The Western
is undoubtedly one of the great foundational genres in the history of cinema. As such, its influence goes beyond Western movies proper — be they classic Western movies from the 1950s and 1960s or modern neo-Westerns — and spreads to all other genres, shaping the way certain scenes are shot or how particular Western genre tropes are used in developing plots.
Some Western-adjacent movies are easier to spot than others, neo-Westerns especially because while they rework some of the genre’s most frequent tropes, they’re usually still set in the American West and generally feel very Western. Other movies, however, simply pick and choose some Western elements to weave into their stories that might be surprising to audiences when pointed out. However, all have the potential to delight and move audiences with how they twist and remake the recurring themes of the Western genre, to say something more about the modern day.
10
Hell Or High Water (2016)
You are watching: 10 Movies You Don’t Realize Are Westerns At First
Directed By David Mackenzie
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9/10
Hell or High Water
R
CrimeDocumentaryDramaThrillerWestern
Hell or High Water is a modern Western crime thriller directed by David Mackenzie. Starring Chris Pine and Ben Foster as two brothers who embark on a series of bank robberies to save their family ranch, the film delves into themes of economic hardship and justice. Jeff Bridges plays a Texas Ranger nearing retirement, determined to catch them.
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Release Date
August 12, 2016
Cast
Gil Birmingham
, Kristin Berg
, Ben Foster
, Jeff Bridges
, Buck Taylor
, Dale Dickey
, Chris Pine
, William Sterchi
Director
David Mackenzie
Runtime
97minutes
Writers
Taylor Sheridan
It might not take that long to identify Hell or High Water as a Western, but it certainly doesn’t feel like a classic one. The plot follows brothers Toby and Tanner Howard, who rob two banks in West Texas to try to prevent their ranch from being foreclosed on. Assigned to their case and chasing them across the state are two Texas Rangers.
Hell or High Water is set in the modern day and there aren’t as many horses galloping across the frame as there are beat-up cars, but it’s still a movie that’s very much reminiscent of old Westerns and their plots: robbers and lawmen entangled in an endless chase across the wide open spaces of the American West. Hell or High Water is a movie that sits firmly within the neo-Western genre, which is the specialty of its screenwriter Taylor Sheridan, also the creator of the Yellowstone universe.
9
Logan (2017)
Directed By James Mangold
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8.7/10
Logan
R
Action Sci-FiSuperhero
Logan sees the titular hero, AKA Wolverine, in his twilight years as his healing factor has begun to fail him, and he has begun to age more rapidly. Set several years in the future, Logan finds himself caring for an ailing Professor Xavier, whose mind has begun to succumb to dementia, making him an incredibly dangerous mutant that can cause widespread destruction accidentally. But when the preoccupied Logan is asked to meet with a woman that requests he transports a young girl to a mutant haven known as Eden, he learns that she may have his DNA and that the fate of mutant-kind may rest in her hands.
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Release Date
March 3, 2017
Cast
Hugh Jackman
, Patrick Stewart
, Dafne Keen
, Elizabeth Rodriguez
, Daniel Bernhardt
, Richard E. Grant
, Doris Morgado
, Boyd Holbrook
Director
James Mangold
Runtime
137 Minutes
Franchise(s)
X-Men
Writers
Michael Green
, Scott Frank
, James Mangold
Prequel(s)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
, The Wolverine
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Logan is quite the rare gem in the superhero movie genre and one with a considerable neo-Western look, a setting that usually doesn’t mash that well with superheroes. The Logan of this movie, however, isn’t the usual one from the other installments of the X-Men franchise, and this difference makes “Old Man Logan” the perfect anti-hero for a Western-inspired story.
Logan is set in a future where mutants are becoming rarer and where most of the X-Men were unwittingly destroyed by Professor Xavier, whose control over his powers is slipping. Logan himself is slowly being poisoned by his adamantium skeleton. Their relatively quiet life is shaken by the appearance of Laura, a child who was created from Logan’s own DNA to replicate his powers and become a weapon. Of course, the people who experimented on her want her back — something that Logan is not going to let happen.
