'High Noon' works on many levels; the second-to-none screenplay, the subtle direction, the clock, Gary Cooper's Oscar-winning performance... It's about a small town sheriff who must basically stand alone to defend the people from a wild gang of outlaws, who have just been let out of jail and will arrive on the noon train. Although he does not have to, and the town does not deserve saving, Cooper decides that he will do the job that he was hired to do. A classic amongst Westerns, it strips the ge
find out more...
JANE GOT A GUN (2016)
Certification15 Our Rating
find out more...
SHANE (1953)
CertificationPG Our Rating
An archetypal classic Western, since remade countless times, with Alan Ladd superb as the world-weary gunslinger who rides into town and finds himself as the 'good guy' protecting the innocent from powerful malevolent forces. In this case the innocent are squatters determined to fight for their rights against a rancher and his gunmen; in one way this is the evolution of the west from lawlessness to settlement, in another the battle between big and small business. For Shane the options are clear,
find out more...
THE WILD BUNCH (1969)
Certification18 Our Rating
Peckinpah completely rewrites John Ford's Western mythology by looking at the passing of the Old West from the point of view of marginalised outlaws rather than law-abiding settlers. While never ignoring their brutality he contrasts their code of loyalty with that of the corrupt railroad magnates. In purely cinematic terms, the film is a savagely beautiful spectacle, Lucien Ballard's superb cinematography complementing Peckinpah's darkly elegiac vision.
find out more...
UNFORGIVEN (1992)
Certification15 Our Rating
Reformed hellraiser William Munny saddles up for one last killing, hoping the bounty will help him raise his children. But the steel has softened, and the killing doesn't come so easy any more. More real than any other Western, Clint's creation is bleak, black, desperate and brilliant.
find out more...