Vote for Your Top 20 US Westerns

[tomas]

@Novecento

Any other fans of Heaven’s Gate out there then? I think Michael Cimino was criminally underrated as a director.

You bet. Great movie. Same goes to Deer Hunter.

[IllThinkAboutIt (MMcG)]

I am jumping in late here with a top 20 - never really rated my favourite westerns before and found it hard to balance between older/newer, serious/comedy westerns:
1 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
2 The Hateful Eight
3 Unforgiven
4 Django Unchained
5 The Assassination of Jesse James
6 The Outlaw Josey Wales
7 Tombstone (Kurt Russell)
8 Two Mules For Sister Sara
9 The Wild Bunch
10 Chisum
11 Jesse James (Tyrone Power)
12 True Grit (John Wayne)
13 Rooster Cogburn
14 Rio Bravo
15 Maverick
16 Wyatt Earp (Kevin Costner)
17 Pale Rider
18 Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson)
19 Blazing Saddles
20 Paint Your Wagon

[John_Russell]

From Hell to Texas is a real sleeper. If you haven’t seen it give it a look.

[last.caress]

1. Unforgiven (Eastwood, 1992)
2. High Plains Drifter (Eastwood, 1973)
3. True Grit (Coen Brothers, 2010)
4. The Wild Bunch (Peckinpah, 1969)
5. The Revenant (Iñárritu, 2015)
6. Tombstone (Cosmatos, 1993)
7. Hostiles (Cooper, 2017)
8. 3:10 to Yuma (Mangold, 2007)
9. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Dominik, 2007)
10. The Hateful Eight (Tarantino, 2015)
11. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (Peckinpah, 1973)
12. One-Eyed Jacks (Brando, 1961)
13. The Outlaw Josey Wales (Eastwood, 1976)
14. True Grit (Hathaway, 1969)
15. The Quick and the Dead (Raimi, 1995)
16. The Homesman (Jones, 2014)
17. Django Unchained (Tarantino, 2012)
18. Bone Tomahawk (Zahler, 2015)
19. The Searchers (Ford, 1956)
20. Pale Rider (Eastwood, 1985)

Haven’t done this in a couple of years so I thought I’d update, although I’ve only added a couple and stirred the other elements a tiny amount.

[Bill_san_Antonio]

Has @John_Welles been around here lately? He compiled the lists but it haven’t been updated for years.

Btw, it would be nice if the top20 would be in the first post of the topic. Now it’s tricky to find.

[scherpschutter]

Here’s the list compiled by John (to make things easier for everybody)

@John_Welles

With 16 lists, here is the inaugeral SWDB Top 20 U.S. Westerns of All Time!

1. [size=18pt]The Wild Bunch[/size] – 237

2. Pat Garret & Billy the Kid – 124

3. Unforgiven – 118

4. High Noon – 115

5. Ride the High Country – 89

6. Rio Bravo – 86

7. High Plains Drifter – 83

8. One-eyed Jacks – 80

9. The Outlaw Josey Wales – 79 / Ride Lonesome – 79

10. The Searchers – 75

11. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – 71 / My Darling Clementine – 71

12. Pale Rider – 64

13. The Magnificent Seven – 62

14. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance – 58

15. Tombstone – 54

16. Jeremiah Johnson – 53 / Lawman (1971) – 53

17. El Dorado – 51 / The Professionals – 51

18. The Gunfighter – 49

19. The Naked Spur – 46

20. True Grit (2010) – 45

21. Dead Man – 44 / Little Big Man – 44

22. Vera Cruz – 42

23. Hombre – 41

24. The Ox-Bow Incident – 40

25. The Hunting Party – 39 / Warlock – 39

26. Shane – 38

27. The Man from Laramie – 37

28. The Tall T – 36

29. Two Mules for Sister Sara – 35

30. Forty Guns – 34 / Stagecoach – 34

31. The Far Country – 32

32. The Ballad of Cable Hogue – 30

33. Doc – 29 / McCabe and Mrs. Miller – 29

34. Bend of the River – 27 / Open Range – 27

35. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford – 26 / Ulzana’s Raid – 26

36. The Culpepper Cattle Company – 24 / Day of the Outlaw – 24 / Major Dundee – 24

37. Posse – 23

38. Chato’s Land – 22 / Fort Apache – 22 / Monte Walsh (original) – 22
    Man of the West – 21 / Posse from Hell – 21 / Yellow Sky – 21

