Top Ten Movies By Type: Westerns

[MacBeth]

My top ten all time favorite westerns, with commentary:


1) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Possibly the best on screen chemistry ever, and a great story with excellent dialogue to boot. Perfect blend of action, drama, comedy, and tragedy.

2) The Searchers: Amazing character study, with Wayne's best performance ever. Incredible intenesity and tension.

3) The Magnificent Seven: One of the best American adaptations of a foreign film ever, and an incredible cast, great story, and memorable characters.

4) Red River: Another Wayne classic, and his pairing with Clift was superb. Great build-up of conflict between two men who love each other.

5) The Wild Bunch: Gritty, realistic, and entirely watchable. Probably the truest to form cast for a Western ever.

6) Dances With Wolves: Rivals any in terms of visual effect, and the counter-style story worked perfectly. The up-side to Costner's love of epic tales.

7) The Long Riders: Probably the most underrated Western, as it's amazing, and nobody knows it exists. The scene of the failed hold-up in Norhtfield, Minn. is probably the best Western action sequence ever.

8) Rio Bravo/El Dorado: Essentially the same movie, with a quintessential Western story revolving around the quintessential Wetern performer. Extremely watchable.

9) Broken Arrow: Decades ahead of it's time in terms of social commentary, and a great story with Jimmie Stewart in the lead.

10-tie) Tombstone: One of the better modern Westerns, not all that realistic, but just a whole lot of fun, especially Kilmer's performance.

and

Silverado: Akin to Tombstone, but with a better cast and story, but lacking a Kilmer type of role, and the classic OK Corral shootout.


Hon. Mention: Unforgiven, Shane, The Shootist, The Bend In The River, The Cowboys, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Little Big Man, Stagecoach, Winchester '73, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Pale Rider, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, High Noon, any John Wayne or Jimmie Stewart Western, and most of Eastwood's spaghetti Westerns.

I know that several on my Hon. Mention list rank higher than some on my top 10 in terms of critical appeal, box office success, sheer magnitude, or effect on the genre, particularly Shane, Unforgiven, and High Noon. I just like the ones I listed better.


What about you?

[dylan]

Hands down, 100%, the best western of all time is The Quick And The Dead.

[moestavern19]

Young Guns was sweet.

[MacBeth]

Originally posted by dylan Hands down, 100%, the best western of all time is The Quick And The Dead.

:D

[MacBeth]

Originally posted by moestavern19 Young Guns was sweet.

I liked it, but it was so geared towards teenagers that I even found it a bit annoying as a teenager. Fun, though, but Esteves and particularly Phillips grate on me...

[thumbs]

Glad to see "The Shootist" and "Unforgiven" mentioned, although I would have moved them into the Top 10. "The Shootist" was possibly Wayne's best. I also must cite "True Grit" and "Rooster Cogburn" for dialogue only (plots were woeful). Also, don't forget "Sea of Grass" and "The Rainmaker," although they weren't prototypical "westerns."

[MacBeth]

Originally posted by thumbs Glad to see "The Shootist" and "Unforgiven" mentioned, although I would have moved them into the Top 10. "The Shootist" was possibly Wayne's best. I also must cite "True Grit" and "Rooster Cogburn" for dialogue only (plots were woeful). Also, don't forget "Sea of Grass" and "The Rainmaker," although they weren't prototypical "westerns."

The Rainmaker with Lancaster? I see that much more as a period drama. Haven't seen Sea of Grass... can you tell me a bit about it?

In terms of non-conventional Westerns, I always think of Little Big Man, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, and to a degree Dances With Wolves. True Grit won him the Oscar, but IMO he was Waaaay better in the Searchers. I should have included the whole Cavalry trilogy, starting with She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, though. They were excellent...actually, they'd rank ahead of my two tied for 10th.

