When did the wild west stop being cool?

[Krieg]

As mentioned previously the decline of the western coincided with the rise of the dirty hippy.

 

[Teflon Billy]

I literally had no idea the Wild West had stopped being cool

We often would have movie nights where the theme was Construction/Deconstruction and whoever's turn it was had to bering two films illustrating the theme.

My biggest success was binging For a few Dollars More (the second--and best--of the Sergio Leone "Spaghetti Westerns"), followed by Unforgiven.

Bith astonishingly good movies, both westerns, both starring Clint Eastwood...wildly different takes on the western

Don't even get mne started on the wonderful "Wild West" elements in Firefly.

 

[Dire Serpent]

Westerns? Oh yeah...

Side note: Alzarius, we're from the same generation, and I felt the same way until I watched Tombstone, and then Unforgiven. This led me back to some of the classics, and I haven't looked back. If you're interested at ALL in the genre, check out those two, as well as the so-called "man with no name" trilogy, and The Wild Bunch. Then, check out some of the older films. High Noon is truly an amazing piece of work. Maybe not as action-oriented as He-Man and Transformers, but they can be just as much fun. Plus they can be a great source of plots for gaming.

When I think of the classics, I also think of "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence" and I have a soft spot in my heart for "Lonely Are the Brave," the death of the cowboy culture by trans-continental highway.

 

[GlassJaw]

And I have lost track of how many RPG characters I have played based on Clint Eastwood. He is the man.

Man, you said it. His cool and kick-butt factor is through the roof. I think it's pretty obvious that the Ghostwalker PrC was based on various Clint movies.

Think of it the Spaghetti westerns that made Clint 'coolest-cowboy-ever' Eastwood famous were based on Samurai stories (the above Yojimbo),

Yup. Those old samurai movies are pretty cool too: Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, etc.

 

[Ranger REG]

Man, you said it. His cool and kick-butt factor is through the roof. I think it's pretty obvious that the Ghostwalker PrC was based on various Clint movies.

Clint? Meh. John Wayne wrote the book on Western cinema. Eastwood just followed his book.

Yup. Those old samurai movies are pretty cool too: Seven Samurai,

It inspired (ripped off?) the western film, The Magnificent Seven.

 

[Dark Jezter]

It inspired (ripped off?) the western film, The Magnificent Seven.

Inspired is the right word. Seven Samurai came out before The Magnificent Seven.

 

[Ranger REG]

Inspired is the right word. Seven Samurai came out before The Magnificent Seven.

Actually, I accused Hollywood of ripping off Seven Samurai.

It was a grammatically incorrect statement.

 

[d4]

i gotta give two thumbs up for Sidewinder: Recoiled. it's the best d20 purchase i've made in the past 12 months or more.

i'm in the middle of reading The Saga of Billy the Kid, so i'm in a fairly Western mood at the moment.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

I'm 25 and I think Westerns are hella cool! Young Guns, Unforgiven, Tombstone, Wyatt Earp, hell, even Maverick and *cough*Posse*cough*. Changed my young opinion that it was all just some dorky guy playing guitar. Nah, I like it raw, dusty, and a hot, hot, hot sun burning down on you.

And isn't HBO's "Deadwood" still going strong? I know the season just finished, but I've met a lot of people who like that as well.

I'm also interested in the idea of the supernatural Western flick. Any about?

 

[pogre]

In my humble opinion I think it was WWI/II that started it and Vietnam that finished it. Those that wanted to see shoot em movies wanted to see the new, untapped stuff. This is natural progression.

We had spy movies in the 60s/70s due to the cold war.

I must disagree with your thesis here - someone said the 70's were the beginning of the end for the western and that seems about right.

Here are the top ten TV shows in 1959:
1. Gunsmoke CBS
2. Wagon Train NBC
3. Have Gun Will Travel CBS
4. The Rifleman ABC
5. The Danny Thomas Show CBS
6. Maverick ABC
7. Tales of Wells Fargo NBC
8. The Real McCoys ABC
9. I've Got A Secret CBS
10. The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp ABC

Here are the top ten shows in 1969:
1. Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In NBC
2. Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. CBS
3. Bonanza NBC
4. Mayberry R.F.D. CBS
5. Family Affair CBS
6. Gunsmoke CBS
7. Julia NBC
8. The Dean Martin Show NBC
9. Here's Lucy CBS
10. The Beverly Hillbillies CBS

Here are the top ten shows in 1979:
1. Laverne & Shirley ABC
2. Three's Company ABC
3. Mork & Mindy ABC
4. Happy Days (tie) ABC
4. The Ropers (tie) ABC
6. What's Happening!! (tie) ABC
6. Alice (tie) CBS
8. M*A*S*H CBS
9. One Day at a Time (Monday) CBS
10. Taxi ABC

Will the western come back? Probably not in the popularity it enjoyed in the 50's and 60's. I think it is interesting there was no shoot 'em up type shows in the top ten in 1979. I do agree folks got tired of the same formulas in entertainment.