Film General : Top 12 Westerns? Minor edit.

The western genre is one of my three favorites, along with mystery/suspense and war, and I feel I need to see more. I've seen quite a few, 58 according to IMDb, but I'm keen to find more, and also discuss them, so I thought I'd ask what your top ten are. Here's my list:

1. The Good, the Bad, the Weird
2. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
3. Hatfields & McCoys
4. For a Few Dollars More
5. Dead Man
6. Django Unchained
7. Wild Bunch
8. Tin Man
9. Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
10. Sukiyaki Western Django
11. Unforgiven
12. Searchers

I decided to include my two favorite miniseries, so I bumped it up to twelve.

Your turn!

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

One of my favourite genres too

In no particular order

Ride the High Country
The Searchers
Red River
Rio Bravo
The Wild Bunch
The Big Sky
My Darling Clementine
The Professionals
The Man From Laramie
Bend of the River

Nice list, dude. My #1 here would have to be Wild Bunch. Peckinpah rocks.

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

I love Wild Bunch but Ride The High Country is my favourite Peckinpah film. It's perfect.

I won't compare them because I haven't seen Ride the High Country, but it's a high priority. Thanks for the posts!

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

1. The Hateful Eight (2015)
2. Back to the Future Part III (1990)
3. Django Unchained (2012)
4. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
5. Wyatt Earp (1994)
6. Unforgiven (1992)
7. Young Guns (1988)
8. Sagebrush Trail (1933)
9. Blazing Saddles (1974)
10. Fort Doom (2004)

Hateful Eight looks great, but I haven't gotten to it yet, which I want to change soon.

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

Please do. I had to see it twice. Its an excellent film.

I'll get to it seven films from now (I have it on my Netflix DVD queue).

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

My list isn't up to date but it'll do.

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls003147367/

"He was a poet, a scholar and a mighty warrior."

Ride the High Country looks awesome, same with Major Dundee, and Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (I love Peckinpah's films). I've seen, and love, Wild Bunch.
Tombstone and Unforgiven are great.
I like the Stewart/Mann films, too, of those I've seen.

Nice list, dude.

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

10? No can do, short lists ain't my thing. I have a top 25 in my profile that I haven't updated in ages, here it is with 5 additions for a top 30, roughly in order -

Dead Man
Once Upon a Time in the West
The Searchers
Lonesome Dove (miniseries - it's eligible as far as I'm concerned)
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Western Union
Devil's Doorway
Comanche Station
Red River
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Wild Bunch
Unforgiven
Jauja
El Topo
Stagecoach
Johnny Guitar
From Noon Till Three
Man of the West
Wichita
My Darling Clementine

Track of the Cat
Rio Bravo
Ride Lonesome
The Naked Spur
Blazing Saddles
The Man from Laramie
Ride the High Country
The Tall T
The Far Country
Canyon Passage

IMDb sez I've seen 418 westerns, though that includes some dubious entries and lots of Warner Brothers cartoons; but there have been thousands made since The Great Train Robbery in 1903 and I don't consider 400-odd enough to make me any kind of expert yet. Maybe once I get to 1000

Still, there aren't a lot of the really famous examples that I haven't seen at this point, so I've been going through lesser-known films for the last few years, mostly from the 50s. Also quite interested in silent westerns - none make my top 30 but several are close - and some of the weirder pseudo-westerns, psychedelic westerns and non-American-set "westerns" of the last few decades. I have Jauja (Argentina) on my list, and another good recent example is the Romanian Aferim! from 2015, a western in every respect except for it's placement in Romania. I also haven't seen as many Italian westerns as I'd like to, and virtually no Mexican westerns - Mexico has made about as many as Italy, actually.


Here's to the fools who dream

I thought about including miniseries, but I ended up not doing so. If so, they'd be rather high. Lonesome Dove looks awesome, and I have started the book (though I don't know where my copy is, which sucks because it was going so well).

Dead Man is awesome. I've seen it a couple of times, and it's always an excellent film. One of Depp's best performances. I haven't seen a lot of your list, though, but some look damn good.

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

If I had to make a single, primary recommendation to you or anyone else delving into the genre, it'd be to watch the Budd Boetticher/Randolph Scott films from the late 50s -

Seven Men From Now
The Tall T
Decision at Sundown
Buchanan Rides Alone
Westbound
Ride Lonesome
Comanche Station

Westbound is a little below the others but they're all great examples of the b-western at it's best and Boetticher could tell amazingly rich stories in 80 minutes. And Scott is one of those actors who delivered his best performances - in these films and Ride the High Country, his last - at the end of his career. It was watching the Sony/Columbia box set that has 5 of them (lacking Westbound and Seven Men From Now which were filmed for Warner Brothers) that really kick-started my deeper interest in the genre and in particular Scott and the 1950s.

Here's to the fools who dream

Seven Men From Now
The Tall T
Decision at Sundown
Buchanan Rides Alone
Ride Lonesome
Comanche Station

Yes. I just watched each of these recently for the second time and they held up extremely well.


"He was a poet, a scholar and a mighty warrior."

