Which Universal Western title do you recommend?
 

Universal just released 10 inexpensive Westerns on DVD. Which one(s) do you recommend for a collection?

Steve
 

Although I am not the first to vote I am all for polls from good posters like you Steve. Voted for 2 mules for Sister Sara.
I like Clint Eastood westerns as well as his detective movies. Let's move this up to first post, so people can get a shot a interesting number of western titles.:)

Winchester '73!!!! many of those titles are great for the collection...but I say start with that. of course I prefer euro-westerns-wink-. enjoy!!

I'm enjoying a renewed personal interest in westerns, so I'm thankful to Universal for these. But the only one I have at this point is Winchester '73... so far.

My vote for Two Mules for Sister Sara is based on the film, not the dvd
(I'm still waiting for delivery from DDD of it and Destry Rides Again.)

Couple thoughts on Destry Rides Again (1939).

First it's a remake of Destry Rides Again (1932) with Tom Mix and was remade as Destry (1954).

This is an interesting film if only for the mis-cast Marlene Dietrich. You don't have to watch Blazing Saddles to get the joke on this film - you just need to watch Dietrich. Dietrich with her German accent plays a saloon girl named Frenchie. (one has to wonder whether the director was winking at us or just plain clueless).

You might have to watch Dietrich's overacting and extremely funny singing to realize that (except for the sexual stuff) Madeline Kahn (Lili Von Shtupp) role was more faithful recreation than anything else.

All this, a cat fight and Jimmy Stewart - it's worth a purchase.

Great western? Well, let's just call it great fun and leave it at that.

I think all the James Stewart / Anthony Mann westerns are KILLER. Winchester 73 is their masterpiece. Bend of the River & The Far Country are both highly enjoyable (and rewatchable).

WINCHESTER '73 is one of the best Westerns ever made, imho. Both of the other Stewart/Mann oaters (BEND OF THE RIVER and THE FAR COUNTRY) are worth checking out as well. The WINCHESTER 73 DVD has an audio commentary by Stewart himself, btw (ported over from laser). And it features one of Stewart's very best performances, an edgy VERTIGO-like performance.

DETRY RIDES AGAIN is a classic comedy-Western. And SHENANDOAH features one of Stewart's best performances (although it's a little dull, overall).

TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA has its fans, but it's defeinitely one of the lesser Eastwood Westerns from the 70s. (OUTLAW JOSEY WALES, it ain't.)

Most of the other stuff is pretty bad, including the disappointing NIGHT PASSAGE.

Shenandoah !
 

Shenandoah !

I started collecting laser discs back in the DiscoVision days. Shenandoah was one of the titles when a complete library of laser discs would have numbered about 60 titles. I got to be a fan of this movie because it was one of only about 15 titles that I owned. And it's a fun movie to boot!

Favorite scenes:

Jimmy Stewart saying "grace".
Katherine Ross' wedding vows
Boy's return home

I always felt Mel Gibson's "The Patriot" (2000) was a remake of Shenandoah. It sure felt like it to me.

Two Mules for Sister Sara would be a close second for me. I don't remember much of the movie...only that I liked it.

I had intended to create the poll to allow multiple choices, but somehow I missed that. Sorry! And, darn it, "The Far Country" was just on TCM tonight, and I missed it.

I read the Savant review of this a few minutes ago, and honestly BS is the first thing I thought of.....your post has convinced me that this is a must for the collection....i imagine they'll make a nice double feature :D

One not on the list, "High Plains Drifter". I picked it up at tower for 9.99. Really good flick, moody and Eastwood plays a badass, like usual.

I highly recommend Winchester '73. An excellent western!

I'll give a vote for Winchester. Although I admit that it's the only one I've seen on the list :)

My vote goes to Night Passage because of the Jimmy Stewart/Audie Murphy pairing, plus - though I haven't seen it in quite some time - I recall enjoying it quite a bit.

That being said you certainly can't go wrong with any of the Stewart/Mann Westerns (Winchester '73, The Far Country, Bend of the River).

Count me too among the fans of Shenandoah.

All said and done, I think Night Passage would have the most replay value for me personally. Nice review of the film here at DVDTalk too.

It was also done as a Broadway musical in the late 50's starring Andy Griffith.

My vote for the best of the Westerns on the list has to go to WINCHESTER 73.

I recently acquired all of them, with the exception of Law and Order, and Two Mules for Sister Sara.

I voted for Shenandoah, only because I had seen alot of the others already, and I was extremely impressed by it's story and the acting. The movie is epic-like (dealing with a family during the Civil War) from beginning to end. You'll run the gamut of emotions watching it.

All the other Universal westerns were fun (with the exception of Duel At Silver Creek, which is okay, but run of the mill). I will say Universal did a TREMENDOUS job on the transfer of the prints. Watching them, I can almost feel like I was in the theater 40 years ago. Absolutely fantastic transfers.

And seeing how they are all budget-priced, it's hard to find a reason not to own them.