What Makes A Good Western Good?
be strong, likable and believable. Since a western usually cannot dazzle the audience with special effects it relies on its characters to grab and hold the audience. This imposes a burden on film westerns that does not exist for those in the written format. The reader forms a picture in his or her mind of a character and sees that character a certain way. In a film western casting is crucial, particularly for the hero’s role. To illustrate the point, can you imagine going back in time and filming “The Magnificent Seven” with Woody Allen in the Yul Brynner role or having Pee Wee Herman replace John Wayne in any of his westerns? I can’t either. It is vitally important for the audience to like the characters and identify with them. That is what keeps the audience interested in the story. The reader or viewer should be made to care what happens to the people in the story so he or
