Best Westerns (not about hotels)

[Sir Thursday]

I'm seeing a lot of good stuff that I missed in the OP, and some that I'll need to check out on Netflix. I'm not too picky with definitions, "Django Unchained", "There will be blood", and "No Country for Old Men" are close enough for me. I enjoyed the latter two, though I haven't seen "Django Unchained" yet. Also the "Red Dead Redemption" game deserved to be mentioned in the OP.

I realize that I left out a rather fun western subgenre, which I like to call "East meets Western", the Kung-Fu/Western crossover. David Carradine in the original "Kung Fu" television series is probably the classic of this subgenre, though I've seen a few others notably "The Warrior's Way" a campy romp that owes as much to Kurosawa as Leone.

I remember enjoying Shanghai Noon, although admittedly I was a bit younger at the time. Seems to fit into the "East meets West" bracket.

ST

[Sharpes]

Yeah, love the westerns, though I never used to like them growing up. I liked Django Unchained though it was slow going. I really enjoy Asian-themed ones like Yojimbo (maybe since it's set in 1860?), most of the Zaitochi films. The Man from Snowy River (1982) has a bit of a Aussie western vibe to it and great music. Dances with Wolves. The Last Wagon (1956). Hearts of the West (1975), Once Upon a Time in Mexico, El Mariachi (1992), The Three Burials of Melquiades (with Tommy Lee Jones) come to mind. Oh, and Ned Kelly (2003) with Heath Ledger.

Wouldn't mind catching any decent Eastern European or Chinese western types if anyone knows of any?

And who can forget the F Troop series with its campy western satire. :P

[Independent George]

Does Treasure of the Sierra Madre count as a western?

The Magnificent Seven, High Noon, Unforgiven, Once Upon A Time in the West, and the Dollars series are obvious classics.

And, of course, Deadwood for television westerns.

[DaarioKnowsBest]

Stumbled across this fantastic animated western/horror short called The Backwater Gospel.

Only 9 minutes but I thought it incredible enough to share.

[Winterfell is Burning]

Favorite Westerns in random order:

The Searchers

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

My Darling Clementine

High Noon

Once Upon a Time in the West

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

No Country for Old Men (yes, it's a western)

Unforgiven

There Will Be Blood (if it counts as a western- one can make a case either way)

[GallowKnight]

While not my favourite Western movie (it's a toss up between For a Few Dollars More, The Outlaw Josey Wales and Dead Man for that title) I still feel the need to mention the original Django movie, a highly entertaining spaghetti western in my opinion.

[Weeping Sore]

I'm sorry, but I have to take issue with this. While Once Upon a Time in the West is certainly Leone's greatest Western, Once Upon a Time in America is hands-down, without a doubt, his overall best movie (please note, I'm referring to the 4 hours director's cut version which premiered at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival and not the atrocity that premiered in U.S. theaters). There's also a 4 hour, 15 minute version that screened at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival which I haven't yet seen and then of course there's the 4.5 hour original version that was shown at the Italian premiere which Martin Scorsese, among others, have been attempting to restore. The butchering that happened to the version of the film that was the U.S. theatrical release devastated Leone, and Once Upon a Time in America ended up being his last film.

Once Upon a Time in America is certainly Leone's most ambitious film. I've only seen the 4 hour cut, but it seems to me it strives for more psychological depth than it really achieves. For me it doesn't help that the characters are not very likeable, and the female lead doesn't really do it for me. Odd because I love De Niro and James Woods. West takes an operatic style to its apotheosis, while America attempts more complexity, but falls short of its ambitions in my book.

[SerMixalot]

cant forget The Ox-Bow Incident-outstanding film.

[Weeping Sore]

cant forget The Ox-Bow Incident-outstanding film.

That's a great one.

I also forgot Nicholas Ray's amazing psycho-sexual Western Johnny Guitar (1954) with Sterling Hayden and Joan Crawford.

Then there's Duel in the Sun (1946) an epic, totally flamboyant Western/ star-crossed love story made by the producer of Gone with the Wind. Nick-named "Lust in the Dust" for good reason.

[polishgenius]

Oh yeah, two more comedy-focused Westerns that I forgot to mention before:

Rango, the animated film from last year. Totally odball tribute to both old Westerns and film noir. Marketed as a children's film; really, really isn't. It's also darkly hilarious.

