Western films come in different flavors. Romance, Comedy, Revisionist, Zapata etc…
What are the best War Westerns ever made …
my pick “Fort Apache, Major Dundy, Dances With Wolves”…
Obviously this must be westerns set in the American civil war
So The Good the Bad and the Ugly is a prime example 
[quote=“Lindberg, post:2, topic:1517”]Obviously this must be westerns set in the American civil war
So The Good the Bad and the Ugly is a prime example ;)[/quote]
Or maybe just westerns set around the army. Fort Apache is not based during the civil war as I recall. If it’s just army westerns then Fort Apache would certainly qualify as a favourite.
Civil War:
The Horse Soldiers
Shenandoah
Mix of Cavalry vs Indians Westerns and Civil War Westerns:
Major Dundee
Escape from Fort Bravo
California (at the beginning)
Days of Violence
GBU
Even though the Civil War has ended in The Hellbenders, I sometimes feel it has not mainly due to how obsessed the Joseph Cotten character is and his plan of reorganizing Confederate troops in the Southwest with the stolen cash.
Yes, Hellblenders is a good example, cause it deals with war an beyond. War is not onjly war, but also the consequences.
Now one other question:
Westerns with the civil war are war westerns. OK.
Are films on the civil war westerns as well, or do we need a westerner, who somehow gets into the civil war?
So, is something like “Gettysburg” a war western? I don’t think so, we need something else, like Blondie and Tuco.
The Wild Bunch seems like a cross between a western and a war movie
Just look a the weapons used
The Hellbenders certainly feels like a war movie, a so does The Mercenary
Yes I think Gettysburg (TV movie) qualifies as both a western and a war movie
[quote=“scherpschutter, post:7, topic:1517”]The Wild Bunch seems like a cross between a western and a war movie
Just look a the weapons used
The Hellbenders certainly feels like a war movie, a so does The Mercenary
Yes I think Gettysburg (TV movie) qualifies as both a western and a war movie[/quote]
Geez. I don’t know. I don’t think it Gettysburg is a western at all. To me there is nothing western about Gettyburg except that it takes place during the same timeframe as the settlement of the western US.
Generally, I feel that it has to SET in the American west (or the border region). Although I do recognize a category that I call non-western westerns (The Proposition, for example) that are set in other locales.
Scherps, why do consider Gettysburg a western?
I guess it also depends upon how one defines “war” as well. As noted above by Phil, Ft Apache is set during the Indian wars. Is that what Satty meant by “war”
And isn’t every western about war?
No, I don’t think so. I think of war as organized conflict. Westerns are generally violent but often involve just individuals. But not to get too semantical about it but it, again depends on teh “definition” of both western and war.
Shane is a war movie if you consider a “range war” a war.
Heartland, an excellent “western,” has no weapons at all.
Of course we’ve had this kind of discussion elsewhere and all agreed to disagree 
But for me a film set in Pennsylvania can’t be considered a western no matter how many horses, guns, big hats and even bigger beards it has in it. I’m with RF on this one. Gettysburg only shares a time frame with westerns.
Gone with the Wind is also not a western.
[quote=“Phil H, post:11, topic:1517”]Of course we’ve had this kind of discussion elsewhere and all agreed to disagree
But for me a film set in Pennsylvania can’t be considered a western no matter how many horses, guns, big hats and even bigger beards it has in it. I’m with RF on this one. Gettysburg only shares a time frame with westerns.[/quote]
Okay, for me it were the horses, hats, guns, big hats and … well, those even bigger beards were a bit over the top
But it felt like a western, unlike, for instance, Glory
I see other people’s point though
I think we can all agree on this
1967’s A Time For Killing starring Glenn Ford, George Hamilton, Inger Stevens, and a young Harrison Ford is a good little “war western.” Hamilton is a Reb officer that refuses to acknowledge the Civil War is over and Ford is a Yankee officer that is tracking him down.
I didn’t check to see if someone alreadfy listed films I’m going to mention but I enjoy maing lists so…
Spaghetti:
Da Good, da Bad, and da Ugly
Reason to Live, Reason to Die
Duck, You Sucker
Bullet for the General
Kill Them All and Come Back Alone
The Mercenary
I Want Him Dead
Bullet for Sandoval
Companeros
Adios, Sabata
His Name Was Holy Ghost (?)
They Call Him Hallelujah
Those Dirty Dogs
Tepepa!!!
The Five Man Army
The Dirty Outlaws
Get Mean (?)
Cut Throats Nine (?)
Guns for San Sebastian (?)
American:
Wild Bunch
They Died with Their Boots On
Vera Cruz
Cut throats nine?
Because Undari is a soldier?
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly :
shows exactly how futile and callous war is, regardless of how noble the cause may be.
A Bullet for the General
an excellent example of conflict during the Mexican Revolution
A Fistful of Dynamite aka Duck You Sucker!
Coburn and Steiger together waging war in Mexico - what’s not to love?
[quote=“Dillinger, post:17, topic:1517”]Cut throats nine?
Because Undari is a soldier?[/quote]Apparently it is set in the Civil War but I my self am not sure about it so that is why the question mark is there.
Just had a revelationabout these types of westerns. I really like em’. Great action. And yes, if you know me weel enough you know where I’m going with this. ;D Article!