8
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019)
Directed By Vince Gilligan
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4.5/10
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
TV-MA
DramaCrimeAction
El Camino wraps up Jesse Pinkman’s story after he escapes from a group of Neo-Nazis at the end of Breaking Bad. Written, directed, and produced by Vince Gilligan and starring Aaron Paul, the 2019 movie revolves around Jesse’s attempt to flee to Alaska and start a new life, leaving behind his past with meth kingpin Walter White.
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Release Date
October 11, 2019
Cast
Krysten Ritter
, Jonathan Banks
, Matt Jones
, Aaron Paul
, Robert Forster
, Bryan Cranston
, Jesse Plemons
, Charles Baker
Director
Vince Gilligan
Runtime
122 minutes
Franchise(s)
Breaking Bad
Writers
Vince Gilligan
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El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie serves as a sequel to Breaking Bad, acting as its long epilogue that focuses on wrapping up Jesse Pinkman’s story. The movie follows Jesse as he tries to leave behind New Mexico and the long shadow of Walter White’s drug empire, all while being chased by the law as well as the enemies he and Walter made along the way.
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El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie was a genre-busting return to the beloved series. Here are 5 Western and 5 Noir tropes that helped it
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While El Camino might not look very Western, it certainly emulates a Western. All the major tropes of the genre are there, starting with its protagonist being a lone anti-hero on the run from the law and always looking for a way to come into possession of more money so that he may fund his escape. The gun duel towards the end of El Camino drives the Western inspiration home, as well as Jesse’s goal to make it to Alaska, which a friend described to him as “the final frontier.“
7
A Bug’s Life (1998)
Directed By John Lasseter
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9.5/10
A Bug’s Life
G
AnimationAdventureComedyFamily
Created by Pixar and Walt Disney Pictures, A Bug’s Life is an animated adventure-comedy that follows a colony of Ants that must find a way to stop a group of grasshoppers from exploiting them. When a young inventor with a clumsy streak named Flik accidentally destroys the food offering to the grasshoppers, he heads off to gather a group of stronger bugs to fight against their oppressors and free the colony.
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Release Date
November 25, 1998
Cast
Dave Foley
, Kevin Spacey
, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
, Hayden Panettiere
, Phyllis Diller
, Richard Kind
Director
John Lasseter
, Andrew Stanton
Runtime
95 minutes
Writers
Andrew Stanton
, Don McEnery
, Bob Shaw
The Western genre would probably be the last thing on anyone’s mind when watching A Bug’s Life, the second hit animated movie to come from Pixar Studios. However, the story of Flik the ant, ingenious but clumsy, who sets out to find a way to save his colony from the gang of grasshoppers that steal their food every year actually has considerable Western influence.
That is because the plot of A Bug’s Life follows almost beat for beat — with the differences that come from A Bug’s Life being about ants, grasshoppers, ladybugs, and caterpillars — that of the 1960 Western classic The Magnificent Seven, directed by John Sturges, which in turn is an American remake of the 1954 epic period drama Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa. All stories feature a band of warriors — or fake warriors, in the case of A Bug’s Life — being hired to defend a group of peaceful villagers oppressed by a gang of raiders.
6
No Country For Old Men (2007)
Directed By Joel & Ethan Coen
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7.9/10
No Country for Old Men
R
ThrillerDramaCrime
No Country for Old Men is a western crime-thriller based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy and directed by the Cohen Brothers. Following three protagonists, the film centers around a large $2,000,000+ cache of dirty money lost near the Rio Grande. With a veteran who finds it, a hitman who will stop at nothing to get it, and a sheriff trying to investigate the crimes connected to it, all roads lead to death and mayhem as they find themselves in each other’s crosshairs.
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Release Date
November 21, 2007
Cast
Kelly Macdonald
, Woody Harrelson
, Josh Brolin
, Javier Bardem
, Tommy Lee Jones
Director
Joel Coen
, Ethan Coen
Runtime
122 minutes
Writers
Ethan Coen
, Joel Coen
No Country for Old Men set the standard for the modern neo-Western genre, turning the Coen brothers into household names and becoming one of only four Western movies to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The story, however, seems at first to be that of a simple crime thriller with a Western-like setting, as it takes place in Texas.
