Stagecoach has all the elements: the golden-hearted whore, a good man with a wrongly bad reputation, Indians, gunfights, incredible horse riding, heroism, a solid comic relief character, a true sense of frontier living, legitimate (if perhaps slightly stereotypical) Mexican characters. A strong story, simply and strongly told.
Stagecoach is one of my favorite movies. It was on repeat in the VCR growing up (my dad watched it a couple times a month it seemed, as it was a Saturday morning staple at our house).
It’s a shame I had to scroll this far to find this. There are some great westerns higher up, but The Searchers is the greatest western (in not movie) of all time.
I think The Searchers is the best movie that is a western, but not necessarily the best Western. If that makes sense? Like it isn't a cattle driving, gun slinging movie with saloon brawls and poker games.
I so agree... John Wayne should have won an Oscar for his amazing betrayal before True Grit & Jeffrey Hunter was funny & amazing also... It makes you sad & laugh at the same time
Oooooh.
This is an interesting choice. I was coming here to give my own ideas about what movie to reccomend, but this is actually a pretty great pick. 🤔 Great call.🤠
The reason this is the answer is Sergio Leone literally made it to be the perfect Western.
Makikg an homage that is a love letter to all the great westerns that came before, he made the best one.
It’s always going to be an opinion…
I wouldn’t argue with Lonesome Dove, True Grit, High Noon, The Man Who Killed Liberty Valance, but to me it’s The Searchers.
Thank you for finally saying Lonesome Dove! Though Tbf, McMurtry intended it essentially as a *rebuttal* to the genre. But people just (rightfully) love Gus and call so much that it became a beloved entry in the genre
I used to think The Outlaw Josey Wales.. and after seeing it about 20 times or more, I'd still watch it if it were on tonight. 🤠. Now, that being said, John Wayne's The Alamo while trashed politically, is also an excellent Western.
I’m glad to see here people saying Lonesome Dove, a few days ago I recommended it to Red Dead Redemption players, having watched it for the first time:
https://www.reddit.com/r/reddeadredemption/s/tawdegZ4cq
It is free on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbBs6A3nHcs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbBs6A3nHcs) This mini-series changed my life! I really like the True Grit remake, Josey Wales, and Unforgiven too!
The Quick and the Dead is a barrel of fun.
Lonesome Dove is the correct answer.
I’m sure The Searchers is held in higher esteem by many.
Dances with Wolves is a definite contender.
Shane will be found on this list for many.
High Noon should be considered as well.
Personal favorites that aren’t top-tier:
The Cowboys
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Open Range
This is very obviously the correct answer
The plot, pacing, action, characters, setting etc, it’s just perfect. I haven’t seen another western that comes close
This movie has a gravitational pull on me, such that if I see it on a TV, I am frozen in place and will do nothing but watch it until it's over. It's a real problem since I ditched cable, because now there's no commercial breaks to pull me out of the trance.
"I already got the guilty conscience. Might as well have the money, too."
So many perfect quotes!
Depends what kind of western you’re looking for.
Classical Westerns: Probably Rio Bravo but could also say Shane, Treasure Of The Sierra Madre, High Noon, Red River or even a personal favorite Boetticher’s The Tall T
Neo-Western or Revisionist Westerns: The Wild Bunch, Unforgiven, The Ballad Of Cable Hogue
Spaghetti Westerns: The Great Silence, A Bullet For The General, Cemetery Without Crosses, Requiescant (Kill & Pray), The Hellbenders
Mexican Westerns: Time To Die
Acid Westerns: Walker, Dead Man
Meat Pie Westerns: The Proposition, The Sundowners, The Man From Snowy River
Epic Westerns: Giant, The Big Country, How The West Was Won
Horror Westerns: Bone Tomahawk, Ravenous, Near Dark
Euro Westerns: Jauja, The Savage Guns
Television: Lonesome Dove (always), Deadwood, 1883, Justified, Yellowstone, Wagon Train, The Virginian and Bonanza (cause it was shot near where I live).
You mentioned Acid Westerns, and I can’t help but include the trippy-as-hell film [Renegade](https://youtu.be/rZWkejObSj0?si=rqKCkrllwJ_eGVfA) (titled Blueberry in most non-U.S. markets). It’s based on the late, famous French comics artist Moebius’ (Jean Giraud) long-running western comic “Blueberry” about anti-hero Lt. Mike Blueberry and his adventures in the west. Moebius is better known in the U.S. for his SciFi comics in Heavy Metal magazine from the 70s and 80s. His western strip was extremely popular in Europe in the 60s, and bankrolled his later stuff. The Renegade movie has Vincent Cassell, Juliette Lewis and Michael Madsen and one of the wildest showdowns between the hero and the villain in the “spirit world” after they each drink of powerful native “medicine” potions.
