Best western movies ever!!

  • This message board permanently closed on June 30th, 2020 at 4PM EDT and is no longer accepting new members.

Kurben

Kurben

The Fool on the Hill
Apr 12, 2014
9,682
65,192
59
sweden
I have tried to select the 15 best westernmovies of all time. Some really good, like the Magnificent seven isn't in because it is such a clear ripoff from Kurosawas the Seven Samurai but it is still a very good western. The one of the newer westerns that was close to making it to my list was True Grit. A very good refilmatization of the old movie. I also tried to spreads the honours a little. Ford has three movies in the list. Hawks and Leone has two. The rest has only one. Anthony Mann, that great director of western movies sadly didn't make it He has some that is just outside the list. The list is ordered according to when they were released. I have not tried do arrange the m more than that. What have i messed and which one shouldn't make my list? Feel free to slaughter.
1. The Stagecoach - John Ford (1939)
2. Red River - Howard Hawks (1948)
3. High Noon - Fred Zinneman (1952)
4. The Searchers - John Ford (1956)
5. Last train from Gun Hill - John Sturges (1959)
6. Rio Bravo - Howard Hakws (1959)
7. The man who shot Liberty Valance - John Ford (1962)
8. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Sergio Leone - (1966)
9. Once upon a time in the west - Sergio Leone - (1968)
10. The Wild bunch - Sam Peckinpah (1969)
11. A man called Horse - Elliott silberstein (1970)
12. The Outlaw Josey Wales - Clint Eastwood (1976)
13. The Long Riders - Walter Hill (1980)
14. Dances with wolfes - Kevin Costner (1990)
15. Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino (2012)
 
  • Like
Reactions: mal, arista, fljoe0 and 6 others
Grandpa

Grandpa

Well-Known Member
Mar 2, 2014
9,724
53,642
Colorado
Our personal favorite Western is Silverado. Great cast that took all the Western cliches (except for Indians, which was a welcome respite) and did them right. Although it's kind of an in-your-face with the messages, there were also nice little subtleties peppered throughout.

My dad's two quintessential Westerns had one on your list: High Noon.

If I were to produce such a list, it would have to include Unforgiven, which I took as Clint Eastwood's repudiation of the cliches he played to so well earlier in his career. (Edit: I see that Danie and I agree.)

Three honorable mentions:

Shane, which was the other one on my dad's list, and could've been so much better, but Alan Ladd's coiffed hair put me off from the start. Oh, to be able to reshoot this film with a younger Scott Glenn (see Silverado up above) in the titular role.

Centennial, not a movie but a TV miniseries from the '70s. And Lonesome Dove, another miniseries - can't remember the decade, but it was great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: arista, Sundrop, doowopgirl and 7 others
danie

danie

I am whatever you say I am.
Feb 26, 2008
9,760
60,662
60
Kentucky
Grandpa said:
Our personal favorite Western is Silverado. Great cast that took all the Western cliches (except for Indians, which was a welcome respite) and did them right. Although it's kind of an in-your-face with the messages, there were also nice little subtleties peppered throughout.

My dad's two quintessential Westerns had one on your list: High Noon.

If I were to produce such a list, it would have to include Unforgiven, which I took as Clint Eastwood's repudiation of the cliches he played to so well earlier in his career. (Edit: I see that Danie and I agree.)

Three honorable mentions:

Shane, which was the other one on my dad's list, and could've been so much better, but Alan Ladd's coiffed hair put me off from the start. Oh, to be able to reshoot this film with a younger Scott Glenn (see Silverado up above) in the titular role.

Centennial, not a movie but a TV miniseries from the '70s. And Lonesome Dove, another miniseries - can't remember the decade, but it was great.
Click to expand...
Please tell me you have read Lonesome Dove!!!!
It's in my top 5 books!
 