No Country for Old Men follows three separate characters, whose roads will inevitably converge: Llewelyn Moss, a welder who happens upon a large amount of money when in the desert; the hitman Anton Chigurh, out to recover the money; and the sheriff investigating the whole situation, Ed Tom Bell. They’re all adapted for the modern day, but each of these three characters is a trope plucked right out of the Western canon.
5
John Wick (2014)
Directed By Chad Stahelski
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35
9.2/10
John Wick
R
ThrillerAction
John Wick is the first entry in the action-thriller franchise directed by Chad Stahelski and starring Keanu Reeves. Retired hitman John is brought back into the field when the dog his recently deceased life left him is murdered. Full of rage and equipped with unparalleled combat skills, John begins to track down the ones responsible for the act of violence and lays waste to any who dare to cross his path, sending panic throughout the criminal underworld.
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Release Date
October 24, 2014
Cast
Keanu Reeves
, Adrianne Palicki
, Willem Dafoe
, Bridget Moynahan
, Jason Isaacs
, Alfie Allen
Director
David Leitch
, Chad Stahelski
Runtime
101 Minutes
Franchise(s)
John Wick
Writers
Derek Kolstad
Sequel(s)
John Wick: Chapter 2
, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
, John Wick: Chapter 4
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John Wick is the first installment of one of the most successful action franchises of recent years, which continued with sequels, prequels, tie-in television shows, comic books, and video games. At the center of everything is the titular John Wick, a retired hitman who is seen as nothing short of a legend in the criminal underworld and who eventually comes out of retirement looking for revenge.
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Nothing screams Western like a good revenge story, where a single gunman of exceptional ability goes after a group of people who have ruined his tranquil life away from violence. In the case of the first John Wick movie, said revenge isn’t for the death of the love of the hero’s life but that of his beagle puppy — further proof that nothing should ever happen to dogs in movies.
4
Unforgiven (2013)
Directed By Lee Sang-il
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Unforgiven
R
DramaActionCrime
Unforgiven is a 2013 Japanese Western written and directed by Lee Sang-il. The film is classified as a remake of the 1992 Clint Eastwood film of the same name. The plot follows a former samurai who is hired to help find two wanted men.
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Release Date
September 13, 2013
Cast
Ken Watanabe
, Shioli Kutsuna
, Jun Kunimura
, Yuya Yagira
, Koichi Sato
, Akira Emoto
, Seiji Hino
, Eiko Koike
Director
Sang-il Lee
Runtime
135 Minutes
Writers
David Webb Peoples
, Sang-il Lee
Unforgiven is a Japanese jidaigeki movie, a period drama set before the Meiji Restoration, but it’s also a remake of Clint Eastwood’s 1992 movie of the same name. The first Unforgiven is more strictly defined as a Western, directed by one of the most famous Western actors ever. While the setting of the Japanese version of Unforgiven might not immediately give up its Western roots, its plot most certainly does.
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The story follows Jubei Kamata, once a samurai serving the Tokugawa Shogunate and now in hiding from the newly restored Imperial government. Some years after the Restoration, his tranquil and modest life is interrupted when one of his former comrades asks for his help in chasing down a bounty. Their quest will, of course, be dotted with several bloody fights and shootouts along the way and end with Jubei disappearing, like a true Western-inspired lone warrior.
3
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Directed By Ang Lee
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8/10
Brokeback Mountain
R
DramaRomance
From director Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain tells the story of a forbidden love between two cowboys beginning in 1960s Wyoming. The film stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, who after being hired for a summer job herding sheep, begin a romantic relationship that lasts two decades. As the two struggle to cope with their feelings for each other against the pressures of a society that will never accept them, various tragedies and other obligations threaten to pull them apart for good. Anne Hathaway and Michelle Williams also star.
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Release Date
December 9, 2005
Cast
Jake Gyllenhaal
, Heath Ledger
, Michelle Williams
Director
Ang Lee
Runtime
134 minutes
Writers
Larry McMurtry
, Diana Ossana
There’s no understating the importance that Brokeback Mountain had in the history of LGBTQ+ cinema, helping it to leap forward into mainstream pop culture. Based on the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx, Brokeback Mountain follows cowboys Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, who first meet when they are hired to herd sheep in Wyoming.