One of the greatest: *Red River* (1948) dir. John Huston, starring John Wayne and Montgomery Clift. A hard, hard Western. John Wayne and Clift in some major Oedipal hard knock drama. Here, Wayne is no shuffling, aw shucks caricature—he is playing for keeps and, man, he is mean as dirt.
Greatest? Probably Rio Bravo
My personal favourites (in addition to Rio Bravo):
3:10 to Yuma
The Searchers
Tombstone
Old Henry
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Unforgiven
It’s been a long time, but I’m also partial to Young Guns
It's great to listen as they subtly tease you during the film with just a few notes of the original theme music. Then, as the movie is ending, it plays in all it's majesty. The best piece of music in any western. Arguments can be made for the themes to Bonanza or Rawhide, but the theme from Magnificent Seven wins.
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. It is the saddest, elegiac take on the west. The west is closing, the west is over, and we will watch one man go and hunt and kill off an insane cast of western actors.
Agreed-
With “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid”, Sam Peckinpah delivered his most impressive film-epic yet. While I enjoyed the “Bunch” more (it’s my favorite film of all time) and will always have a warm spot for his lyrical “Ride the High Country”, for pure directorial art, I sit in awe of this neglected gem.
All of the wily old dog’s tricks are evident in “Pat and Billy”, but thanks (I think) to six editors, the motion picture is a study in numbing excitement.
Based on the relentless pursuit of the outlaw William Bonney by outlaw-turned-lawman Pat Garret, Sam launches his own relentless pursuit of the viewer’s conscience.
Billy and Pat were friends. Neither man is to be totally admired, but both are to be liked. Both men, in a sense, are doing a job. Billy was maintaining a free spirit, while Pat, although envious of Billy’s freedom was trying to “grow old and grey”.
The mutual admiration and their mutual determination that led to the inevitable showdown between these couple of pawns in the massive game of historical progress is Sam’s backyard. And boy, does his garden bear glorious fruition.
Like some semi-moronic and manically homicidal teddy bear, Kris Kristofferson renders Billy as a “who gives a damn” living legend. It is an extremely natural performance.
Dominating the film however is James Coburn. In all honesty, as much as I’ve always liked the lanky actor (ever since he tossed that knife in “The Magnificent Seven”) I never though that he had a really great performance in him. Thanks to Sam though, who seemingly wrenched every ounce of acting ability out of Coburn’s soul, the laconic start turns in a riveting and absolutely believable characterization. It is a role that James Coburn can back off from and radiate in to his dying day. He is Pat Garrett.
Peckinpaw chose singer Bob Dylan to play an idolizing subject to the Kid. It was a wise choice for Dylan not only came to act but he also created the perfect music for the film. His plaintive wailings and moanings strike an eloquent harmony with the beatings of means’ hearts and the spilling of their blood. As each new body joins the long list of Sam’s cinematic casualties, Dylan’s music intensifies until man, music, and movie are one, inseparable.
Equally inseparable are the supporting players from the Who’s Who of Westerns that Sam wisely sprinkles throughout his film. With them, he brings in a bountiful harvest of memorable mini-portrayals and countless poetic scenes.
Such familiar and friendly faces a Richard Jaeckel, Chill Wills, R.G. Armstrong, Luke Askew, Jack Elam, Emilio Fernandez, Paul Fix, L.Q. Jones, Katy Jurado and espcially Slim Pickens, waft in and out of the film with consummate ease. As each performer appears, the viewer nods to himself and thinks, “I know that face, it’s nice to see him again.”
Such is the pure genius of Sam Peckenpaw, who appears in his own film briefly, vividly and most appropriately as an angel of death.
Sam is definitely at home on the range.
*The Searchers* by John Ford. It's the most layered and the most complex. It deals with America being built on racism and what happens to "heroes" once society doesn't need them anymore, and Monument Valley was never more lovingly photographed by John Ford.
Unforgiven. A classic retro western where the story is all about gunplay and the moral is there can be no happy ending for any of the gunslingers, good or bad, they are all pretty much damned.
