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Summary
With delightfully dour classic likeEl TopoandMcCabe & Mrs. Miller , the 1970s marked the end of the westerly genre ’s blossom and the dawn of the anti - western . The westerly genre has been a raw material of American cinema since the invention of filmmaking . One of the first narrative picture show ever made – Edwin S. Porter ’s 1903 silent movieThe Great Train Robbery – was a westerly . Seminal masterpieces likeStagecoachandDestry Rides Againestablished the cinematic language of the westerly genre in the 1930s , and westerns continue popular and rife throughout the ‘ 40s , ‘ fifty , and ‘ 60 .
But in the 1970s , the genre ’s sovereignty over multiplexes began to stop . The Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War had caused disillusioned Americans to interview their institutions , and many moviegoers became savvy to the western genre ’s tactical whitewashing of the darker chapter of U.S. history . The western genre would never quite reclaim its blockbuster status , but the demythologisation of the western tropes and conventionalism led to the creation of the revisionist westerly , or “ anti - western . ” This movement paved the way for some of the greatest western ever made throughout the ‘ 70s .
10The Cowboys
Directed by Mark Rydell , 1972’sThe Cowboysstars John Wayne as mature rancher Wil Andersen , who ’s forced to lease a crew of inexperient Thomas Kyd as cowhands to help oneself him with a kine driveway . The boys scantily know how to drive cattle under the best of circumstances , but they face plenty of dangers along the way and they ’re being chased by a nefarious gang of rustler . The flick was pick apart for its exercise of ferocity as a coming - of - long time ritual , but that ’s all part of its portrayal of a harsh , deadly frontier .
Wayne ’s impeccable operation inThe Cowboysbrings the same grizzled , ending - of - the - road roughneck vibraphone asTrue Grit . ButThe Cowboysis a much more optimistic movie , as it sees Wayne ’s protagonist give his wisdom onto the next generation . The Cowboysis a sales talk - complete escapade movie with loveable characters .
9Jeremiah Johnson
Sydney Pollack turned the life of Mexican War veteran and fabled good deal world Jeremiah Johnson into a broody westerly movie , aptly titledJeremiah Johnson , in 1972 . Robert Redford plays the title role face-to-face Will Geer as his mentor , “ Bear Claw ” Chris Lapp . Jeremiah Johnsonisn’t as action - pack as the average westerly pic – and it requires a lot of patience from the consultation – but that quieter coming paves the way for a thoughtful , meditative eccentric study .
Jeremiah Johnsondoesn’t shy away from the brutality of the Old West , but it replaces the genre ’s usual shootout and saloon brawl with a touching celebration of the human flavor . It ’s all about its characters ’ heroic pursuance for freedom , which is both timeless and universally reminiscent . It also gain from stunning motion-picture photography by Duke Callaghan , razor - sharp editing by Thomas Stanford , and , of course , Pollack ’s typically fantastic commission .
8High Plains Drifter
Clint Eastwood blended elements of supernatural repugnance into a intimate westerly framework in his 1973 thrillerHigh Plains Drifter . Similar toA Fistful of Dollars , Eastwood play a deep stranger who ride into a town full of corruption and doles out his own unique firebrand of Justice Department . But unlikeA Fistful of Dollars , his character is n’t just a man seek Department of Justice – there ’s something paranormal going on . It ’s unclear if he ’s a ghost or an angel of vengeance or even the Devil himself .
By the early ‘ 70s , there was n’t much room for innovation in the western genre . There had been westerly comedies , neo - westerns in a contemporary setting , westerns where the heroes were coward , westerns where the heroes were full - blown villains – it seemed as though everything that could be done in a western sandwich had already been done . ButHigh Plains Drifter ’s revulsion western storyline managed to put a fresh twisting on the well - worn music genre chemical formula .
7Ulzana’s Raid
Robert Aldrich ’s 1972 revisionist westernUlzana ’s Raidis both a office - on court to the definitive westerns of John Ford and a subversive New Hollywood western deconstructing all the tropes and trademark the literary genre is know for . Set in Arizona in the 1880s , Ulzana ’s Raidrevolves around a remorseless foray by Chiricahua Apaches against European colonist . As Ulzana continues his violent disorder of terror , an inexperient young lieutenant is air after him .
The flair ofUlzana ’s Raidis that it uses its western tale as an allegory for the then - ongoing Vietnam War . It ’s all about a striation of U.S. troops blend after an elusive and invincible enemy , which could be seen as symbolical of the United States ’ controversial engagement in the conflict in Vietnam . Like all the best Hollywood movies of the ‘ LXX , Ulzana ’s Raidreflects a fractured America .
6Duck, You Sucker!
