10 Favorite Westerns

[Tabonga | 2,533]

 If no one minds I'll start the discussion up. Unless we want to do more than one a month.  Give me a bit of time - just woke up and need  to throw down a soda to get some caffeine in me to kick the brain cells into gear then I will do a list!

In no particular order:

1. Son of the Morning Star (1991) - Actually a mini series that portrays the Battle of the Little Big Horn - mostly told from the cavalry side it does attempts to show the Native Americans side.  Fairly accurate historically.  It does feature some great voice over work by noted folk singer Buffy Saint. Marie.

2. Northwest Passage (1940)- based on a real unit called Rogers Rangers operating during the French and Indian Wars. (I like frontier movies a lot.  There are surprisingly few of them in the movie ranks.)

3. Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) - another frontier movie based on historical fact - occurs  during the American Revolution.  John Carradine has a small role. 

4. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)  - episodic western - maybe Clint Eastwood's best role.  Also Chief Dan George (who I always like) has a major role.

5. Little Big Man (1970) another episodic movie starring Dustin Hoffman - a biting anti war comedy (with a sobering portrayal of Custer's attack on the Washita).  Also has Chief Dan George in a major role.  My favorite character is Martin Balsam as a flim -flam man who appears fairly often - when he does he is missing another body part as outraged citizens caught up with him. Also a pretty funny scene where Dustin Hoffman's sister realizes she tarred and feathered her own brother.

6. The Oxbow Incident (1942) - A classic tale of the dangers of Vigilante Justice.

7.  The Last of the Mohicans (1992) - The most lavish and opulent of several versions of James Fenimore Cooper's classic.  Russell Means (a  Native American activist has the important role of Chingachgook.

8.  Winchester '73 (1950) - Another episodic movie - this one follows a prized rifle as it changes hands rather than  a character.

9.  Black Robe (1991) - A fairly deep movie involving a French Jesuit in 1640s Canada and his interactions with the Native Americans.

10. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) - A great classic involving an outlaw who terrorizes a western town.  Gene Pitney's hit song of the same title was for various reasons was not in the movie's soundtrack.

Honorable mention - Quigley Down Under (1990) - a bit of an outlier in that it is set in Australia - Quigley (a sharpshooter from Wyoming) is hired to hunt what he is led to believe is dangerous wildlife.  Turns out they want him to hunt aboriginals - which goes against his moral code.

What are your faves and/or comments on what I have posted. (Don't worry about if films aren't available free on line - that is not the purpose of these threads. 

Here is a video of some outtakes from Son of the Morning star - the song is not in the movie either - although it does appear in the Rough Riders (1997).

Here is the Gene Pitney song with clips from the movie.

 

Edited August 29 by Tabonga

[Reed Rothchild | 9,967]

1. Once Upon a Time in the West
2. The Treasure.of the Sierra Madre
3. McCabe & Ms. Miller
4. No Country for Old Men
5. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
6. A Bullet for the General
7. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
8. Companeros
9. The Wild Bunch
10. Heavens Gate - this movie was ravaged because it was a box office bomb, and not because it isn't any good, because it is, and I'm glad it finally gets it's due nowadays

...wait, I forgot Unforgiven, and Django Unchained, and-

Shit, and Jeremiah Johnson!

[Tabonga | 2,533]

47 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

1.  

Shit, and Jeremiah Johnson!

That is a major problem with lists of any number - just not enough room.

I find it interesting that none of our films overlap - neither good nor bad - just is!

[G-type | 2,831]

1. The Searchers
2. True Grit (2010)
3. Once upon a time in the West
4. Seven Samurai
5. No Country for Old Men
6. The Good, the bad, and the ugly
7. There Will be Blood
8. Fistful of Dollars
9. Dead Man
10. The Quick and the Dead

[Tabonga | 2,533]

1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said:

1.  
2. Heavens Gate - this movie was ravaged because it was a box office bomb, and not because it isn't any good, because it is, and I'm glad it finally gets it's due nowadays

I think that was largely because of the 315 minute initial release run time - that is a really long time to sit in a theater.

[Tabonga | 2,533]

9 minutes ago, G-type said:

1. The Searchers

Did you know that was loosely based on the real history of Cynthia Ann Parker - who was the mother of the famous chief Quanah Parker?

[G-type | 2,831]

What a great opening scene

 

[G-type | 2,831]

20 minutes ago, Tabonga said:

Did you know that was loosely based on the real history of Cynthia Ann Parker - who was the mother of the famous chief Quanah Parker?

