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Top Ten Tuesday: Crossover Westerns – We Are Movie Geeks

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Top Ten Tuesday: Crossover Westerns

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In many ways, the western is a dead genre, but I like to think of it as the genre that just won’t die. Like trying to put down the toughest, meanest gunslinger in the old west, the western film keeps popping back up in the least expected times and places… but, not always in the traditional style we’re used to seeing. Call it survival of the fittest, but the western is far from dead, as is apparent with Jon Favreau’s new COWBOYS & ALIENS, which opens this Friday, July 29th, combining the western with the science-fiction, creating a crossover with twice the fun. In honor of the opening of this rare hybrid, we’re looking at our favorite Western Crossover films this week in Top Ten Tuesday.

Honorable Mention: THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE WEIRD

This modern ode to the western from Korean filmmaker Jee-woon Kim is less of a hybrid than an over-the-top, good time cinematic high that doesn’t quit. Just about every element of this film is derived from the handbook for making western films, but injected with enough steroids to make the average bat boy a contender for breaking Hank Aaron’s homerun record. Horse chases, gun fights, speeding locomotives and thieving outlaws, everything you want in a western is here for the taking, with a generous bonus of Asian action-adventure flair.

10. PAINT YOUR WAGON

Go ahead and laugh, mock it if you will, but the truth is… PAINT YOUR WAGON isn’t as bad as everyone makes it out to be. While some may run away screaming at the idea of hearing Clint Eastwood sing, there are far worse voices in the music industry. This western musical is more western than musical and co-stars Lee Marvin (DIRTY DOZEN) and Jean Seburg (BREATHLESS). While there were other musicals such as OKLAHOMA and SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS that employ the old west, they’ve all been light on the elements that make great westerns. This is where PAINT YOUR WAGON takes its place above the rest.

09. BACK TO THE FUTURE, PART III

Mix sci-fi and western – with a dash of comedy thrown in – and you come up with the perfect cowboy movie in BACK TO THE FUTURE, PART III. This time director Bob Zemeckis has Marty McFly and Doc Brown travelling from 1985 to 1885 for one last round-up. McFly faces Biff Tannen’s ancestor, Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen, in a final showdown while Doc finds true love with a pioneer woman who loves Jules Verne. While you may feel at times like you’re watching John Ford’s STAGECOACH, Part 3 is deftly filled with nods to both genres with names like Clint Eastwood, the town saloon and a runaway steam locomotive that transforms into a hover-train.

08. MAD MAX 2: THE ROAD WARRIOR

A shotgun wielding hero, the frontier settlers and a band of baddies who gallop into town encapsulates everything a classic western should be… except that George Miller’s MAD MAX 2: THE ROAD WARRIOR is set in a bleak wasteland where the villains are bikers trying to take over the oil fields from the settlers and Mel Gibson’s Max, “a man who wandered into the wasteland,” rides in to save the day on his Pursuit Special vehicle. Can’t you hear the twangy sounds of Clint Eastwood’s HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER resonating throughout?

07. RANGO

How many animated westerns are there to choose from? Exactly. Not many. However, RANGO doesn’t make this list on technicalities. Surprisingly, this was one of the best animated films I’ve seen in recent years and definitely captures the essence of some of the best and most unique western films. Filled with stylistic influences and homages to the greats, RANGO takes a lost pet chameleon and throws him into a strange scenario reminiscent of The Man With No Name.

06. EL TOPO

Mexican writer, director and star Alejandro Jodorowsky truly puts the weird in the western with EL TOPO, creating a journey of one legend and his six-year old son. El Topo is on a quest to become the greatest fighter, as he confronts the warrior masters, each one with a unique specialty. This odd-ball twist on the western has the taste of so many old school martial arts films, creating one of the most bizarre and surreal cult spaghetti westerns of all time.

05. RED SUN

With extraordinary connections like SEVEN SAMURAI inspiring THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, it was only a matter of time before someone melded the samurai film with the western. RED SUN is just that very brilliant melding. Director Terence Young places the western icon Charles Bronson and the eastern icon Toshiro Mifune on the big screen together, a meeting of two cultures toward a common goal against a common enemy. Gunslinger ans samurai paired in a way that is as bold as it is unexpectedly natural.

04. WESTWORLD

“Why don’t you make arrangements to take our hovercraft to Medieval World, Roman World and Westworld. Contact us today, or see your travel agent. Boy, have we got a vacation for you.” However, not quite the one the guests of the DELOS Resort had in mind. Michael Crichton’s WESTWORLD pits vacationer Richard Benjamin against Yul Brenner’s “Gunslinger” in the ultimate gun fight. A premise that’s not entirely far-fetched, this twist on the classic westerner embodies a futuristic, adventure crossover. This time, the conflict is between Cowboys and Robots.

03. SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO

Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike takes blending the east and the west one wild step further with SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO. Directly inspired by Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns, a stranger crosses paths with two rival clans, both seeking fortune in a small town. The mysterious gunslinger offers his services to both sides, planning to take advantage of the situation the entire time. Being Takashi Miike, he adds his own trademark flair in both the characters and the visual style.

02. SERENITY

There is no shortage of fandom for this contemporary classic, spawned from Joss Whedon and his TV series Firefly, but its reputation is well-earned. Those who haven’t seen SERENITY would not understand, but this affectionately coined “Space Western” teleports the trademark elements of a good western and character traits into a science-fiction adventure story in space. The heroic cowboy, the bounty hunter, the frontier settlers, the dangerous uncharted territories, the (deadly) damsel in distress… its all there and tons of fun.

01. BLAZING SADDLES

Mel Brooks’ comical parody of the old west may seem like an unlikely choice, but its so pitch-perfect and hilarious that it had to be the top pick. BLAZING SADDLES has every necessary element of a classic western, but Brooks turns it all into a farce, pushing boundaries and poking fun at the inherent flaws of the genre. Cleavon Little plays the black sheriff Bart, while Gene Wilder plays Jim, his cowardly deputy. The top notch comedic cast runs away with their exaggerated stereotypes while delivering dialogue that is often politically incorrect, but intelligently appropriate.

Hopeless film enthusiast; reborn comic book geek; artist; collector; cookie connoisseur; curious to no end