[BobFinn*]

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - Best ever IMHO

Shane - Very close 2nd best

High Noon - Gary Cooper

Bad Day at Black Rock - Spencer Tracy and Robert Ryan are excellent in this film

Ulzana's Raid - Burt Lancaster

Judge Roy Bean - Paul Newman

High Noon - Burt Lancaster & Kirk Douglas

Winchester '73 - Jimmy Stewart

Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid- Paul Newman- Robert Redford

Any Gregory Peck Western

[LeGrouper]

1. Unforgiven - classic novel perfectly adapted to film with believeable characters and plot. Flawless movie.
2. Once Upon A Time In The West - never made it to DVD - one of the biggest crimes in film ever.
3. The Good, The Bad And the Ugly - Leone's Annie Hall, not his best, but very close behind his Manhattan of Once Upon A Time In The West.
4. Tombstone - I'll be your huckleberry.
5. Rio Bravo - I love movies with realistic heroes.
6. The Magnificent Seven - Remaking a Kurosawa movie is kind of like covering a Hendrix song. The only way it can work is to change the genre.
7. Pale Rider - Unrealistic Hero... The only real flaw.
8. Warlock - Mother of a thousand westerns.
9. The Man From Laramie - James Stewart's best.
10. Young Guns - Any western with a large scene dedicated to a Peyote trip has to make my list.

The Quick and the Dead would have been better if Gene Hackman hadn't have been playing the same character as he did in Unforgiven and if Sharon Stone wore less make up.

[thumbs]

Originally posted by MacBeth The Rainmaker with Lancaster? I see that much more as a period drama. Haven't seen Sea of Grass... can you tell me a bit about it?

Here's a review:

Reviewer: Magellan (see more about me) from Santa Clara, CA
This is the saddest Spencer Tracy movie I've seen. Tracy plays a prosperous cattle baron, who, although he rules his range with an iron hand, can't rule his marriage or his family, and everything else goes sour for him, too. His high-society wife from St. Louis (played by Hepburn) doesn't see eye-to-eye with him on the question of the open range, she cuckolds him by having an affair with Melvyn Douglas and having a son by him (which both Tracy and the son eventually figure out), the land endures years of droughts, squatters move in on him despite his best efforts to keep them away, with even the U.S. Calvalry even coming down on him, and his devil-may-care son is eventually killed by a posse after he kills a gambler who was insulting Tracy's honor, and worst of all, he and his wife split up for almost 20 years after just a couple of years of marriage.

The story has a happy ending, though, after Tracy and Hepburn finally get together at the very end of the movie. Both are outstanding in their roles, and the movie is worth seeing despite the overall downer of a plot.

I completely forgot about "Little Big Man." Shame on me.

Great list BobFinn*! However, I have to go with most of MacBeth's original list. "Liberty Valence" was great.

[GreenVegan76]

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Fistful of Dollars.

[MacBeth]

Originally posted by BobFinn* The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - Best ever IMHO Shane - Very close 2nd best High Noon - Gary Cooper Bad Day at Black Rock - Spencer Tracy and Robert Ryan are excellent in this film Ulzana's Raid - Burt Lancaster Judge Roy Bean - Paul Newman High Noon - Burt Lancaster & Kirk Douglas Winchester '73 - Jimmy Stewart Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid- Paul Newman- Robert Redford Any Gregory Peck Western

great list...brought a few more to mind: Major Dundee, which is excellent. Judge Roy Bean...did you know that the hottie in that was Victoria Principal? Bad Day is excellent, and reminded me of a good one, whose name I forget, with James Garner and I think Louis Gosset Jr. Actually there's another good Garner one whose name I also can't recall.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance...this is a tough one for me because I should absolutely love it; Stewart is my all time favorite actor, and Wayne is up there. And the whole idea; which way the West would be won, is excellent...but I always found it a bit too stagey and stiff. Stewart was excellent, though.

[rothdaniel]

The Outlaw Josie Wales --- "don't piss on me and tell me it's raining"

[BobFinn*]

There are several more that I just can't think of at the moment.

