Top 5 Alternative Westerns

 Note From Dan: Here's the first column from new writer Sol Harris. Sol's going to make lists of whatever he sees fit. Here's his first one. Enjoy it. Or he'll get you.

Top 5 Alternative Westerns

I have a strange relationship with the western. I adore the world of the wild West and the imagery that comes with it, but sadly, a great deal of the films in that genre seem to bore me to tears. I can only assume that this is due to their lack of things like aliens, explosions and zombies. Here, therefore, is a list of alternative westerns for people like myself who enjoy the finer things in life (such as aliens, explosions and zombies):

5. Stingray Sam

Admittedly, calling this one a Western is something of a stretch in that it’s not set in the American South during the 19^th century – rather, it’s set in outer space! But it does feature space-cowboys wearing cowboy hats and everything! They ride around space on the hunt for a man’s missing daughter.

The film is essentially all one big promo-piece for the relatively unknown band ‘The Billy Nayer Show’. For the last few years, they seem to have turned their attentions from their music to low-budget films featuring their music, of which this is their most recent.

It’s not the most accomplished work, but it oozes charm and gets past a lot of its flaws thanks to the soundtrack and the rather unusual, but still very likable cast.

4. Alferd Packer: The Musical!

Before putting their minds to ‘South Park’, ‘Team America: World Police’ and ‘The Book of Mormon’, Trey Parker and Matt Stone made this: a comedic telling of the true story of Alferd Packer, the first man convicted of cannibalism in the United States. It started life as a student film but soon grew into a fully-fledged, independent feature - consuming so much of Trey’s life that he dropped out of college in order to complete it.

A surreal, musical featuring a tribe of Japanese Native-Americans, characters tap-dancing in 3 feet of snow and a song called “Hang the Bastard!” - just like ‘South Park’, it looks incredibly cheap and incredibly crude, but also just like ‘South Park’, it’s hilarious.

3. Rango

Before Clint Eastwood’s man with no name, there was another bad-ass cowboy by the name of Django. So iconic was he that on top of being the titular character in a film of his own, he went on to star in over 30 unofficial sequels, all trying to cash in on his popularity. Obviously, nowadays that hype has died down, but the films are still fondly remembered by many cinema-enthusiasts as is evident with films such as Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming ‘Django Unchained’ and with this loving homage in the mould of an animated family comedy. I mean, Rango, Django, what’s the difference, right?

Rango sees ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ director, Gore Verbinski, once again working with Johnny Depp to create a unique world full of action and whimsy. 

Featuring accomplished and unique animation, a wonderfully strange sense of humour and frankly, a lot of fun, ‘Rango’ is my bet for next year’s animated film category at the Academy Awards.

2. Westworld

This film is essentially the blue-print for both ‘The Terminator’ and ‘Jurassic Park’. Just like ‘Jurassic Park’, it’s about a futuristic theme park, but instead of dinosaurs, this one has robots. And again, just like ‘Jurassic Park’, eventually the theme-park attractions go rogue and attack their guests – in this case, leaving one survivor who’s tracked down by a particularly persistent, robotic Billy-the-Kid-type in a thrilling game of cat and mouse. Also like ‘Jurassic Park’, it was written by Michael Chrichton.

1. Back to the Future: Part III

Generally (unfairly) written off as the weakest film in the ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy, ‘Part III’ may ever so slightly below the quality of parts I and II, but that’s only because those two films were SO good. When judged on its own terms, ‘Part III’ is a remarkable film, sitting in the top end of the family-friendly, Spielbergian classics of the ‘80s such as ‘The Goonies’ and ‘E.T.’.

So there you have it. And if you want ‘real westerns’ then I suggest ‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’, ‘True Grit’, ‘Django’, ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ and ‘Unforgiven’. Two lists for the price of one!

By Sol Harris