r/Westerns

We're publishing a western soon because it feels like the western novel has become a endangered species.

Are there folks here who like the idea of new western novels?

Here's part of the cover art to get a taste...

There are striking parallels between The Naked Spur and Deliverance, which is one of my four favorite films of all time. And what links them is a turbulent, coursing river. Both films are entirely rural and are situated preponderently in a steep river gorge. The protagonists and antagonists are effectively trapped between a dangerous river and the high walls of the gorge that surround them. There is thus a certain geological compression verging on claustrophobia that weighs upon the dramatis personae. This goes a fortiori for TNS insofar as the party of bounty hunters, outlaw and moll, at one point seek shelter from a storm in a cramped, dank cave.

In Deliverance, danger comes from on high in the form of a psychotic hillbilly with his rifle. In TNS it stems from an outlaw who triggers landslides in the hope of crushing his pursuers. In Deliverance, John Voight scales the gorge to find and kill the hillbilly. In TNS, Jimmy Stewart and Ralph Meeker do the same to apprehend the outlaw (Robert Ryan). In both films we also see corpses in the river enmeshed in ropes. And finally, the cinematographic verisimilitude is unmistakable. Both films feature dramatic shots from the top of the gorge down upon the raging river below. The terrible power and grandeur of the untamed rivers is strikingly displayed. There is no doubt in my mind that Deliverance cinematogrpher Vilmos Zsigmond was heavily influenced by William C. Mellor's work in TNS.

Additionally, there is a thematic resemblance between TNS and some of the Ranown Westerns. Specifically, we see a bounty hunter escorting a dangerous outlaw to a site of justice only to be beset by hangers-on seeking a chunk--or all--of the reward, and the entire scenario being complicated by a beautiful young woman. In this case, the lovely girl and source of jealous friction is Janet Leigh, who was 25 at the age of filming. She was far prettier here with her scruffy, short, curly hair and in the flower of her youth than she would be later on as a glamor queen in The Manchurian Candidate (1962). She also comes close to dominating TNS with an excellent acting performance.

This is an interesting and very good Western. Robert Ryan is surely one of the more repellent (not to mention obnoxious) villains in the whole Western corpus and it is most satisfying to see him get his comeuppance at the hands of Stewart and Meeker (himself also rather annoying). But perhaps more than the fine ensemble of Stewart, Meeker, Ryan, Leigh and Millard Mitchell, it is the minatory river-gorge setting that steals the show.

In my opinion Clint's very underrated performance, he normally plays morally gray characters but this is the only time he plays character who is pure evil and it certainly made the movie unforgettable to me.

What do you think?

I loved this show … with the turn of the century use of ballistics , footprints, fingerprints , etc.

Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970) Great movie about a former Civil War soldier saves a nun from a gang of bandits, they team up to help the Mexicans in their war against the French.

Someone combined scenes from THE THREE AMIGOS (1986) with TOMBSTONE (1993), and the result feels weirdly accurate the second the characters start walking together. The dramatic cowboy energy, slow pacing, and confident entrance somehow make the comedy edit look like it belonged in the original movie all along.

Fans instantly love how naturally the scenes match despite both films having completely different tones and intentions. The serious Western atmosphere from TOMBSTONE mixed with the awkward charm of THE THREE AMIGOS creates a hilarious contrast that has made viewers rewatch the edit multiple times online.

TOMBSTONE was released in 1993 and became one of the most iconic Western films ever made, starring Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer. THE THREE AMIGOS arrived years earlier in 1986 as a comedic parody of classic Westerns, which is exactly why the unexpected crossover ends up feeling so funny and strangely perfect.