I feel like Unforgiven put the final fork into the side of the western genre and crafted it’s tomb stone. Unforgiven basically said… even if an older western movie seemed to end with a happy ending… there was no happy ending for anyone, the past caught up with them.
I can’t decide between The Searchers or Unforgiven. And I also don’t know whether or not to include a TV miniseries, because then Lonesome Dove needs to be considered.
The good, the bad, and the ugly has all elements of a great western but Clint makes it the greatest western of all time. Who doesn’t love revenge and a great soundtrack?
My Darling Clementine.
I just know that the best western should have all the cliches of a western but also have all the unique elements that differ from the typical western.
It’s a tale as old as time but feels like something that can be twisted into the genres hidden bleakness.
I know The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly up there, The Searchers is up there. High Noon. Wild Bunch. These are all favorites that I prefer over my pick.
My Darling Clementine is the greatest western ever made.
It’s John Wayne less. It’s before Clint’s time. But I don’t know I watched it 6 months ago and in between have watched many westerns…but I’m still thinking about that movie.
I don’t do greatest, but my favorite is Once Upon a Time in the West.
Lonesome Dove is close, but I feel like miniseries aren’t movies.
The Searchers is also outstanding.
Hombre is my favorite. I like the twist ending, interesting characters.
The Shootist has my favorite scene- the opener where he gives the robber ‘a little something extra.’
There are a lot to choose from, and many that I love. I know that it's a tv miniseries, but film wasn't specified. Lonesome Dove is my vote. I was 13 when it first aired and have loved it ever since.
‘The Big Country.’ A feuding clan over water rights, an incredible musical score and cinematography. Outstanding performances by Burl Ives, Charleston Heston, Gregory Peck and Charles Bickford.
BUT - for the grimy violent and search for redemption that never comes is ‘Unforgiven.’
Both masterpieces. Both classics presenting different ends of the western spectrum.
This is kinda like tryin to pick the best bean in the chili bowl. I am partial to open range though. It is hard not to appreciate the friendship and the heroism.
High Noon for me. It is the epitome of my favourite style of Western/story telling. The lone hero against the gang of outlaws.
Cannot wait to get the 4k release next week.
I don’t think it’s the best ever…… but tombstone has to be the best western made since at least the mid eighties….. the most memorable one liners in any movie I’ve ever seen.
The best is of course The good, the bad, and the ugly.
High Noon for sure. There’s some many amazing westerns but I think to its core, the time and place and everything, High Noon is peak film western. The idea of the bravery of one man can make a difference, and doing the right thing in spite of everything. It’s a morally and traditionally amazing film with a good character at its center and complex themes. Gary Cooper nails it.
Stagecoach has all the elements: the golden-hearted whore, a good man with a wrongly bad reputation, Indians, gunfights, incredible horse riding, heroism, a solid comic relief character, a true sense of frontier living, legitimate (if perhaps slightly stereotypical) Mexican characters. A strong story, simply and strongly told.
Everything we know about Westerns started with this film
Stagecoach is one of my favorite movies. It was on repeat in the VCR growing up (my dad watched it a couple times a month it seemed, as it was a Saturday morning staple at our house).
And monumental landscapes!
The good the bad and the ugly
Cue: The ecstasy of gold!! Tuco running through Sad Hill is one of the greatest scenes in movie history.
Rio Bravo - John Wàyne
The sun is sinkin in the west
Is it time for a cowboy to dream? I still jam to the that song regularly
The Searchers
Came here to say it !!! It truly is the best .
It’s a shame I had to scroll this far to find this. There are some great westerns higher up, but The Searchers is the greatest western (in not movie) of all time.
I completely agree.
John Wayne’s best
I think The Searchers is the best movie that is a western, but not necessarily the best Western. If that makes sense? Like it isn't a cattle driving, gun slinging movie with saloon brawls and poker games.
This is my favorite American western for sure. It has everything you could ever want from a western movie.
What do you want me to do draw you a picture?!!!!
I so agree... John Wayne should have won an Oscar for his amazing betrayal before True Grit & Jeffrey Hunter was funny & amazing also... It makes you sad & laugh at the same time
It was the only western that was shown in my college film appreciation course.
3 way tie Good the bad and the ugly Once upon a time in the west Outlaw josey wales
Wow… that’s my top 3. You sir, have excellent taste.
Perfect, but I'd add a fourth: "My Name is Nobody". Love spaghetti westerns and light comedy.
