Ahab Goes to the Movies! Well, not really. I actually loathe the bloody theaters, filled as they are with surly, rude teenagers; however I do love movies. You might have guessed that I like westerns (I wonder what gave it away); but I’m an avid fan of all genres of film. What I’m going to do here is periodically talk about my favorite “gun movies” which I define as a movie that prominently features firearms that I find interesting, or uses in firearms in a manner that I deem to be “Pro-2nd Amendment”. Of course, this is all my subjective opinion, so feel free to disagree with me.
Today, I’m going to talk about one of my all time favorite movies; and what I consider to be one of the finest examples of the Western Genre. The movie in question is Lawrence Kasdan’s film Silverado. Starring Scott Glenn, a very young Kevin Costner, Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, and Brian f*cking Denehy, this movie literally has it all. Horse chases, gunfights, humor, a little romance (but not too much), some more gunfights, some dry British humor (“Today, my jurisdiction ends here), some more gunfights…I just can’t get enough.
The story? Absolutely classic. Wrongly convicted man returns to his home town, which is under the thumb of a corrupt cattle baron and sheriff; corrupt sheriff used to ride with secondary good guy character, our four heroes ride into town and eventually put things right, which of course ends in the classic western moment, with Kevin Kline’s character facing Brian Denehy’s character on a dusty street. “Goodbye, Cobb.” “Goodbye, Paden.”
As far as “Pro-2A”, while the movie doesn’t out and say “Guns are good”, the general theme is that armed and determined men cannot be oppressed. The Evil Cattle Baron and his thugs try some junk, as is their wont; of course they’re ultimately thwarted by The Guys in White Hats.
There are some interesting themes in Silverado in addition to the standard western plot. I’m not going to go into detail (because I don’t want to ruin the movie); but you should probably just go out and rent it right now if you haven’t seen it. Seriously. Go rent it. Or better yet, just buy it on DVD. If you like westerns, you won’t regret it.
