Spinning off from this thread, if you had to pick one movie as the Best Western Ever, which would you pick?
A Kevin Costner western not yet mentioned- Open Range
I voted for Once Upon A Time In The West, even though Little Big Man is my favorite Western.
Silverado has the best cast of any western; Kevin Cosner, Kevin Cline, Scott Glem, Danny Glover, John Clease, Rosana Arquette, Brian Demmehy, Linda Hunt, Jeff Goldbloom, Earl Hindman, . It’s cinemitography is equal to any others and the plot is a distilation of everything that makes a western great. Written by the greatest screenwriter of the 80s.The scenery is beautiful and the mnusic is some of the best for any western. Aside from any camp that is associated with the movie to following every western cliche its perfect.
Very nicely done, ArchiveGuy! Thanks for all the effort on the categories. Let’s hope this poll has much better success than the ones on actors have done.
I had a hard time narrowing it down to The Outlaw Josie Wales, which is coming up on AMC soon. We’re going to get it off Netflix as opposed to having it cut all to pieces and stretched out to accommodate the commercials. Top Five would have been less a problem than The Best has turned out to be.
I’m holding out for Red River, although there are some very tough choices there.
I voted for The Searchers, but if Shane had been on the list, I’d have voted for it. I agree that Silverado has the best cast. Josey Wales was IMHO ruined by the presence of Sondra Locke. Well, not “ruined”, but I kept thinking she was only in the movie because she was boinking the star.
I think romance ruins a western. The romance in The Searchers doesn’t count because it was played for laughs, but even so, it came damn close to ruining that movie for me. I FF those scenes. The romance in Shane doesn’t count because the attraction between Shane and Marian was never acted upon.
High Plains Drifter
My favorite western is Support Your Local Sheriff, but for the best, I’d go with She Wore a Yellow Ribbon by a nose over Stagecoach.
IN my world, the best movies of any kind are always comedies of some sort. They might not necessarily be classified as comedies, but they need to have something comedic in them.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is not just my favorite Western but also quite possibly my favorite movie.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. So, a Ford movie not mentioned.
ETA: OH, I forgot about Shane! Hmm…that might be a close second, tough call, maybe first.
Shane, The Searchers, Lonesome Dove in that order.
I’m a big Western fan and those are my top 3.
The Outlaw Josey Wales for me. It came relatively late in the genre, so it doesn’t have the importance / influence etc that the earlier classics have, but it’s still the best I’ve seen.
Voted for Unforgiven also liked Open Range
I picked Unforgiven. It’s interesting that the three movies getting the most votes are all Clint Eastwood movies.
The totals right now stand as
Clint Eastwood Films: 18
All other films: 20
Possible more, if the comedy voting guy was voting for Paint Your Wagon.
I voted for a tv western, because Deadwood was one of the best written, best acted things I have ever seen filmed. I watched all three seasons in a week on dvd, then I called my mom a cocksucker. She laughed and said, “Been watching Deadwood?”
It’s been right at five years since the latest post and no telling how long since the last vote, but since this poll seems to be still open, here’s a summary of the voting:
View Poll Results: What is the Best Western Ever?
"The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" 10 20.41%
"The Outlaw Josey Wales" 6 12.24%
"Unforgiven" 5 10.20%
"Once Upon a Time in the West" 4 8.16%
"Silverado" 3 6.12%
The best western was made for TV ("Lonesome Dove", "Deadwood") 2 4.08%
"The Searchers" 2 4.08%
"Rio Bravo" 2 4.08%
"The Magnificent Seven" 2 4.08%
"The Wild Bunch" 2 4.08%
"Tombstone" 2 4.08%
"Red River" 1 2.04%
"She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" 1 2.04%
"High Noon" 1 2.04%
"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" 1 2.04%
"Little Big Man" 1 2.04%
A John Ford western not yet mentioned 1 2.04%
A Clint Eastwood western not yet mentioned 1 2.04%
A Kevin Costner western not yet mentioned 1 2.04%
The best western is a comedy ("Blazing Saddles", "Support/Sheriff") 1 2.04%
"My Darling Clementine" 0 0%
"El Dorado" 0 0%
An Anthony Mann or Budd Boetticher western 0 0%
A Sergio Leone or Sam Peckinpah western not yet mentioned 0 0%
A John Wayne (non-Ford) western not yet mentioned 0 0%
The best western is modern (takes place after WWII) 0 0%
The best western is something that doesn't fit any of these categories 0 0%
Voters: 49