STACK #146 Dec 2016

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DVD&BD FEATURE

One of the oldest genres, the Western peaked in popularity

during the 1940s and ‘50s and has experienced a gradual decline in the decades since.Whether this year’s remake of The Magnificent Seven will spearhead a major resurgence for theWestern remains to be seen, but in the meantime, these seven classics remind us why a revival is long overdue. Words: Scott Hocking

THE SEARCHERS (1956) John Ford’s best collaboration with John Wayne is one of the greatest Westerns of all time. The Duke plays a bitter and obsessive Civil War veteran who embarks on a five-year search for his niece (Natalie Wood), who has been abducted by Comanche warriors. The Searchers raises the issue of racism toward Native Americans – uncommon in the genre at the time – and the stunning Monument Valley vistas are a textbook example of how to shoot landscapes.

SHANE (1953) Conflict between ranchers and homesteaders was common in the Wild West, and usually resolved by the arrival of a mysterious gunslinger/stranger. Here it’s Alan Ladd, who must overcome an opportunistic cattleman and his ruthless hired gun (Jack Palance). The age-old confrontation between good and evil is the heart of the film, but Shane proves to be a more complex character than most Western stereotypes, while still embodying the noble, mythic qualities of the heroic drifter.

THEWILD BUNCH (1969) “We’ve got to start thinking beyond our guns. Those days are closing fast,” declares Pike (William Holden), who leads a bunch of old time outlaws fromTexas into Mexico, with a band of bounty hunters in hot pursuit. Like the old gunfighters who would ride off toward a new social and political order, Sam Peckinpah’s violent classic ushered in a new era for the genre, one that continues to have a major influence on the modern action movie.

DECEMBER 2016

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