#1 - PALE RIDER
Stars - Clint Eastwood, Sydney Penny
Director - Clint Eastwood
Memorable Quote - 'And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.'
Review - So here we have a Western following a classic Eastwood formula - stranger arrives, finds wrongs in the town, sets those wrongs right, and disappears into the sunset. Much like High Plains Drifter, the identity of this stranger is called into question, as at least one person recognises him as someone they believe to be dead. He also seems to disappear and reappear with the ability of a ninja - but on the other hand, a viewer could just as easily accept that the stranger in this case is real, corporeal, and that the rest is just superstition. Presenting a dual view like this is a very good trick, opening the movie up to more audiences. As a Western this is also fantastic, right up there with the best - even if Eastwood does seem overly fond of rape scenes and questionable relationships. Still, great work - perhaps not as dramatic as Unforgiven, but with a shootout as good as the OK Corral. 4.5/5
#2 - WYATT EARP
Stars - Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, Joanna Going, Catherine O'Hara
Director - Lawrence Kasdan
Memorable Quote - 'You'd be doing me a favour if you called me either Wyatt, or Earp. Not both.'
Review - This really is not as good as the movie above. Costner is... ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. Apart from the fact that he is the same age throughout the movie in a way that is very clear, when he should in fact be quite young by the start. This is quite simply an ego-play, like Braveheart but less successful, an older Hollywood actor thinking he can still take on the role of a classic character. Historically the film is surprisingly accurate for a Hollywood production, but in terms of being a good movie it can't come within fifteen miles of Gunfight at the OK Corral. It actually took me three days to watch this, in sections, since I ended up getting too bored after around half an hour. The only plus point for the movie was Quaid's deadpan performance as Doc Holliday, which fitted very well with my own mental idea of how Holliday would have been. Really not worth watching again. 1/5
#3 - APACHE
Stars - Burt Lancaster, Jean Peters, Charles Bronson
Director - Robert Aldrich
Memorable Quote - 'Even a hawk is an eagle among crows.'
Review - First of all, who thought it was a good idea to spray-tan Burt Lancaster and pretend he was an Apache? Because, seriously, their judgement was off! By the end of the movie you kind of get used to it a bit and you accept the character, but for a long time it is completely distracting, not to mention the fact that the female lead has the same issue. There is something almost comical in the way they talk and their suprise at Western things, although of course it is done in an attempt to be realistic. I'm not entirely sure how far they succeeded in that. It was alright as far as an easy watch goes, but I think it has lost a lot through the process of time - most of it just looks ridiculous now, and Lancaster's acting style is also a relic of a bygone era. 3/5
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