What would it take to revitalize the western, and is there a lack of great ones?

[SaberFan22]

This might be a slightly weird and obscure question, but I recently went through a western movies phase, and although there are some really good ones out there, it's disheartening how few of them are well-received from a critics standpoint.

For instance, in the IMDb top 50 movies, only 2 westerns can be found (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and Once Upon A Time in the West). While IMDb scores aren't everything, they do generally offer a fair representation of how good, bad (or ugly) a movie is. If you look at the top rated (not just on IMDb but in terms of awards won, awards nominated for, popular consensus and other sites) movies of all time, almost all of the best ones are either crime or straight up drama, with a few sci-fis and war movies in the mix too.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I wish there were more great westerns out there, and while there are lots of classics such as The Searchers, the Dollars trilogy and more, it's fair to say that a lot of them don't hold up so well today, what with the modern audience (at the risk of sounding ignorant) not really appreciating the slow pacing, or more "wooden" style of acting present in a lot of westerns, as well as the fact that a lot of old westerns held social, political or historical values relevant to the time, which again, aren't so present when you watch them now.

In recent years (last 25 years) we've had such beauties as Unforgiven, Django Unchained, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and "contemporary westerns" such as No Country For Old Men (and some could even argue that Logan falls into the latter category too), but that still isn't very many at all. Every so often they try bring them back such as last year with the Magnificent Seven reboot, but for one reason or another they always fall short and fail to really make a lasting impression.

Do you think they'll ever bring them back? Even if they may need updating in some way such as current issues and debates, set now with cars and stuff like I said with NCFOM etc. And do you wish there were more GREAT westerns? As I said, they dominated cinema for a good couple of decades, but when we look back at the best movies of all time, not many westerns seem to stand out.

Do you think we'll ever get another proper shot at westerns and what do you think they need in terms of being revitalized?

[scifidude79]

Well, your main problem with trying to revitalize the genre is the amount of Westerns that exist from the early half to three quarters of the 20th century.  After motion pictures became a thing, they started making Westerns.  There were loads of them made.  Then, when TV came along, the Westerns crossed over to the small screen.  In fact, in order to sell a science fiction show like Star Trek to the network, it had to be described as a "wagon train to the stars."  It had to have certain Western elements.  Popularity of the Westerns began to wane a bit towards the late '60s, especially as other genres were explored more.  Plus, after so many decades of little else, people just wanted other things.  Cop movies began to really come into their own, along with romantic movies and, of course, Science Fiction in the '70s.  That pretty much marked the end for the Westerns.

Though, I honestly wouldn't use IMDb's top 50 as a gauge of what's actually good.  Movies make that list based off of user votes, and many users of that site are likely to be pretty young.  So, many probably don't even appreciate Westerns.

But, it's also kind of sad that a movie like Unforgiven, which earned Clint Eastwood both Best Picture and Best Director Oscars, and won Gene Hackman his second Best Actor Oscar, isn't on the top 50.  Though, again, younger viewers.  Today's viewers seem to like the low attention span "huge fights and blow everything up" type of movies with massive effects budgets, not a slow burn of a movie with fantastic dialog that just builds and builds to a tremendous climax like Unforgiven.

I think Westerns could possibly come back, at least if they're pretty action intensive.  They have to compete with Superhero films and Fantasy films the like these days.  Unfortunately, most Westerns made within the past 20 years haven't seen large enough box office returns to put much interest back into the genre.  Too bad, I love a good Western.

[LivingBrain]

I think it's important to mention that IMDb ratings are FAN ratings, so they're always more reflective of current trends, which means older styles will fall by the wayside. All of the recent westerns you've mentioned have been very well received in critics circles, and are still often talked about.

The reality is that the western is an old phase that doesn't have much bearing in current pop culture because the majority of people have moved past it. Critics and filmmakers, on the other hand, tend to really like older things, so they stay alive there.

[scifidude79]

I think it would also take a big financial hit to bring the genre back, as that seems to be what moves the industry forward.  But, we've had a few recently.  If you look at more recent Westerns like Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight and The Magnificent Seven.  Django came in huge, grossing more than four times what was put into it.  The Hateful Eight was also a solid performer, about three times what was spent to make it.  The Magnificent Seven didn't perform quite as well, grossing not quite twice what was spent.  All three films were made by heavy hitters, Quentin Tarnatino and Antoine Fuqua and all three had big name stars in them.  There was some controversy with The Hateful Eight, but there usually is with Tarantino, as he doesn't pull any punches.

Anyway, if you can get some more big time directors and stars to do these films and if they're tailored for the modern audience and earn enough money, I think the genre can come back.  Just don't expect to see the number of Westerns released as there once were, movies in general are more diverse now.