Westerns

[chikin23]

Sitting here on the couch watching Unforgiven on Bravo.

One of my favorites along with most of the rest of Clint's.

Others?

The Searchers and a slew of other John Wayne movies.
Tombstone
Gunfight at the OK Corral

There's a Jimmy Stewart one, has to do with a rifle, can't think of the name...

[SAhornfan]

Sitting here on the couch watching Unforgiven on Bravo.

One of my favorites along with most of the rest of Clint's.

Others?

The Searchers and a slew of other John Wayne movies.
Tombstone
Gunfight at the OK Corral

There's a Jimmy Stewart one, has to do with a rifle, can't think of the name...
You're thinking of Winchester '73.

For my money, the best western is The Searchers; IMHO, John Wayne's best performance. In no particular order, here are my favorties: Red River, High Noon, The Magnificent Seven, The Wild Bunch, Outlaw Josie Wales, Silverado, Unforgiven and Dances With Wolves.

[chikin23]

Yeah, Winchester '73, don't know why I like that one, just do.

I'll agree with the Searchers being one of the top Westerns.

Have you seen that new one, Appaloosa, I believe?

[SAhornfan]

Yeah, Winchester '73, don't know why I like that one, just do.

I'll agree with the Searchers being one of the top Westerns.

Have you seen that new one, Appaloosa, I believe?
No, I haven't seen it. One that I forgot to mention (not sure how it slipped my mind) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

[Procyon]

For me, The Searchers is the best of all time. Here's my list:

1. The Searchers
2. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence
3. Shane
4. The Shootist
5. Unforgiven

One of my other favorites that nobody has mentioned is My Darling Clementine.

[golfhorn]

Lonesome Dove

[chikin23]

I liked Open Range and the remake of 3:10 to Yuma was okay, but not great.

I've heard good things about the series Deadwood, anybody seen that?

[Procyon]

Deadwood was great. I was really PO'd when they canceled the series. They were supposed to make a couple of episodes to wrap up loose ends, but they have not done it. I liked it so much that I bought all the DVD's for the series.

BTW, Appaloosa is a very good movie. Somebody asked about that above.

[chikin23]

That was me, haven't seen it, just curious if it was worth watching.

[A L BEVO]

Where is Hamhorn when you need him?
He can make you a great list of westerns.
Here goes...

1.The Searchers, BTW the best movie ever made.
2.Lonesome Dove, it just has everything that should be in a western movie.
3.The Big Country, "Teach yer grandmother to suck eggs!"Burl Ives nough said.
4.The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
5.Shane
6.Tombstone
7.The Far Country Jimmy Stewart
8.Once Upon a Time in the West
9.The Outlaw Josey Wales
10.The Wild Bunch
11.The Good The Bad & The Ugly
12.Stagecoach with John Wayne
13.Tall in the Saddle John Wayne
14.Angle & the Badman John Wayne
15.How the West Was Won
16.Unforgiven Clint Eastwood
17.Dances With Wolves
18.Red River John Wayne
19.The Plainsman Gary Cooper
20.The Magnificent Seven

There are many others that star people like Gregory Peck,Walter Brennan,Goerge "Habby" Hayes,Steve Mc Queen,Jack Palance,Jack Elam, Slim Pickens, Gene Autry, Audie Murphy, & many others I can't think of off the cuff!
Westerns are my favorite type of movies.
I love em.
I watch em on AMC & TCM & the Western Channel all of the time.
I almost left out Burt Lancaster who made many great westerns.


Catfish

[PFD]

My favorites include:

Old School

The Searchers
The Magnificent Seven
The Sons of Katie Elder
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Pale Rider

New School
Tombstone
Unforgiven
The Hi-Lo Country
Open Range

[RepOfTexas]

I almost left out Burt Lancaster who made many great westerns.

Any time I hear Jimmy Stewart and western I automatically think of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Since you mentioned Burt Lancaster the one that always comes to mind and cracks me up thinking about those drunk Indians is The Hallelujah Trail.

[crackthewhip]

Any time I hear Jimmy Stewart and western I automatically think of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Since you mentioned Burt Lancaster the one that always comes to mind and cracks me up thinking about those drunk Indians is The Hallelujah Trail.


