The Man from Snowy River

Clint Eastwood and Unforgiven be damned. This is by far the best western of the modern era. Its an Aussie tale, but that does not disqualify it in my books. Lonesome Dove has its group as does Unforgiven. But George Miller's The Man from Snowy River is downright majestic.

There are no stagecoaches, revenge killings, poker games or joking jail hands. There isn't even a climactic standoff in a dusty old town. But there is the hand of a maiden to win and inner demons to slay. The climax isn't a shoot out with a band of criminals, but with a stallion and a lonely ride down a rocky mountain.

Director George Miller draws clear characters and honest human situations. He understands what a camera can do. Scenes of great power play out not in a tired miasma of gunfire or hokey soliloquies, but in the striations of muscle from a horse powering through rock in slow motion. George Miler is a poet. And the Man from Snowy River is a story that will stand the test of time. See it.