After seemingly concluding his western career withOnce Upon a Time in the Westin 1968 , Sergio Leone returned to the genre one last time to helmDuck , You Sucker!in 1971.Duck , You Sucker ! – also known asA Fistful of DynamiteandOnce Upon a Time … the Revolution – is n’t as iconic asLeone ’s spaghetti westernsfrom the ‘ 60s , likeA Fistful of DollarsandThe Good , the Bad , and the Ugly . But it is a certifiable underrated gem .
Set during the Mexican Revolution of the 1910s , Duck , You Sucker!stars Rod Steiger as Mexican outlaw Juan Miranda and James Coburn as Fenian radical John Mallory . After the two sports meeting by chance , they inadvertently become heroes of the Revolution . duck’s egg , You Sucker!is well Leone ’s most underappreciated flick ; it ’s an natural action - throng epic poem with a surprising excited punch .
5El Topo
The full term “ blistering western ” was coined to describe Alejandro Jodorowsky ’s radical approach to the genre inEl Topo . El Topocombines the allegorical ambition of traditional western likeThe Searcherswith the excessive , surreal fierceness of spaghetti western and the psychedelic experimentation of the counterculture of the sixties . Jodorowsky did n’t just directEl Topo ; he also wrote the screenplay , composed the score , and starred in the deed theatrical role , so it ’s a singular cinematic vision .
El Topoloosely tells the father - Word story of triggerman El Topo and his son Hijo , who grows disenchant with his father ’s tearing modus vivendi . It has a shapeless , episodic structure , prioritise its theme and ideas over solid narrative beats . Jodorowsky channels easterly philosophical system and Judeo - Christian symbolism through a western genre theoretical account . El Topois one of the weirdest – and most profound – movie ever made .
4The Shootist
John Wayne capped off his legendary acting calling with his astral lead carrying out in Don Siegel ’s 1976 westernThe Shootist . This note Wayne ’s concluding picture appearance before his death in 1979 , and it was the stark swansong for one of Hollywood ’s most illustrious top men . Based on Glendon Swarthout ’s 1975 novel of the same name , The Shootistrevolves around an senesce gunslinger looking for the perfect path to die ; he wants to feel minimal nuisance and enjoy maximum self-worth in his final moments .
It ’s poetical that this end up beingWayne ’s last western , because it sees his distinctive western hero at the very death of his route , ready to finally hang up his hat and call it a day . A expire Wayne gives a moving and authentic performance as a give out gunfighter . This execution elevatesThe Shootistfrom a banner , formulaic western to a bona fide classic .
3The Outlaw Josey Wales
Three years afterHigh Plains Drifter , Eastwood point himself in another relentlessly bestial revisionist western : 1976’sThe Outlaw Josey Wales . Set during the Civil War , the picture show tells the epic tale of Josey Wales , a Missouri farmer who joins a Confederate guerilla army to exact revenge when his house is massacred by a Union reserves . wale earn a reputation as a fearsome gunfighter , and even after all his fellow battler have give up to the Union , he continues to assay vengeance .
The Outlaw Josey Walesis an anti - war chef-d’oeuvre that objurgate the fact that human beings ’s groovy creativity and innovation befall during wartime . It condemn the fact that even though no one savour state of war , war continue to ravage the world in an endless cycle . LikeEastwood ’s later masterpieceUnforgiven , The Outlaw Josey Walesexplores a more ground , human-centered take on the Man with No Name archetype .
2Blazing Saddles
Mel Brooks satirized the western genre ’s whitewashing of American history in his groundbreaking 1974 parodyBlazing Saddles . The movie revolves around a corrupted white politician who wants to tear through a quaint little township to build a railroad track . He hires a contraband sheriff in an endeavor to sabotage the township , but the sheriff grow out to be so good at his occupation that he saves the townsfolk and get the crooked politico and his cronies to justice . This is both a keen westerly hero ’s journey and a situation - on sarcasm of the fatuity of racism .
Not only isBlazing Saddlesa uproarious put-on of westerns ; it ’s also just a terrific western . Sheriff Bart is an soft hero to rootle for and his story touches on all the hallmarks of a classic western sandwich . Blazing Saddlesis a drollery chef-d’oeuvre that ’s just as funny half a hundred later .
1McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Robert Altman upended the skew mythologisation of the westerly writing style withhis seminal 1971 anti - westernMcCabe & Mrs. Miller . The movie star Warren Beatty as a mysterious risk taker advert John McCabe and Julie Christie as a British madam name Constance Miller , who team up to establish a improvised brothel in an unincorporated boomtown . McCabe spreads rumour around town that he ’s a notorious shooter , but when bounty hunting watch derive after him , he unwrap his true cowardly colors .
Along with the early revisionist westernButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , which tackled the same themes with a more comedic angle , McCabe & Mrs. Milleris a landmark entry in the westerly canyon . It corrupt everything that audiences had come to expect from the musical style . Its hero is n’t a function example , its action successiveness are brutal rather than exciting , and its ending is decidedly bleak .
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