I didn't know it was based on a true story. I love John Ford's framing.

 

[Tabonga | 2,533]

1 hour ago, G-type said:

I didn't know it was based on a true story. I love John Ford's framing.

 

   

I wish that I would have had room to put in one of their cavalry trilogy! These lists are always decision decisions.

 

[Brickman | 4,215]

Westerns aren’t a genre that I have explored a lot of so this thread will be good to explore.

There will be blood.
Probably the best western I’ve seen and definitely up there as one of the best movies of all time. I always love Daniel day-Lewis and Paul Dano’s work so having them in the same movie was great.

The Revenant 

Does this count? If so it is a close second. One of my favourite Leo movies and the cinematography looks absolutely beautiful. 

No Country for old men

Cormack McCarthy is one of my favourite writers so seeing this movie adaptation stay true to the novel was great.

Tombstone

It’s been a while since I’ve seen it but it was the most fun I had watching a western.

Back to the Future 3

You know I haven’t seen many westerns when this makes the list  worst of the BTTF movies imo but it’s still a fun movie nonetheless.

Gtype mentioned seven samurai. I didn’t know that was considered a western I thought it was a samurai movie. But if it counts then that would beat any western movie. Absolutely masterpiece and Kurosawa is up there as one of my favourite directors of all time.

After watching The Fablemans I’m interested in watching John Ford westerns after seeing the closing scene of that movie. What’s some of his best?

[fox | 1,777]

10.  Comin' At Ya!

9.  True Grit (2010)

8. The Magnificent Seven (1960 but remake was good too)

7.  High Plains Drifter

6.  The Revenant

5.  Tombstone

4.  Hateful 8

3.  Deadwood

2.  A Fistful of Dollars/For a Few Dollars More/The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

1. Shane

Edited August 29 by fox

[Tabonga | 2,533]

39 minutes ago, Brickman said:

Westerns aren’t a genre that I have explored a lot of so this thread will be good to explore.

There will be blood.
Probably the best western I’ve seen and definitely up there as one of the best movies of all time. I always love Daniel day-Lewis and Paul Dano’s work so having them in the same movie was great.

The Revenant 

Does this count? If so it is a close second. One of my favourite Leo movies and the cinematography looks absolutely beautiful. 

No Country for old men

Cormack McCarthy is one of my favourite writers so seeing this movie adaptation stay true to the novel was great.

Tombstone

It’s been a while since I’ve seen it but it was the most fun I had watching a western.

Back to the Future 3

You know I haven’t seen many westerns when this makes the list  worst of the BTTF movies imo but it’s still a fun movie nonetheless.

Gtype mentioned seven samurai. I didn’t know that was considered a western I thought it was a samurai movie. But if it counts then that would beat any western movie. Absolutely masterpiece and Kurosawa is up there as one of my favourite directors of all time.

After watching The Fablemans I’m interested in watching John Ford westerns after seeing the closing scene of that movie. What’s some of his best?

The Seven Samurai really is the Japanese equivalent  of a western - minus guns. The Japanese briefly used guns but banned them once they realized it would end the samurai culture.

Just about all his westerns are top notch.  Sgt. Rutledge and Cheyenne Autumn are really overlooked - probably because they were slightly ahead of their time.

His cavalry trilogy - Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Rio Grande is a most excellent start.

Stagecoach is good - plus it is John Wayne's breakout role.

The Horse Soldiers and Wagonmaster are also worth checking out. 

Drums Along the Mohawk which I mentioned is also one of his.

You really can't go wrong with any of them.

Rio Bravo directed by Howard Hawks is really a sort of sequel to Rio Grande fits in well with Ford's work.

 

Edited August 29 by Tabonga

[Tabonga | 2,533]

38 minutes ago, Brickman said:

 

The Revenant 

Does this count? If so it is a close second. One of my favourite Leo movies and the cinematography looks absolutely beautiful. 

I have always considered frontier movies to be westerns since they don't really have a genre of their own.  That movie was also somewhat based on a true story.

Edited August 29 by Tabonga

[JamesRobot | 6,038]

1. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
2. A Fistful of Dollars
3. The Unforgiven
4. For a Few Dollars More
5. Last Man Standing
6. Three Amigos
7. Blazing Saddles
8. Tombstone
9. Six String Samurai
10. Westworld

Honorable mentions: Ravenous, Young Guns

[Tabonga | 2,533]

4 minutes ago, JamesRobot said:

1.  

