Geatest Western Films

[parishioner]

The other day I was at the video store with the lady checking out the lame romantic comedy chick flicks since I had picked out the last few movies we watched. I then passed by the western section and started thumbing through and saw Clint Eastwood on a cover standing there stone faced with a scruffy beard and a pair of six shooters looking like someone just ran over his dog and that sorry soul is about to pay. Then it dawned on me that I haven't given Westerns a fair deal. I have only seen one western film in my life and that was Tombstone. I enjoyed it. Now, I'm looking for a little direction to get me started into the genre.

So.....which westerns do you believe to be the greatest or just what are some of your favorites?

[Thomas M-4]

Unforgiven
The good the bad and the ugly
AH hell anything with Clint in it pretty much is good .

[11Bravo]

The Outlaw Josey Wales
Unforgiven
Pale Rider
Tombstone
The Three Amigos
The Man With No Name Trilogy
The Magnificent Seven

Pretty much the only ones you need to see.

edit:
Thanks MC988.
How can anyone forget Blazing Saddles?
SMACK!!!

[JStor]

To name a few that I've enjoyed:

Silverado
3:10 to Yuma
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Pale Rider
The Culpepper Cattle Company
Wyatt Earp

[bpw]

"Big Jake" , " True Grit" and "Rooster Cogburn" with John Wayne are great. They are not as dark as some of the more recent movies like "Unforgiven"
brian

[Abraxas]

I love all of Clint's, but my favorite is Open range, with Costner. Just because of one scene. The scene where he faces off with the big bad gun fighter. It was just like I wanted it to be

[SeriousStudent]

"Once Upon a Time in the West" - Arguably the best of the spaghetti westerns. The soundtrack is superb. Henry Fonda as a bad guy. ;)

"Monte Walsh" - Tom Selleck's best western, and very realistic use of period firearms. "Crossfire Trail" is also quite good.

Another nod for "Big Jake". My favorite John Wayne movie, and Richard Boone is excellent as the villain. Maureen O'Hara as John Wayne's estranged wife is also very good.

[Mark/MO]

I've always veen a sucker for westerns, good westerns. I love them. Af ew of my favorites:
Open Range - one of the best movies I have seen in recent years. Duvall and Costner are great together.
Conagher - A TV western with Sam Elliott, one that I really enjoyed.
Unforgiven
Tombstone
High Noon
Quigley Down Under
My Darling Clementine
Fort Apache

[Alpha Sierra]

my favorite is Open Range, with Costner. Just because of one scene. The scene where he faces off with the big bad gun fighter. It was just like I wanted it to be

The whole movie is very well made, but the opening of the last gunfight scene is definitely way up in bad ass territory. Hell, the entire gunfight is awesome, except for the hollyweird trick of sending people flying from shotgun hits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq3zjTmVLbM

[MC988]

True Grit
Unforgiven
Blazing Saddles
3:10 to Yuma

[subzero]

True Grit may be my most favorite true Western. The Shootist and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance are good also. Big Jake is another favorite.

Silverado is my most favorite "modern" Western, followed by Tombstone and Unforgiven.

If you watch The Outlaw Josey Wales, stop the DVD after about an hour. You've seen the best stuff, don't let the last half hour or so ruin what is an otherwise good movie. Basically, when his wife shows up, stop the movie.

It's not *really* a Western, but I'd watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid while you're at it.

ETA: Blazing Saddles is one of my favorite movies, but just because there's a bunch of dudes dressed like cowboys doesn't mean it should be on any "Best Westerns" list.

[ThirdWatcher]

True Grit may be my most favorite true Western. The Shootist and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance are good also. Big Jake is another favorite.

Most of the John Wayne westerns, especially the newer ones. Tombstone, Wyatt Earp, Appaloosa, anything with Tom Selleck and/or Sam Elliott...

IMO, there just aren't enough good westerns being made anymore.

[moonshot]

Outlaw Josey Wales
True Grit
The Shootist
El Dorado
Tombstone
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Magnificent Seven
How the West was Won
My Darling Clementine
The Searchers

I'm sure I've forgot some. Hell, anything with John Wayne or Clint Eastwood.

[RogerinTPA]

Nobody mentioned "Shane"??? WTF????

