The Way West (1967)
Along with How the West Was Won this feels like the very last of the classic American westerns. We are in the 60s and the genre is under rapid transformation, and I think even back then this style was a tad dated. It is a celebratory adventure of the countries roots, praising the hardships of the settlers and how they sacrificed themselves for the greater good. It is all very fine and dandy and not that engaging. Given the structure around a big wagon train travel to Oregon, the narrative is very much in the form of “and then this happened, and then another thing happened”. Perfectly natural for this type of story, but somewhat uneven as a complete experience as there isn’t that much to form the scenes together.
Rating: 3