Westerns...bang bang

I usually don't enjoy westerns because, in my experience with them they have always been about the outlaw and his travels. I know the film, "Stagecoach" followed the outlaw (Ringo the Kid) but it also followed the stories of the many other passengers riding in the stagecoach. I found this interesting because every passenger came from a different social background, whether they were an outlaw, prostitute, doctor with a drinking problem, or a crooked banker each character was represented well and each were shone in a different light. I did have a hard time getting used to the little amount of action and shoot-em up scenes found in this movie, i have gotten used to today's action packed, guns blazing movies we see today. But when the stagecoach arrives in Lordsberg and the shootout scene is finally upon us, I am at peace, the way Ford shot this scene is classic. I like the way he shows everyone in town scurrying out of the main street and the shadows and low key lighting adds tremendously to the suspense effect. This is an important scene because this is what the entire movie has really been building up to, "Will Ringo the Kid get his revenge?"
I like how Ford portrays Ringo as the outlaw we can all learn to love, I realized how in many contemporary movies this same idea is used. The most recent Western that I have seen was "American Outlaws", for some reason this film seemed just too much like hollywood nonsense, maybe this was because Jessie James was played by Colin Farell not the typical cowboy in my mind. The film did have many of the same general scenes as stagecoach though, the long travel across country, the shootout, and the girl that the outlaw falls in love with were all there. I don't have anything against Westerns i just don't find myself seeking out such films as 3:10 to Yuma as I would for comedies. But the viewing of this film has taught me to give the Western genre another try.