[Outrider]

Here is my list of favorite Westerns in no particular order:

Tombstone
Once Upon A Time in the West
Silverado
Geronimo
Broken Trail
Unforgiven
High Plains Drifter
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Hang 'Em High
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Fistful of Dollars
For A Few Dollars More
The Big Country
The Wild Bunch

-And of course Blazing Saddles.

From the scene where the bad guys are getting their own posse together:

Hedley Lamarr: Qualifications?
Applicant: Rape, murder, arson, and rape.
Hedley Lamarr: You said rape twice.
Applicant: I like rape.

-There's no way you could get away with that dialogue in a modern movie. It's not PC but that's why it works so well...

[The_War_Wagon]

The War Wagon! :D

[bluedog]

True Grit
The Searchers
The Cowboys
Red River
The Sons Of Katie Elder
El Dorado
Chato's Land
High Noon

[bkb0000]

Man with no Name trilogy - pretty much tops
2 mules for sister sarah
assassination of Jesse James
Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid (pretty high on my list)
THERE WILL BE BLOOD- ****in loved that movie
ballad of cable hogue
high plains drifter
Gunfight at the OK Corral
Lonesome Dove
Pale Rider
Dead Man
There was a Crooken Man

[crusader4x]

My favorites are:

Silverado
Unforgiven
3:10 to Yuma
Quigley Down Under

And yes, the Young Riders TV series.

[snappy]

Here is my list of favorite Westerns in no particular order:

Tombstone
Once Upon A Time in the West
Silverado
Geronimo
Broken Trail
Unforgiven
High Plains Drifter
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Hang 'Em High
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Fistful of Dollars
For A Few Dollars More
The Big Country
The Wild Bunch

-And of course Blazing Saddles.



That's a good list right there as are the others posted here. Anything with Clint Eastwood or John Wayne is going to deliver. I'd add:
Two Mules for Sister Sarah
The Cowboys
Jeremiah Johnson, (a mountain man movie that is great)

[TOrrock]

There's a new one out, "Appaloosa". Ed Harris directed and starred in it, and Viggo Mortensen is his side kick, and absolutely nails the part dead on. Dude carries an 8 gauge....:D

I really enjoy the "modern" westerns that started coming out in the mid 70's through today.

Much more realistic, and a much wider variety of firearms being used. Silverado is a good example....John Cleese's character is packing an Enfield .476 revolver. Clint is packing a Starr double action in Unforgiven, and one of his supporting characters uses a S&W #3 Schofield.

My list will mimic a lot of the previous ones. In no particular order....

Pale Rider
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Deadwood (HBO series)
3:10 to Yuma
Appaloosa
Open Range
The Unforgiven
Wyatt Earp (Kevin Costner version)
Silverado
Tombstone
Crossfire Trail
The Tracker
Rough Riders (about our adventure in Cuba)



There are certain men that were born to play in westerns....John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Robert Duvall, Sam Elliot, Tom Selleck....get a western with one of those guys in it, and it's a safe bet it'll be a good one.

[Combat_Diver]

I'll add two more

The Professionals
The Wild Bunch


CD

[Thomas M-4]

I've killed everything that walks or crawls at one time or another. And I'm here to kill you Little Bill. For what you done to Ned.

I don't deserve this to die like this .............. I was building a house [ DESERVIS HAS NOTHINING TO DO WITH IT ] ........... I see you in hell William Monty.....click clack.....Hea............ KAboom LOL ..
Unforgiven 10 min worth of one liners..

[Gutshot John]

Outlaw Josey Wales has always been my favorite though Deadwood the series is close competition.

Of the classic westerns: High Noon, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

[austinN4]

Another vote for Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch.

[Nathan_Bell]

If Eastwood or Wayne is in it, worth watching.

Wild Bunch is the first western I bought on DVD so it rates well.

Quigley is well done and made Sharps collectors and repro folks a lot of money.

[Voodoochild]

Open Range is pretty good but Eastwood/The Duke pretty much take the cake.

[BSHNT2015]

There is one John Wayne Movie everyone forgot to mention, " Tall in the saddle" In the scene where Wayne walks down main street to a shootout with the badguy, he calls out to him, "draw that gun and I'll kill you", the badguy hesitates, Wayne walks up and hits over the head, a classic scene.

