The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Genre: Western/Drama/Adventure/Biography/Crime

Starring: Brad Pitt, Cassey Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Garret Dillahunt, Mary-Louise Parker, Sam Rockwell, Paul Schneider

Jesse Woodson James (Pitt) was a famous American outlaw, bandit, murderer, gang leader, thief and robber from the state of Missouri who operated the James Gang along with his elder brother. Robert 'Bob' Ford (Affleck) was a young man just out of his teens who idolised Jesse and wanted to join his gang with him. Charley (Rockwell), Bob's elder brother and Bob himself, soon became a part of the gang and carried out many of the gangs operations. Although Bob looked up to Jesse, Jesse and his other gang members often teased Bob for his age and for his socially awkward behaviour. Due to heavy pressure from law enforcement agencies, the gang was forced to break up and Jesse realised his inevitable arrest. An event that involved two of Jesse's gang members, Dick Liddil (Scheider) and Wood Hite (Renner) resulted in a string of events that later led Robert to assassinate Jesse James. The movie is based on the true life incident and eventual death of Jesse James. The movie is not the regular western movie with stand-offs, gunslingers, saloon fights and hardcore action, but in fact is slow and dramatic and examines the unique relationship between Jesse and Rob. The movie has a touch of beauty to it in its own sense and Brad Pitt's phenomenal acting simply takes the cake. Although the movie has an extended run time, it does not appear to be slow or boring but it does expect the audience to be patient and let the movie work its charm on you.

Thumbs up: Brilliant acting, great plot

Thumbs down: Long run time

Rating: 7.4/10

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Adventure, Biography, Crime, Drama, Good Movies, Western,

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True Grit (2010)

Genre: Western/Drama/Action/Adventure

Starring: Matt Damon, Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin

The second movie adaptation based on a novel, the movie charts the adventure of Matie Ross (Steinfeld) who is out to avenge the death of her father by the notorious criminal Tom Chaney (Brolin). Tom double-crossed her father when he had hired him for an assignment and fled with his gold after killing him. Matie, a young and determined 14-year-old has more sense and guts than an adult twice her age and decides to hire the best gunslinger her money can buy and get him to track and arrest Chaney for his crime. She needs somebody who has true grit and U.S. Marshall Rooster Cockburn (Bridges) agrees the offer after much persuasion. En route, they meet Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Damon) who is also hunting for Tom Chaney for another crime. Not being familiar with the land of Arkansas, he approaches Cockburn for a partnership where they both capture Chaney and share the rewards. Nominated for 10 Oscar awards, the movie is not for everyone and demands a whole lot of patience and understanding. Its slow to start and slow to progress and that is where you tend to lose interest. Its only towards the very end that the movie gets some meaning and momentum and where you start appreciating the movie completely. Fabulous performances especially by the young Hailee Steinfeld.

Thumbs up: Great performances

Thumbs down: Slow plot but matures well

Rating: 7.4/10

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Action, Adventure, Drama, Good Movies, Western,

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Per qualche dollaro in pi� (1965)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Western/Crime

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volonte

English Title: For a Few Dollars More. It was a time when 'wanted' posters adorned every corner of the streets and the sheriffs office was too scared to run behind them. That was when bounty killers came and hunted down wanted criminals for the reward money. Monco (Eastwood) was one such bounty killer and his eyes were set on hunting down El Indio (Volonte) who had $10,000 reward on his head. Col. Douglas Mortimer (Cleef) has an old score to settle with El Indio and he too is hunting for him. Monco and Mortimer realise that both of them are behind the same target and also realise that if they want El Indio, they cant do it alone. They get into a partnership and Monco goes undercover and joins hands with El Indio in a bid to get inside information on what he is up to. El Indio is all set to rob the most secure bank in the territory and Monco and Mortimer realise they have a huge sum of money waiting for them. One inadvertently compares this movie to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, considering it came from the same director, similar cast, same backdrop but just a few years earlier. The movie has the same classic charm of gun-wielding and the ultimate western attitude. The music plays a huge role in the movies appeal and a broad grin gets smacked on your face the moment you hear that western jingle. The movie, however, doesn't have the musical appeal that The Good, The Bad and The Ugly had which went on to become the classic sound clip for every western movie (remember the 'Aah-Aah-Aaaaaah?). If you love Mr. Eastwood then there is no denying this.

