May 16, 2014 (Regency Village Theatres)
May 30, 2014 (United States)
A Million Ways to Die in the West is a 2014 American Western comedy film directed by Seth MacFarlane and written by MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild. The film features an ensemble cast including MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Neil Patrick Harris, Giovanni Ribisi, Sarah Silverman, and Liam Neeson. The film follows a cowardly frontiersman who gains courage with the help of a female gunfighter and must use his newfound skills in a confrontation with her villainous outlaw husband.
Development began while MacFarlane and co-writers Sulkin and Wild were watching Western movies during the development of Ted (2012). Casting was done between December 2012 and March 2013. Filming began on May 6, 2013, in various locations in New Mexicoincluding Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and it concluded on August 9 that year. Joel McNeelycomposed the score.
The film was released on May 30, 2014, in the United States, and distributed worldwide by Universal Pictures. The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics.
Storyline
In 1882, in the town of Old Stump, Arizona, timid sheep farmer Albert Stark's girlfriend, Louise, breaks up with him because of his refusal to defend himself in a duel. He prepares to migrate to San Francisco, believing that the frontier offers nothing for him.
Meanwhile, infamous outlaw Clinch Leatherwood shoots and kills an old prospector over a single gold nugget. He orders his right-hand man Lewis to escort his wife Anna to Old Stump while he continues his banditry.
Lewis and Anna arrive in Old Stump under the guise of siblings looking to build a farm, but Lewis is arrested for shooting the pastor's son in a saloon fight. During the brawl, Albert saves Anna from being crushed to death; they become close friends.
Attending the county fair, Louise's arrogant new boyfriend Foy challenges Albert to a shooting contest. Albert loses, but Anna steps in and defeats him. He publicly humiliates Albert, who impulsively challenges Foy to a duel the next day. Knowing that Albert would lose to Foy, Anna suggests that they duel in a week's time to win back Louise. Anna then spends the week teaching Albert how to shoot.
During a barn dance the night before the duel, Anna slips a laxative into Foy's whiskey. After leaving the dance, Albert and her kiss before heading home. After breaking out of jail and murdering the sheriff, Lewis observes their kiss and reports it to Clinch. On the day of the duel, Foy arrives late and has severe diarrhea from the laxative he had unknowingly ingested.
Albert, who has decided that Louise is not worth fighting for, forfeits anyway. He retires to the saloon, but Clinch arrives and reveals that Anna is his wife, threatening to kill more people unless Anna's lover duels him the next day.
Later, Clinch confronts Anna by demanding that she reveal Albert's name and his whereabouts, or he will kill Plugger, the old prospector's dog that Anna befriended after the old prospector's death. He tries to r*** her, but she knocks him unconscious with a rock and escapes.
Anna returns to Albert's farm to warn him about Clinch, but Albert chastises her for lying to him. Clinch, having regained consciousness, tracks her down to the farm, but Albert helps her escape; he then escapes himself.
While fleeing, Albert is captured by a tribe of Apaches, who threaten to burn him alive. They spare him when he reveals that he can speak their language. They give him a bowl of peyote, which he drinks in its entirety, sending him flashing back to his birth and through painful events of his childhood before a vision of Anna makes him realize he loves her.
Meanwhile, Clinch recaptures Anna in town, but Albert returns to Old Stump and confronts him. He wounds Clinch with a bullet dipped in rattlesnake venom before his own gun is shot out of his hand but Albert stalls until Clinch dies. Louise attempts to win back Albert, but he rejects her and instead happily enters into a relationship with Anna. He also receives a bounty for killing Clinch, so he uses the money to buy more sheep.
In the post-credits scene, Django Freeman arrives to challenge the offensive "Runaway Slave" game at the town fair's shooting gallery, but instead shoots the owner.
Sound Effects Used
- Hollywoodedge, 357 Magnum Pistol Sho PE092801
- Hollywoodedge, Bird Canary SingingC PE020201
- Hollywoodedge, Bone Breaks Gushes He FS044001
- Hollywoodedge, Bone Breaks Gushes He FS044002
- Hollywoodedge, Dog Whines High Pitch TE014401
- Hollywoodedge, Fart 1 Medium Fart Clo PE138901
- Hollywoodedge, Fart 2 Short Fart Clos PE139001
- Hollywoodedge, Fart 4 Very Short High PE139201
- Hollywoodedge, Fart 9 Wet Squish Coul PE139701
- Hollywoodedge, Gusts Heavy Cold Wind PE031601/Whistling Wind Stead PE033301
- Hollywoodedge, Wood Door 3 Open SlamM PE180301
- Hollywoodedge, Wood Door OCKnob Ratt PE180201
- PSEL, WOOD DOOR O/C CREAKY
- Sound Ideas, ANVIL - SINGLE HIT ON ANVIL WITH HAMMER, METAL 01/02
- Sound Ideas, BABY - COOING, HUMAN
- Sound Ideas, BIRD, CROW - COMMON CROW: CALLS, ANIMAL
- Sound Ideas, BIRD, OWL - SINGLE OWL HOOTING, ANIMAL
- Sound Ideas, DOG, MIXED BREED - LARGE DOG, WHINING, ANIMAL 02
- Sound Ideas, HORSE - 3 WHINNIES, 3 SNORTS, C.U, ANIMAL
- Sound Ideas, HORSE - EXTERIOR: WHINNY, ANIMAL 06
- Sound Ideas, HUMAN, BABY - NEWBORN BABY: CRYING
- Sound Ideas, HUMAN, FART - SMALL FART 01
- Sound Ideas, SHEEP - SMALL GROUP: AMBIENCE, ANIMAL
- Sound Ideas, TRAIN, STEAM - STEAM TRAIN: LONG APPROACH, PASS BY WITH BELL AND WHISTLE DOPPLER
- Sound Ideas, TRAIN, STEAM - WHISTLE, SINGLE, CLOSE UP 03