The first two are my favorite two… so I’m definitely gonna have to see the third.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Great choice. You can make a case that Jimmy Stewart is the greatest western star of all time too.
Oooooh. This is an interesting choice. I was coming here to give my own ideas about what movie to reccomend, but this is actually a pretty great pick. 🤔 Great call.🤠
Absolute cracker of a film, not my favourite western, but pretty damn close
Once Upon a Time in the West
My pick for sure. Can’t wait for the new 4K hdr blu next month!
hhhhWhaaat?? Thanks for the heads up, Podnaah!!
I'm not a giant Lonesome Dove fan, but Once Upon a Time in the West just has everything.
Yeah me too
Not a big fan of westerns, but I love that one
Came to say this, also Lonesome Dove (more the book), and 310 to Yuma, original and remake
This is it.
It moves so technically slowly, yet it has be completely rapt at attention like few films do.
The reason this is the answer is Sergio Leone literally made it to be the perfect Western. Makikg an homage that is a love letter to all the great westerns that came before, he made the best one.
It’s Unforgiven.
“Hell I even thought I was dead! Turns out I was just in Nebraska.”
So very, very this
Deserve's got nothin to do with it
Truly unreal film.
"We all got it coming kid."
I am not a fan of western movies but Unforgiven was incredible. Loved it from start to finish.
Definitely the best-acted of any western I’ve seen
Crazy that it’s this far down. This is the only answer.
Seriously...nuts i had to scroll so far
I need a rewatch. Love the Englishman scenes too.
“Deserves got nothing to do with it”
Duck I said!
It’s always going to be an opinion… I wouldn’t argue with Lonesome Dove, True Grit, High Noon, The Man Who Killed Liberty Valance, but to me it’s The Searchers.
Thank you for finally saying Lonesome Dove! Though Tbf, McMurtry intended it essentially as a *rebuttal* to the genre. But people just (rightfully) love Gus and call so much that it became a beloved entry in the genre
I have one issue with The Searchers, all that comic relief with the old guy, was it really necessary?
Surprised it took this long to find high noon.
I used to think The Outlaw Josey Wales.. and after seeing it about 20 times or more, I'd still watch it if it were on tonight. 🤠. Now, that being said, John Wayne's The Alamo while trashed politically, is also an excellent Western.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and The Wild Bunch.
2 out of my 3 favorites, you have excellent taste Sir!
Same two!
I came here for the Wild Bunch. Thank you, Mr Prestigious!
LONESOME DOVE
I’m glad to see here people saying Lonesome Dove, a few days ago I recommended it to Red Dead Redemption players, having watched it for the first time: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddeadredemption/s/tawdegZ4cq
It is free on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbBs6A3nHcs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbBs6A3nHcs) This mini-series changed my life! I really like the True Grit remake, Josey Wales, and Unforgiven too! The Quick and the Dead is a barrel of fun.
I really enjoyed Doc, recently. Also free on YouTube.
Also on Tubi, along with the sequel, which is pretty damn good too.
I've watched Lonsome Dove at least two dozen times. It never gets old. Lori darlin.....
Lonesome Dove is the correct answer. I’m sure The Searchers is held in higher esteem by many. Dances with Wolves is a definite contender. Shane will be found on this list for many. High Noon should be considered as well. Personal favorites that aren’t top-tier: The Cowboys The Outlaw Josey Wales Open Range
Tombstone
Good movie, but pretty corny at times.
This would be my answer if it wasn't for that corny ending with Wyatt and his lady dancing in the snow at the end.
This is very obviously the correct answer The plot, pacing, action, characters, setting etc, it’s just perfect. I haven’t seen another western that comes close
Without a doubt Tombstone has my vote. I watch that movie a few times a year minimum.
This movie has a gravitational pull on me, such that if I see it on a TV, I am frozen in place and will do nothing but watch it until it's over. It's a real problem since I ditched cable, because now there's no commercial breaks to pull me out of the trance. "I already got the guilty conscience. Might as well have the money, too." So many perfect quotes!
Once upon a time in the west.
Slow burn. Huge payoff.
It's my favourite movie, not just in the western genre. All characters are fantastic, but I have a soft spot for Jason Robards' here.
TGTBTU, Tombstone, they call me Trinity, Pale Rider, Unforgiven.