I think Burt Lancaster and I think of Valdez is Coming. The man was as relentless as the terminator.

[CalHorn]

I loves me some Westerns . . .

Unforgiven -- best Western of all time, IMO

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly -- tremendous spaghetti Western; maybe the best film score of any Western; sheer brilliance.

Once Upon a Time in the West -- more awesomeness from Sergio Leone; Henry Fonda makes a tremendous villain; another tremendous score from Morricone.

True Grit -- the Duke . . . what else can you say?

Outlaw Josey Wales -- stellar Clintness and Chief Dan George nearly steals the show

Jeremiah Johnson -- a tremendous film loosely based on the life of John "Liver Eating Johnson (some sources say "Johnston"), who waged a personal vendetta against the Crow Nation for many years; Redford as mountain man; Stefan Gierasch and Will Geer were excellent in supporting roles.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid -- sure it's a Hollywood version of the Wild Bunch, but the connection between Newman and Redford made it work

The Stalking Moon -- an underappreciated, little-known gem starring Gregory Peck trying to protect a woman and her son from the son's father -- a deadly Apache bent on getting him back

Pale Rider -- more Western mysticism from Clint

The Searchers -- I'm not a big fan of older Westerns simply because they tend to be unrealistic and over-romanticized Hollywood productions, but John Wayne's performance in this one can't be denied. I wouldn't put it on my Top 10, but I can understand why many believe it's a classic.

Lonesome Dove -- Jones and Duvall match the chemistry that Newman and Redford had

Deadwood -- a marvelous series; HBO execs should be boiled in oil for pulling the plug even if the show was expensive to produce

The Shootist -- a hell of a role for the end of John Wayne's career

Bad Company -- a tremendous, little-known Western set during the Civil War and directed by Robert Benton. A very young Jeff Bridges and the late Barry Brown are excellent in a movie that captured just how bleak and non-romantic the West really was.

For A Few Dollars More -- more revisionist spaghetti westernism from Leone and Eastwood

A Fistful of Dollars -- the first of Leone's spaghetti Western trilogy with Eastwood

The Proposition -- a very hardcore Australian western from a few years ago that was unmerciful in its showing of how brutal and bleak outback Australia was during the 19th Century

Magnificent Seven -- I don't like this one as much as some do, but it still rates high

Dances With Wolves -- Ditto, but somehow I always end up watching it whenever I catch it while flipping through channels. There's a lot of hokum in this movie, but I do appreciate the manner in which it portrayed Native Americans.

Open Range -- I liked this one, mostly because of Duvall and the fact that Costner didn't annoy me nearly as much as in most of his other films; not great, but not bad, either.

The Assassination of Jesse James . . . -- Was I the only one who saw or liked this film?; I thought Brad Pitt was very good as Jesse James and Casey Affleck definitely deserved an Oscar nomination for his role as Bob Ford; based on an excellent book by Ron Hansen; the movie was made all the better because they lifted a ton of dialogue directly from the book; the movie does drag a bit, though.

The Wild Bunch -- unrealistic in many ways, but you've got to appreciate the unsanitized way Peckinpaugh dealt with the gunplay in this one.

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid -- any movie with Slim Pickens in it can't be all bad; proved Bob Dylan couldn't act but could come up with a compelling theme song

Tom Horn -- one of Steve McQueen's best jobs toward the end of his career;

The Grey Fox -- Richard Farnsworth is outstanding as Old Bill Miner

Ride With the Devil -- Jeffrey Wright and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers were excellent in supporting roles in this Ang Lee film set in Missouri during the Civil War

[UTCoppell]

Thanks CalHorn. Great List.

The Undefeated - John Wayne, Rock Hudson, Merlin Olsen and Roman Gabriel. Fun to watch.

High Noon - Gary Cooper classic.

The one with James Stewart where they gave the history of the west.

[Procyon]

Here's another great one nobody has mentioned:

Ulzana's Raid - stars Burt Lancaster. Probably the most accurate depiction of the Apache ever put on film. Very bloody.

[Chigger100]

Saturday night I watched Unforgiven and Outlaw Josey Wales back to back. It was a good cable night.

