Tope 6 westerns? Please. A genre dear to my heart.
So before I start my top six (which will only be my opinion) I think I will go one at a time at my own speed.
#6 Best Western of all time (in hop) is the Wild Bunch. Only one I’ll choose with William Holden (who I love dearly)
Unforgiven
The Searchers
The Good bad and the ugly
Once upon a time in the west.
Wild Bunch
The Alamo (John Wayne)
True Grit (either)
With Red Dead Redemption 2 out I’ve been on a bit of a Western kick so it’s been great to scroll through this thread. Need more time to think about my list, but two quick thoughts.
“Australia. What fresh hell is this?”
Winstone’s cockney delivery was pretty funny.
How did I miss this thread. I’m glad it got bumped, I now have a few recommendations to add to my watch list. Mine in return:
Close on the cut list:
Once Upon a Time In the Old West
Shane
For me, Once Upon a Time in the West is Leone’s masterpiece and the peak of the spaghetti western era. I like the Leone / Eastwood films, but Once is the best.
I think it’s his greatest film as well.
I think if you could mash up The Good, The Bad and The Ugly with Once Upon a Time in the West you’d have like the ultimate awesome western. Like maybe if Henry Fonda has played Angel Eyes, or if Clint Eastwood had played Harmonica.
I agree, but then again, personal favoritism comes into play with actors, story, etc.
Now if you’d asked me my top six Western Films with babes in them, Once Upon a Time in the West would be #1.
I’m not a connoisseur of western films, but I’ll give this a shot. All of my choices might be a bit oblique to the genre.
Honorable mention: Tombstone. I have seen this film many many times, and I loved it so much at one point. It doesn’t hold up very well for me now–feels like a cartoon–but I still like it for nostalgia’s sake.
Second honorable mention: Godless. Again, not a film, and not as resolutely iconic as Deadwood, but really good. Also notable, as a western, for having women in it.
Bzzzzz!!! Disqualified.
I’m with you. See original post. I had to bump it from my Six, though.
I think it’s odd how little history is contained in the western genre. It’s like it’s just a fantasy setting with no context outside of vague nods toward the frontier and clueless folks in nice duds arriving by train and depressed Confederate soldiers. I read Hampton Sides’s book Blood and Thunder a couple of years ago. There are so many stories in there that would make fantastic films: The Battle of San Pasqual, Freemont’s Oregon expedition and the Bear Flag Revolt, the Taos Revolt, etc. Why hasn’t there been a western with Mormons as the villains? Those dudes were fucking psycho.
I like Deadwood because the context is always there. It’s located in history and, in a sense, it’s about how history and culture is created. No one stands tall, there’s no silhouetted rider on horseback. It’s dirty and nasty and claws its way out of the mud. Most other westerns feel antiseptic in comparison.
Oh, I love Deadwood. For all the reasons you enunciated. And so much more! It’s just not a film. :)
This isn’t Nam, @Matt_W, there are rules! But yeah, Deadwood would top my list of movies if, you know, it was a movie. Though luckily that problem may soon be resolved!
OK, for now I guess I’ll just shove Tombstone into slot 6 and move the others up to make room.
Films I haven’t seen that, based on word of mouth, could rearrange my list: Bone Tomahawk and The Proposition
That totally reminds me of The Proposition.
I’m almost entirely ignorant on this genre! Reading through the thread, it became apparent that my top six would have to be the only six I’ve seen in my life. And even then, it breaks down as two legit choices, some extremely questionable hybrids, and a Netflix show my kids watched. Behold my shame:
Now seems as good a time as any to fill in at least a few blanks. So after reading through everybody’s picks and trying to remember as many recommended titles as I could, I scanned through the genre on Netflix and Prime Video to see what I’m already paying for access to. Here’s what I came up with – please help narrow down which to watch first, or if there’s something great that I overlooked:
You forgot Silverado!
I’d go in chronological order. A lot of later westerns play with and build on the tropes established by the pioneering films in the 40s and 50s. For example, I think Unforgiven is a lot more meaningful if you’re familiar with Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns.