# Best Western (movie) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 21, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237 "2010-03-21T15:46:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/61 "2010-03-21T19:29:54Z")
Picking 5 was harder than I thought it would be. \*\*Little Big Man One Upon A Time In The West The Oxbow Incident Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford \*\* If 10: **Silverado True Grit The Gray Fox 3:10 To Yuma (2007, I haven’t seen the original) The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean** Others I remember liking a lot, but it’s been way too long since I’ve seen them, decades in some cases, to rank them. I might very well kick myself if I happened to see one or more of them at some upcoming point and realize that that they should have been very high up: McCabe and Mrs. Miller Tombstone Jeremiah Johnson The Shootist The Outlaw Josey Wales The Ballad of Little Jo Mackenna’s Gold Dances With Wolves The Frisco Kid Blazing Saddles Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (What? Shut up) The Cowboys The Searchers Shane High Noon I know I saw all of Leone/Eastwood’s westerns but it’s also been decades and I don’t remember much about them. I haven’t seen many of the Classic westerns already mentioned, like The Wild Bunch, The Long Riders, Lonesome Dove, most of John Ford’s. ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/62 "2010-03-21T19:39:46Z")
No love for **Open Range**? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/63 "2010-03-21T19:40:48Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I haven’t seen many of the Classic westerns already mentioned, like The Wild Bunch, The Long Riders, Lonesome Dove, most of John Ford’s. You’re in for a real treat. I think _The Wild Bunch_ was ahead of its time, or it was ahead of MY time. I fell asleep the first time I tried to watch, at a drive-in movie many years ago. Caught it later and was amazed. I’m gonna put John Ford’s westerns on my Amazon wish list. They’re on TCM fairly often, but not often enough. _Red River_ is my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/64 "2010-03-21T19:41:16Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > 3:10 To Yuma (2007, I haven’t seen the original) Excellent post with many good new points. I singled this one out to suggest you try hard to see the old version of [3:10 to Yuma (1957)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050086/). It would be a good demonstration of how the attitudes have shifted in movies in general and Westerns in particular toward the “show don’t tell” philosophy that (for my money) Steve McQueen helped to establish with _Bullitt_ as a good example. That’s not the only difference, but it stands out. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/65 "2010-03-21T19:42:40Z")
> [@rolandgunslinger](#): > > No love for **Open Range**? Plenty! I mentioned the Duvall mini-series upthread and this is one of them. Good stuff! ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/66 "2010-03-21T20:09:10Z")
Personal favorite ten, not necessarily best ever, in chronological order (AFAICT). Top five with asterisk: Stagecoach My Darling Clementine \*Red River \*Rio Bravo The Searchers Ride The High Country \*El Dorado The Wild Bunch \*Rio Lobo \*Tombstone ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/67 "2010-03-21T20:24:47Z")
Winchester '73 The Naked Spur How the West Was Won ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/68 "2010-03-21T20:29:49Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I’m gonna put John Ford’s westerns on my Amazon wish list. They’re on TCM fairly often, but not often enough. _Red River_ is my favorite. _Red River_ isn’t Ford, it’s Howard Hawks. ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/69 "2010-03-21T20:35:43Z")
I’ve not seen that many including I confess many of the “classics” yet but as not a great fan of Westerns generally I was impressed with\*\* High Plains Drifter \*\*which took the Western almost into the realms of the Supernatural in a very entertaining way. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/70 "2010-03-21T20:54:55Z")
How could I have forgotten **Ride The High Country**? :smack: Sam Peckinpah before he became SAM PECKINPAH. With Joel McCrae and Randolph Scott (Randolph Scott!) ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/71 "2010-03-21T21:02:43Z")
_The Wild Bunch_ - way out in front. then _Red River_ by a nose over _My Darling Clementine_. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/72 "2010-03-21T21:22:59Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > _Red River_ isn’t Ford, it’s Howard Hawks. No wonder _Red River_ isn’t in any of the John Ford collections! 🙂 I don’t know if it counts as a western, but I’d like to add the miniseries _Centennial_. Best use of Robert Conrad ever. ETA: I just noticed “Australia” in the OP, so I’ll add _The Proposition_. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/73 "2010-03-21T21:30:48Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > **Ride The High Country**? :smack: > > Sam Peckinpah before he became SAM PECKINPAH. With Joel McCrae and Randolph Scott (Randolph Scott!) I clearly agree, as my listlet suggests – it’s an odd kind of meta Western, for which Johnny Guitar or Man of the West or Rancho Notorious, or even The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance might be analogues. I think some of the reason why films like the (first?) Peckinpah feature aren’t amateur-critically as well-liked has to do with critics like Bogdanovich, who, as movie-makers, aren’t as in love with layer(s) of irony applied to the spectacle (not a good match, PB, for the films listed above, since there’s Lang, Ford, Ray, and even Anthony Mann, but still). It could be that his criticism of the flick as slow and dull (IIRC) was apt, but that pace has some meaning to me, as much meaning as pace in an early Bresson, but with the added irony of the actors lives which, anyway, is a reliable feature of the Western (Wayne, Stewart, Scott, McCrea, Brennan, Hank Worden, Tim Holt, Ward Bond, Thomas Mitchell, and so on). Also, for Hawksians and auteurists in spirit people probably got the idea that the Hawks tip on “Wild Bunch” (kill ten men in the time it takes 'im to kill 'un or however it goes) was a kind of a gospel. Which it kind of is, but even Hawks was still just a man. I guess it’s bound to be a kind of particular kind of cult movie – Rio Lobo was probably the last I seen or maybe The Shootist which had that kind of relationship between star and product built right into it. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/74 "2010-03-21T21:52:33Z")
I notice there aren’t many votes for Long Riders, which surprises me. A strong and essentially true story; Brothers cast as brothers (2 Keaches, 2 Quaids, 2 Guests, 3 Carradines); Terrific score by Ry Cooder and David Lindley; and although I’ve never cared a bit for David Carradine, he is _perfectly_ cast and steals the movie from the rest of the far better actors. . ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/75 "2010-03-21T23:15:05Z")
I’d forgotten about that one, even though it’s on my shelf. Good film. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/76 "2010-03-21T23:26:14Z")
The Outlaw Josey Wales Unforgiven Tombstone The Searchers My Darling Clementine ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/77 "2010-03-22T00:36:51Z")
**Support Your Local Sheriff She Wore a Yellow Ribbon Fort Apache Stagecoach Little Big Man Hearts of the West** (well, sort of a western) ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/78 "2010-03-22T01:35:19Z")
## McCabe and Mrs. Miller (one of the few good “name and name” movies.) Blazing Saddles High Noon Tombstone Jeremiah Johnson ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/79 "2010-03-22T03:17:02Z")
How could I forget the original full length 1956 version of **The Lone Ranger.** One of my favorite films. Cheesy, trite and wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237/80 "2010-03-22T03:23:42Z")
Josey Wales for the action Pale Rider for the glorious scenery [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-movie/533237.md?page=5)