The list presented so far has some great ones. I also like Big Jake a lot and the Sons of Katie Elder just to see John Wayne smack the hell out of George Kennedy. One of the best movie hits ever.

Some others that I like are the Trinity movies, Cheyenne Social Club, Big Hand for the Little Lady and Evil Roy Slade with John Astin. The last one is cheesy and stupid but I love it.

[SAhornfan]

I need to include Little Big Man and Blazing Saddles.

[Procyon]

Completely forgot about Little Big Man - one of my favorites.

LBM trivia: There is a village named Garryowen near the battle site of Custer's Last Stand.

[CalHorn]

Here's another great one nobody has mentioned:

Ulzana's Raid - stars Burt Lancaster. Probably the most accurate depiction of the Apache ever put on film. Very bloody.

Yep, Ulzana's Raid is another good one. It's been many years since I've seen that film.

I put High Noon in the same category as The Searchers -- not one of my personal faves but I can see why many others rate it so highly. It's a classic . . . just not for me.

Should have mentioned High Plains Drifter, which along with Pale Rider extends the "Man with No Name" trilogy and archetype. I like other Clint movies better, but High Plains was a very good addition to his body of work.

I didn't mention No Country for Old Men, simply because I don't think it neatly fits in this genre, but it could be called a modern Western. And the Last of the Mohicans (the modern version with Daniel Day-Lewis) is basically a Western set in the French and Indian War.

I also didn't mention Blazing Saddles because it's more comedy than Western. Damn good film, though.

I didn't mention McCabe and Mrs. Miller because I've never seen it all the way through. I'm going to have to rectify that oversight soon.

I've also enjoyed Rio Bravo, the Long Riders, Tombstone, Wyatt Earp, 3:10 to Yuma and Big Jake -- though none of them would make my top 10

[SAhornfan]

I also didn't mention Blazing Saddles because it's more comedy than Western. Damn good film, though.


I only mentioned it because it was a comedy set in the west, Rock Ridge to be specific. Very funny and very, very, un-PC. Also, as Calhorn said, "any movie with Slim Pickens in it can't be all bad".

[A L BEVO]

There are so many good ones, it is hard to think of all of them at one time.
I loved Little Big Man.
Another good one is A Man Called Horse.
Appaloosa is a very good film & the old Appaloosa with Marlon Brando is another good story.
The Long Riders is a brilliant film, using all the brothers in it.
The Life & times of Judge Roy Bean is a good one.
The Sacketts with Tom Seleck & Sam Elliot is great.
So many...

Catfish

[A L BEVO]

Also, both versions of Monty Walsh are good.

[SAhornfan]

There are so many good ones, it is hard to think of all of them at one time.
I loved Little Big Man.
Another good one is A Man Called Horse.
Appaloosa is a very good film & the old Appaloosa with Marlon Brando is another good story.
The Long Riders is a brilliant film, using all the brothers in it.
The Life & times of Judge Roy Bean is a good one.
The Sacketts with Tom Seleck & Sam Elliot is great.
So many...

Catfish
I saw the L&T of Judge Roy Bean for the first time last weekend. Let's just say that my opinion of it isn't quite as favorable as yours. I guess if everyone liked the same stuff, we'd be singing kumbaya on the politics board with Lat, True and jgxxxx.

[RepOfTexas]

I think Burt Lancaster and I think of Valdez is Coming. The man was as relentless as the terminator.
Valdez is Coming had one of the worst endings ever in my opinion. "Or you could just pay the hundred dollars". What!? Are you kidding me? How about 6 guns a blazin'? Needless to say I felt really cheated.

[djbfootball]

There are so many good ones, it is hard to think of all of them at one time.
I loved Little Big Man.
Another good one is A Man Called Horse.
Appaloosa is a very good film & the old Appaloosa with Marlon Brando is another good story.
The Long Riders is a brilliant film, using all the brothers in it.
The Life & times of Judge Roy Bean is a good one.
The Sacketts with Tom Seleck & Sam Elliot is great.
So many...

Catfish


The Sacketts

I have read just about all of the Louis L'Amour Books!!

Anything with John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart!!

