Actually, it seems extremely realistic. Imagine trying to earn a living in a job where every working day is kill-or-be-killed! At first you could convince yourself that you're the best of the best, that you're immortal and lucky and you'd never end your working day in Boot Hill. But even the dumbest young man would eventually realize that it's only random chance keeping you alive, and you don't see a way out. So, you lose your nerve, and you probably die before you figure out a good exit plan.
And that's the difference between an Old West gunfighter and the Samurai of the original film. Samurai are trained to stifle and hide their feelings from birth, and to prize their honor over their lives (or anyone else's), while nobody in the cowboy era was brought up to be a gunfighter. If the profession of gunfighter ever existed in real life, it was something men fell into, instead of being trained for from infancy.
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