I will take your recommendations and seek them out. Thanks!

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

the tall T is the best one by a mile. One out of the bag, that one.

It's in my DVD queue now.

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

Hollywood pumped out 2000 westerns during the 1950s, many are stictly routine of course, but sorting out the best is a worthwhile endeavour. (if you take to 1950s westerns)

Good to know, biker. I do take to 1950s westerns, so that's a worthy endeavor for me.

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

The Wild Bunch
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Jeremiah Johnson
For a Few Dollars More
High Plains Drifter
Little Big Man
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
The Ox-Bow Incident

Nice list. We share a few favorites. Good stuff.

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

Nice list, what did you think of The Hateful Eight?

Rio Bravo
The Searchers
The Good the Bad and the Ugly
Johnny Guitar
Lonesome Dove (Mini-series)
The Hateful Eight
Hombre
Winchester '73
Unforgiven
3:10 to Yuma (1957)
Meek's Cutoff
True Grit (2010)

I haven't seen Hateful Eight yet, but it's a priority. I decided to put in 3rd in my DVD queue.

Yours, I liked Searchers, GBU, Winchester '73, and Unforgiven, and the Coens' True Grit is pretty good. I haven't seen the others, though.

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

Once Upon a Time in the West is my favourite.

Heaven's Gate would be top 5; How the West Was Won and The Big Country would both be in my top 10 - I seem to like them more than most people. The Searchers I think is overvalued, but I love it as well.

I enjoyed a handful of lower-budget spaghetti westerns from the seventies, my favourites being Blu Gang e vissero per sempre felici e ammazzati (1973) and Una ragione per vivere e una per morire (1972)

Love Boetticher/Scott (favourite being The Tall T) and Mann/Stewart (especially The Naked Spur) - throw in revisionist masterpiece McCabe & Mrs Miller and there you have it, a top 10 of sorts.

I was hoping things would work out for her. She was a good friend of mine.

Clever way of doing the list! I didn't like How the West Was Won, though. I've lost enthusiasm for Once Upon a Time in the West recently. It's just not that great, for me, anyway. I didn't like McCabe and Mrs. Miller much, either, but the song rocks.

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

You guys do know, don't you, that westerns have been made as long as there have been movies? The short film "The Great Train Robbery" (1903) often identified as the first American movie with a narrative is a western. It is pretty disheartening to find Quentin Tarantino movies on any list of great westerns.

Check these out.

Riders of the Purple Sage (1925) / Lynn Reynolds
In Old Arizona (1928) / Irving Cummings
Hell's Heroes (1929) / William Wyler
The Last of the Mohicans (1936) / George B. Seitz
The Mark of Zorro (1940) / Rouben Mamoulian
Dark Command (1940) / Raoul Walsh
They Died with Their Boots On (1941) / Raoul Walsh
Along Came Jones (1945) / Stuart Heisler
My Darling Clementine (1946) / John Ford
Red River (1948) / Howard Hawkes
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) / John Ford
The Gunfighter (1950) / Henry King
High Noon (1952) / Fred Zinneman
The Naked Spur (1953) / Anthony Mann
Shane (1953) / George Stevens
The Searchers (1956) / John Ford
Comanche Station (1960) / Budd Boetticher

mf

I know that, in spite of the poets, youth is not the happiest season"

1. Dead Man
2. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
3. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
4. Jauja
5. Once Upon a Time in the West
6. The Searchers
7. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
8. For a Few Dollars More
9. My Darling Clementine
10. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

---

What would you do - trapped in another dimension?

---

I agree with your top three vehemently. Great stuff. Number five is overrated for me, and I didn't like #10, but the others, save #4 and #9 because I haven't seen them, are great films.

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Unforgiven
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Revenant (Not sure if it counts tho)
Django Unchained
For a Few Dollars More
3:10 To Yuma
The Magnificent Seven
The Hateful 8
Back to the Future part III

Really excited to check out The Good, the Bad, the Weird


If it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed. - Stanley Kubrick

I saw Revenant on the search, so I guess it could, but I haven't seen it.

Which Magnificent Seven? Or 3:10 to Yuma? I saw the original and the remake, respectively, of those, though I really want to see the remake of Magnificent Seven.

Good Bad Weird is my favorite film in the history of the ever-ever. Have fun!

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

The original Magnificent 7 and the remake of 3:10 to Yuma although the original is also very good I like the remake a lot more. I haven't sene the new remake of Magnificent 7 but based on the talent I really want to check it out and I think I'll be seen Good Bad Weird this week or weekend.

If it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed. - Stanley Kubrick

The new Magnificent Seven looks great, if only because of the cast. The story is great, of course (rock on, Kurosawa), and it has a good look (from the trailers I've seen), so we'll see how I like it.

Well, get to it when you can. It's 2:10 hours long, so it's not a big time crunch. Thanks for the posts!