[A L BEVO]

I saw the L&T of Judge Roy Bean for the first time last weekend. Let's just say that my opinion of it isn't quite as favorable as yours. I guess if everyone liked the same stuff, we'd be singing kumbaya on the politics board with Lat, True and jgxxxx.

Not a great one, true, just kinda funny.
And I only sing solo.
Certainly not a choir like that one!:-D
That one is so far left, it left the ballpark!=))

Catfish

[mdhorn]

There are so many good ones, it is hard to think of all of them at one time.
I loved Little Big Man.
Another good one is A Man Called Horse.
Appaloosa is a very good film & the old Appaloosa with Marlon Brando is another good story.
The Long Riders is a brilliant film, using all the brothers in it.
The Life & times of Judge Roy Bean is a good one.
The Sacketts with Tom Seleck & Sam Elliot is great.
So many...

Catfish

A Man Called Horse was great. It's hard to find a real bad one but the one where Burt Reynolds plays an Indian is terrible.

[hamhorn]

Thanks, Albert.

Here's my list:

-The Searchers
-The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
-The Unforgiven
-Red River
-The Professionals
-Lonesome Dove
-She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
-My Darling Clementine
-Pale Rider
-Open Range
-Stagecoach
-Rio Bravo
-The Long Riders
-True Grit
-The Outlaw Josey Wales
-Cat Ballou
-The Stalking Moon
-Fort Apache
-The Appaloosa (Marlon Brando)
-Three Godfathers
-Monte Walsh
-Shane (just the scenes with Jack Palance)
-The Gray Fox
-The Comancheros
-Rio Grande

I liked High Noon when I was a kid, before I figured out that Kane/Cooper was a marshall in a town of cowards.

[SAhornfan]

I liked High Noon when I was a kid, before I figured out that Kane/Cooper was a marshall in a town of cowards.
Good list, ham. Isn't that usually the way townspeople were portrayed? Look at High Plains Drifter, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, Silverado, Open Range, etc. They all needed the Sheriff, Marshall or outsider to control the bad guys.

[hamhorn]

Can't argue with you, SA.

I do know that Howard Hawks despised the movie and that his "reply" movie was "Rio Bravo": John Wayne found "a few good men" in town who were willing to join him: Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, Ricky Nelson, Arthur Hunnicut, and even Pedro Gonzales Gonzales.

[TENHORN]

Deadwood was great. I was really PO'd when they canceled the series. They were supposed to make a couple of episodes to wrap up loose ends, but they have not done it. I liked it so much that I bought all the DVD's for the series.

BTW, Appaloosa is a very good movie. Somebody asked about that above.


Haven't seen the movie, Appaloosa, but I have read the book and it was very good.

[SAhornfan]

Can't argue with you, SA.

I do know that Howard Hawks despised the movie and that his "reply" movie was "Rio Bravo": John Wayne found "a few good men" in town who were willing to join him: Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, Ricky Nelson, Arthur Hunnicut, and even Pedro Gonzales Gonzales.
Rio Bravo didn't have Arthur Hunnicutt in it. You're thinking of El Dorado. They are nearly identical movies, possibly could be considered a remake. Hunnicutt played the Walter Brennan role.

[hamhorn]

You're right, you're right. Hunnicutt was hard to forget.

[PFD]

Rio Bravo didn't have Arthur Hunnicutt in it. You're thinking of El Dorado. They are nearly identical movies, possibly could be considered a remake. Hunnicutt played the Walter Brennan role.


IMO, El Dorado is one of the underrated John Wayne westerns. I liked Robert Mitchum as the drunken sheriff and James Caan as "Mississippi" (i.e., the riverboat gambler who was good with a knife but used the sawed-off shotgun because he couldn't shoot). Their chemistry with The Duke was great.

McLintock is another of my sentimental John Wayne favorites.

[tfh714]

Not a big fan of Westerns generally, but a couple of "contemporary" ones I loved are The Unforgiven and Tombstone. Val Kilmer is great in Tombstone: "I'll be your Hucklberry."

[Procyon]

You're right, you're right. Hunnicutt was hard to forget.


