The Cowboys

[Titan6]

Same with Crimson Tide

I imagine Gene Hackman learned most of his dirty words during his three year stint in the USMC.

I was not crazy about the language in the film but honestly to expect that kids don't hear these words these days on the school bus or wherever is a bit much. It served as another good learning point about what not to say.

Contradicting yourself in consecutive paragraphs? If as you claim you don't understand script writing, why do you have such strong opinions about it?

The statements are not incongruous. One is about the mechanics of writing movie scripts while the other is a general statement about all writers (of which, while I am not the original author of the statement, I tend to agree with).

 

[Dirty Dawg]

I loved the movie as a kid and have passed that along to my son who's watched it more times than I ever will. Needless to say he loves the movie too and even bought the soundtrack on iTunes. John Wayne was no choir boy but I can't think of a better movie role model; he reminds me of my grandfather, a type of man that's hard to find these days.

 

[Kansan]

"I consider myself strong enough to handle it. After all this is the real world..."

Yes, and in the real world there are people who don't care for profanity. I don't think that says anything about lack of strength. There are more categories than just "cursers" and "those who don't curse but still think it's fine." Let the man have his opinions, geez. Despite his non-swearing preference the op obviosly liked the movie enough to start a thread to praise it. As a parent, I'm grateful for both his reccomendation and the heads-up on the language.

 

[Tommygunn]

Thanks guys ... I ordered a DVD of "The Cowboys" because of this thread.

 

[firesafety3]

"The Cowboys" is my favorite John Wayne movie. The relationships between all the characters are well played and unique. The boys lay eyes on their first negro asking if he was black all over. Wayne's character was leary as well but worldly enough to make a wise decision about Moses, in front of the boys.

My favorite scene is when he is about to leave on the cattle drive and his wife tells him "I'll think about you before I go to bed" to which he responds, "You do and you'll never sleep".

Good guys, bad guys...challenges and friendships, this one has it all.

 

[No Quarter]

Great movie. Enjoyed it immensely. The vulgarity made it seem a bit more realistic to me. Just like Deadwood on HBO.

Life is vulgar. Profanity is nothing more than words. I would rather hear a string of cusswords 20 minutes long than watch the evening news for 1 minute.

 

[Joe Demko]

To expand a bit on scriptwriting, there had to be dramatic tension. If the boys had retained their guns, Bruce Dern and company wouldn't have presented nearly as much of a threat. Yet everyone "knows" that cowboys carried guns. The writers, therefore, had to come up with a reason for them not to have guns that would be believable in the context of the movie. A couple-three pissmean renegades getting shot to pieces by Duke Wayne and some kids wasn't the story they wanted to tell, though it also could have been a good one.
Movies with guns in them can often be interpreted as pro or anti. Sometimes even both. Mostly, any messages about guns that you see, especially in old movies, are a product of your mind rather than that of the writer.

 

[bestseller92]

Bruce Dern was hated for years because he "killed" John Wayne in "The Cowboys".

I saw him on one of the late night talk shows in the late 80s or early 90s and he said folks at that time STILL gave him guff about killing the Duke in that movie.

 

[Titan6]

Mostly, any messages about guns that you see, especially in old movies, are a product of your mind rather than that of the writer.

Quite possibly. However the movie was quite controversial when it came out. Kids shooting people (even justifiably) was considered horrifying to many. It didn't hurt the movie any though. It was a commercial success by the standards of the day.

Bonnie and Clyde TMK,was the first film run out under new rating system in late '67.(G,PG,R,X)

Nope, that system was not instituted until 1972. The first system came out in 1968 (G,M,R,X). The problem was the degradation that led up to the system. The system just let open the floodgates.

 

[danprkr]

The one that stands out was the sherrif telling Books he was going to take a dump on his grave.

What he said was, "What I'll do on your grave won't pass for flowers!'

Not sure how that could be considered foul language, but to each his own. I'm thinking that if you decided it meant taking a dump on that probably says as much about you as the language. It could simply have meant dancing for joy on. I seem to recall that my reaction that the sheriff was threatening to whiz on the grave, but I don't think it was specified. Well, I'm going to go do some research (meaning rewatch the movie) to ensure my recall.

 

[danprkr]

Scene rewatched, and my recall was correct.

 

[doubleh]

One of my favorite movies. The language in it is quite mild compared to what is used in most of today's movies. As to the special effects/action scenes they were at least kind of realistic. Much more so than the far out, impossible things depicted in today's movies.

The great thing about old movies is that the actors actually had to act instead of letting unbeliveable special effects carry the picture.

Foul language? Scarface would have been 30 minutes less in length if one word had been removed from the script.

 

[Rockwell1]

After all this is the real world and this kind of language is used and to ignore it is to live in a fantasy world

After all this the real world and there are septic tanks in it.

Doesn't mean I gotta swim in 'em

Foul language? Scarface would have been 30 minutes less in length if one word had been removed from the script.

Didn't watch "Scarface" either

 

[61chalk]

Watched that movie when I was a kid with my Dad...bought him the movie years later....Doesn't the Duke say something just before he dies..like.."well, looks like summers over."....I'll have to watch it again this week....as for the cussing, had a pastor once say that sinners have a right to sin....but movies can be picked an chosen to watch or not...what ever trips your trigger...hey..I got something about a gun in here!

 

[Titan6]

Disagree.Citation please.The current rating system began using codes in 1967.

Oh gosh, I thought this was website about guns not movie ratings... but you know I am feeling pretty good tonight and in the mood to help the internet disabled:

The Classification and Ratings Board was created in response to a national cry for some kind of regulation of film content. During the 1960s, the social pressures of an ever evolving country fostered a sense of concern for the new topics and issues being explored by the creative industries, namely in the movies. The motion picture industry sought to find a balance between preserving creative freedoms and notifying people about films content so that people could make decisions about what movies they wanted to see and what movies were appropriate for their children.

Former President of the MPAA Jack Valenti worked with the National Association of Theatre Owners to create a new and, at the time, revolutionary approach to fulfilling the movie industry?s self prescribed obligation to the parents of America. On November 1, 1968, NATO, MPAA and IFIDA announced the birth of the new voluntary film rating system of the motion picture industry.

The initial design called for four rating categories:

* G for General Audiences, all ages admitted
* M for mature audiences, parental guidance suggested but all ages admitted
* R for Restricted, children under 16 not be admitted without an accompanying parent or adult guardian (this was later raised to 17 years of age, and varies in some jurisdictions)
* X for no one under 17 admitted

This is from the MPAA website located here:

http://www.mpaa.org/Ratings_history1.asp

It may sound crazy but the Google search engine does wonders if you have a simple question to answer.

 

[Titan6]

I wanted to check the whole Bonnie and Clyde fixation so here it is from IMDB:

Certification:
| USA:Approved (certificate #21395) (original rating) | USA:M (re-rating) (1969) | USA:R (re-rating) (2007) |

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061418/

So the movie was released under the old system re-rated in 1969 and 2007. So I think I understand your confusion.

ARE YOU NOW CONVINCED?

I really hated the movie for it's pro criminal stance. Let's face it those two were psychotics and the movie glamorized violence and romanticized crime and violent behavior.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Interesting discussion about one of my favorite movies of all time.

Unfortunately, it's gone way off track.