Thumbs up: The classic western attitude

Thumbs down: Plot could have been spruced up

Rating: 8.2/10

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Action, Adventure, Amazing Movies, Crime, Western,

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Unforgiven (1992)

Genre: Western/Drama/Crime/Action

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, Anna Levine, Frances Fisher, Jaimz Woolvett

In the town of Big Whiskey, Wyoming, Delilah (Levine), a prostitute, is attacked and butchered by two men leaving deep scars on her face. The town sheriff, Little Bill (Hackman) does little to punish the men and orders them to give the brothel owner horses as compensation. This act infuriates the prostitutes who decide to pool in their money and offer a $1000 bounty to anyone who kills the two men. Bill Munny (Eastwood) was a notorious assassin who was known to kill ruthlessly. Marriage teaches him a lesson and he changes his bad ways. A young cowboy going by the name of Schofiel Kid (Woolvett) approaches Munny and tells him of the $1000 bounty. Although Bill has stopped killing, he needs the money and agrees to help him hunt down the two men. Bill never works without his partner, Ned Logan (Freeman) and gets him to come along on the trip. Little Bill does not like gunslingers coming into his town and has every intention of protecting the two men from cowboys. Clint Eastwood seems to have the fabled golden touch, where each and every movie turns out to be a box-office extravaganza. With a mighty impressive star line-up, the movie delivers exactly what you have in mind, which comes as a huge relief. Fabulous plot and an amazing show, can seem to get a bit slow at times, but the rest of the movie is too good to bother about such anomalies.

Thumbs up: Amazing performance and an amazing star cast

Thumbs down: Lacks the old-world charm of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Rating: 8.3/10

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Action, Amazing Movies, Drama, Western,

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Last Man Standing (1996)

Genre: Western/Action/Crime/Drama

Starring: Bruce Willis, William Sanderson, Cristopher Walken, David Patrick Kelly, Karina Lombard, Bruce Dern, Ned Eisenberg

John Smith (Willis) is a gunslinger who arrives at the town of Jericho, Texas. The town is torn apart my gang wars and all the decent folk have been pushed out, leaving gunslingers who are thirsty for their counterparts blood. One of the gangs are run by the Italians, headed by Strozzi (Eisenberg) and the other is Irish, headed by Doyle (Kelly). John is on his way to Mexico and senses a good opportunity to make some easy money. He plays politics on the entire war by crossing sides and makes himself good money. He passes information of one side to other, without either of them knowing what is happening. The movie has some very good twists in the story which keeps your attention alive. However, if your watching this movie to see some nice western action, then your in the wrong movie. Apart from the location and set, nothing else gives you the western movie feel. Some nice action and a good story.

Thumbs up: Story and the twists within it
Thumbs down: Doesn't give the western movie feel

Rating: 7.0/10

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Action, Crime, Drama, Good Movies, Western,

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Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo (1966)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Western

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef

English title: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. The god of all western movies is here. Blondie - The Good (Eastwood) and Tuco - The Ugly (Wallach) are two friends, or enemies, depending upon the situation, who make money off Tuco's bounty. As a routine, Blondie takes Tuco to the sheriff who hands over the bounty money to him, who later frees Tuco and they split the money in half. Angel Eyes - The Bad (Cleef) is looking for a Bill Carson who knows the location of a stash of money hidden somewhere. When Blondie breaks the partnership and betrays Tuco, Tuco hunts him down and eventually takes him hostage. They stumble across a carriage laden with bodies where they find a half-dead Bill Carson. Carson narrates half of the money's location to Tuco and the other half to Blondie. They duo set out on an adventure to find the treasure, when they suddenly encounter Angel Eyes, who realises that the two know the location of the money. What follows is a wild-goose chase to the hidden stash. The movie is filled with high-drama, stylish piece of western action often found in movies of old which makes this movie even more appealing. The movies ever famous soundtrack has been played over again in multiple western movies over time. It plays at the very apt moment and makes the movie a good watch.

Rating: 8.6/10

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Action, Adventure, Amazing Movies, Western,

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