Join me and Rob Caravaggio of Rob Caravaggio Commentaries as we tackle one of the great films of the western genre and indeed of all time. We compare the stories of each of the three characters and the careers of the men who play them. We admit that the film is a bit long and try to decide what to cut. We contemplate westerns, Eli Wallach, circles, stray dogs, cripples, the film industry in the mid-1960s, war films, and actual wars. And we try to figure out what “good” really means in this context.
We compare the film to the previous two films in the trilogy, Tarantino’s work, Kurosawa’s work, and film noir. We recast the film with other 1960s actors. I say no Steve McQueen movie is on my top shelf but also that I love The Magnificent Seven, which is impossible obviously; TM7 is terrific. We praise the music and titles, the cinematography, the set design–pretty much everything. I call the film nearly perfect. Rob gives away the magic of podcasting (we sometimes have discussions off-mike). Bonus: I get the obsessive-compulsive gun stuff out of the way early.
NOTE: Rob notes that he mentioned a “Winchester ’76” where he meant to say “Winchester ’73”, same as the movie. However, there was in fact a rifle known as the Winchester ’76, so since I’m the one who made the connection to the movie, I’m really at fault.
Also, technically this is explicit, but just barely. (And that really is Rob’s fault.)
Also, also: it’s been pointed out to me that Colt did offer cartridge conversion kits by the time the movie is set, so Blondie’s gun isn’t really an anachronism, altho it does switch from percussion cap to cartridge depending on if he needs to fire it in the scene.
We’re watching the American release of the extended cut. Start the film after the MGM logo on the countdown.
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