Giant - James Dean is another one

[MacBeth]

Originally posted by LeGrouper 1. Unforgiven - classic novel perfectly adapted to film with believeable characters and plot. Flawless movie. 2. Once Upon A Time In The West - never made it to DVD - one of the biggest crimes in film ever. 3. The Good, The Bad And the Ugly - Leone's Annie Hall, not his best, but very close behind his Manhattan of Once Upon A Time In The West. 4. Tombstone - I'll be your huckleberry. 5. Rio Bravo - I love movies with realistic heroes. 6. The Magnificent Seven - Remaking a Kurosawa movie is kind of like covering a Hendrix song. The only way it can work is to change the genre. 7. Pale Rider - Unrealistic Hero... The only real flaw. 8. Warlock - Mother of a thousand westerns. 9. The Man From Laramie - James Stewart's best. 10. Young Guns - Any western with a large scene dedicated to a Peyote trip has to make my list. The Quick and the Dead would have been better if Gene Hackman hadn't have been playing the same character as he did in Unforgiven and if Sharon Stone wore less make up.

OUATITW always seemed overblown to me, like Heaven's Gate...but I haven't seen it since I was much younger, so I'll give it another go.

Thought about Warlock...and the one where Fonda and Stewart run a cat-house...but didn't include them.Agree about the hero in Pale Rider; so invincible that the forst time I saw it I wondered if he was akin to the character Clint played that was a ctually a guy come back from the dead to take his revenge upon the town that betrayed him...what was that one called again? Not Hang 'Em High, but that era...

Laramie was great, but I'd rank Broken Arrow higher.

[MacBeth]

Originally posted by BobFinn* There are several more that I just can't think of at the moment. Giant - James Dean is another one

Hmmm...I wouldn't stretch the definition to include Giant...


Just remembered another excellent one: Hombre.

[MacBeth]

Originally posted by thumbs Here's a review: Reviewer: Magellan (see more about me) from Santa Clara, CA This is the saddest Spencer Tracy movie I've seen. Tracy plays a prosperous cattle baron, who, although he rules his range with an iron hand, can't rule his marriage or his family, and everything else goes sour for him, too. His high-society wife from St. Louis (played by Hepburn) doesn't see eye-to-eye with him on the question of the open range, she cuckolds him by having an affair with Melvyn Douglas and having a son by him (which both Tracy and the son eventually figure out), the land endures years of droughts, squatters move in on him despite his best efforts to keep them away, with even the U.S. Calvalry even coming down on him, and his devil-may-care son is eventually killed by a posse after he kills a gambler who was insulting Tracy's honor, and worst of all, he and his wife split up for almost 20 years after just a couple of years of marriage. The story has a happy ending, though, after Tracy and Hepburn finally get together at the very end of the movie. Both are outstanding in their roles, and the movie is worth seeing despite the overall downer of a plot. I completely forgot about "Little Big Man." Shame on me. Great list BobFinn*! However, I have to go with most of MacBeth's original list. "Liberty Valence" was great.

I forgot so many that there's more than enough shame to go around...Wow. I thought I had seen every Tracy/Hepburn flick. Will see if I can locate it anywhere...

[LeGrouper]

I like thread starters that comment on all the ideas. Good thread management MacBeth.:D

[thumbs]

Originally posted by MacBeth Bad Day is excellent, and reminded me of a good one, whose name I forget, with James Garner and I think Louis Gosset Jr. Actually there's another good Garner one whose name I also can't recall.

Are you thinking about "Duel at Diablo? Others might be "Support Your Local Gunfighter" (1971); "Support Your Local Sheriff!" (1969) or "Hour of the Gun" (1967).

[Another Brother]

"They call me Trinity"
"Sons of Trinity"
"Trinity is still my name"

any Terence Hill fans out there?

How could I forget...

"The Cheyenne Social Club" with Stewart and Fonda