Another Wayne movie over looked is the typical Wayne trio, "Rio Bravo", John Wayne, Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson. The movie had all of Wayne's buddy from just about every other western movie and a very young Angie Dickerson.

I will finish off by mentioning a made for TV movie, "The Sacketts". Sam Elliott, Tom Selleck and Jeff Osterhage as 3 brothers in the wild west. A good strong supporting cast with Glenn Ford, Ben Johnson, Jack Ealm and LQ Jones.

OK, I studied film in college, so shoot me.

http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/uu319/horseplay/IMG_5098.jpg

My grandfather's pocket watch from his logging days, 1900's.

http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/uu319/horseplay/IMG_5087.jpg

A Colt 2 gen SSA 45 LC mid 60's originally priced at $125.00, today, priceless. It's NIB and never shot.

[sandman99and9]

Nobody mentioned "Shane"??? WTF????

Oh yeah, Hell of a fight scene and a great shootout at the end too. My personal favorites are,

#1 Outlaw josey wales
#2 Tombstone
#3 Unforgiven
#4 Pale rider
#5 True grit
#6 Silverado

I liked clints spagetti westerns when I was young but now most of them are pretty bad except maybe the good, the bad, and the ugly.


s.m.

[DJK]

All the above and Conagher - the movie and the book.

[Outlander Systems]

"No Country for Old Men"

"Way of the Gun"

[bullseye]

i'm with rharris on this,, i can't beleive everyone is ignoring "shane",,,plus "lonesome dove"

[Freakdaddy]

My list is identical to what's already been said but I add a few more.

1. The Long Riders
2. Winchester '73
3. Bandolero
4. Dances With Wolves
5. The Last of the Mohicans (although really not a "western", still a good period movie)
6. The Man from Snowy River

[SeriousStudent]

Nobody mentioned "Shane"??? WTF????

Smacking myself on the forehead...... :eek:

I LOVED that movie when I was a kid! Alan Ladd and his son, David were great in it.

"The Sons of Katie Elder" was another good one from my childhood.

[bkb0000]

i'm with rharris on this,, i can't beleive everyone is ignoring "shane",,,plus "lonesome dove"

i listed lonesome dove!

[montanadave]

What about Lancaster and his Sharps buffalo gun in "Valdez is Coming"?

[pacifico]

It's not an American Western - set in Australia - but "The Proposition" is very good. Lots of violence, so not a family film by any stretch of the imagination.

[ljlinson1206]

Another great that I have not seen mentioned: The Quick and the Dead, the one with Sam Elliot NOT Sharon Stone and Leonardo what's his name!!!!!!!

And a fairley recent one: Commanche Moon, the prequal to Lonesome Dove.

Pretty much anything with John Wayne, but my favorites are Big Jake, The Sons of Kate Elder and McClintock

[Texpatriate]

My list:
Lonesome Dove
Lonesome Dove
Lonesome Dove
Lonesome Dove
Lonesome Dove
Oh, and Lonesome Dove is really good too.

Some other good ones:
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Unforgiven
High Plains Drifter (see my avatar pic)
Pale Rider
The Magnificent Seven
Jeremiah Johnson
Tombstone
Almost anything with John Wayne in it

[zchen]

Anything with Clint Eastwood

Once upon a time in the West
High Noon
and of course Jon Wayne's response to High Noon, Rio Bravo (and the loose remakes El Dorado, Rio Lobo)
The Searchers
Red River
How the West Was Won
The man who shot Liberty Valance
Death Rides a Horse
The Magnificent Seven
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

[sandman99and9]

My list is identical to what's already been said but I add a few more.

1. The Long Riders
2. Winchester '73
3. Bandolero
4. Dances With Wolves
5. The Last of the Mohicans (although really not a "western", still a good period movie)
6. The Man from Snowy River

I forgot about the last of the mohicans, Very good film.

s.m.

[bulbvivid]

I like pretty much all the Clint flicks, though Pale Rider, Unforgiven, and my favorite, The Outlaw Josey Wales, stick out to me.

I like quite a few others mentioned above, especially Quigley Down Under. I think Sam Elliot's been in every Loius L'Amour film adaptation ever done. Makes a great Sackett, though.

I don't think anybody's mentioned Red Headed Stranger. Good story, good music, and Morgan Fairchild in the pond scene doesn't hurt the flick.

