****** This may be the most interesting point: can a film (or book) be a Western if it's not set in the West? It sounds pretty trivial but it goes right to the heart of what we mean by "Western." Is Outland an honorary Western because it's modelled after High Noon or because the plot/thematic elements (law/civilization, individual courage, etc) are considered the proper subject of Westerns. (Just as science fiction is often concerned with the effects of technology or comedy with disorder.) One especially convoluted example would be Yojimbo/Fistful of Dollars/Last Man Standing group. Is the first a Japanese film inspired by or based on American Westerns? Would it have existed without that example? Fistful of Dollars is the same plot/structure but this time actually moved to the traditional Western time and place so there would be little question that it actually is a Western. Last Man Standing is Western in setting but not time and has numerous elements of the gangster film incorporated. In fact, it would be easy to imagine Last Man Standing actually set in New York City, so if the plot can be easily converted, what is essentially Western about it? Lang Thompson In <[log in to unmask]> "Kendall D'Andrade" One innovation was the change of setting, meaning that the >film was a Western in all but its location in time and space (with >whatever changes were necessary to fit the changed setting). In that >sense his film is a model for sci-fi Westerns like _Outland_ and maybe >_Star Wars_. ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]