Honorable mentions: Ravenous

And bon appetit to you!

If you haven't seen  Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning you might like that.

[Brickman | 4,215]

45 minutes ago, Tabonga said:

The Seven Samurai really is the Japanese equivalent  of a western - minus guns. The Japanese briefly used guns but banned them once they realized it would end the samurai culture.

That's funny because Samurai in real life used guns a lot more than a katana. That's films for you though 

[G-type | 2,831]

1 hour ago, Brickman said:

Gtype mentioned seven samurai. I didn’t know that was considered a western I thought it was a samurai movie. But if it counts then that would beat any western movie. Absolutely masterpiece and Kurosawa is up there as one of my favourite directors of all time.

The samurai genre was heavily influenced by the Western genre. Seven Samurai got remade multiple times as The Magnificent Seven which was just a straight up western.

[Tabonga | 2,533]

55 minutes ago, fox said:

10.  Comin' At Ya!

I remember seeing that in the theater on release and enjoying the 3D effects.

[G-type | 2,831]

1 hour ago, Brickman said:

After watching The Fablemans I’m interested in watching John Ford westerns after seeing the closing scene of that movie. What’s some of his best?

The Searchers, for sure! I'd also check out Stagecoach; that was considered the first "elevated" western. It was pretty much a b-movie genre before that. It was also the first movie he did with John Wayne, and the first movie he shot in monument valley that he became synonymous with.

[Tabonga | 2,533]

8 minutes ago, Brickman said:

That's funny because Samurai in real life used guns a lot more than a katana. That's films for you though 

I got the wrong information somewhere. I now know that their guns were relatively inefficient due their isolation and were generally less useful than traditional weapons until Commodore Perry force the Japanese to open up.

This is a  movie you might like: 

It is available in the west as Gi Samurai - with an English dub.

 

[Murray | 2,490]

4 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

1. Once Upon a Time in the West
2. The Treasure.of the Sierra Madre
3. McCabe & Ms. Miller
4. No Country for Old Men
5. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
6. A Bullet for the General
7. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
8. Companeros
9. The Wild Bunch
10. Heavens Gate - this movie was ravaged because it was a box office bomb, and not because it isn't any good, because it is, and I'm glad it finally gets it's due nowadays

...wait, I forgot Unforgiven, and Django Unchained, and-

Shit, and Jeremiah Johnson!

 

[fox | 1,777]

21 minutes ago, Tabonga said:

I remember seeing that in the theater on release and enjoying the 3D effects.

If you still have a 3D tv, the blu ray is really a great showcase for the 3D effects

Also Tarantino took a lot of this for Kill Bill

[Tabonga | 2,533]

1 minute ago, fox said:

If you still have a 3D tv, the blu ray is really a great showcase for the 3D effects

Also Tarantino took a lot of this for Kill Bill

If it is available the original Creature from the Black Lagoon was shot in 3d.  Mostly the underwater shoots - you would swear those damn fish are in the room with you.

This is an interesting one:

The movie is pretty blah - but the 3d portions are so strange that they are almost psychedelic.  I have it on laserdisc with glasses.

I have a Japanese computer image series called Virtual Drug which is in 3d.

[PII | 2,041]

 

10. Tombstone

9. Blazing Saddles

8. Two Mules For Sister Sara

7. Shane

6. The Gunfighter

5. A Fistfull Of Dollars

4. Once Upon A Time In The West

3. Good The Bad & The Ugly

2. Adventures Of Brisco County Jr. (a single season tv show but it may as well be a long movie)

1. For A Few Dollars More

Honorable Mentions:

0. El Topo [..because I haven't seen the whole thing..]

00. Yojimbo [..because westerns are really easterns..]

[doner24 | 1,228]

Now here is a topic I can get into! I’m going to leave off Japanese samurai flicks and “neo westerns” which leaves off films like The Proposition, Hell or High Water and No Country for Old Men. 
 

1. The Searchers-absolute perfection. Not just the best western of all time, one of the best films of all time. 
2. Once Upon a Time in the West
3. Jeremiah Johnson
4. Rio Bravo
5. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
6. Unforgiven
7. The Good the Bad and the Ugly
8. McCabe and Mrs Miller
9. Red River
10. Johnny Guitar