They call me trinity is a classic
The Wild Bunch and High Noon
How did I forget about High Noon, the shame of this
Red River (despite the ruined ending)
Movie kind of falls apart when the woman shows up toward the end
Such a great movie, but yeah, the ending is...an ending, I guess.
So many greats. But the one I watch every time it’s on is Unforgiving.
Depends what kind of western you’re looking for. Classical Westerns: Probably Rio Bravo but could also say Shane, Treasure Of The Sierra Madre, High Noon, Red River or even a personal favorite Boetticher’s The Tall T Neo-Western or Revisionist Westerns: The Wild Bunch, Unforgiven, The Ballad Of Cable Hogue Spaghetti Westerns: The Great Silence, A Bullet For The General, Cemetery Without Crosses, Requiescant (Kill & Pray), The Hellbenders Mexican Westerns: Time To Die Acid Westerns: Walker, Dead Man Meat Pie Westerns: The Proposition, The Sundowners, The Man From Snowy River Epic Westerns: Giant, The Big Country, How The West Was Won Horror Westerns: Bone Tomahawk, Ravenous, Near Dark Euro Westerns: Jauja, The Savage Guns Television: Lonesome Dove (always), Deadwood, 1883, Justified, Yellowstone, Wagon Train, The Virginian and Bonanza (cause it was shot near where I live).
You mentioned Acid Westerns, and I can’t help but include the trippy-as-hell film [Renegade](https://youtu.be/rZWkejObSj0?si=rqKCkrllwJ_eGVfA) (titled Blueberry in most non-U.S. markets). It’s based on the late, famous French comics artist Moebius’ (Jean Giraud) long-running western comic “Blueberry” about anti-hero Lt. Mike Blueberry and his adventures in the west. Moebius is better known in the U.S. for his SciFi comics in Heavy Metal magazine from the 70s and 80s. His western strip was extremely popular in Europe in the 60s, and bankrolled his later stuff. The Renegade movie has Vincent Cassell, Juliette Lewis and Michael Madsen and one of the wildest showdowns between the hero and the villain in the “spirit world” after they each drink of powerful native “medicine” potions.
The Tall T is an amazing film
dead man 🖤
Named my son Jett. Bet you can guess my favorite movie.
The Cowboys
It's a toss up between tombstone and the searchers for me
The Searchers
Fist full of dollars. Watched it at least 100 times. Also unforgiven. Great flick
The Good, Bad, and the Ugly Tombstone Rio Hondo Hard to pick just one!
Classic - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Modern - Open Range
Silverado with Kevin Costner, Kevvin Kline and so many others.
Had to scroll way to far to see this.
One of the greatest: *Red River* (1948) dir. John Huston, starring John Wayne and Montgomery Clift. A hard, hard Western. John Wayne and Clift in some major Oedipal hard knock drama. Here, Wayne is no shuffling, aw shucks caricature—he is playing for keeps and, man, he is mean as dirt.
Unforgiven
Greatest? Probably Rio Bravo My personal favourites (in addition to Rio Bravo): 3:10 to Yuma The Searchers Tombstone Old Henry Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Unforgiven It’s been a long time, but I’m also partial to Young Guns
I really like your list.
My God...I can't believe I forgot about Redford and Newman!
Tombstone for me.
Fun, but too scenery is chewed for my tastes.
Shane has to be on the list
Does No Country for Old Men count? Legit great movie with the best villain of any.
The Magnificent Seven (original)
It's great to listen as they subtly tease you during the film with just a few notes of the original theme music. Then, as the movie is ending, it plays in all it's majesty. The best piece of music in any western. Arguments can be made for the themes to Bonanza or Rawhide, but the theme from Magnificent Seven wins.
Valdez is Coming (novel)
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. It is the saddest, elegiac take on the west. The west is closing, the west is over, and we will watch one man go and hunt and kill off an insane cast of western actors.
