Okay all you Hulu subscribers, it's time to saddle up!
There are times when each of us — country folk and city slickers alike — crave the dusty red earth beneath our boots and the stank of horse manure in our nostrils.
Okay, maybe not that second part. Point is, the Western genre is one of the key foundations of the cinematic form. From the 1903Great Train Robberymade for Thomas Edison's studio to the expandingTaylor Sheridanuniverse, examining the Western is, in a way, examining America itself.
All streaming services offer an opportunity to don the white hat, and Hulu is no exception. With that, here are ahandful of great Westernsyou can stream on Hulu right now.
Bone Tomahawk(2015)
Is S. Craig Zahler'sBone Tomahawka Western that adds horror elements or a horror film set in the West? The answer: Who cares? This unpredictable film, in whichKurt Russellleads a posse including Richard Jenkins, Matthew Fox, andPatrick Wilsonon a rescue mission against cave-dwelling cannibals, is as shocking now as it was a decade ago.
With its slow burn pacing and 132-minute length, there's plenty of time to dig your spurs in feel the film shifting beneath your feet. You'll observe these characters and get to know their unique philosophical outlooks… but when the wishbones start flying, look out. The campfire conversations are enjoyable for all, but the violence is a little hardcore.
Where to watchBone Tomahawk: Hulu
Butcher's Crossing(2022)
Nicolas Cageis a prolific actor whose better work occasionally slips through the cracks. This existential Western, based on John Edward Williams's 1960 novel and directed by documentarianGabe Polsky, is a good example. Fred Hechinger plays an East Coast college dropout who heads to the frontier with wide-eyed dreams of adventure.
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He hooks up with Cage's grizzled buffalo hunter who convinces the kid to join him on a search for one of the last untouched herds. Nature in all its brutality challenges their stubbornness. The stunning location photography in Montana is balanced by the violence of the campaign's animal butchery, leading to some philosophical complexities.
Where to watchButcher's Crossing: Hulu
Django Unchained(2012)
This is technically not a Western; it's more of a Southern. But it's got men on horses, shoot-outs, and staggering performances fromJamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Indeed, much of the imagery has been remixed by internet culture so regularly it's worth revisiting this movie just to see those GIFs in their original context.
Writer-directorQuentin Tarantinomay have bent the truth of Antebellum South to meet his story needs, but if anyone is going to examine the horrors of slavery through the lens of mid-century exploitation picturesand actually pull it off, it's going to be him.
Where to watchDjango Unchained: Hulu
The Revenant(2015)
Leonardo DiCapriospent weeks crawling face-down in the icy mud for for our enjoyment, so the least we can do is rewatch his Oscar-winning film! Thanks to Mexican directorAlejandro González Iñárritu, Hulu subscribers can watch in wonderment as Leo dodges arrows, gets flung around like a rag doll by a bear, eats raw bison liver, falls into a river, and beats the tar out of Tom Hardy.
Grab the popcorn? Well, not exactly. This isn't what anyone would call afunmovie, but it's certainly an amazing production.
Where to watchThe Revenant: Hulu
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