Westerns for Guys Who Don't Like Westerns

Posted by Alex in Movies & SciFi on April 18, 2008 at 1:12 pm


Cineleet has a neat post about a few movies that have the basic tenet of a Western film (morality tales featuring an antihero, code of honor and ruthless villains) for guys who don’t like Westerns.

Take this Japanese samurai flick, for instance:

Yojimbo (1961)
This film, along with Seven Samurai, is the prototype for what would be known as the Spaghetti Western. Both are directed by Akira Kurosawa, a master at his craft. Kurosawa himself was inspired by the classic westerns of John Ford, (and also in part by film noir and Dashiell Hammett novels) so in a way this could be considered an “Eastern”. The hero is a nameless wandering swordsman (Toshiro Mifune) who happens to wander into a village where two rival gangs are feuding over who gets to subjugate the local villagers, and take their resources. Perhaps acting out of a sense of justice (though he would never admit it) this bodyguard, or yojimbo, decides to pit the two gangs against each other, to the benefit of the villagers. The two gangs inevitably destroy each other, the villagers are saved, and Mifune’s nameless swordsman wanders off into the sunset.

Link – Thanks David!


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13 comments to "Westerns for Guys Who Don't Like Westerns"

  1. Ali S.
    April 18th, 2008 at 1:35 pm

    Seven Samurai reminds me of a good Western.

  2. Camillo Miller
    April 18th, 2008 at 3:43 pm

    Yeah! Takeshi Miike's Sukiyaki Western:Django takes inspiration from this movie too.

    And check out also "The fort of death" !

  3. Camillo Miller
    April 18th, 2008 at 3:44 pm

    Her's the link
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187080/

  4. Thomas
    April 18th, 2008 at 4:13 pm

    Seven Samurai is the same as The Magnificent Seven. That's why it seems like a western. They made the magnificent seven after seeing the success that Seven Samurai had.

  5. Terry
    April 18th, 2008 at 5:08 pm

    The Magnificent Seven is a Western.

    The Seven Samurai is a Eastern.

  6. jessleigh
    April 18th, 2008 at 5:22 pm

    My guy hates westerns and samuri flicks.

  7. pollardito
    April 18th, 2008 at 5:46 pm

    they remade this into a western too, A Fist Full of Dollars starring Clint Eastwood

  8. UncleBoogie
    April 18th, 2008 at 7:08 pm

    I'm very sorry Jess, but your guy is gay.

    This isn't me talking, it's the law. If a guy doesn't like westerns or samurai flicks, he is, quite literally, days away from choosing china patterns and wearing womens clothes.

  9. FlappyGums
    April 18th, 2008 at 8:29 pm

    there are guys out there that don't like westerns? *incredulous*

  10. Grok
    April 19th, 2008 at 1:41 am

    I love both Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven, for different reasons; however, the theme to M7 never fails to get me motivated to 'rastle up some bad guys.

    jessleigh, don't tell me he doesn't even like Blazing Saddles! By the way, what kind of films does your guy like? War flicks perhaps? Kelly's Heroes kind of mixes the rough and tumble feel of a western (and has Clint to boot!), with bits of comedy and heist-flick tension in a WWII setting. If he hasn't seen it, check it out!

  11. Pol x
    April 19th, 2008 at 9:30 am

    talk about putting the cart berfore the horse.

    7 samurai and Yojimbo were both remade as westerns not the other wat round.

  12. Thomas
    April 19th, 2008 at 2:45 pm

    Pol x, I don't think anyone made the assertion that the westerns were made first.

  13. Lasse
    April 20th, 2008 at 2:00 am

    I am very happy that Outland is in this list. For me it is the very definition of "non-western-westerns".


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