Compare and Contrast Western Movies, Movie Review Example

Introduction

The cinematic western in 1948 “The Apache” will be compared and contrasted to the western movie 1976“The Shootist.” There are several similarities of both western movies such as violence,heroes and outlaws, women’s rights, outlawsand Indian wars. The western genre is a look into the changing civilization including the people of each era from violence to families values.[1]The 1948 movie” The Apache”themes of leadership and heroism set in the Wild West during the Indian Wars and the doomed cavalry. The heroism theme was based on the cavalry willing to put their lives in danger by starting a war with the Indians. The leadership theme was evident when the cavalry captain was ordered to lead the troops into war. In contrast, the 1976”The Shootist” has themes of aging gunfighter,technology advancements,and outlaws set in Carson City, Nevada. The concept of an outlaw was quite different in both movies because the outlaw in “The Shootist” was hated by the town’s people because of his violent life. They despised the way the aging cowboy made a living but they had respect for ability to kill. However, the concept of outlaws in the “Apache” was different because the Indians were considered the villain or outlaws. The difference is the cavalry did not have any respect for the Indians, which lead to the cavalry being massacred.

There are genre differences between both movies because “The Apache” was considered Northwestern or Florida Western style of movie. The “Shootist” is considered the Spaghetti Western. Prior to 1955, the types of movies were the Classical Western-1900s, The Northwesterna sub-genre circa 1934, the Florida Westerns also called Cracker Westerns circa 1950s, the Spaghetti Westerns in 1960s and 1970s.[2]

The primary differences in “The Shootist” movie 1976 and “The Apache” in 1948 is liberal movements and civil rights. The “Apache” was about the moral issues of killing Indians and war.The movies sometimes reflect the events of that era such as the humanitarian efforts in 1948 when the Soviet Union blocked all support to West Berlin, the United States airlifted supplies.[3]The Civil Rights organizations in the 1940s were fighting for the equal rights across the world. The westerns began writing in themes of heroes and villains that were fighting for Civil Rights of farmers, women, Indians, and blacks.In contrast, to “The Apache” in 1948 movie theme , the second in command moral and humanitarian stance that the Indian War should not be started. The liberalism movement enters the Western movie.

Conceptualization

The conceptualization of “The Shootist”starring John Wayne in 1976 is about anaging dying western cowboy theme that has outlived is generation and facing certain death. This theme was evident during the entire movie because the characters depicted their own version of the gunfighter. The son thought the gunfighter was brave and honorable. The sheriff believes the aging gunfighter was a killer. Finally, the township did not like his ability to kill without a conscious. The movie did present how the aging gunfighter was fighting the Wild West becoming growing cities. It was not only the death of the outlaw but also the death of the horse and buggy being replaced by electricity and trollies.[4]The Shootist was anunderratedcinematic presentation however; the theme integrated the change in western society, social issues, and technology ushering in electricity.

The contrast of conceptualization “The Apache” in 1948 concepts were based on the volatile Indians and morality before the war. The theme of the movie is the morality of the American officers because the leader officer wants to start a war to wipe out the Indians and the second in command is the voice of morality that believes it is wrong to start a war for political reasons. Both movies have hints of racism as the “The Shootist” Nevada Western town does not like Indians and in the “The Apache,” the racist Calvary Officer is constantly making immoral and racist remarks about Indians. The western movies of 1948 used a soft delivery about war, Indians, and changing people during the Wild West transformation. The both have some similarities of address the morality, strong brave men hero characters, humanity, and Civil Rights.[5]

Outlaws

The concept of an outlaw is glorified in the movie because the dignity of living with death around the corner to the fastest draw or the one who is more ruthless in times of Western transformation. The movies in the 1940s and 1950s about Western Outlaws was about the immorality of the outlaws and how American rose above the outlaws with humanity and dignity. However, in the 1970’s, the outlaws became glorified and justified such as “The Outlaw Josey Wells” which even today is a cult classic about the glorification of the  outlaw.In  “The Shootist” the outlaws was criticized and scorn by the towns people waiting on his death and the “The Apache” the outlaws were considered the Indians but the American Calvary officer defended their equal rights.

The heroes of the west were mentioned in the same spirit as the outlaw because in “The Shootist” had a reason for being an outlaw because of the Wild West untamed country. The time of the Civil War and Indian wars, which was an excuse for the men of the West being ruthless, killers, and gun fighting to the death. In contrast, “The Apache” in 1948 portrayed the American Civil War officers as the villains and the Indians that were fighting for their lives and land. However, the comparison is the villain, the gunfighter was the villain in “the Shootist” and the Indian, and the Cavalry Office was the villains in “the Apache.”The theme of both movies was pitting the morality against realism. The morality of the officers in killing Indians and the morality of the gunfighter. The western movies in both eras depicted outlaws in different ways such in “The Apache” in 1948, the outlaws were humanized as the Indians while the racist Calvary office demoralized them. In contrast, “The Shootist” the outlaw was not glorified,yet still admired by many because of his gun fighting skills.