One of my favorite episodes of Bonanza had Hoss being attacked by bad guys and holed up in a mining shack with Hunnicutt and his lazy dog, Walter. Walter saves the day even though he barely moves during the entire hour. Hilarious. =D>

[chikin23]

Not a big fan of Westerns generally, but a couple of "contemporary" ones I loved are The Unforgiven and Tombstone. Val Kilmer is great in Tombstone: "I'll be your Hucklberry."

There's a whole lot of good lines in that movie.

[AugustaHorn]

My all-time favorite western's list is very similar to hamhorn's. And many other favs mentioned by others here are also on my list. I'm particularly glad that a few so-called lesser films have been mentioned, like The Undefeated, Cat Ballou and Rio Bravo. I also really liked Major Dundee and Alvarez Kelly, although both were more like Civil War movies than westerns.

One of the few westerns that I did NOT like was "Paint Your Wagon"...borrrrring!

[SAhornfan]

One of the few westerns that I did NOT like was "Paint Your Wagon"...borrrrring!
Any western that has Clint Eastwood and and Lee Marvin should be a hit. It's when you have them sing that things go terribly wrong.:-O
Another of my favorites is The War Wagon. Sure the "cheese" factor was high but it was entertaining.

[chikin23]

The War Wagon was a good one.

[KBrown87]

In order

Unforgiven
Hang'em High
Good Bad and Ugly
Little Big Man
Tombstone (although the last 15 minutes should've been 30 seconds)


Honorable mention: Westworld. :)

[CalHorn]

I watched "Jeremiah Johnson" on DVD last night and realized that if I hadn't mentioned it on my list, I should have. Gotta consider it a Western though it's set in the 1840s. Top-notch movie with awesome scenery and one of the better scripts. Tip of the cap in particular to Will Geer (a/k/a Grandpa Walton) for inhabiting the character of Chris "Bear Claw" Lapp in a supporting role.

[KBrown87]

I didn't mention No Country for Old Men, simply because I don't think it neatly fits in this genre, but it could be called a modern Western. And the Last of the Mohicans (the modern version with Daniel Day-Lewis) is basically a Western set in the French and Indian War.

I've also enjoyed Rio Bravo, the Long Riders, Tombstone, Wyatt Earp, 3:10 to Yuma and Big Jake -- though none of them would make my top 10
No Country - Good call. Very much like Good, Bad & Ugly.
Mohicans - Another good call. Never quite think of that when someone says "Western", but it's very good.

Wyatt Earp - Sorry, but I cannot stand Costner as Earp. Just never worked for me. I keep thinking "Crash Davis" with a gun since he basically played the same personality in both.

[AugustaHorn]

I just watched on HDnet Movies another "oldie but goodie" John Wayne western for the umpteeneth time....."Chisum." :-D

It has a very predictable story line, but with John Wayne in it who cares? :-P



Next on HDnet is "Gunfight at the OK Corral", with Burt Lancaster (Wyatt Earp) and Kirk Douglas (Doc Holliday). But I gotta get some sleep. :-O

[chikin23]

That's funny Augusta, I watched the same thing...but I recorded Gunfight at the OK Corral.

[AugustaHorn]

That's funny Augusta, I watched the same thing...but I recorded Gunfight at the OK Corral.

I tossed and turned in bed for ~30 minutes, then just got up and watched Lancaster and Douglas polish off the Clanton gang. I had a weary Monday. :-P

[jg6544]

"She Wore a Yellow Ribbon"
"The Searchers"
"True Grit"
"Lonesome Dove" (even though it was a miniseries)

[mdhorn]

Just saw The Proposition, an Australian western at AFI that was pretty, ok, being modest, really good/disturbing. This movie came out in 2005 and Nick Cave wrote the screenplay and directed the music. I'd be interested in comments. The movie is pretty brutal.

[ttazhorn]

The movie "Hud" with Paul Newman and Melvyn Douglas was brilliant in my opinion. Set in 1950's or 60's West Texas in cattle country. Guess it could be considered a western. The characters in the movie reminded me of so many people I grew up around in West Texas even though I was growing up in the 70s and 80s. Seems like the movie is timeless in some ways. Classic struggle between the young and the old.