Its hard to explain exactly why I loved Dances With Wolves. I can't seem to find anyone who had a similar reaction. Flawed or not, I seemed to watch the film at a perfect time. I expected Hollywood trash, and maybe it was the underinflated expectations, but this film really connected with me. Perhaps I was just sick of old fashioned film attacking "savages". As for Shane, I hate it primarily because of the performance of Brandon DeWilde. My vote for worst child performance, aside from Mickey Rooney in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Eugggghhhh!!!!).
I would agree that Hollywood westerns were at their peak in the time you described, although I would extend it back a year and begin with 1948. In that year Ford made two rather important Westerns with Fort Apache (a rare pro-Indian), as well as The Three Godfathers (a personal favorite that no one else seems to acknowledge). That was also the year of Red River, which I'm not a particular fan of, but plenty of others like it. The second time I watched High Noon, it didn't hold up as well. It was a little too frustrating, and the more it puts me off, the bettter I like Rio Bravo. I'm also a fan of Winchester '73, and am certainly up for watching more Anthony Mann westerns. Man of the West has been sitting in my to watch pile for over a year, and I swear I'll eventually get to it. As for Leone, he is the shit. I think that A Fistful of Dollars has the greatest gun fight in movie history. If I had to pick though, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly would be my all time favorite Western, although The Searchers is coming up close. I also forgot Little Big Man, and decided that Treasure of the Sierra Madre didn't really count as a Western. As for Unforgiven it is a great film, although Malcolm X was certainly more deserving of an Oscar. Unforgiven was the rare film that actually showed the guilt of killing better than any other Western at least. I am also a big fan of Dead Man, which I think is the best Jarmusch film, but that may be another post.
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