  • Like
Reactions: fljoe0, do1you9love?, GNTLGNT and 3 others
staropeace

staropeace

Richard Bachman's love child
Nov 28, 2006
15,210
48,848
Alberta,Canada
Kurben said:
I have tried to select the 15 best westernmovies of all time. Some really good, like the Magnificent seven isn't in because it is such a clear ripoff from Kurosawas the Seven Samurai but it is still a very good western. The one of the newer westerns that was close to making it to my list was True Grit. A very good refilmatization of the old movie. I also tried to spreads the honours a little. Ford has three movies in the list. Hawks and Leone has two. The rest has only one. Anthony Mann, that great director of western movies sadly didn't make it He has some that is just outside the list. The list is ordered according to when they were released. I have not tried do arrange the m more than that. What have i messed and which one shouldn't make my list? Feel free to slaughter.
1. The Stagecoach - John Ford (1939)
2. Red River - Howard Hawks (1948)
3. High Noon - Fred Zinneman (1952)
4. The Searchers - John Ford (1956)
5. Last train from Gun Hill - John Sturges (1959)
6. Rio Bravo - Howard Hakws (1959)
7. The man who shot Liberty Valance - John Ford (1962)
8. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Sergio Leone - (1966)
9. Once upon a time in the west - Sergio Leone - (1968)
10. The Wild bunch - Sam Peckinpah (1969)
11. A man called Horse - Elliott silberstein (1970)
12. The Outlaw Josey Wales - Clint Eastwood (1976)
13. The Long Riders - Walter Hill (1980)
14. Dances with wolfes - Kevin Costner (1990)
15. Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino (2012)
Click to expand...
Dances with wolves was filmed here. Some of my native guys at the shelter where I work played extras in that movie. They showed it to me because I did not believe them at first. Kevin Costner comes here often....likes it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: fljoe0, doowopgirl, Neesy and 5 others
Grandpa

Grandpa

Well-Known Member
Mar 2, 2014
9,724
53,642
Colorado
After some thought, I have to add a couple.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, pretty much because I was so entertained the movie after it came out that I enjoyed just going to see it when I could.

Open Range. It was a gritty, well-done Western. For those who don't like Kevin Costner (and I can understand that), you might want to catch this one anyway. And Robert Duvall and Annette Bening ain't half bad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: amaunder, fljoe0, Sundrop and 6 others
ghost19

ghost19

"Have I run too far to get home?"
Sep 25, 2011
8,926
56,578
51
Arkansas
I have to give a tip of the hat to "Unforgiven" with Clint Eastwood. Not the best western movie of all time, but the realistic depiction of how gunfights actually went down in the old west made it a very good movie.

Little Bill Daggett: "Look son, being a good shot, being quick with a pistol, that don't do no harm, but it don't mean much next to being cool-headed. A man who will keep his head and not get rattled under fire, like as not, he'll kill ya. It ain't so easy to shoot a man anyhow, especially if the son-of-a-bitch is shootin' back at you."

Great quote.
 
  • Like
Reactions: fljoe0, Sundrop, do1you9love? and 4 others
skimom2

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
danie said:
Yes, I think I remember that from another of your posts. Isn't A Prayer for Owen Meany one of your top 5 also?
I seem to have a memory that we agreed on those two. :smile2:
Click to expand...
Yep :) Mine are (in no particular order):
1) The Stand
2) East of Eden
3) A Prayer for Owen Meany
4) Lonesome Dove
5) Tha Handmaid's Tale

The most perfectly written book I've ever read is The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Gaiman). Whether you like fantasy stories or not, the writing itself is flawless; there is not a single wasted word, phrase, scene, or chapter. As a writer and editor, I marveled at it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: fljoe0, do1you9love?, GNTLGNT and 3 others
danie

danie

I am whatever you say I am.
Feb 26, 2008
9,760
60,662
60
Kentucky
skimom2 said:
Yep :) Mine are (in no particular order):
1) The Stand
2) East of Eden
3) A Prayer for Owen Meany
4) Lonesome Dove
5) Tha Handmaid's Tale

The most perfectly written book I've ever read is The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Gaiman). Whether you like fantasy stories or not, the writing itself is flawless; there is not a single wasted word, phrase, scene, or chapter. As a writer and editor, I marveled at it.
Click to expand...
So why is Ocean not in your Top 5?
I haven't read East of Eden, The Handmaid's Tale or Ocean. Just knowing you from your posts here (our tastes coincide), I guess I better be downloading them to my Kindle!
 
  • Like
Reactions: GNTLGNT, skimom2 and blunthead
blunthead

blunthead

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2006
80,755
195,461
Atlanta GA
It took me a long time to start liking Westerns, perhaps due to the fact that my folks would watch Gunsmoke on the tube and it wasn't really a kid's show. Later, as a young adult I discovered that Westerns can be just as good as James Bond or 2001 when I saw Rio Bravo. Then at a later point I watched Liberty Valance.

There still are tons of Westerns I'm not interested in watching, but I have a few favorites in addition to those I've mentioned...

The Shootist
Little Big Man
Tom Horn
McLintock!
Nevada Smith
The Villain
Westworld
The Shooting
 
  • Like
Reactions: mjs9153, do1you9love? and GNTLGNT
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom