The Legends of Western Cinema Week 2025 Tag // where I pretend that I watch enough westerns to know what I'm talking about

Howdy, "pardners"! 

Buckle up, as today is the last day of Legends of Western Cinema Week, hosted by Hamlette, Heidi, and Olivia! These gals have hosted this a score of times over the last few years and it's exciting to see their continued knowledge of the genre!

I'm dropping in to fill out the tag because it's been a couple years since I last did, and I figured that I'd probably seen more western movies to increase my participation. Turns out I have seen...1 more western. I am clearly not doing this genre justice. This is not entirely for a lack of trying because for our last family movie night, I came up with eight (8) options, all of which were westerns, and my dad didn't like any of them and instead came up with his own choice. According to my calculations, I've seen about 39, so that should be sufficient to answer these 10 questions!

Cliff -- a tense cliffhanger: 

It's been YEARS since I watched it, but I remember everything falling apart and then ending in Dances with Wolves (1990). Good times. Definitely didn't scar me. *eye twitch*

Gulch -- a cool ambush scene: 

The Magnificent Seven (1960) is all about staging an ambush to protect a small town from the local outlaw oppressors.

Canyon -- a big gunfight: 

I remember being impressed with the gunfight scene in The Man From Laramie (1955), but I remember nothing else about it. Besides that it was maybe a one-on-one, so one couldn't call it a BIG gunfight.

The biggest gunfight I can think of is in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1972). They also talk about the skill because "I'm better when I move."

Mountains -- high stakes: 

Back to the Future Part III (1990). It's high stakes because due to time travel one possible future is known and the characters are trying to prevent that. So all Marty has to do is stay out of trouble...but that's not really his strong suit as he hates to back down from a fight. What with knowing his character tendencies from the last two movies as well as possible futures, the stakes are as high as you can get.

Valley -- a beautiful romance: 

While it's probably a basic answer, I'll say The Man From Snowy River (1982). I love Jim Craig so of course Jessica, the daughter of Jim's boss, also fancies him.

Desert -- a suspenseful plot: 

The original True Grit (1969) claims this spot. Rooster Cogburn, Ranger La Boeuf, and Mattie Ross are trying to catch the man who killed Mattie's father. They're hot on the trail yet there's suspense of whether they'll catch him or if this is a wasted journey. And not to mention that final scene which throws all the more complications into the suspense.

Forest -- themes about renewal: 

The Big Trees (1952)? This is maybe not quite a western and I didn't really like it, but hey, it's what I've got. The film features a lumber company that is cutting down the trees that California is famous for and it is about the conflict of the people who live there and love the trees. If I recall correctly, there's some rhetoric about using the lumber for new things vs. how the new things will have no purpose if the land is destroyed. I'm not a Kirk Douglas fan though I did find it hilarious that someone named Douglas---like Douglas firs---was in a movie about trees. And it goes with the prompt "Forest."

River -- traveling to a new home: 

This is kind of lacking on the traveling part, but Ransom Stoddard is trying to set up a new life and a law practice in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and we see him arrive to town because that's right when everything starts going wrong. Those bothersome stage robbers...

Plains -- characters who are farmers: 

In Home on the Range (2004), the cows are trying to save the Pearl's dairy farm "Patch of Heaven." This was one of my favorite movies when I was little. We had this little mobile player that you could put DVDs in and my sisters would get tired of watching Home on the Range so I'd just watch it by myself on that tiny screen.

Mesa -- an animal central to the story: 

While the last answer also fit this category, I'm going to put my most recently watched Western here: The Rare Breed (1966). It features a lot of ranching, most prominently the sale of the adorable Vindicator. While ranchers are plotting and making deals they start to wonder which is feistier: Vindicator, or the mother-daughter duo who owns him.

Those are my answers! Make sure to check out the master posts HERE, HERE, and HERE for the links to all the other tag answers, giveaways, games, and more!

Thanks to Hamlette, Heidi, and Olivia for hosting this again! I love the challenge to try to watch more westerns and I hope to have a few more under my belt by the next time this roles around.

Thanks to all of you for reading! Have you seen any of these movies? What are some western suggestions for me? Does anyone here love the suspense of True Grit? Is anyone surprised that I mentioned not one or two but THREE Jimmy Stewart movies? Is there anything that you're better at if you move? 

Happy trails!

Chloe the MovieCritic