Classic Western Movies - Enjoying a Resurgence
CowboySpirit.TV - There have always been a large number of western fans, but in recent years western movies have been enjoying a revival. Perhaps because complex urban lives have become standard, people are coming to westerns to enjoy a story from when things were simpler, there was plenty of open land, and the hero comes out on top at the end – or maybe it’s because generations after the 1960s missed out on the classic western heyday and are finally finding their way to western movies. Either way, western fans rejoice, because the resurgence is making it easier than ever to re-discover old favorites and enjoy new ones.
Media channels such as Netflix are steadily increasing their stock of classic westerns, and the studios that own the films have been happy to oblige demand by re-releasing their titles. Universal Studios has been studiously re-releasing classics on DVD with their 4 Movie Marathon western packs, including The Far Country, The Duel at Silver Creek, and Kansas Raiders. TV series are also getting the re-release treatment: Rawhide has been available on DVD for a few years now, but other classic series such as Hawkeye and The Tall Man became available in 2011, while Overland Trail is due in 2012.
In addition to reviving the original westerns, the resurgence is creating new movies to enjoy – the Coen Brothers’ True Grit, a re-make of John Wayne’s Rooster Cogburn, is a new classic. Other recent entries took more liberty with the genre but still fell into theme, like Rango and the critically panned but entertaining Cowboys & Aliens.
Western followers have a lot to look forward to in 2012, with several big-studio westerns opening. Much anticipated is Quentin Tarantino’s first all-western movie (yes, that is debatable, but that’s how the movie is billed), titled Django Unchained, coming in November 2012. If Django sounds familiar, it should – not only did the spectacular Japanese western Sukiyaki Western Django grace our screens in 2007, the classic 1966 spaghetti western Django was recently given the Blu-ray treatment.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that Cowboy Spirit TV is dedicated to creating new western films and other creative endeavors, and our own short film Little Joe the Wrangler is targeted for release in 2012. We hope you are excited as we are to be riding along on this western revival.