HEADLINE DISCLAIMER: YOUNG GUNS is awesome.  It may not be a great Western.  It may not be a great movie.  I may have seen it over a hundred times.  And it is awesome.  Long Live Emilio.

Everyone currently obsessed with RED DEAD REDEMPTION has another gem of a Western to look forward to.  COWBOYS VS. ALIENS is getting made for a 2011 release.  Consider my sweet spot really tickled.  I’ve been holding back on sharing my enthusiasm for this project, but I cannot contain it any longer, and had to unload it on y’all.

There used to be a time when the industry would scoff at such a ‘silly concept.‘ Silly to the suits, sugar to everyone else.   The fact that COWBOYS VS. ALIENS is getting the A-List treatment is even more remarkable.

In the VHS 80’s, this is a film that Jim Wynorski might’ve made B Movie Gold with, having the aliens sport remarkable breasts and using cheap cardboard saloon sets and 100% entertainment (and drinking) value.  It would’ve had a kick-ass poster – the kind that Drew Struzan could whip up in his sleep – only to find that when renting it, you didn’t get all the goods you wanted… unless you wanted aliens with remarkable breasts.

However, in the Blu-Ray 21st Century, a film adaptation of a graphic novel called COWBOYS VS. ALIENS is big business.  More appealing than a Scarface-sized pile of cocaine, it’s the kind of property that advertisers and merchandisers pray for.

Here’s the description I found from Collider:

The graphic novel mixes Western and science fiction genres. Set in 1800s Arizona, a skirmish between cowboys and Apaches is interrupted by the crash landing of a space ship. The alien commander plans to tame the Old West and enslave everyone, but the cowboys and Native Americans turn their six-guns against the alien invaders.

That’s a huge pizza pie of awesome.  Yet, not content to rely on a simple ‘cheese’ pizza… check out these toppings:

As you may have guessed, Jon Favreau (MADE, IRON MAN, IRON MAN 2, ZATHURA) is the man at the helm.  Tony Stark aside… check out Zathura… it’s literally the best eighties film not made in the eighties.  He’s also no slouch when it comes to movies with male bonding. Look at how he’s stacked the deck with this cast:

Harrison Ford.  Daniel Craig.  Sam Rockwell.  Olivia Wilde.  Wes Studi. Clancy Brown.  Paul Dano.  Keith Carradine.

Isn’t there anyone else out there who’s excited about seeing Indiana Jones and James Bond share the screen together?  And Harrison Ford in a Western?  We all know he can ride a horse… but he’s never been in a Western (as far as I can tell). AND Sam Rockwell’s in this too? Take a peek at all the cool oozing out of him in his dancing screen test for CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND.

You’ve got Magua from THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. You’ve got a Carradine in the film. You have Paul Dano (who had his milkshake drunk by Daniel Day-Lewis in THERE WILL BE BLOOD).

And you got Olivia Wilde who… uh… well….

… I just hope she’s not an alien.  Maybe she’s a really bendable alien, which would be fine.  Or maybe a gunslinging gymnast.  I’d be okay with that.  I’d be okay with her being a gunslinging cheerleader for that matter.

Actually, from a casting standpoint, there’s only one other actor I’d still want to see in this… Kevin Costner. I admit, I’ve got a man-crush on him, but take away the jokes and the movies you-all-don’t-like-but-I-can’t-help-but-love, you’ve got an actor/director who’s made some terrific Westerns (the superb OPEN RANGE among them). He screams ‘Old West’ to me… and him alongside Ford et al would be pretty amazing (although he’d probably work on Favreau’s last nerve with his tendency for meddling).

And the writers… Damon Lindelof, Alex Kurtzman, and Bob Orci.  Some of their scripts miss the mark, but there’s many an entertaing moment in all of their bits.  Plus, when you only look at the bulls-eyes, you get LOST, STAR TREK, ALIAS, MI:3 (which I love)…

Oh yeah.  Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, and Steven Spielberg have their fingers in the soup too.  And for a small taste of what to possibly expect, there’s an official test pic from the film, courtesy of Favs, on the right:

Count me in. I’ve got high hopes for this one, and there can’t be enough kick-ass big-budget westerns in my book… and when aliens are involved, I’m really interested to see how it all plays out.

So after all of this… if you’re not even the LEAST bit curious… I recommend a daily dose of the clip below:

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