One of my favorite film genres is western because it captures an interesting time in history. There was so much going on during that time period like wars, bounty hunting, and some of the most famous outlaws in history. Although these films aren’t always the most accurate historically speaking, I still enjoy the story and the action. I ranked 10 westerns based on how much they stand out. Here is my list:
10. “The Long Riders” (1980)
This movie is definitely intense, and pretty inappropriate too, but nevertheless brought an interesting story to the western genre. It’s one of those movies that follows a lot of bad characters, but also at times has you confused as to whether or not the people against them are bad/worse. The story follows a gang of outlaws who do a lot of ugly things like killing and robbing, and eventually Pinkertons come after them. They kill one of the gang members’ brothers. They get mad and decide to fight back. Eventually they decide to try and pull off a huge bank robbery, which ends in a graphic blood bath!
It kind of made me laugh a little bit because of how innocent the opening scene seemed, with all of the happy music and scenes of the outlaws riding on their horses. Since it said it was unrated on the DVD I didn’t know if it was going to be a G-PG kind of movie, and then all of a sudden it went from zero to a hundred and got inappropriate all at once. But inappropriate or not, it was a really good film with some cool stuff. Like there was a knife duel in a bar! It was awesome! And the final robbery where there’s a bunch of guns blazing and stuff was really cool. As a western I’d say it’s an amazing film. It also has Dennis and Randy Quaid in it. It’s kind of funny to see Cousin Eddie play a serious outlaw in the 1800s.
9. “Stagecoach” (1986):
This movie is pretty good. It’s got all of the Highwaymen in it. Willie Nelson (Doc Holiday), Waylon Jennings (a gambler), Johnny Cash (a stagecoach guard), and Kris Kristofferson (an outlaw). Also John Schneider, that guy from “Dukes of Hazzard,” plays the stagecoach driver. Those five are accompanied by a pregnant lady, and this other weird lady. They all ride aboard a Stagecoach that’s going through Apache Indian territory. For safety they get a military escort – but the escort only takes them so far, leaving them left on their own to defend the stagecoach.
I think it’s a pretty good movie. It’s not one of those westerns with a lot of action, but it still works because the characters are interesting enough. There is a lot of talking and character development. It kind of reminds me of that really old movie “12 Angry Men” because of how much talking and anger there is between the characters. But, it’s a fun movie, and it’s not boring. Plus, you get to see some talented people from the country music genre hang out.
8. “The Quick and the Dead” (1987):
Sam Elliot stars in another western, which might not be the most popular one, but I thought it was pretty good and worth mentioning. Sam Elliot plays this guy who is half white and half Blackfoot Native American, and he sees a family passing through a rugged town on their way West. Some of the people in that town want to do harm on the family, so Sam Elliot’s character tries to help them get away and continue to survive in the Wild West until the family reaches their new home.
As I said, it might not be one of the best westerns ever, but I liked it. It kind of threw me through a loop in the beginning though because I wasn’t sure what was going on. I though that Sam Elliot’s character was going to like, take the wife and child away from the dad in the family which kind of seemed unfair and weird to me, but that didn’t happen and Sam Elliot turned out to be a little more of a decent character than I thought in the film. But it is full of action, and it is full of adventure too. Some of the film locations were so pretty, and really captured the West feel. I enjoyed the movie, and I’d recommend it to western genre lovers because it is a pretty tame and fun movie, with a plot that I don’t feel is always kind of recycled.
7. “The Searchers” (1956):
This is a perfect movie in my opinion. It’s got some great acting, and some great cinematography, especially for its time. It is about a tough soldier named Ethan Edwards (played by John Wayne) who returns home. Then his family gets killed by Apache Indians. But one of the family members (the adopted brother) Martin Pawley survives, and him and Ethan find out that Debbie (the sister / Ethan’s niece) is still alive. They assume she went on the run from the Indians, and go searching for her, all while being hunted by others of the tribe.
There are a lot of exciting twists and turns that make the movie a fun ride. I enjoyed it thoroughly and am glad to say it is one of my favorite western movies that I recommend. It has a lot of action and is really intense in certain scenes all while keeping things pretty tame. So it’s a good movie to get younger kids interested in the western genre, but is also a good enough (and serious enough) movie to be enjoyed by adults.
6. “Silverado” (1985):
This movie is about a group of guys that are not wanted in the small town of Turley. Mal (played by the talented Danny Glover) is kicked out because of the color of his skin. Emmett (played by Scott Glenn) is wanted for breaking his friends: Paden (played by Kevin Kline) and Jake (played by Kevin Costner) out of jail, who both are in jail for a hanging because they both shot men in self defense. After the jail break, Emmett, Paden, and Jake ride out of the town desperately as they are chased by the law. Luckily, Mal is nearby and defends the three, before teaming up with them and riding out to the town of Silverado. But the four of them all run into problems with a menacing sheriff and a gang called the McKendrick’s.
I love this movie! I think it is extremely underrated, or at least not talked about enough these days as a classic. Very well-made, the soundtrack is really good, and in my opinion, this has some of the coolest stunts I’ve ever seen in a western before. They’re not even huge stunts that would even really require stunt men, but I still think that they’re done in a really unique way that kind of makes the action scenes that much better. The casting is amazing. Even characters that didn’t have a major role in the movie were played by big stars. Like how actor/comedian John Cleese played Sheriff Langstan (the sheriff of Turley). Jeff Goldblum is also in this movie playing a gambler, and even though he doesn’t have a whole lot of screen time, he always steals the scenes that he’s in. Because, if you know one thing about me, it’s that I am a huge Jeff Goldblum fan: he is my favorite celebrity. Anyway, It was a really fun movie with a satisfying ending. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I would recommend it!
