Today's marathon is set during the Western era where crime, corruption, and friendship run rampant. The law was a very loose term back then which allowed for many tales of vengeance and citizens taking the law into their own hands to take place. Several different story arcs with some of the most iconic Western movies are presented in this evenings lineup along with one historical figure whose one of the main focuses for this evening. His name is Wyatt Earp, a legendary and courageous deputy who stood up to the corruption in the small town of Tombstone, Arizona. Strong leading men and women propel tonight's epic marathon set during the wild west with the likes of Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone, Leonardo Dicaprio, Russell Crowe, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Danny Glover, Madeleine Stowe, Drew Barrymore, Kurt Russell, and Val Kilmer. The cast when all of these movies are combined is impeccable and the stories are hard hitting, using the same formula in different forms. A Western night marathon was long overdue so it finally arrives to your nearest movie blog in grand fashion. We have on tonight's exciting and powerful marathon:
Wyatt Earp 1994, A Fistful Of Dollars 1964, The Quick And The Dead 1995, Silverado 1985, Bad Girls 1994, 310 To Yuma 2007, and Tombstone 1993
This feels like a pretty strong lineup of some iconic modern day Western tales. While it's true that other great Western movies like the original and newer True Grit and Magnificent Seven are missing here, it would take several marathon nights to get all the great Western movies covered realistically. Special themes such as corruption and vengeance were chosen to help narrow down the list to create an effective marathon. Beginning the lineup with Wyatt Earp allows the audience to become acquainted with one of the wild wests greatest heroes and lawmen named Wyatt Earp. Released within a years span as the cult classic Tombstone, Wyatt Earp is Kevin Costner's 3 hour depiction of the life of the heroic U.S Marshal who stood up to the corrupt gang in Tombstone called the cowboys. The film spreads from his childhood and covers all three of his marriages and career as a lawman. It is essentially the perfect film to parallel Tombstone by showing more insight into the heroes behind the O.K Corral and leaving the better reenactment of the famous incident for the marathons climax. Wyatt Earp received heavy criticism upon it's release for being overly long at 3 hours and too serious. The film boasts a star-studded case among the likes of Costner, Dennis Quaid, Bill Pullman, Gene Hackman, Catherine O Hara, and Michael Madsen. Wyatt Earp was nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography in spite of garnering mixed to negative reviews as Tombstone stole it's praise. The second movie of the lineup is the one that launched the career of one of Hollywood's greatest movie stars named Clint Eastwood. A Fistful Of Dollars is a direct remake of the 1961 Japanese classic Yojimbo, and centers around a wandering gunfighter playing two rival families against each other in a town run by greed, pride, and revenge. Dollars if the first entry in the popular Spaghetti Western trilogy starring Clint Eastwood with the other two entries being For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. The third movie of the lineup is the 1995 Sam Raimi western titled The Quick And The Dead starring Sharon Stone. Another tale of corruption and seeking revenge for past deeds with a lady avenger played by Sharon Stone returning to a western town that's owned by a ruthless gunslinger hosting an elimination tournament. Co-starring Gene Hackman as the corrupt gunslinger, Leonardo Dicaprio as his cocky son who participates in the tournaments, and Russell Crowe as a non violent preacher forced into fighting again by the ruthless gunslinger. Quick And The Dead follows a similar formula that Wyatt Earp and Fistful of Dollars introduced about corruption overpowering the towns, and a few people standing up to it whether its one man, a woman and her companions. The fourth movie of the marathon is the 1985 classic titled Silverado starring Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Scott Glenn, and Kevin Costner as four misfit friends who band together to battle corruption that runs rampant throughout the town of Silverado which is led by a corrupt sheriff played by Brian Dennehy. The film was nominated for two academy awards including best sound and best music score, with critical acclaim that allowed it to become one of the greatest Western movies ever made upon it's release. The fourth movie of the marathon is the critically panned and underrated female western movie titled Bad Girls. Starring Madeleine Stowe, Mary Stuart Masterson, Andie MacDowell, and Drew Barrymore, the film centers around four prostitutes who band together to travel through the old west battling corruption. Bad Girls is a significant film in the marathon because it 's one of the very few western movies that allows its female actresses to be the main stars of the film and breaks them away from the damsel in distress stereotype that's usually seen in western films. The movie was not a box office hit nor garnered strong reviews, but is a great opportunity to show a different side of the coin of the western genre. The fifth movie of the evening is the epic remake of the classic film from the 1957 classic titled 310 To Yuma. Nominated for two academy awards including best music and sound, the film starring Christian Bale and Russell Crowe centers around a small-time rancher who decides to lead a captured outlaw to his destination on a train going to a court in Yuma. During his journey towards escorting the captured outlaw to his destination, the two begin a battle of wills as the outlaw tries to out psych the rancher with his men pursuing close behind. This retelling of the classic story is one of the rare Hollywood remakes that lives up to it's original and surpasses it. It's a thrilling addition into an already massive western marathon and a great tale of courage and doing what's morally right in the face of adversity. The final movie of the evening comes back full circle to the way it started with the 1993 critically acclaimed and box office hit Tombstone. Starring Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliot, Bill Paxton, Dana Delany, and Michael Biehn, Generally considered one of the greatest western films ever made and one of the most iconic films of the 1990's, Tombstone centers around Wyatt Earp attempting to retire quietly in the small town of Tombstone Arizona with his then wife and brothers. While making his claim as a retired lawman in Tombstone, his plans of retiring quietly are interrupted by the presence of a ruthless gang that terrorizes the streets of Tombstone called the Cowboys. Realizing that there is no one else to stand brave enough to fight these men, Earp begins to slowly be drawn back to his stature as one of the great lawmen of his time. Tombstone's sequence involving the gunfight at the OK Corral remains one of the most accurate depictions of the real gunfight on film.
So what are these movies trying to say when you line them all up together? With corruption and vengeance being two major themes that run rampant throughout this marathon, the message is simply that if there's wrong doing that's happening in a small town by corrupt individuals, someone is going to have to be brave enough to stand up to it and defend what's right. The law should be upheld and corrupt individuals such as sheriffs and gangsters need to be brought to justice dead or alive.
Our heroes for this evening:
Good post. I love westerns so you got my attention. I think doing a theme of fighting corruption in the old west is a good idea. Especially given the climate in the world with all the ISIS activity and what not. It's easy to draw some parallels between the enemies that guys like Wyatt Earp or Clint Eastwood's man-with-no-name went up against, and the ISIS terrorists. I personally think of the cow-boy gang in Tombstone in relation to this.
ReplyDeleteAnd all-in-all I think this is a good list, though I'll confess to never seeing Bad Girls before. Maybe I'll watch it with my wife, she might like it.
One suggestion I'd make is Open Range instead of 3:10 to Yuma. Yuma is more of an "escaping the bad guy gang" type of movie where as Open Range is about two free living drovers whose lives, and livelihood, are endangered by a local cattle boss who rules the town. Open Range is a great western.
I love True Grit, but I think that was a good choice leaving it out. Again, it was more of a good-guys vs bad-guys escapade more than a matter of corrupt officials or corrupted living environment.
One thing I'll voice here is that, to be honest, I detest 3:10 to Yuma. That's probably another discussion, but I have to say it, so deep is my loathing.