That's not to say that there haven't been great Westerns! "The good, the bad, and the ugly" for one, or any other Sergio Leone flick for that matter. But looking at the IMDB top 50, those are pretty much the ones that stand out, quality wise, with as an honourable mention "Tombstone," for Val Kilmer's performance as Doc Holiday alone.
Therefore, I can't speak as highly of "Appaloosa" as I would like, though I do think that had some interesting angles to it, such as the legal aspects of society, which did play a strong part, the power-play between men and men and men and women and how both dealt with it, as well as the finding of meaning in a career, a personal struggle that I observed in several characters.
Most memorable moment for me was a conversation that Ed Harris, as Virgil Cole, has with Viggo Mortensen, as Everett Hitch:
Cole: Everett, we've been together now a while, can't exactly say how long, but long. Ain't anybody I'd rather do this work with. As good as anybody I've seen, except maybe the Shelton boys, I mean. The reason you ain't as good as the Sheltons or me, ain't got nothing to with steady, with fast, or fortuitous. The reason the above named folks are better than you is because you got feelings.In retrospect, it's a strange movie, this one, one that I'll have to see again in a few years and reform my opinion about. Ed Harris is incidentally also the co-screenwriter and director of this film.
Hitch: Well hell Virgil, everybody's got feelings.
Cole: Feelings get you killed.
Hitch: You got feelings about Ally don't you?
Cole: I care about Ally in town and I care when I get her back. But right now there's something running, and we're trying to catch it.
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