shootist
