The Wolverine: 10 Movies That Influenced James Mangold

1. Shane (1953) Last - but certainly not least - it's Shane, one of the most beloved westerns of all time, and certainly one of the most emotionally affecting, given the movie's heart-breaking ending. Shane tells the story of a cowboy who comes to work on a farm, hoping to put his old, gunslinging ways behind him. There, he befriends the young son of his employer, who becomes somewhat enamoured with Shane and his "mysterious" ways. Unlucky for Shane, though, he can never seem to escape the ways of his old life, and is ultimately forced into a dangerous situation behind his control. So how might Shane come to have influenced The Wolverine? Despite the fact that the western and samurai movie genres have always shared a sort of spiritual bond (thematically, they are similar entities), we're hoping that it's Shane's emotional cues that Mangold is referring to: is this going to be a story about Logan trying to settle down, like Shane, only to be brought back into the fray against his will? Will he spark up a friendship similar to the one in Alan Ladd's classic? I suppose we'll have to just wait and see. What's definitely apparently, though, is that James Mangold has latched onto some seriously good influences. If The Wolverine is even half as good as any of the movies listed here, it's surely going to blow us away. What do you make of Mangold's influences? Let us know in the comments section below.