Two genres which have always been Hollywood staples are science-fiction and the western. The genres can be seen in films made as early as Le Voyage Dans la lune (Georges Melies 1902) and The Great Train Robbery (Edwin S. Porter 1903). On the surface the two genres are very different, however if one looks closely at them they are similar in many ways. Both genres usually feature uncharted frontiers, strong silent protagonists, frightening savages (played by either space aliens or Native Americans) and damsels in distress. The formula for these two genres was established many decades ago and in recent years it takes a film that defies and subverts those expectations such as Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood 1992) or Alien (Ridley Scott 1979) to receive an enthusiastic critical and box office response. Two other films which subvert the traditional genres of westerns or science fiction films are McCabe and Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman 1971) and Blade Runner (Ridley Scott 1982). These films use archetypal settings, characters and action in a way which is substantially different from our expectations and the results are extremely memorable films.McCabe and Mrs. Miller is the story of a man, John McCabe (Warren Beatty) who tries to set up a whorehouse/tavern in a small town in the Pacific Northwest in 1901. He meets an astute madam, Mrs. Miller (Julie Christie) who runs his business and shares in his profits. The business thrives and they develop a relationship. A mineral deposit draws powerful mining company men to the town to try and buy McCabe's holdings. He refuses to sell and they retaliate. He ultimately is mortally wounded in a bloody showdown with the mining company's thugs leaving Mrs. Miller all alone. Robert Altman created a film which Pauline Kael called "a beautiful pipe dream of a movie -- a fleeting, almost diaphanous vision of what frontier life might have been." The film certainly feels different from most Westerns, featuring the d...