The Good, the Bad, the Weird, a Korean concoction set in 1930s Manchuria. Unquestionably a Western though, with all the trimmings, plus a massive dose of Kung-Fu Hustle style humour thrown in. It's very strange and in some places rather unwieldy, but if you've not seen it it's well worth a gander. Good solid action too, the one thing Kim Ji-Woon can always be relied on to deliver.

[Weeping Sore]

Moving on, I'm going back and forth with myself over whether The Grapes of Wrath can be considered a Western. It obviously centers around the West, it deals with many Western themes and the cinematography is definitely inspired by the Western genre, being as it was directed by John Ford, but I'm having trouble committing all the way.

It has a Western setting, but I don't think it's close enough to genre conventions to really feel like a Western. I don't know, I think I'd have an easier time calling Sierra Madre a Western than Grapes. But it's been a while since I saw the latter.

[maarsen]

Whaaatt? Nobody mentioned Cat Ballou yet? Lee Marvin won an Oscar for his role in this movie. Kids today have so much to learn.

Little Big Man was another no one seems to know anymore.

I just remembered another one, with John Wayne too, and at his best. The Shootist.

[Hutch]

I was trying to find a movie the other night, but wasn't sure of the name. I think it's The Daybreakers. Anyway it was based on a couple of Louis Lamore's Sackett series, and had Tom Sellick in it. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

[maarsen]

I was trying to find a movie the other night, but wasn't sure of the name. I think it's The Daybreakers. Anyway it was based on a couple of Louis Lamore's Sackett series, and had Tom Sellick in it. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Your'e right. I remember it coming out but I did not watch it so I can't comment on it.

[thecryptile]

Whaaatt? Nobody mentioned Cat Ballou yet? Lee Marvin won an Oscar for his role in this movie. Kids today have so much to learn.

I haven't seen that one, another one for the Netflix queue.

Little Big Man was another no one seems to know anymore.

I remember it now, lol. There's just so much material here.

I just remembered another one, with John Wayne too, and at his best. The Shootist.

A classic. The fact that Wayne was terminally ill while playing the terminally ill main character adds to the film.

[all swedes are racist]

How about some Robert Mitchum love for all those who are hating on The Duke? While I so like John Wayne, Mitchum is one of my favorite actors, and in my opinion one of the most criminally underrated. I got introduced from his excellent work in crime/noir movies, but really dug his westerns.

El Dorado, River of No Return, he was even in Dead Man and the Narrator in Tombstone.

[wolverine]

Rango, the animated film from last year. Totally odball tribute to both old Westerns and film noir. Marketed as a children's film; really, really isn't. It's also darkly hilarious.

We tried watching this the other night and could not get into it at all.

Eastwood has such an amazing stage presence I could watch his movies anytime.

Once Upon a Time in the West has a great feel and Claudia Cardinale is simply stunning. Makes it difficult to believe she was heading out there to meet that other scrub.

[all swedes are racist]

:agree:

Vera Cruz is also great.

Also, The Wild Bunch should have been mentioned already.

Shit. Kicking myself for forgetting that one

[Black Wolf Smith]

As far as the Spaghetti Westerns, The Great Silence (1968) with Klaus Kinski is an overlooked gem notable for it's snowy setting. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) is probably Sergio Leone's best movie, and one of Ennio Morrocone's best scores. Henry Fonda is absolutely chilling as the villain.

That is the best Spaghetti Western, and one of the best movies ever made. Fonda as the villain, Charles Bronson as the hero/anti-hero role, just amazing. The music thru out was perfect, might be the best scored western ever.

Anyway, my favourites are High Noon, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Shane, Unforgiven, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

All really good, Shane which IDT anybody had brought up, and AoJJ really showed that Ben's little brother wasn't riding his coat tails any longer. Yes Gone baby Gone came out about the same time, but AoJJ was shot first, and GBG was Ben's project.

Little Big Man was another no one seems to know anymore¹.

I just remembered another one, with John Wayne too, and at his best. The Shootist².

1. I loved that movie as a child/teen, really funny, as well as dramatic. In many was it was like a Pre Forrest Gump, might be where Groom got the idea from. 2. Great Movie, IMO Wayne's best acting (or maybe it was the cancer) , and Ron Howard.

[malek]

'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' is the best for me (Yep I loved it even more then 'Once Upon a Time in the West'). I found that it combines western with a bit of Homer's odissey, in the best possible way. Tuco must be one of the greatest characters ever to grace a TV screen.

How no one by now mentioned legendary westerns like 'The Magnificent Seven', or even more importantly 'The Wild Bunch' ?!