The Lone Ranger (2013)
Directed by Gore Verbinski
The Texas Rangers chase down a gang of outlaws led by Butch Cavendish, but the gang ambushes the Rangers, seemingly killing them all. One survivor is found, however, by an American Indian named Tonto, who nurses him back to health. The Ranger, donning a mask and riding a white stallion named Silver, teams up with Tonto to bring the unscrupulous gang and others of that ilk to justice.
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7 films that influenced The Lone Ranger
What critics say influenced The Lone Ranger
Westward expansion is the first of many tin-eared nods the director makes to Sergio Leone’s classic “Once Upon a Time in the West,” including recurring bits of Ennio Morricone’s iconic score.
Like Rango, The Lone Ranger substitutes pastiche for plot; the opening of Once Upon A Time In The West and the climax of Buster Keatons The General are both quoted extensively, and there are throwaway nods to everything from The Red Balloon to There Will Be Blood .
There are likable nods to Once Upon a Time in the West (in particular a railroad subplot and the oscillating dramatic score), Little Big Man, The Searchers, and The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Verbinski litters the film with references to old TV Western serials, John Ford’s Monument Valley, and especially Once Upon A Time In The West, which it quotes both in the score and in a subplot about the railroads bringing order to the Wild West.
The Lone Ranger turns out to be practically a comic remake of Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West.
The movie is deeply indebted to three great films set during or just after the Civil War: John Ford’s The Searchers (a man’s quest for his brother’s killer in Indian lands), Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (the coming of the transcontinental railroad) and Buster Keaton’s The General (the climactic train chase).
The movie's crazy-quilt of references includes " Dead Man ," " El Topo ," " Blazing Saddles ," " The Searchers ," "A Man Called Horse," the Man with No Name trilogy, Verbinski's own " Rango ," the cinematic contraptions of Sam Raimi and Tim Burton (check out Bonham-Carter's ivory leg-cannon!), and Keaton's train-crazy "The General."
As for “The Lone Ranger,” Verbinski and his credited writers (Justin Haythe of “Snitch” and “Revolutionary Road,” along with the “Pirates” duo of Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio) are trying to do the impossible, or at least the exceptionally difficult: Capture the spirit of an old-timey, square-bear western adventure serial aimed at kids, and also make a dark-hued revisionist western with echoes of “The Searchers,” “Ride the High Country” and “Unforgiven.”
There are likable nods to Once Upon a Time in the West (in particular a railroad subplot and the oscillating dramatic score), Little Big Man, The Searchers, and The Bridge on the River Kwai.
The movie is deeply indebted to three great films set during or just after the Civil War: John Ford’s The Searchers (a man’s quest for his brother’s killer in Indian lands), Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (the coming of the transcontinental railroad) and Buster Keaton’s The General (the climactic train chase).
Verbinski samples Sergio Leone, Sam Peckinpah, his own animated Rango, The Searchers, Barry Sonnenfeld's version of Wild Wild West, and Little Big Man (the framing device with Tonto and the little buckaroo).
Director Gore Verbinski’s film is at once a throwback to old-timey cowboy movies (“Western” sounds too grand a term for this, as it is best used for movies like “The Searchers”) and a big-budget exercise in overkill.
What made the dual concept work so well with, say, 1987’s The Princess Bride, was the fact that the relationship between the Grandfather/Narrator (Peter Falk) and the Grandson (Fred Savage) paralleled the growing friendship, trust and affection unfolding within the primary adventure tale.
While the depredations of the railroad barons serve as a plot point in many films and novels, this story specifically recalls the themes and plot of Frank Norris’ tremendous 1901 California novel “The Octopus” (which may also have helped inspire “There Will Be Blood” ).
Like Rango, The Lone Ranger substitutes pastiche for plot; the opening of Once Upon A Time In The West and the climax of Buster Keatons The General are both quoted extensively, and there are throwaway nods to everything from The Red Balloon to There Will Be Blood .
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The effect is as haunting as the most forceful cinematic political satires – reference Billy Wilder’s “Ace in the Hole” or Paul Verhoeven’s “Starship Troopers” as examples.
It's a bad career move reminiscent of such travesties as John Travolta in Battlefield Earth, Louis Gosset Jr. in Enemy Mine and Sylvester Stallone in Judge Dredd.
Heck, there are even borrowed bits from "Back to the Future 3" (which was partly set in the Old West) and "The Last Samurai."