# Best Western -- The Resurrection. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2002, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-the-resurrection/98462 "2002-03-15T14:21:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**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 15, 2002, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-the-resurrection/98462/1 "2002-03-15T14:21:18Z")
The “I’m your huckleberry” thread reminded me of the “What is the best Western?” thread. Here’s what I have in my Western collection (in no particular order): _The Wild Bunch Jeremiah Johnson The Mountain Men How the West was Won Paint Your Wagon The Long Riders Young Guns Lonesome Dove Heaven’s Gate Silverado Dances with Wolves Tombstone The Magnificant Seven A Fistful of Dollars For a Few Dollars More The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Hang 'Em High High Plains Drifter The Outlaw Josie Wales Unforgiven Tom Horn Bad Company Dead Man Straight to Hell Greaser’s Palace_ I’m leaving out the Kurosawa samurai films, although they’ve been remade as Westerns (_The Magnificent Seven_, _A Fistful of Dollars_) because they’re not _actually_ Westerns. Last time I voted for _Lonesome Dove_ as the best Western. The story is good, the acting is good, it’s not a “shoot 'em up”, and I like the character development. Which is the _single_ best Western in your opinion? That is, I’m not looking for a list of your favourites; but what is the one Western film that you think is the best of the genre? So far… One vote for _Lonesome Dove_. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-the-resurrection/98462/2 "2002-03-15T14:49:25Z")
It’s a common and cliche choice, but i have to vote for _Unforgiven._ I’m not sure what to make of _Lonesome Dove,_ which was not a “movie” in the sense I would define the term, althought it was great. I also loved “The Searchers,” “A Fistful of Dollars,” and… heck, I love all Westerns. ---
**Author:** ![RaCha\_ar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@RaCha\_ar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaCha_ar)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-the-resurrection/98462/3 "2002-03-15T16:15:31Z")
_Unforgiven_. Hands down. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-the-resurrection/98462/4 "2002-03-15T18:08:07Z")
Unforgiven was good, but I definitely wouldn’t say it’s the best. My favorites are (at the moment): The Cowboys (John Wayne and Bruce Dern) The Magnificent Seven (samurai or not) and The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. I haven’t seen as many as I’d like to, but those are the ones I like best so far. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-the-resurrection/98462/5 "2002-03-15T18:53:27Z")
What I don’t understand is how you can have a western collection without a single film by John Ford. (Well, Ford DID direct a segment of “How the West Was Won”) Because while I’m hard pressed to say whether the BEST western is _Stagecoach_ or _My Darling Clementine_ or _Fort Apache_ or _the Searchers_ or _the Man Who Shot Liberty Valence_, all of those films were directed by John Ford. p.s. If pressed, I’d give it to _My Darling Clementine_. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-the-resurrection/98462/6 "2002-04-05T00:49:30Z")
Well, I don’t understand how you could have a western collection with no films by Anthony Mann (who I’ll gladly take over Ford). Or Howard Hawks. Or Budd Boetticher (well, he is kinda hard to find on video). Essential viewing for any true western fan: _The Far Country, The Tall T, The Naked Spur, Decision at Sundown, Red River, Comanche Station, Rio Bravo, Ride Lonesome, Bend of the River, Seven Men from Now, Winchester '73, Buchanan Rides Alone, Man of the West_ My vote: The brilliant _ **The Man from Laramie** _ ---
**Author:** ![king\_of\_spain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7cd45c/32.png) [@king\_of\_spain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/king_of_spain)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-western-the-resurrection/98462/7 "2002-04-05T00:56:51Z")
_Stagecoach_ all the way. Has all the classic elements of a great Western done as well as they’ve ever been, plus the introduction of John Wayne. My senior year of high school I did an AP U.S. History term paper on Westerns as American mythology, and I had several pages of analysis on _Stagecoach_ alone.