The two soon begin a relationship, but seemingly return to their lives when the summer on the mountain is over. They will keep on meeting on and off again for the rest of their lives, however, incapable of staying away from one another. While Ennis and Jack herd sheep rather than ride away from the law, Brokeback Mountain is undoubtedly a modern Western, one with a queer love story at its center, and that challenges the stereotypical image of the cowboy.
2
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Directed By George Miller
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9/10
26
9.4/10
Mad Max: Fury Road
R
ActionAdventureThrillerFantasy
Mad Max: Fury Road is the fourth film in George Miller’s long-running sci-fi franchise, with Tom Hardy starring as Max Rockstansky, a vagabond who lives on the road in an apocalyptic wasteland. When Max comes across a cult group that keeps its people in fear and under control with a monopoly on water and other crucial supplies, he joins up with Imperator Furiosa, a warrior woman leading a rebellion against the cult’s leader, Immortan Joe.
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Release Date
May 14, 2015
Cast
Tom Hardy
, Charlize Theron
, Nicholas Hoult
, Zoë Kravitz
, Hugh Keays-Byrne
, Riley Keough
, Courtney Eaton
, Abbey Lee
, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
Director
George Miller
Runtime
120 Minutes
Franchise(s)
Mad Max
Writers
George Miller
, Brendan McCarthy
, Nick Lathouris
Prequel(s)
Mad Max
, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Sequel(s)
Mad Max: The Wasteland
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Just like in Logan, Western influences can be discerned even in genres that seemingly have very little to do with it. Mad Max: Fury Road is the fourth installment of the dystopian Mad Max franchise, which sees longtime protagonist Max Rockatansky join forces with Imperator Furiosa, who is trying to rescue five of the forced brides of the terrible warlord Immortan Joe and bring them to the “Green Place” she is from.
Mad Max: Fury Road is the perfect example of this mashing of genres in which the more Western-like elements aren’t immediately recognizable. The movie’s setting is a dystopic version of Australia, turned into a barren wasteland, and its characters are unique and over the top, yet Mad Max: Fury Road is ultimately a story of two lone warriors escaping through the desert, and that’s the premise of many a Western movie.
1
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Directed By George Lucas
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45
9/10
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
PG
ActionAdventure Sci-FiFantasy
The film that began the Star Wars franchise, Episode IV – A New Hope tells the story of wistful Force-sensitive Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), who longs to leave his home planet of Tatooine to fight the evil Empire. After inheriting his Jedi father’s weapon, a lightsaber, Luke sets off under the tutelage of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) with smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford) to join the Rebellion and face the evil Darth Vader.
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Release Date
May 25, 1977
Cast
Mark Hamill
, Harrison Ford
, Carrie Fisher
, Alec Guinness
, David Prowse
, James Earl Jones
, Frank Oz
, Anthony Daniels
, Kenny Baker
, Peter Mayhew
, Peter Cushing
Director
George Lucas
Runtime
121 Minutes
Franchise(s)
Star Wars
Writers
George Lucas
Prequel(s)
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
, Solo: A Star Wars Story
, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Sequel(s)
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens
, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi
, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker
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Star Wars is a great many things, so it makes sense that it would also be its own kind of space Western. It might not be the first genre that comes to mind when it comes to George Lucas’s pop culture-defining space opera, but it’s very much a considerable influence on the looks and story beats of the entire Star Wars franchise.
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Luke Skywalker starts his story in a desert, filled with raiders, dark cantinas, and trigger-happy smugglers, all of which can be found rehashed time and time again in several Western titles. The same goes for the tragic end of the hero’s family, which only spurs him on his journey, and the wiser, retired warrior who trains said hero in his ways. Some of these elements return throughout the rest of Star Wars; the desert first and foremost, since both Anakin Skywalker and Rey grow up on desert planets.
Source: https://dinhtienhoang.edu.vn
Category: Entertainment