Oh Wild West !!

Those cowboys and their classy old guns !! Fascinating, isn't it? Right from our schooldays, we have heard about them, seen people roving about wearing those famous "cowboy" hats, the dusty jacket and shooting anybody at sight with their fingers. And naturally, I was attracted to western genre in movies. And after watching Sergio Leone's classic tale "The good, the bad and the ugly", which, undoubtedly, one of the best movies ever made - I was terribly attracted to westerns. Recent in my list are "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968) and "Unforgiven"(1992). Both of them are astonishing in their own ways. Both will drag you to the world of wild west of those times and leave you with a soothing satisfaction of watching a good movie.

Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" primarily centers around a young extremely beautiful woman Mrs. McBain (played by gorgeous Claudia Cardinale) who moves from New Orleans to Western town Utah to be with her new husband and his children, only to find that the whole family is brutally murdered. There she met a mysterious man, referred to as Harmonica (Charles Bronson), who helps her in taking her revenge. But Harmonica has his own motive !!! Henry Fonda, in his role as infamous Frank, is remarkable. Shot in the landmark dusty little small town of then-American west frontier, the movie has it all that a dream western movie should have. It's raw, grimmy, stern, uncensored and most importantly, full of exiting "Cowboy" shooting. A must watch for those who appreciete a good and simple movie.

Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven", on the other hand, is more emotional and may be a more realistic depiction of old western days. Acted by some of the greatest actors of Hollywood - Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman - this film tries to zoom into lives of normal American people during that era. Story of a retired old gunman William Munny who took up a last job to support his family - this one is a study of life and its importance. But, in any sense, it doesn't lack the lovable elements of a western. Munny's famous dialogue "I've killed just about anything that walked or crawled at one time or another, and I'm here to kill you…" says it all. Regarded by many as the greatest western of all time, this is my strong recommendation to my readers.