Women

The women of Wild West were a light subject because the mother of the son did not like the fact that the gunfighter made a living with a gun. She was hesitate to voice her concerned because in the time of the West, she knew her place as a woman. Nonetheless, it was clear of a women’s place in the Wild West. In one scene John Wayne. The Shootist”refers to the prostitute as “lady” and in the same breath, the respectable mother of the son isreferred to as “lady.” It was a small slight but surely indicative the lack of respect for women. [6]It was obvious of the pre 1955 westerns and the post 1976 western movies, which had some differences concerning women. Prior to the 1955, women did not have a voice in western movies because they were always portrayed as women in distress or a woman as the inferior to the man in the Wild West. In the 1948”TheApache” the women were meek, pleasing, and controlled by the men. However, in the 1976”The Shootist” the women in the hotel was outspoken about her feelings about a killer gunfighter. The women was shown as strong, smart and educated instead of a second-class citizen.

Violence

The 1976 movie the “Shootist”had a theme of violence with the aging gunfighter that lived every day in fear of violence. The first scene showed two young gunfighters trying to kill the aging gunfighter to gain fame. The Carson City, Nevada town was filled with unlawfulness along with violence as a primary concern of town’s people.The sheriff was afraid of the violence from the aging gunfighter. Similarly, the Apache movie depicted the violence against the Indians and how the Calvary intention of starting war. The Apache had just as many primary scenes filled with violence such as the cavalry being killed by Cochise.

Civil Rights

The Civil Rights movement has an impact on western movies. The best example of the portrayal of Indians in movies prior to “The Shootist.” The Shootist directors responding to the Civil Rights movements used dialogue to address the injustice of treatment of Indians. In a subtle way, the movie suggested the moral issue of Indians and the Civil War. The same can be said of how the Civil Rights issues enter the movie screen in “The Apache.” It was a statement to America to have John Wayne as the commission officer of the United States talking about equal rights for the Indians. The cavalry Captain and the cavalry regiment leader discussed the rights of the Indian tribes.

Compare and Contrast

The Wild West was transforming to the new era of technology in “The Shootist” from the buggy horse to the trolley that was changing the way people travel in the Wild West. The “Shootist” primary theme is about the morale code of a gunfighter that has killed many and hated by his peers and friends. Itsecondary theme is aboutabout dying with dignity without giving in to the criticism of his violent life as a gunfighter. The movie was a bold attempt to portray a movie legend as a dying man who previous had of cancer, which was parallel to his real life.² The Shootist movie met all the criteria for of Western stereotyping such as the humiliation of the aging sheriff, the undertaker and the journalist that wants to capture the realism of a dying gunfighter with dignity. In contrast, The Fort Apache movie in 1948 theme was about a US cavalry post that was ordered to oversee and keep the peace on the Indian reservations. The secondary theme was dignity of human beings during the Indian unrest. The new cavalry officer warned the leader of the regiment to treat the Indians with respect. The movie was about the violence against the cavalry that was wipe out during the revolt of the Indians.

Conclusion

The western movies both had some similar and difference themes because of the different eras. However, they had many similarities such as the Wild West, violence, Indians and outlaws.The outlaw was portrayed in different ways in both movies. The “Shootist” portrayed the aging gunfighter was an outlaw because he lived by the gun versus the” The Fort Apache” portrayed the reservation Indians as outlaws. The movies in different times reflected liberalism and Civil Rights themes that entered the movie script based the 1948 and 1976 events. Overall, the movies had more similarities than differences.

Bibliography

AmcTV.Amc Blog: Movie: A Quick Guide to Westerns. Accessed Feb. 12, 2015. Web Feb. 2015.

IMBD.Com.The Shootist”. 1976: Trivia Summary. Accessed February 12, 2015. Web Feb. 2015

McCracken, Janet. “The non-Western of the New West, 1973-75.” Film & History 44.2 (2014): 82+. Academic OneFile. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.

The RogerEbert.com.The Shootist: Roger Ebert. Accessed Feb 13, 2015, Web Feb. 2015

The PeopleHistory.com. (2014).The Year of 1948 From the People History. Accessed Feb. 13, 2014. Web Feb. 2015

[1] McCracken, Janet. “The non-Western of the New West, 1973-75.” Film & History 44.2 (2014): 82+. Academic OneFile. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.

[2]AmcTV.Amc Blog: Movie: A Quick Guide to Westerns. Accessed Feb. 12, 2015. Web Feb. 2015.

[3]The PeopleHistory.com. (2014).The Year of 1948 From the People History. Accessed Feb. 13, 2014. Web Feb. 2015

[4]The RogerEbert.com.The Shootist: Roger Ebert. Accessed Feb 13, 2015, Web Feb. 2015

[5]McCracken, Janet. “The non-Western of the New West, 1973-75.” Film & History 44.2 (2014): 82+. Academic OneFile. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.

[6]IMBD.Com.The Shootist”. 1976: Trivia Summary. Accessed February 12, 2015. Web Feb. 2015