39. Comanche Station – 20

40. 3:10 to Yuma (remake) – 19 / The Shooting – 19

41. Heaven’s Gate – 18

42. Duel at Diablo – 17 / 3:10 to Yuma (1957) – 17

43. Django Unchained – 16 / Winchester ’73 – 16

44. Buchanan Rides Alone – 15 / Gunfight at the O.K. Corral – 15 / Hang’em High – 46. 15 / Silverado – 15 / She Wore a Yellow Ribbon – 15

45. The Big Country – 14 / Last Train from Gun Hill – 14

46. Johnny Guitar – 13 / Macho Callahan – 13 / Support Your Local Sheriff! – 13

47. Colorado Territory – 12 / Cowboys and Aliens – 12 / 100 Rifles – 12

48. Blazing Saddles – 11 / Deathhunt – 11 / Shanghai Noon – 11

49. The Hired Hand – 10

50. Blood on the Moon – 9 / Mackenna’s Gold – 9 / Man with the Gun – 9 / Seven Men from Now – 9 / Soldier Blue – 9 / The Tin Star – 9

51. The Badlanders – 8 / The Shootist – 8 / Tom Horn – 8 / True Grit – 8 / The True Story of Jesse James – 8

52. Breakheart Pass – 7 / Dawn at Socorro – 7 / Hour of the Gun – 7 / Terror in a Texas Town – 7

53. Boss Nigger – 6 / The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean – 6 / The Quick and the Dead – 6 / Ride, Vaquero! – 6 / Something Big – 6 / Tell Them Willie Boy is here – 6

54. Barbarosa – 5 / Broken Arrow – 5 / The Deadly Trackers – 5 / Four Guns to the Border – 5 / The Spikes Gang – 5

55. The Last of the Fast Guns – 4 / The Last Hard Men – 4 / The Long Riders – 4 / The Stalking Moon – 4 / Union Pacific – 4 / Young Guns – 4

56. Appaloosa – 3 / Barquero – 3 / Rancho Notorious – 3 / Red River – 3 / Santa Fe Trail – 3 / The Violent Men (1953) – 3

57. Buck and the Preacher – 2 / Doge City – 2 / The Paleface – 2 / Three Amigos – 2 / Time for a Killing – 2 / Wagonmaster – 2

58. Cat Ballou – 1 / Dances with Wolves – 1 / Louis L’Amour’s Quick and the Dead – 1 / Man without a Star – 1 / Rio Grande – 1 / Seraphim Falls – 1 / Welcome to Hard Times – 1 / Wyatt Earp – 11 / Zachariah – 1

[tomas]

I think I’ve never done this since I haven’t seen lot of classics, but I am getting through it now…
Does Last Of The Mohicans count?
Aussie flicks probably dont count…
I’m surprised that nobody voted for Missouri Breaks.

1. Unforgiven
2. Outlaw Josey Wales
3. McCabe & Mrs Miller
4. Hateful 8
5. Proposition
6. Last Of The Mohicans
7. Missouri Breaks
8. Jeremiah Johnson
9. Tombstone
10. Assassination Of Jesse James By Bob Ford
11. Little Big Man
12. Deadman
13. Heaven’s Gate
14. The Life And Times Of Judge Roy Bean
15. High Planes Drifter
16. Deathhunt
17. Patt Garret & Billy The Kid
18. Bad Company
19. Hombre
20. Cold Mountain
21. True Grit (2010)

[The_Man_With_a_Name]

@tomas

I’m surprised that nobody voted for Missouri Breaks.

I thought I did. Definitely one of the best.

[aldo]

Not an easy list to compile … and I’m sure I will kick myself for omitting a few classics.

But here goes …

1. The Magnificent Seven
2. The Searchers
3. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
4. The Cowboys
5. Jeremiah Johnson
6. True Grit (1969)
7. A Man Called Horse
8. The Culpepper Cattle Company
9. The Professionals
10. The Scalphunters
11. Vera Cruz
12. The Wild Bunch
13. The Man who shot Liberty Valance
14. El Dorado
15. Red River
16. Ride the High Country
17. The Spikes Gang
18. The Comancheros
19. Shane
20. How the West was Won.

