ABSTRACT
Pronounced dead twice in the last quarter century — first in the early 1970s with shifts in Hollywood organization, then again in 1980 after the box office bust of Heaven’s Gate(Michael Cimino) — the western seemed the most impossible of Hollywood genres. 1 The 1990s witnessed a mini-renaissance triggered by the success of Pale Rider (Clint Eastwood, 1985), Silverado (Lawrence Kasdan, 1985), and Young Guns (Christopher Cain, 1988): more than three times as many westerns were released in the 1990s as in the 1970s and 1980s combined. More importantly for marketing departments, a few — Dances with Wolves (Kevin Costner, 1990), Last of the Mohicans (Michael Mann, 1992), and Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 1994) — have done well at the box office.