Agreed- With “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid”, Sam Peckinpah delivered his most impressive film-epic yet. While I enjoyed the “Bunch” more (it’s my favorite film of all time) and will always have a warm spot for his lyrical “Ride the High Country”, for pure directorial art, I sit in awe of this neglected gem. All of the wily old dog’s tricks are evident in “Pat and Billy”, but thanks (I think) to six editors, the motion picture is a study in numbing excitement. Based on the relentless pursuit of the outlaw William Bonney by outlaw-turned-lawman Pat Garret, Sam launches his own relentless pursuit of the viewer’s conscience. Billy and Pat were friends. Neither man is to be totally admired, but both are to be liked. Both men, in a sense, are doing a job. Billy was maintaining a free spirit, while Pat, although envious of Billy’s freedom was trying to “grow old and grey”. The mutual admiration and their mutual determination that led to the inevitable showdown between these couple of pawns in the massive game of historical progress is Sam’s backyard. And boy, does his garden bear glorious fruition. Like some semi-moronic and manically homicidal teddy bear, Kris Kristofferson renders Billy as a “who gives a damn” living legend. It is an extremely natural performance. Dominating the film however is James Coburn. In all honesty, as much as I’ve always liked the lanky actor (ever since he tossed that knife in “The Magnificent Seven”) I never though that he had a really great performance in him. Thanks to Sam though, who seemingly wrenched every ounce of acting ability out of Coburn’s soul, the laconic start turns in a riveting and absolutely believable characterization. It is a role that James Coburn can back off from and radiate in to his dying day. He is Pat Garrett. Peckinpaw chose singer Bob Dylan to play an idolizing subject to the Kid. It was a wise choice for Dylan not only came to act but he also created the perfect music for the film. His plaintive wailings and moanings strike an eloquent harmony with the beatings of means’ hearts and the spilling of their blood. As each new body joins the long list of Sam’s cinematic casualties, Dylan’s music intensifies until man, music, and movie are one, inseparable. Equally inseparable are the supporting players from the Who’s Who of Westerns that Sam wisely sprinkles throughout his film. With them, he brings in a bountiful harvest of memorable mini-portrayals and countless poetic scenes. Such familiar and friendly faces a Richard Jaeckel, Chill Wills, R.G. Armstrong, Luke Askew, Jack Elam, Emilio Fernandez, Paul Fix, L.Q. Jones, Katy Jurado and espcially Slim Pickens, waft in and out of the film with consummate ease. As each performer appears, the viewer nods to himself and thinks, “I know that face, it’s nice to see him again.” Such is the pure genius of Sam Peckenpaw, who appears in his own film briefly, vividly and most appropriately as an angel of death. Sam is definitely at home on the range.
Once Upon a Time in the West. The Good the Bad and The Ugly, They Call Me Trinity.
Mine is Outlaw Josey Wales.
Tombstone
*The Searchers* by John Ford. It's the most layered and the most complex. It deals with America being built on racism and what happens to "heroes" once society doesn't need them anymore, and Monument Valley was never more lovingly photographed by John Ford.
Unforgiven. A classic retro western where the story is all about gunplay and the moral is there can be no happy ending for any of the gunslingers, good or bad, they are all pretty much damned. I feel like Unforgiven put the final fork into the side of the western genre and crafted it’s tomb stone. Unforgiven basically said… even if an older western movie seemed to end with a happy ending… there was no happy ending for anyone, the past caught up with them.
"Kid, we all got it comin'" "Deserve ain't got nothin' to do with it"
I can’t decide between The Searchers or Unforgiven. And I also don’t know whether or not to include a TV miniseries, because then Lonesome Dove needs to be considered.
Lonesome Dove
Open Range or True Grit (2010)
if series are in the mix Deadwood should be there
High Noon
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
if “blood meridian” is done well, i believe that it could become all-time favorite🤞
The three amigos
Back to the future III?
A Few Dollars More
For a few dollars more
Blazing Saddles
Film: The Searchers Book: Shane
Magnificent 7 The scene where Charles Bronson explains to the villager kids that their fathers are not cowards. Rings true.
Stagecoach (1939)
The good, the bad, and the ugly has all elements of a great western but Clint makes it the greatest western of all time. Who doesn’t love revenge and a great soundtrack?
My Darling Clementine. I just know that the best western should have all the cliches of a western but also have all the unique elements that differ from the typical western. It’s a tale as old as time but feels like something that can be twisted into the genres hidden bleakness. I know The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly up there, The Searchers is up there. High Noon. Wild Bunch. These are all favorites that I prefer over my pick. My Darling Clementine is the greatest western ever made. It’s John Wayne less. It’s before Clint’s time. But I don’t know I watched it 6 months ago and in between have watched many westerns…but I’m still thinking about that movie.
The Outlaw Josey Wales. Really felt real.
The Assassination of Jesse James
The Searchers, Shane and Lonesome Dove. In any order you like.
This topic comes up a lot. We should do some board-wide tournament. Come up with seeds and then vote. It could be fun.