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

If it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed. - Stanley Kubrick

1. The Wild Bunch
2. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
3. Tombstone/Wyatt Earp
4. McCabe and Mrs. Miller
5. Hombre
6. The Long Riders
7. Ulzana's Raid
8. Unforgiven
9. Geronimo: An American Legend
10. Little Big Man
11. True Grit (2010)/True Grit (1969)
12. The Shootist


"We all have it comin', Kid." Unforgiven (1992)

I definitely agree with your #1, #3 (the first half), #8, and #2 is pretty good, too.

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

12. Unforgiven
11. The Grey Fox
10. The Professionals
09. Wild Bill
08. The Outlaw Josey Wales
07. True Grit (2010)
06. Vera Cruz
05. Wagon Master
04. Rio Bravo
03. Quigley Down Under
02. Tombstone
01. Red River

5 runner-ups:
Stagecoach
Meek's Cutoff
Pale Rider
Maverick
The Mountain Men

A different list, but quality all the same. Good job. I need to see more of those you've listed.

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

excluding John Ford, who eats up most of the top spots..no order

the man from laramie
ulzana's raid
pursued
rancho notorious
terror in a texas town
shane
one-eyed jacks
unforgiven
the far country
the naked spur
high noon
red river

I've seen Shane, Unforgiven, Naked Spur, and High Noon. The only one I'm not a big fan of is High Noon, but I dig the other three quite a bit. Good stuff. Thanks for the post!

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
3:10 to Yuma (2007)
True Grit (1969)
Roughshod (1949)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
Friendly Persuasion (1956)
The Good the Bad the Weird (2008)
High Noon (1952)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Shane (1953)
True Grit (2010)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

I've only seen 113 tagged with the genre on IMDB.


I'm a police man sir, I don't have any feelings

Nice list! I see my top two also made your list. Ox-Bow Incident sounds great, but I have yet to watch it.

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

The Wind (1928)
Stagecoach (1939)
Pursued (1947)
The Furies (1950)
Bend of the River (1952)
Springfield Rifle (1952)
Johnny Guitar (1954)
The Big Country (1958)
Ride Lonesome (1959)
El Topo (1970)
Heaven's Gate (1980)
Dead Man (1995)

H.M: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Searchers.

I've seen El Topo and Dead Man from your list. Looks like you'd recommend I hastily change that.

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

Interesting listnever heard of Tin Man before, sounds fun.

1. The Good, the Bad, the Weird - pretty fun, wasn't as hot on the last third
2. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - awesome back in the day, didn't hold up as much on rewatch
4. For a Few Dollars More - don't remember much, liked it alright though less than the other too
5. Dead Man - epic!
6. Django Unchained - very fun
7. Wild Bunch - awesome, great experience seeing it high on film
9. Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - loved it in theaters, less hot on DVD
11. Unforgiven - took 2 watches but I'm a big fan
12. Searchers - arguably the best American film

1. The Searchers (1956)
2. Johnny Guitar (1954)
3. The Big Sky (1952)
4. The Naked Dawn (1955)
5. Dead Man (1995)
6. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973)
7. Ride Lonesome (1959)
8. Rancho Notorious (1952)
9. McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)
10. Rio Bravo (1959)
11. Duel in the Sun (1946)
12. Bend of the River (1952)

roll up the purp / with a smug f-ck you smirk

1. Once Upon a Time in the West
2. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
3. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
4. Duck, You Sucker
5. Unforgiven
6. Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
7. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
8. Django Unchained
9. The Outlaw Josey Wales
10. El Dorado
11. Shane
12. The Wild Bunch

Fuck, this was harder than I expected.
Of yours, I haven't Hatfields & McCoys, Tin Man and Sukiyaki Western Django. I liked everything else, but in all honesty, your #1 is my least favorite of your picks.

Truth is, you're Donny and I'm Walter.
But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be The Dude.

It's not for everyone. I've always loved Good Bad Weird, and it is my #1 film in the history of the ever-ever, but it's not as wide-spread as the others.

I still need to see Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. Being a Peckinpah fan, I feel compelled to watch it.

Sukiyaki Western Django is a very niche film. It's a conventional Miike film, thus odd, though wildly entertaining.

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

Since you have the first post in which I saw this film listed, I just finished El Dorado, and loved it. It's awesome. My favorite performance is probably Caan's, though I dug everyone else's, too. Good stuff.

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.

Sorry for not replying earlier (I mean to the previous post). I actually significantly prefer El Dorado (the remake) to Rio Bravo (the original). Not sure who I'd pick as a favorite performance, probably Robert Mitchum, I just love the guy. Women in the film were gorgeous, am I right or yes?

I haven't seen much from Miike, but he's been a hit or miss for me so far. I'll check out SWD eventually.

Do watch Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia when you get the chance. It's a bit of atypical western in the sense it's set in more modern time and it's also a road film, but everything about it feels like a western, the atmosphere, the revenge, the bounty.

Truth is, you're Donny and I'm Walter.
But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be The Dude.

Even though Hawks says El Dorado isn't a remake? I haven't seen Rio Bravo yet, but it looks quite good.

Sukiyaki Westren Django is weird, and very over-the-top, but I enjoyed it immensely. Tarantino has a cameo in it, too.

Cool. It's a priority. I'll get to it soon. Thanks for the post!

Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten my cast mate.