10 Best Westerns
The western, that most classic of American film genres, has been around pretty much as long as cinema itself has. The earliest examples of the genre can be found as far back as the mid 1890′s with short exhibition films featuring real-life western idols such as Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley. Then it was 1903 and the release of Edwin S. Porter’s The Great Train Robbery, the first narrative western in film history, that helped not only the western genre but cinema as a whole become a viable source of both art and entertainment. From the early silent westerns to the classic Hollywood period to the darker psychological works that came around in the 1950′s and the Spaghetti Westerns of the 1960′s that ushered in a whole new revisionist period in the genre to the modernist and post-modernist westerns of recent years, the western, through its many ups and downs, has been the truest of all American film genres – even when some may have been rather highly influenced by Japanese cinema.
Now as the western is one of my personal favorite genres, I could easily extend this list into a top 100 list without even batting an eye, but since I do not wish to ramble on too much (yeah, right) I will keep this one at a mere ten (along with one special mention). However I would like to mention a few westerns that did not make the list but are surely worth a mention here. They are (in no particular order): The Naked Spur, Unforgiven, Stagecoach, The Iron Horse, The Big Trail, The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Rancho Notoriuos, The Proposition, The Man from Laramie, Man of the West, Winchester ’73, Comanche Station, Pat Garret & Billy the Kid, Blazing Saddles, Duel in the Sun, Forty Guns, I Shot Jesse James, Django, Red River, Vera Cruz, Destry Rides Again, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Outlaw, Dodge City, The Outlaw Josey Wales, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Cheyenne Autumn, Broken Arrow and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
One could also include certain films that are on the verge of western, such as There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men and Kill Bill Volume 2. One could also include films like Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and The Hidden Fortress as inspiring future westerns. Anyway, I have rambled on too much (as I said I did not want to do…) so without further ado, I give you my choices for the 10 Best Westerns of all-time.
Special Mention: The Great Train Robbery
Just twelve minutes long, this 1903 Edwin S. Porter director western is considered to be the very first narrative film ever made. Technically it was not (Porter himself had come out with at least one previous narrative work), but it was the first one to be considered successful. Porter would do things – such as composite editing, cross-cutting, double exposure, location filming and even experimentation with color – that had not been done in film before (or at least not done successfully) and because of this the film still stands as a landmark in film history. Hell, even the final shot – a man firing a gun directly into the camera (which incidentally scared quite a few naive early film-goers at the time) is recreated by Scorsese as the final shot of Goodfellas.
10. The Ox-Bow Incident
A truly haunting film directed by William ‘Wild Bill’ Wellman, The Ox-Bow Incident takes a hard look at mob mentality. Starring Henry Fonda and Harry Morgan (aka Col. Potter on M*A*S*H) as a pair of strangers who come to town only to find themselves entangled with an angry lynch mob set to hang three men for a murder they may not have any part in. Wellman’s film takes a look at how groups of people are split philosophically in such situations. The film, stunningly shot and probably Wellman’s greatest artistic work (incidentally the director is also responsible for one of the greatest war movies in Battleground and one of the best gangster films in The Public Enemy as well) is a film that will not leave you for quite a long time. The chilling finale is still stuck in my head to this day.
9. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The first of three John Wayne films on this list. This one is a romantic triangle of sorts between The Duke, James Stewart and Vera Miles. Stewart plays a young lawyer who wants to transform the wild west into a peaceful nation while Wayne is (of course) a seasoned gunfighter and a representation of the wild past of the land. The villain in the film is one the coolest guys to ever show his face on film, Lee Marvin, as the unfortunate half of the title characters. The basic story is one of Stewarts’ seeming cowardice in not wanting to fight Marvin’s Liberty Valance (of course it was not cowardice but pacifism that would lead to this) and how his rival Wayne will come to his aid. Stewart and Wayne made great sparring partners in the film because they were so great sparring partners off the screen (based on these two individuals being diametrically opposed to each others politics – ironically the Republican Wayne being the WWII draft dodger and the Democrat Stewart being the war hero and life-long military man) and even led to Stewart punching Wayne out on the set at one point. Perhaps it was this, perhaps it was director John Ford’s auteurial skills (one of three Ford films on the list), perhaps this is just simply a great story and therefore a great film.