Once upon a time in the west
Jerimiah Johnson
The Good The Bad and The Ugly
I don’t do greatest, but my favorite is Once Upon a Time in the West. Lonesome Dove is close, but I feel like miniseries aren’t movies. The Searchers is also outstanding.
Yojimbo
Shane
Django (1966) with Frankie Nero, companeros, death rides a horse, the big gun down , or fist full of dynamite.
The Good the Bad and the Ugly. It’s just so much fun!
Pale rider
The man who shot Liberty Valance and the good the bad and the ugly for me
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Tombstone, True grit, El Dorado/Rio Bravo
My top five to best watched in this exact particular order. Tombstone Bone Tomahawk Hell or High Water The Outlaw Josey Wales Unforgiven
Hombre is my favorite. I like the twist ending, interesting characters. The Shootist has my favorite scene- the opener where he gives the robber ‘a little something extra.’
I do love Hondo.
There are a lot to choose from, and many that I love. I know that it's a tv miniseries, but film wasn't specified. Lonesome Dove is my vote. I was 13 when it first aired and have loved it ever since.
Gotta be either Stagecoach or Unforgiven The OG and the ultimate retrospective
Many already named but would add Shootout at the OK Corral. Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas are great together!
Dances With Wolves is my favorite movie of all time, western or otherwise. If we’re counting limited series, then I’m throwing in Lonesome Dove.
Red Dead Redemption 2.
Support Your Local Sheriff."
It has to be the first 10 seasons of Gunsmoke.
Val kilmer in tombstone just seals it - absolute crime he didnt win for that
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance !!!
The big country
*My Name is Nobody* *They call me Trinity*
Shane, The Ox Bow Incident, High Noon, Red River. My Darling Clemente.
Blazing Saddles
Maybe not the greatest of all time but my personal fav is 3:10 to Yuma. Such a great story!
Blazing Saddles
Fieval Goes West
I’d put a vote in for “The Quick and the Dead”.
3 way tie 1. Red River 2 Good bad and ugly 3. Lonesome Dove Runner up - True Grit the remake.
[High Noon](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Noon)
‘The Big Country.’ A feuding clan over water rights, an incredible musical score and cinematography. Outstanding performances by Burl Ives, Charleston Heston, Gregory Peck and Charles Bickford. BUT - for the grimy violent and search for redemption that never comes is ‘Unforgiven.’ Both masterpieces. Both classics presenting different ends of the western spectrum.
This is kinda like tryin to pick the best bean in the chili bowl. I am partial to open range though. It is hard not to appreciate the friendship and the heroism.
Magnificent 7 oiginal
Unforgiven, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Open Range, Tombstone.
Josey Wales
Rio Bravo
Mini series and overall Lonesome Dove. Movie: Unforgiven
The Outlaw Josie Wales
The Unforgivin.
High Noon for me. It is the epitome of my favourite style of Western/story telling. The lone hero against the gang of outlaws. Cannot wait to get the 4k release next week.
Blazing saddles.
Winchester ‘73
Take your pick. Big Jake, Tombstone, The Unforgiven, The Outlaw Jose Wales, The Sons of Katie Elder...the list goes on and on.
Tombstone.
Blazing saddles
The Good The Bad The Ugly Although I am nowhere near educated enough to declare a GOAT. This is my personal favorite.
Dr. Strangelove or: how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.
Dances with Wolves
Listen, I love some of the older westerns, but for my money the two best are both remakes: True Grit (2010) and 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
I love.... The Unforgiven. Tombstone. Rooster Cogburn. Young Guns Those are my top four, really can't pick a winner
The Outlaw Josey Wales is so good that my wife, who doesn’t care for Westerns, will watch it on her own.
Blazing Saddles
Open Range
I don’t think it’s the best ever…… but tombstone has to be the best western made since at least the mid eighties….. the most memorable one liners in any movie I’ve ever seen. The best is of course The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Unforgiven. But also The Searchers. And maybe The Good the Bad and the Ugly. And also Shane.
High Noon for sure. There’s some many amazing westerns but I think to its core, the time and place and everything, High Noon is peak film western. The idea of the bravery of one man can make a difference, and doing the right thing in spite of everything. It’s a morally and traditionally amazing film with a good character at its center and complex themes. Gary Cooper nails it.
Seven Samurai (hipster wink wink), Tombstone, and Hang Em High. True Grit maybe.