The Best Western Movies

We're going straight to the wild, wild West with this list of the best Western movies.

best western movies unforgiven
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best western movies unforgiven

When you picture a Western movie, what does your mind immediately jump to? You may think every Western movie features swaggering cowboys facing off in saloons, saying things like, “This town ain’t big enough for the both of us.” In truth, the Western genre is diverse, with varied themes and motifs. The genre’s originality and innovation is often overlooked by audiences. While there are definitely elements that are shared across most films in the genre, the stereotypical horseback bandits and saloon shootouts aren’t what makes a movie a Western. Westerns are about a state of mind. The free-wheeling energy evoked by the American West, with wide-open spaced and new frontiers are central to the genre.

There’s no template for Western films, as is evidenced by the difference between movies like Gunfight at O.K. Corral and Brokeback Mountain. However, Western movies are often centered around the “Old West” mentality, even if the film takes place in contemporary settings. This mentality consists of an every-man-for-himself attitude, with a hero finding himself forced into a reluctant journey, a la Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven.

The AMC show Breaking Bad is a good example of this kind of Old West mentality. Although the show isn’t usually described as a Western, Walter White was a Western-style hero in an American West setting. Walter did what he felt he needed to do for self-preservation, by selling meth to pay for his cancer treatments. There are standoffs and shoot-outs reminiscent of old-fashioned films in the category, but Walter White’s journey and exploration in the American West is what made the show a true Western.

So, if you don’t consider yourself a fan of the Western genre, realize that the settings of the American West and the mindset of the Western hero are themes that are conveyed in many different ways, not just with saloon gunfights and John Wayne sauntering around. There’s something in the Western genre for everybody. If you’re new to these films, here’s a list of the best Western movies the genre has to offer.

High Noon (1952)

best western movies high noon

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

best western movies the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford

Stagecoach (1939)

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The Man Who Shot Liberty Vance (1962)

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Unforgiven (1992)

best western movies unforgiven

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

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Brokeback Mountain (2005)

best western movies brokeback mountiain

Django Unchained (2012)

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The Revenant (2015)

best western movies the revenant

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

best western movies good bad ugly

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