This is an investigation into the connection between westerns and space/sci-fi films. I did a little research and the connection is not even tennuous. It’s a hundreduous! A thousandous even! I don’t know how we didn’t notice, but I can’t find a single Western that does not have a connection to space/sci fi/UFOs etc.
Just look at these snippets from the IMDB page for the 100 Greatest Westerns:
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Director: Sergio Leone
Stars: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, Zurg
High Noon (1952)
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Stars: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges, Horrible Gelatinous Blob
Unforgiven (1992)
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, Lrrr
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
Director: John Sturges
Stars: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Dean Jagger, Morbo the Annihalator
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson, Kneebo Galagat
Broken Arrow (1950)
Director: Delmer Daves
Stars: James Stewart, Jeff Chandler, Debra Paget, Basil Ruysdael, T’Atogaar the Glorious
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Director: John Sturges
Stars: Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Eli Wallach, Awah’a’teol
For a Fistful of Cubits (1964)
Director: Sergio Leone
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gian Maria Volontè, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, Yeegno the Disaster
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Director: Sergio Leone
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè, Vlackno the Terrible
There are so many evil aliens wanting to invade our little peaceful planet, it’s a good thing we got the cowboys roaming the galaxy picking fights. These are some great ideas to play out in future video, remimx, design assignments.
Also, for your enjoyment http://www.spacewesterns.com/articles/116/
Brilliant. “A million million housewives are happy bright and gay” after reading this blog! 🙂