Legends of Western Cinema Week 2025 | My Tag Answers

The last day of this year's Legends of Western Cinema Week is upon us!  Accordingly, I had to scramble to get my tag answers written up and posted this morning.  Here, then, they are.

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2025 Tag

Share one or more stories for each prompt:

Cliff — a tense cliffhanger

I can't remember for sure, but I assume that virtually every episode of The English (2022) ended in a stomach-clenching cliffhanger.  There's a lot going on in that show.  A little too much, actually.

Gulch — a cool ambush scene

In Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969), McCullough manages to ride some of his would-be assassins out of town by booby-trapping the main drag instead of participating in shootouts with them, which could be considered an ambush and which I certainly consider very cool of him.

Canyon — a big gunfight

Following along in that lighthearted vein, the hostage situation/brief shootout at the bank in The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) is fun.  It always tickles me pink to see the townswomen wielding massive rifles and then Donovan pulling out his little water-gun-looking pistol.  (But hey, it's the thought that counts!)

Mountains — high stakes

One of my favorite things about Quigley Down Under (1990) is how well it manages to honor the true gravitas of the central conflict while also making space for plenty of humor and fun.

Valley — a beautiful romance

You already knew that my answer to this prompt would be my beloved Tom Harte and Sun Foy from Broken Trail (2006).  Icons.  Monarchs.  Gorgina.

Desert — a suspenseful plot

OK, hear me out — the tension in the plot of Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) really holds up, and I'm so serious!  I re-watched it not too long ago with a friend who I don't think had ever seen it before, and watching it through "fresh" eyes reinforced for me that a) baby Olivia had impeccable cinematic taste because b) that film is magnificent.

Forest — themes about renewal

Hostiles (2017), as I explored at length in my review, considers ideas of redemption and forgiveness that aren't necessarily groundbreaking, but are beautifully executed within the narrative.

River — traveling to a new home

This is only partially a Western, really mostly a period drama, but the main plot point of Far and Away (1992) is how hard the protagonists are willing to work to make their way from Ireland to the American West in search of fresh futures.

Plains — characters who are farmers

Again, not to resurrect the eternal "Is it really a Western?" debate, but one of the major narrative foci of the Sarah, Plain and Tall trilogy  — particularly the middle entry, Skylark (1993) — is the importance of their Midwestern land to the farmer family protagonists.  (Fun fact!  I think I've mentioned this before, but Skylark specifically is one of my top favorite period dramas, in general.  So simple but so rich and meaty.  Also features the rocky coast of Maine.  W's all around.)  For a more traditionally Western story, the feuding families in The Big Country (1958) are ranchers, which is close enough, I guess?

Mesa — an animal central to the story

Consider this my umpteenth formal request that you hie yourself to your screen of choice and watch Rango (2011) at the earliest possible opportunity.  It's wacky, it's hilarious, you won't regret it.  (I mean, you might regret it.  How should I know?)

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Have you shared your tag answers yet?