8. The Wild Bunch
Made in 1969, this is the most recent film on this list. Directed by rebellious, hard-drinkin’, hard-livin’ Sam Peckinpah, it broke new ground in movie violence (violence that was well over the top, especially for the time, and perhaps more than a bit gratuitous) and would help to usher in a new breed of filmmaking in Hollywood (a breed that would include directors like Scorsese, Coppola and De Palma). A look at the end of the gunfighter era (much in the way that The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was, albeit in a much harder, more vicious look) and starring old school actors William Holden, Robert Ryan, Ben Johnson, Warren Oates and Ernest Borgnine, Peckinpah’s appropriately wild western was seen as a startling piece of subversive filmmaking at the time. Director Peckinpah noted of the controversial violence in the film, that it was allegoric of the American war against Vietnam, whose violence was nightly televised to American homes at supper time. He tried showing the gun violence commonplace to the historic western frontier period, rebelling against sanitized, bloodless television westerns and films glamorizing gun fights and murder. It may have worked for both good and bad.
7. Once Upon A Time in the West
Sergio Leone, the master of the Spaghetti Western, made just seven films in a directorial career that lasted nearly twenty-five years. At least five of these can be considered to be great films, and two are definite masterpieces. This is one of those masterpieces. With brilliant set design and an imposing camera that puts the viewer right in the very guts of the film, and inspiring many a modern filmmaker, from Scorsese to P.T. Anderson to Ridley Scott to Zack Snyder to Robert Rodriguez to (of course) Quentin Tarantino (there are scenes ripped from here and placed into Kill Bill Volume 2), Leone’s ground-breaking westerns were a force to be reckoned with when they were first released and they are still a force to be reckoned with today.
6. My Darling Clementine
The highest ranked of the three Henry Fonda films on the list (and second highest of the three John Ford films), this crisply shot story of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, is a moody, atmospheric work of cinema. Starring the aforementioned Fonda as the legendary lawman, Walter Brennan as ‘Old Man’ Clanton, Cathy Downs as the titular Clementine and the always slightly sleazy Victor Mature as Holliday, Ford’s film may deviate quite a bit from the actual history of the event, but is still a beautifully photographed, smartly acted (we also get Linda Darnell, Tim Holt, Ward Bond and the always great John Ireland) and thoroughly rousing western spectacle.
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65 Comments
I’d be really interesting to read about your favourite Samurai films, the opposite side of the same coin.
Perhaps you will soon.
Nice list. On any day The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly could top my favorite films of all time – however Seven Samurai has a rather strong hold on that position. I admit of all the films on your list, the only two I haven’t seen are Johnny Guitar and The Ox-Bow Incident but I’ll be sure to make a note and check them as soon as possible.
I have a rather off kilter relationship with Westerns, in that I often find their stories captivating but their ‘idealized’ man role redundant. One of the best westerns I don’t think gets enough play is The Gunfighter with Gregory Peck.
Great call on “The Gunfighter”! I just saw that for the first time in February and I was astounded to see the same themes explored in “Unforgiven” being explored there. Really good little movie, that one.
Thanx. The Good, the Bad & the Ugly is number three on my all-time list, behind just The Red Shoes and 2001 (now there’s an eclectic top three!).
As for The Gunfighter, I have not seen it, but it is on my list for viewing soon.
1969 is the earliest year you have here? Isn’t that a little disrespectful to Eastwood’s 1992 masterpiece UNFORGIVEN? The films you mentioned here are all worthy; and you even make your case well, for most of them. But if you can’t go earlier than 1969 there’s a bigger issue at hand. I’ve seen it time and again on sites. Some film geeks seem to think today’s films can’t hold a candle too the films of old. And that’s really BS. Many of today’s films will be considered classics one day…but too many refuse to believe that. It’s one thing to acknowledge the films of old for the classics they are…but don’t leave out today’s films…it makes for a better discussion.
First of all, I think you mean 1969 is the most recent year, not the earliest. Secondly, I did quite enjoy Eastwood’s Unforgiven, but no matter what year it was made in, I find it a lesser film than any of those on my list (obviously).
As for not respecting newer films – there have always been crappy movies and there always will be, but I happen (for the most part) to like older films over newer ones (with notable exceptions made for Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, The Coens, Scorsese, von Trier and some others). Many films from today will indeed be considered classics someday – you are completely right) but I still prefer older over newer personally – at least on a whole. This doesn’t stop me from placing Inglourious Basterds, There Will Be Blood, Mulholland Dr., Dogville, The Tree of Life, Pulp Fiction, Taste of Cherry, In the Mood For Love, Goodfellas and others in my all-time Top 100.