[aldo]

Oooops! … forgot about ‘The Big Country’ Classic

[scherpschutter]

@tomas

I’m surprised that nobody voted for Missouri Breaks.

Good movie, but there are better ones, imo
From the director, I prefer The Left-Handed Gun and Little Big Man to The Missouri Breaks, but all three are good movies. Arthur Penn is one of the very best directors of his era

[tomas]

@scherpschutter

Arthur Penn is one of the very best directors of his era

I’m starting to realize that.

[stanton]

@scherpschutter

Arthur Penn is one of the very best directors of his era

For me also, but it seems his reputation is nowadays steadily sinking.

Of course he could have achieved more considering his talent, but he was probably to sensible, not asshole enough, for all the Hollywood fights.

Bonnie and Clyde, Little Big Man and Night Moves are excellent movies. Three 10ers, not much directors do that for me.

[morgan]

@stanton

Night Moves

Didn’t know this was directed by the same director as did Bonny and Clyde. By now this will not come as a surprise to you I guess. But Night Moves is I think a real beautiful film, one I surely will get back to when I (again) turns to film noir.

[Companero_M (Martin)]

Wasn’t so impressed with The Chase (1966), though. Despite its stellar cast – among others, Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, Angie Dickinson, Robert Duvall and Martha Hyer – the film simply doesn’t work. It was obviously a very ambitious project, dealing with such topics as racism, vigilantism, sexual freedom, small town hypocrisy and whatnot, but it didn’t manage to live up to its makers’ high hopes. In some respect, Brando’s performance is both the film’s boon and bane; as it will be, to an even greater extent, of The Missouri Breaks ten years later.

[The_Man_With_a_Name]

1. Ulzana’s Raid
2. Duel at Diablo
3. El Condor
4. The Wild Bunch
5. Doc
6. The Outlaw Josey Wales
7. Little Big Man
8. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
9. Mr. Horn
10. Monte Walsh
11. The Missouri Breaks
12. The Culpepper Cattle Company
13. McCabe and Mrs Miller
14. Bad Company
15. Mountain Men
16. Breakheart Pass
17. Hombre
18. Heaven’s Gate
19. The Revengers
20. 40 Guns to Apache Pass (good cheesy fun)

I would have included Chato’s Land and Valdez Horses if it wasn’t for the fact they are classed as Eurowesterns. Same with The Hunting Party.

[stanton]

@Companero_M

Wasn’t so impressed with The Chase (1966), though. Despite its stellar cast – among others, Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, Angie Dickinson, Robert Duvall and Martha Hyer – the film simply doesn’t work. It was obviously a very ambitious project, dealing with such topics as racism, vigilantism, sexual freedom, small town hypocrisy and whatnot, but it didn’t manage to live up to its makers’ high hopes.

That was one of the films for which Penn lost the war with the producer. He called it later a Sam Spiegel film and his only real Hollywood film. Penn was not allowed to cut it, and he claimed he did not understand many of the decisions which were made in the cutting phase. But truth is also that the often overly pretentious dialogues was a part of the film’s screenplay.

The Chase could have become a great film considering its potential, but it was kinda ill fated from the beginning on. He shouldn’t have directed it. Still not a bad film. 6/10

[stanton]

@The_Man_With_a_Name

I would have included Chato’s Land and Valdez Horses if it wasn’t for the fact they are classed as Eurowesterns. Same with The Hunting Party.

For me they are allowed as they are basically US westerns.

[alk0]

Well, that wasn’t easy.

1. The Wild Bunch
2. Little Big Man
3. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
4. McCabe & Mrs. Miller
5. The Ox-Bow Incident
6. The Ballad of Cable Hogue
7. The Big Country
8. The Missouri Breaks
9. The Gunfighter
10. Dead Man
11. Heaven’s Gate
12. The Big Sky
13. High Noon
14. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
15. My Darling Clementine
16. The Westerner
17. Tombstone
18. Quigley Down Under
19. Vera Cruz
20. Pale Rider

[Companero_M (Martin)]

@stanton

That was one of the films for which Penn lost the war with the producer. He called it later a Sam Spiegel film and his only real Hollywood film. Penn was not allowed to cut it, and he claimed he did not understand many of the decisions which were made in the cutting phase

Interesting, I didn’t know that. (But we’re off-topic here.)