r/Westerns • u/Valuable_Stick4656 • 1d ago
Recommendation Getting into the genre
I really admire the western genre, but I’m young and I have trouble watching old movies in the Western genre is such an old genre and has a lot of old classics so what are some recommendations to get me into the genre and ready for those old classics?
4
4
5
4
u/JordanElshoff 1d ago
Lonesome Dove, 3:10 To Yuma, Open Range, Tombstone, True Grit, just to name a few from the last 40 years
3
u/FloridaPanther 1d ago
Tombstone (1993) is my favourite of all time
Is that what you mean by old? lol or do you mean like OLD OLD 1950s
1
3
3
u/Icy-Anxiety-9338 1d ago
You could watch something like Tombstone to get into Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday and then transition to more classic old Westerns about them. My Darling Clementine for example.
1
3
u/ShaunisntDead 1d ago
John Fords Cavlary Trilogy fits that painting perfectly. Also check out Red River, Stagecoach, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, The Searchers, Sgt Rutledge...
3
u/derfel_cadern 1d ago
You have to take an older movie for what it is. Yes, it'll have slower camera movements. No, there won't be nudity or curse words. Gun shots won't really bleed. No action set-pieces set to pop music. But that doesn't make an older movie bad or boring! On the contrary. Try to appreciate the art for what it is, not comparing it to something modern. Acting styles are different across eras as well. Are older acting styles unrealistic? Maybe. But realism is not the end-all be-all of art. Yes, a photograph looks more realistic than a fresco by Masaccio. But that doesn't make it better. Look for how it makes you feel.
Anyways. Sorry. For the recommendation:
Watch Stagecoach. It's funny, good drama, great characters, and incredible action (and honestly staged better than 99% of action in modern movies). It's made by the great master of the genre, John Ford, and has many titans of the genre acting in it as well.
Plug your phone in another room, sit down, and enjoy the experience.
3
u/Cuhuldra 23h ago
Type John Wayne into search. Pick a random Wayne movie and push play. The Shootist, Rooster Cogburn, El Dorado, Sons of Katie Elder and True Grit are some of the top contenders. After that move over to Clint Eastwood. See you in about 18 months and let us know how it's going.
2
2
2
u/artrosk2 1d ago edited 1d ago
Dollars trilogy
Once upon a Time in the west
The wild bunch
Duck you sucker
M'y name is nobody
Django
And more récent one like others gives you are the easiest way to go into the genra that got a lot of variation from drama to comedy. Older one are good too but i don't think it's the easiest way to go into the genra especially if old movies are hard to watch for you.
You can also enter by movie that aren't really western but usés a lot of it code (desperado, back to the futur 3, cent mille dollars au soleil,...)
2
u/Coloradogal777 1d ago
Also look up old western tv shows they have the same feel but are shorter
Rawhide Laramie and bonanza are a great place to start or wild Wild West if you want a bit of a different feel
2
u/bgnewhouse 23h ago
What do you have trouble with in older Westerns? Is it the same as with other older movies? That might help us know what to avoid.
2
u/DisheveledDetective 18h ago
El Dorado with John Wayne and Robert Mitchum and the TV show Gunsmoke would be good places to start.
2
u/CoalSmoocher 11h ago
it's hard because the old westerns are paced so much more slowly than modern movies. if im going to dig in for something older I always put my phone away to remove as much distraction as possible. I generally find myself immersed in the story fairly quickly
1
u/Outside_Objective183 12h ago
I only recently started. My favourites are;
Death Rides a Horse Unforgiven Tombstone The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
These have plenty of action, revenge, great bad guys, etc.
I also think these are the best entry points into the genre, then you can move onto Anthony Mann films, John Wayne classics, etc etc.
1
1
u/Weary_Nectarine5117 9h ago
Outlaw Josey wales. The cowboys, with John Wayne.
Any of the others mentioned.
3
u/jasont3260 1d ago
I’d also suggest some soft westerns. Movies that cross genres and just happen to take place in the Old West. Something like Maverick, Young Guns, Young Guns 2, the quick and the dead (1995), even Wagons East!, Back to the Future 3, or Cowboys vs Aliens make a less abrupt transition to the genre than running headlong into True Grit, Unforgiven, or Open Range (all of which are excellent) but in my experience tend to be a bit too heavy for those just starting out in the genre.
1
0
u/tragicsandwichblogs 1d ago
What do you mean by "old movies"? Black-and-white films? Before the 1990s? Older than you? I'm not sure which movies you're having trouble with, so it's a little hard to know what to suggest.
2
5
u/why_tho-5865 1d ago
True Grit (2010)