Count me among the few who prefers High Noon to Rio Bravo, for one simple reason – Gary Cooper’s wonderful, wonderful performance.
Coop is always great and High Noon is one of his best.
“The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly” is among in my list of the top 10 best films ever.
There will never be a film like that for years.
True Grit– either film or, if you’re a cheater like me, both– definitely should make the cut, but I’d have to throw in more Franco Nero. Keoma and Django are absolutely sterling and hugely influential Westerns, and a couple of my favorites.
Django came pretty close to making the final list. As for True Grit – I liked the Coens remake better than the original, but did not love it.
Yea I liked the Coen’s remake but wasn’t totally blown away by it either. I liked the 3:10 to Yuma remake better.
I’ve only seen bits and pieces of High Noon out of your list as I’m not a big fan of this genre. I did like Coens’ True Grit though.
I love westerns but I only saw The Wild Bunch, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West and The Searchers from your list there. Cool list though.
Great list Kevyn! Would have liked to have seen Stagecoach and Unforgiven in, but apart from that the list is perfect for me :]
Stagecoach came closest – probably number eleven when all is said and done.
To be fair I think Stagecoach should have made the list before My Darling Clementine. My honorable mention would have been the “How the West was Won” TV-series with James Arness. Its huge in Scandinavia for some reason.
Stagecoach was definitely more influential (it changed the way westerns were made and was the model upon which the genre grew) but I still personally liked Clementine better.
Gutsy putting Johnny Guitar at #2! I need to see that one again; my only experience of it was a frankly shitty VHS transfer that I think colored my opinion far more than it should’ve. Nicholas Ray is definitely one of my favorite directors.
Good list – hits the highlights, and gets some lesser-known but well-deserving films in there, too (The Ox-Bow Incident is so great). No Anthony Mann, though? I’d probably have to throw in Man from Laramie or Winchester ’73 myself. At least they’re in the honorable mentions!
I figured putting Johnny Guitar at #2 would raise a few eyebrows. Just had to do it though.
Gotta see that one! Never even heard of it before.
Unforgiven and the Coen’s True Grit probably would have replaced Rio Bravo and My Darling Clementine.
Does anyone else here count The Assassination of Jesse James?
I count it. In fact I place it in my runners-up list.
I would place the Coens’ version of True Grit above The Searchers as well. But then again, I just don’t like John Ford.
Your list is solid enough, but do I wonder why the newest entry is still over 40 years old. To me, the thorough deconstruction of the cowboy myth is as much a part of American cultural history as the cinematic construction of it in the first part of the 20th century was.
Also, does The Gold Rush qualify as a Western?
There are several more modern westerns that a quite good (Appaloosa, Tombstone, The Proposition, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) as well as some pseudo-westerns (No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood) but I don’t think there have been any truly great ones since the seventies.
As for The Gold Rush – if it is a western then I need to adjust my list.
The remake of 3:10 To Yuma was pretty good.
And The Gold Rush IS listed as a Western on the imbd, but then again: they’ve also listed Pina as a musical, the idiots.
I do love westerns and I do love classic ones too. Where the guns just sounded so odd. This is a great list but I would love to see your list of top new generation westerns or even westerns that were not set in the wild west…Die Hard anyone?
Thanks for putting this together!
Modern Westerns (post 1990) are (in no particular order):
The Proposition
Dead Man
Unforgiven
The Claim
Ravenous
Appaloosa
Tombstone
Ride With the Devil
3:10 to Yuma
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
What about westerns NOT in the wild west?
Film that use the same formula?
Star Wars. No Country For Old Men. Kill Bill Volume 2. Alien (which can be construed as a remake of Rio Bravo). And of course Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, Hidden Fortress and Yojimbo.
Sweettt!!! thanks
Dude! Firefly!
Yeah, I forgot Firefly.
Glad to see Johnny Guitar on the list; whenever I see it missing from a best Westerns list, I tend to make the safe bet that the writer just hasn’t seen it. Along with the Archers’ one-two punch of Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes, it’s the best use of color in film and subversive on nearly every front. Ray’s Run for Cover is also a solid, if not great, Western, continuing his pet anti-mob/witch hunt theme and more or less casting James Cagney in the James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause and letting the 50-something look almost as youthful at times as Dean.
I’d likely have nearly all the same films, but in different order. Once Upon a Time in The West would be my no. 1; it’s the perfect balance of classical and revisionist Western (the other being The Outlaw Josey Wales, which I likely would have put on here over Ox-Bow). Rio Bravo would have been no. 2; I belong in the camp that doesn’t think there’s a better Hollywood film out there, and I’d take it even over The Searchers. I’d have to make a whole other list for revisionist ones, though. I’d take Dead Man over all of these but it would just be too odd rubbing shoulders with the classics.
