Firefly

From the Western Frontier to the Final Frontier: When Cowboys and Sci-Fi Collide

By David Cranmer

July 6, 2014

The Phantom Empire starring Gene Autry is widely regarded as the first mash-up between Western and science fiction on the big screen. From the singing cowboy to recent films like Cowboys and Aliens, here are seven titles offering up androids and spaceships mixed with six-shooters and stagecoaches. The Phantom Empire (film serial, 1935) Gene Autry’s…

Kickin’ Ass Like It’s 1880: Ten Modern Cowboys

By David Cranmer

May 24, 2014

In 2003’s Monte Walsh, a story about the end days of the Old West cowboy, our protagonist played by Tom Selleck tells another long-time ranch hand that as long as there is one cow and one cowboy, it ain’t over. The film closes with Monte heroically galloping away on horseback, leaping over a car stuck…