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Author Topic: Westerns out of time and place  (Read 3365 times)

Voros
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Westerns out of time and place
« Reply #15 on: January 14, 2018, 04:06:09 PM »
The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith is a great Australian film set at the turn of the century.

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Westerns out of time and place
« Reply #16 on: January 14, 2018, 05:33:40 PM »
I'd think anywhere the grasp of the people is ahead of the capacity of the government to fully and completely control the area, one would have a "western," sort of place.

Having said that, could imagine that the push of Russia/Soviet Union eastward toward the siberian regions near China back in the day could be such an environment.

Hunh. Now that I write that, the more I'm keen to know more about that time/place too.
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Westerns out of time and place
« Reply #17 on: January 14, 2018, 06:21:51 PM »
Quote from: CausticJedi;1019418
ETA:  Oh, and I loved Death Hunt as mentioned upthread.  I still watch it occasionally as a matter of fact.  Straightforward plot and easy on the brain, it's just a classic in the genre.

As a historical footnote, Death Hunt has a few scenes with a bush pilot attempting to chase Bronson down. I won't post any spoilers, but suffice to say that there was a real pilot dispatched in the hunt and he acted very differently from the one portrayed in the movie. In real life he was also Wilfrid May, the Canadian pilot being chased by Baron Manfred von Richthofen when he flew too low to the ground and was killed in 1918.

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Westerns out of time and place
« Reply #18 on: January 14, 2018, 06:42:07 PM »
Quote from: DMK;1019527
As a historical footnote, Death Hunt has a few scenes with a bush pilot attempting to chase Bronson down. I won't post any spoilers, but suffice to say that there was a real pilot dispatched in the hunt and he acted very differently from the one portrayed in the movie. In real life he was also Wilfrid May, the Canadian pilot being chased by Baron Manfred von Richthofen when he flew too low to the ground and was killed in 1918.
Yes, I had heard something about that years ago; the movie was supposedly based on a true story but I'm too lazy at the moment to do any googling on it.

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Westerns out of time and place
« Reply #19 on: January 14, 2018, 07:08:01 PM »
Quote from: Danger;1019517
I'd think anywhere the grasp of the people is ahead of the capacity of the government to fully and completely control the area, one would have a "western," sort of place.

Having said that, could imagine that the push of Russia/Soviet Union eastward toward the siberian regions near China back in the day could be such an environment.

Hunh. Now that I write that, the more I'm keen to know more about that time/place too.


There's a Korean "Western" set in 1920s Manchuria:




The remote, mountainous regions of Europe in the 19th and 20th century can also have a somewhat "Western" feeling, with state authority far away, powerful local land barons, outlaws and vigilantism.

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Westerns out of time and place
« Reply #20 on: January 15, 2018, 09:38:39 AM »
'The Good, The Bad, The Weird' is a lot of fun - recommended!

I ran a couple of games set in a fictional Central American country in around 1925. An old American lawman/gunfighter, a female Mexican (disillusioned) revolutionary, and a retired long-service USMC sergeant, teamed-up to find an American industrialist's kidnapped daughter. I called it No Country for Expendable Old Bastards.

I've long wanted to run a game of Australian bushrangers in the 1850s/60s.
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KingCheops

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Westerns out of time and place
« Reply #21 on: January 15, 2018, 12:53:19 PM »
The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush and Klondike Gold Rush obviously has some very Western vibes to it.  Large parts of Alberta and Peace River District are very much ranch land and home to large, long running rodeos.  There's a fair bit of ranching all along the Fraser River which combined with the elevations and drop offs makes for stunning imagery.  Of course there would have been lots of "trouble" with Native populations as they're dispersed all throughout these regions due to the Treaty system.

One commonly overlooked Western trope for Canada is the American border and the RCMP.  There were several skirmishes with American bandits, settlers, and bootleggers up until the 1930's.  Most of my ancestors came to Canada as a result of the government trying to settle Canadians along the border to prevent the prairies from being annexed.

To continue in the more modern, No Country for Old Men oil based Western you have the oil fields around Calgary for shenanigans.

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Westerns out of time and place
« Reply #22 on: January 15, 2018, 08:37:31 PM »
Quote from: Krimson;1019377
There's still a law on the books here in Calgary about businesses having to provide a hitching post and water for horses, and in the older areas of town you can still see those hitching posts. I remember in the 80s when some of the newer neighbourhoods were still ranches and farms, running into a classmate who came into town to shop on horseback.


Horse and Carriage on the streets was still a common sight up untll I had to move in the mid 90s in my home town. Probably still is as theres a large Ahmish community in the surrounding areas.

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Westerns out of time and place
« Reply #23 on: January 17, 2018, 09:48:49 PM »
Yeah, the Yukon gold rush was pretty much a part of the "wild west" to the point that it wouldn't really be an 'alternate' setting.
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Westerns out of time and place
« Reply #24 on: January 17, 2018, 09:55:20 PM »
Quote from: RPGPundit;1020255
Yeah, the Yukon gold rush was pretty much a part of the "wild west" to the point that it wouldn't really be an 'alternate' setting.

Hmm, it's in the West, it's the same era, and it's included in my books on the Old West, so yeah, I don't know who considers that a different time and place for a Western. It's just a variation of the Western genre.

The Klondike Gold Rush could be a fun alternative to the Southwest if you're seeking a break from dusty  trails and Apaches.

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« Last Edit: January 17, 2018, 10:03:11 PM by Dumarest »

jhkim

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Westerns out of time and place
« Reply #25 on: January 18, 2018, 12:21:05 PM »
Quote from: Gruntfuttock;1019596
'The Good, The Bad, The Weird' is a lot of fun - recommended!
Definitely. (My icon is from that movie, incidentally.) On a similar note, there are some classic Western-esque movies set in Japan: like Seven Samurai and Yojimbo. Seven Samurai was the basis for The Magnificent Seven, for those who don't know.

I think especially in the early 20th century, Africa could easily be the setting for some Western-style action. Think Casablanca and Raiders of the Lost Ark, but without the Nazis.


Quote from: Gruntfuttock;1019596
I ran a couple of games set in a fictional Central American country in around 1925. An old American lawman/gunfighter, a female Mexican (disillusioned) revolutionary, and a retired long-service USMC sergeant, teamed-up to find an American industrialist's kidnapped daughter. I called it No Country for Expendable Old Bastards.
Sounds cool.

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Westerns out of time and place
« Reply #26 on: January 18, 2018, 12:31:56 PM »
Quote from: jhkim;1020369
Seven Samurai was the basis for The Magnificent Seven, for those who don't know.

Except, of course, that it wasn't, although it gets bandied about that it was.

Edit: I was thinking of the wrong film, you are right. Seven Samurai is better, though.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2018, 12:36:35 PM by Dumarest »

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Westerns out of time and place
« Reply #27 on: January 20, 2018, 02:10:46 AM »
Would western-comedy be considered alt-western?
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Westerns out of time and place
« Reply #28 on: January 20, 2018, 12:43:20 PM »
Quote from: RPGPundit;1020711
Would western-comedy be considered alt-western?


I would say no. Three Amigos is a comedy but it's still a Western. Take out the jokes and it's  a slight variation on The Magnificent Seven.

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« Reply #29 on: January 20, 2018, 12:51:46 PM »
Quote from: RPGPundit;1020711
Would western-comedy be considered alt-western?

I couldn't say alt because quite a few movies with Clint Eastwood had comedy elements. That said, I would totally classify the war movie Kelly's Heroes as alt-western, because it pretty much was.
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