Yes, Johnny Guitar is not one mentioned a lot – and it is because many have not seen it. AS far as I know it is not available on region 1 DVD. I have a European copy myself.
Run For Cover is another one that gets overlooked a lot. Even I forgot to put it on my runners-up list (where it should be).
I don’t have a clue man.
This is all so foreign to me this .. Western genre.
I like Sundance ? Does that count ?
Its great NOT seeing Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid on a best western list.
The only newer one that I would have had in mind for a top ten is the Unforgiven.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are to the western what Taco Bell is to Mexican Food.
Hey what did Taco Bell ever do to you hahah
Ha! I make sure they don’t do anything to me.
Oh come on. It wasn’t a bad movie.
Not bad — just bland.
Its incredibly over rated! It still nags me that it snubbed the Wild bunch on a bunch of Oscars!
My faves are (in no order)
High Noon
Red River
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Ox Bow Incident – wrote about it a couple of years ago on the blog
The Searchers
Unforgiven
That’s my top 6.
Strangely Western is not a genre I often associate with myself but what I realized that there is more to the western than just straight “Cowboys and Indian shoot-em Ups.” At there best, like with all films, there is an allegory something we can take away from the film.
Now to contradict myself, Appaloosa was an enjoyable film and was pretty much a nuts-and-bolts Western.
Also a bunch of comments on Reddit:
http://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/jt3pz/top_10_best_westerns/
You forgot Red River, Stagecoach, Tombstone, 3:10 to Yuma and Silverado.
I did not forget them, I just do not think they deserve to be on the list. Stagecoach and Red River are both in the runners-up section – I probably should have placed 3:10 to Yuma there as well (both versions) — as for Tombstone and Silverado, I am not much of a fan of either (Toimbstone is okay I suppose, but Silverado bored me).
Love the cocky attitude.
It comes naturally to me.
Actually I think I might have included I really always enjoy seeing that one.
Maverick that comment above was meant to be about.
BTW Congrats on your mention on /Film
http://www.slashfilm.com/page-2-267/2/
Fantastic!!
Oh, c’mon…Johnny Guitar,the second-best Western ever made, and five higher than Once Upon a Time? That’s quite a stretch. It’s a bit like saying that Rocky Horror’s the second-best horror movie.
Still, it’s nice to see some love for the Western.
I don’t think it is quite that radical (though perhaps some people do think RHPS the second best horror film) considering Johnny Guitar is one of the best uses of colour ever put on film, Crawford and McCambridge are incredible as sparring partners, it is one of Nick Ray’s most succulent films (and that man knew how to do succulent dammit) and it is simply one of the most gorgeous films ever made. Easily in my own personal top 20 of all-time (of all films).
Pretty big omission in McCabe & Mrs. Miller. It may not be a traditional Western, but it is an amazing film. Also The Ox-Bow Incident is a solid film, but it hardly compares to the book. Other than that the list was good, and I’m happy to see someone else who loves Johnny Guitar. Also agree that Dead Man and The Misfits could be on the list if you consider them to be Westerns.
I included McCabe in my runners-up list. It would probably come it at 14th or 15th place overall. I do plan on putting together a 100 Best Westerns list and posting it on my blog later this year.
3:10 to Yuma, The good The Bad and the ugly, true grit, Unforgiven. Just a few off trhe top of my head…Nice list though. Im going to go watch “The man with no name trilogy” on blu ray.
What about Shane?
My favorite is Once Upon a Time in the West, but GBU is a close second and I can’t disagree too much with anyone who puts it as their #1. I also really like High Noon so I’m glad to see it on the list.
This reminds me of all the Westerns I need to catch up with. It’s one of those genres I tend not to care for, but I still think there are some greats I should watch.
Actually, James Stewart was a conservative Republican.
Good list, though.
Shane.
Some good movies not in your list.
Last Train to Gun Hill, Gunfight at OK Corral, True Grit, A Fistful of Dollars, For a few Dollars more, Stagecoach, Vera Cruz, The Last Sunset, 3:10 to Yuma, Unforgiven, Shane, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Johnny Guitar at 2? Really? Once Upon a Time Should be in the top 3. High Noon should be replaced with Shane. Silverado should be number 10. Other than that, decent list.
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