5. “Django Unchained” (2012):
It’s a very realistic take on slavery, but a very informative and well-made film. It has sad parts, a lot of thrilling parts, and a lot of action. It also has a really loaded cast, with actors like Don Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Fox, Leonardo DiCaprio among many others.
It’s made by Quentin Tarantino, and is kind of a revenge film, and he does really well on those from what I’ve seen. I would definitely recommend this movie, but it is a pretty gory and intense film, that I would have to recommend for older audiences. It is a great film, and contains a lot of history in it. It goes over some serious topics, but in a way that is a good thing because serious topics do spread awareness, and bring attention to what happened during certain periods of time. So I really like it, and I think it is a good film for people to watch if they’re into history and stuff. I really liked it and it had some cool scenes, great cinematography, and great set designs which isn’t always easy to do in westerns.
4. “The Outlaw Josey Wales” (1976):
“Well… you gonna pull those pistols or whistle Dixie?”
After his family is killed by Red Legs during the Civil War, Josey Wales (played by Clint Eastwood) finds himself in a group of rebels of his own to hunt them down. After all of the rebels decide to hang up their holsters, and agree to stop fighting against the soldiers, only Josey Wales decides to keep rebelling (besides a younger man that helps him out until he gets shot and later dies). And being the only one left, Josey has a lot of targets on his head. After a while of traveling, Josey comes across an old Indian man, and the two of them eventually decide that the only way they can avoid the law would be moving to Mexico.
It’s a really good movie that captures the violence, the filthiness, and the gruesomeness of the wild West at that time. It is rated PG, but films were rated different at that time. If the movie came out now it would probably be rated R. But nevertheless, it is an excellent movie! Pretty realistic and realism isn’t always an easy thing to achieve in films, so I think that it is something this movie did well. Clint Eastwood’s acting is on top again in this movie!
3. “Young Guns” (1988):
A group of men are hired to protect an older guy’s ranch, and after a gang kills the old man the young guns decide to go after them in revenge. It is a great story with iconic characters played by talented actors like Billy the Kid (played by Emilio Estevez), Richard Brewer (played by Charlie Sheen), and Jose Chavez (played by Lou Diamond Phillips).
It’s a very good movie, with a very interesting soundtrack that combines the 1980s vibe with the Wild West. I recommend the film as it is pretty tame, and the start of something great, as the sequel is just as good!
2. “Tombstone” (1993):
Once before I talked about what a good movie “Tombstone” is in one of my articles, and since then my thoughts haven’t changed. It is such an iconic movie, with so many great lines, and so much action. Every time I start watching it I am excited for the coming scenes. The characters are perfectly written and well portrayed on screen. Especially since a lot of the characters are based on real life people. Doc Holiday (played by Val Kilmer) is always a great performance to come back to. The fact that he has Tuberculosis makes him not afraid to duel anyone in a draw, and he’s not afraid of dying because he knows it’s going to happen anyways which makes him one of the most fun and cool character in the movie in my opinion. There are a lot of other talented actors in this movie as well like Sam Elliot, Bill Paxton, Kurt Russel, and Michael Biehn. You’ll love it.
1. The “Dollars” Trilogy:
Alright listen… I know it’s three movies, but I wanted the three of them in my top ten anyway. To put each of them in separate rankings would be unfair to the other films. So I put all of them in first. Besides, it’s not like they don’t all deserve to be there!
These movies focus around ‘The Man With No Name’ played by Clint Eastwood. In each of the films he is on a different adventure. In “Fistful of Dollars” (1964) he finds himself in a Mexican town. A bunch of Mexican soldiers are in a gang, and The Man With No Name finds himself on the wrong side of them.
In “For a Few Dollars More” (1965) The Man With No Name is a bounty hunter after an outlaw with a huge reward, and he competes with another bounty hunter (Colonel Douglas Mortimer) to bring in the bounty. Eventually the two decide to team up and split the bounty if they bring him in together.
In “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” (1966) “The Man With No Name” (called Blondie in this film) and an untrustworthy Mexican outlaw named Tuco are in search of a huge sum of money that is buried in a graveyard. They face problems with the Civil War that is currently taking place. Tuco and Blondie get captured by Yankee soldiers run by a man called Angel Eyes, who also wants to find the money resulting in a greedy showdown between the three of them.
I think the three of these films are perfect westerns. They define the Spaghetti Western genre. Also, I’d just like to say that “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” is incredibly well choreographed. In the first scene with Clint Eastwood with the shooting scene in the desert, I kid you not, could have passed for a recently released movie, as some of the camera angles and quality were up to today’s standards. They are all pretty long movies that take their time to build up intensity and yet they all kept my attention throughout the entirety of their length. Excellent movies, definitely watch them. Also, even though they are rated R, I’d say that all of them are pretty tame… “For a Few Dollars More” is probably the most inappropriate, but the other two movies aren’t bad at all. I think they were rated R because at the time PG-13 wasn’t a thing.
So… that’s my list. I am a big western movie fan, and as I said earlier, these aren’t all the best of the genre, but I did think some of them really stood out in a certain way, and I thought they were all worth mentioning!
Here are some honorable mentions that I wanted on the list: “The Alamo” (1960), “Pale Rider” (1985), “True Grit” (1969), “Rio Bravo” (1959).