One of my recent favorites is Open Range. Loved some of Boss' speeches: "Man's got a right to protect his property and his life, and we ain't lettin' no rancher or his lawman take either."

"It was the time of the preacher
In the year of '01. . . ."

[rickb210]

Nobody mentioned "Shane"??? WTF????

Shane is my favorite. I can remember when it was first released in our area and Dad took the whole family to the local drive-in theatre to see it, but the line to get in was really long and we didn't get to see it that night. A week later we tried again and got in. Great movie and is the only western movie that I own.

[mayonaise]

John Ford made the best westerns IMO

My top 10

The Searchers (my personal fav movie)
Stagecoach won him Best Director and made Wayne a star.
Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (another Ford classic)
High Noon
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Red River
Fist Full of Dollars (another classic remake of a samurai flick Yojimbo)
Wild Bunch
Unforgiven
Once Upon a Time in the West

[Heavy Metal]

You would think a certain individual who goes by the moniker of JohnWayne777 would be all over this thread:D

[RogerinTPA]

-Shane

-Lonesome Dove

-The Professionals, it was like a western special ops movie. Very similar to Where Eagles Dare in my opinion.

-Silverado

-Last of the Mohicans, very kick ass.

-The majority of John Wayne movies. What was that movie where he was a former Union Col and ran into and teamed up with some Confederates fleeing to Mexico, with Rock Hudson (Pre AIDS of course)? :D That was pretty good as well.

A bunch of Sam Elliot flicks.

[MeanRider]

My List

The Searchers
Hondo
Shane
True Grit
Stagecoach
Big Jake
The Alamo (John Wayne)
Appalosa
Wyat Earp (Kevin Costner)
Open Range
Unforgiven
Jerimiah Johnson
Treasure of Sierra Madre
Magnifsient Seven
8 Seconds

[parishioner]

I got a chance to see Appaloosa yesterday. It was entertaining but I have a feeling there are better ones that I haven't seen yet. Ed Harris was pretty stoic and Zellweger was just a slut.

Next on my list is Josey Wales.

[Ziptie]

Silverado has to top my list, it has all the classic elements all rolled into one.
The man from Snowy River is another good one, except for the romance side of it.
Two mules for sister sarah is right up there, Tombstone for the Rambo style, Lonesome Dove is a fantastic story, Geronimo, with Robert Duvall, hell, all of 'em.

I'll take a western over most anything else out there.

Zip

[boganz45]

"When you need to shoot, shoot, don't talk."

[sadmin]

The Proposition - A great flick
im not completely sure its considered a Western, it could be, but a dark approach.

[rifleman2000]

Rio Bravo
El Dorado
Open Range
True Grit

[truth]

The HBO series "Deadwood" warrants serious mention here.

[crob1]

I'm a huge fan of "The Duke".
Cowboys
The Shootist
Rio Bravo
True Grit
Chisum-my favorite of John Wayne's

[Dunderway]

"No Country for Old Men"

"Way of the Gun"

Two very good "modern westerns" IMO. Enjoyed them both.

[Dunderway]

Everyone has already listed my favorites. I'm really not into old westerns that much but saw a great one the other day: "The Americano" Glenn Ford sets up a ranch in Brazil, meets beautiful women, and gets into gunfights. Great flick.

On a bit of a contoversial sidenote: I love how some of us will support the raping, murdering, drinking "heroes" in these westerns, but demonize rap music and new films for the same reasons. Just an observation (I do the same).

[K.L. Davis]

Lonesome Dove
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
The Cowboys
Tombstone
Trinity is still my name

[VA_Dinger]

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Fist Full of Dollars

My top two. :D

[Dunderway]

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Fist Full of Dollars

My top two. :D

Probably the best two out of the "man with no name" series. I just watched "The Eiger Sanction". It wasn't a western, but it is the most underated Eastwood film ever. Great action movie IMO.

[kmrtnsn]

Any Kurasawa samarai movie redone as a western.

[dookie1481]

Two very good "modern westerns" IMO. Enjoyed them both.

Two of my favorite movies of all time. "No Country For Old Men" is one of the greatest books I have ever read.

I have been turning into a movie buff of late, and Peckinpah seems to be one of the most ripped-off directors ever, so what movies of his should I watch?

Jay