Although westerns produce a surprisingly small variety of sequels, there are just a few movies from the style that had been virtually screaming for a follow-up. From the early days of Hollywood filmmaking, the western was the go-to for in style blockbusters. Even because the sound period started, the gunslinging cowboys remained must-see cinema.
Through the Hollywood Golden Age, most of the greatest westerns of all time had been produced, and stars like John Wayne turned synonymous with their cowboy personas. Nonetheless, in contrast to different in style genres similar to horror or motion, western movies aren’t normally continued in sequels. As a substitute, the tales are sometimes wrapped up with a satisfying conclusion.
Even when sequels had been produced, similar to within the spaghetti western {Dollars} Trilogy, they had been loosely linked and never as simple as the same old cinematic continuation. Nonetheless, this has at all times been a giant missed alternative for filmmakers, as a result of they create such superb characters solely to desert them after one thrilling film.
Because the heroes trip off into the sundown after saving the day, there’s at all times extra alternatives for journey on the opposite aspect of the credit. Some westerns set up such an fascinating dynamic and fictional universe, {that a} bounty of potential sequels might spring up from the primary movie. However, Hollywood is content material to go away them standalone motion pictures.
8
Silverado (1985)
The Nineteen Eighties had been a useless interval for westerns, and it appeared as if the style was sure to lastly fade away utterly. Nonetheless, Silverado arrived and stored hope alive, and delivered a captivating and enjoyable journey with a traditional really feel. The playful western assembled an all-star forged, and was headlined by style stalwart Kevin Costner.
Although the heroes received the day, there was ample alternative to reunite the disparate characters once more for an additional journey. With Kevin Kline’s Paden put in as sheriff, there is no telling what kind of disasters the lawman would wish to stop. This might have introduced in new characters, and a fair greater A-list forged.
7
Wild Wild West (1999)
There is not any denying that 1999’s Wild Wild West was a nasty film, however it confirmed a lot potential {that a} sequel might have fastened loads of the problems of the unique. Adapting the ’60s TV present, the film’s steampunk strategy and humor was precisely what the western style wanted after a decade of nostalgic movies like Tombstone.
Will Smith and Kevin Kline had been a powerful duo, and the retrofuturistic expertise opened the door for limitless sequels. There have been loads of different western tropes left to skewer, and one of the best elements of the primary movie had been fairly sturdy in comparison with different blockbuster motion pictures from that period. Sadly, its excessive price made it practically inconceivable to be worthwhile.
6
Quigley Down Below (1990)
Shortly earlier than westerns had been revived within the Nineteen Nineties, the Tom Selleck movie Quigley Down Below missed the boat by just a few years. Selleck was the right alternative for the sharpshooting Quigley, and his journey to the Australian Outback was a intelligent subversion of many traditional western ideas. Although it is not good, it ought to have been a much bigger hit.
The film attracts comparisons between the persecution of the Aboriginal folks of Australia and the Indigenous nations of North America, and it is in a position to touch upon historic wrongs with out getting slowed down. There’s nonetheless loads of thrilling western-style motion, and Quigley himself is a enjoyable throwback to traditional cowboy characters from earlier generations.
In contrast to loads of its contemporaries, Quigley Down Below leaves just a few threads untied, and appears to trace at a sequel. Quigley and Cora go away Australia and return to America, however Quigley remains to be a needed man Stateside. A sequel might have caught up with the pair as they evaded the regulation, and even tried to clear Quigley’s identify.
5
Hell Or Excessive Water (2016)
Taylor Sheridan’s Hell or Excessive Water is extra of a neo-western than a traditional story of gunslingers and cowboys, but it surely nonetheless earns its western credibility. Now thought to be top-of-the-line movies of the 2010s, it options Jeff Bridges and Chris Pine in roles that had been utterly in opposition to sort.
Hell or Excessive Water is a part of an unofficial trilogy that additionally consists of Sicario and Wind River.
Although the movie ends on a powerful be aware, a sequel might have continued the so-called dialog that Hamilton and Howard promise to have. It might have been a difficult prospect to get proper, however a continuation of the universe might have been simply as riveting as the unique. Maybe the adversaries might have labored collectively to cease some higher menace.
4
True Grit (2010)
As a result of the 2010 remake of True Grit caught nearer to the Charles Portis novel, it made crafting a sequel much more troublesome. However, the Coen brothers movie was nonetheless ripe for a continuation, particularly since there’s a precedent. Jeff Bridges assumed the sainted position of Rooster Cogburn, but it surely was Hailee Steinfeld who stole the present.
The movie wraps up the story succinctly with a flashforward, however there was nonetheless loads of time within the center that might have made for glorious cinema. John Wayne reprised the position of Cogburn for a sequel, and it solely appears becoming that Bridges might have gotten his personal second movie taking part in the half.
25 years is a very long time, and loads of thrilling issues might have occurred within the interim. For the reason that characters like Mattie and Rooster are so dynamic, a well-written screenplay might have made for terrific cinema. Even when the journey had fewer stakes than in True Grit, extra time with the characters is at all times welcome.
3
Tombstone (1993)
After a decade the place the style floundered, the Nineteen Nineties introduced the western again with a vengeance due to movies like Tombstone. Dramatizing the occasions of the shootout on the O.Okay. Corral and different Earp exploits, the movie revived the favored people heroes with some barely anachronistic twists. Tombstone was a success, and has solely gotten greater since.
The film is nostalgic and hearkens again to traditional westerns, but it surely additionally has a quicker tempo and exaggerated tone which provides touches of modernity. It performs quick and free with the reality, however what it lacks in accuracy, it compensates with loads of enjoyable motion and robust performances from the forged.
Tombstone solely coated a small swath of Wyatt Earp’s life, and he launched into loads of different thrilling adventures which might have made for excellent sequels. Earp lived lengthy sufficient to see the Previous West fade away, and he even served as a guide on western motion pictures within the years earlier than his loss of life.
2
The Fast And The Lifeless (1995)
The Fast and the Lifeless was not a success, but it surely has since turn into one of many hidden gems of Sam Raimi’s filmography. Taking the revisionist facet of westerns to the acute, the Sharon Stone automobile is over-the-top and thrilling, and it by no means takes itself too severely. It additionally introduces Stone’s gunslinging hero, one thing cinema wants extra of.
Although her mission was achieved, Ellen might have simply come again for one more action-packed installment. The American West presents an limitless variety of potentialities, and Raimi’s tongue-in-cheek model introduces much more probabilities for storytelling. Sadly, the film’s poor monetary efficiency ruined any sequel hopes.
1
The More durable They Fall (2021)
Westerns have gotten uncommon within the twenty first century, however Netflix’s The More durable They Fall is rarer nonetheless. The film options an all-Black forged, and is loosely primarily based on real-life figures from American historical past. It makes use of humor and anachronism to have enjoyable with the tropes of westerns, but it surely nonetheless delivers loads of what the style is predicted to have.
With a lot occurring within the first movie, The More durable They Fall might have spawned any variety of sequels, and the likelihood is not totally off the desk. Although a number of years have handed because the western debuted, the film’s forged remains to be very energetic, and a follow-up might be within the works at any second.