With total A-list actors and actresses, this film has everything a Western should have: romance, humour, action, excitement, and plenty of each of those. It was brilliant.
"Make love, not war. Unless you're Loki, which in that case: do what you want". ~ Tom Hiddleston
I wouldn't say it's nearly the best western ever made, but it's a great film. I love that it's an homage to the classic westerns from the golden age of the genre, before the spaghetti western came along and subverted everything with morally gray plots, anti-hero protagonists, etc. This is a throwback to the white-hatted good guys vs black-hatted bad guys type of western, and it's beautifully shot, brilliantly acted, and superbly paced. I'll never understand why the film was a mediocre performer at the box office. Maybe it just came along at the wrong time, when public appetite for more morally ambiguous films was prevalent. I have a suspicion that if this exact same movie could have been released in say, 1960, it would have done well.
The last line of the film is Kevin Costner saying "We'll be back" as he and Scott Glenn's character rode off to California. This was pretty clearly meant to suggest a sequel coming, but unfortunately the film didn't do well enough financially to get one. Depending on whether or not the sequel could have been any good, that could be a good or a bad thing, but it's a shame this movie didn't do better. It should have.
I truly love this movie as well for all the reasons you mentioned. I watched it as a kid so it has that added nostalgia for me. It's more of a fun Western like you said compared to the more gritty ones that came later and still come out now. But like you said great actors, great cinematography and settings (that whole frontier feeling), and some awesome gun fights. I personally think it's up there with the best.
shareI don’t think so
shareIt's definitely up there. Kasdan is a great director.
shareBest Ever? I'm not so sure I agree with that. I don't even think it's Kevin Costner best Western (check out Open Range for that). But I like Silverado, love the main cast and Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner, Kevin Kline and Danny Glover make for a good team of good guys. And Jeff Goldblum and Brian Dennehy play great bad guys. A nice turn from John Cleese as English Sheriff in a small role. Besides Lina Hunt, women characters aren't given much to do. A bit of a shame as Rosanna Arquette character had a interesting arc that the film never really delves into.
Costner steals the film, in later films he would be in Glenn or Kline role but he's great as devil may care younger brother of Glenn's character. And Lawrence Kasdan really made a beautiful old school western, he was following up his two classic in Body Heat and The Big Chill and the film sort of suffered cause of that and it wasn't met with the same acclaim. The film definitely has flaws but as I said I do like it.
Nah, The Wild Bunch and Once Upon a Time in the West are the best westerns.
shareBest ever made? Nope. Not even top 100. But it's okay, worth seeing at least once.
share