Name Your Top 20 Westerns of all time...

[Moorman]

Haven't done this in a while.  My latest list.  (disclaimers) I intentionally left off westerns made after 1970.  High Plains drifter, Unforgiven and a few others i really like). Also, these are the top westerns i have seen soo far.

1. Once Upon a Time in the West.  One of the all time best movies across any genre.

2. The Oxbow Incident.  Another masterpiece.  Subject matter keeps this movie low profile.

3. My Darling Clementine.  A movie i didn't particularly care about at first. Then i watched it a second time.  A masterpiece.

4. High Noon.  The simplicity of the plot. The tension. The cinematography.  The music.  My favorite Gary Cooper performance.

5. For A Few Dollars More.  Captain Mortimer. Indio.  My favorite of the 3 Eastwood sphagetti's made with Leone.

6. The Wild Bunch.  The realism of the action in this movie seperates it from every western ever made.

7.  3:10 to Yuma. (1957). My favorite performances from Van Heflin and Glenn Ford. A excellent plot and cinematography make this a masterpiece.

8. Red River.  The cattle drive. John Wayne. Walter Brennan. Montgomery Cliff. The cinematography.  Another masterpiece.

9. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.  I love the different moral lessons touched upon in this movie. Great performances from Wayne, Stewart, Strode and Marvin.

10. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.  Great western. Great performances. Felt it was too long and had some implausible moments.

11. The Westerner.  Walter Brennan as a bad heavy was impressive in this one. I loved Cooper in this also. Great ending.

12. Stagecoach. A masterpiece. What else needs to be said?

13. Rawhide.  A greatly underrated western.  Probably the best western that shows how the old stagecoach stages worked.  My favorite Jack Elam western.  Very well done.

14. Death Rides a Horse.  This is the best non Leone sphagetti western i have seen thus far.  Its the closest to what he did. The tone and everything matched up. If Eastwood had played the part that John Phillip Law did, I'm certain this would have been considered a greater film than it already is.

15. The Gunfighter.  My favorite Gregory Peck film.  I love simple plots. Another great tension film.

16. The Big Gundown.  I didn't particularly like Tuco in GBU, but if Eli Wallach had played Tomia's part ( I like Milan though), this one would have been a more well known western).

17. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. If not for the 3rd wheel romance that i felt bogged the middle of the movie down, this could've been a top 10 western.

18. Ride the High Country.  I may be rating this lower on my list than i should. This is the ONLY Randolph Scott western i like. Joel McCrea was good here too.

19. The Big Country.  Peck, Ives, Connors, Heston. This was a epic western that was pretty good.

20. The Fastest Gun Alive.  A plot very similar to The Gunfighter. A great western.

Honorable mention:

A Fist Full of Dollars.  Leone was learning with this one. Still a great movie.

Barquero.  This movie might need to be higher on my list.  One of Warren Oate's best films.  Reminds me of High Plains Drifter.

The Professionals.  This movie might need to be higher on  my list.

Winchester 73.  A very well done western.  One of the two westerns i like that Stewart made.

Gunman's walk. I liked this western. Another underrated one.

The Man from Laramie. Very good western by stewart.

Yellow Sky.  ( haven't finished watching this one, but it has signs of maybe pushing into my top 20).

Sabatha.  Take the Wild West West stuff out of this film and replace it with a more straight forward tone and this would've been a great Van Cleef film.

The Baron of Arizona.  Saw the last few scenes. I know this will be higher once i get to review the whole film.

[noodles_leone]

The list could change if you ask me the same question tomorrow, especially since I have the feeling I'm forgetting a couple of important ones.

1 - Once Upon a Time in the West
2 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
3 - Little Big Man
4 - The Wild Bunch
5 - For a few Dollars more
6 - The Searchers
7 - My Name is Nobody
8 - Unforgiven
9 - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
10 - Jeremiah Johnson
11 - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
12 - Pat Garret and Billy the Kid
13 - Dance with the Wolves
14 - The Great Silence
15 - Pale Rider
16 - Cheyenne Autumn
17 - Rio Bravo
18 - High Noon
19 - High Plains Drifter
20 - A Fistful of Dollars

Almost made it:

Shane
Warlock
The Professionals
Josey Wales
The Stagecoach
My Darling Clementine
Ride the High Country
True Grit (2010)

[T.H.]

Pale Rider over Shane? That's like having Body Heat over Double Indemnity. Sorry, had to give you a little gruff about that one.



The Searchers
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Wild Bunch
Once Upon a Time in the West
Rio Bravo
Shane
My Darling Clementine
3:10 to Yuma
Red River
Unforgiven
Stagecoach
For a Few Dollars More
The Magnificent Seven
Forty Guns
McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Yellow Sky
Jeremiah Johnson
The Great Silence
Johnny Guitar
Seven Men From Now
Man of the West




Could easily be in the 17-21 range:


The Ballad of Cable Hogue
A Fistful of Dynamite
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
The Man From Laramie
Ride Lonesome
The Tall T
The Naked Spur
Jubal
The Bravados
Face to Face
A Fistful of Dollars
Day of the Outlaw

[cigar joe]

Currently I'd go something like this:

1. Tie Between, The Good The bad And The Ugly and Once Upon A Time In The West
2. The Searchers
3. Hombre
4. McCabe & Mrs. Miller
5. The Wild Bunch
6. 3:10 To Yuma (original)
7. Man Of The West
8. The Tall T
9. Red River
10. My Darling Clementine
11. For A Few Dollars More
12. Rawhide
13. The Oxbow Incident
14. Yellow Sky
15. Rio Conchos
16. The Big Gundown
17. The Bravados
18. Ride The High Country
19. Day Of The Outlaw
20. High Noon

[Moorman]

The list could change if you ask me the same question tomorrow, especially since I have the feeling I'm forgetting a couple of important ones.

1 - Once Upon a Time in the West
2 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
3 - Little Big Man
4 - The Wild Bunch
5 - For a few Dollars more
6 - The Searchers
7 - My Name is Nobody
8 - Unforgiven
9 - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
10 - Jeremiah Johnson
11 - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
12 - Pat Garret and Billy the Kid
13 - Dance with the Wolves
14 - The Great Silence
15 - Pale Rider
16 - Cheyenne Autumn
17 - Rio Bravo
18 - High Noon
19 - High Plains Drifter
20 - A Fistful of Dollars

Almost made it:

Shane
Warlock
The Professionals
Josey Wales
The Stagecoach
My Darling Clementine
Ride the High Country
True Grit (2010)

Rio Bravo is one of the movies on that list that i have yet to see but have heard good things about.  Haven't had a chance to review The Great Silence yet either.  Glad to see The Professionals on your list and Warlock. I forgot about that one...

[Moorman]

Pale Rider over Shane? That's like having Body Heat over Double Indemnity. Sorry, had to give you a little gruff about that one.



The Searchers
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Wild Bunch
Once Upon a Time in the West
Rio Bravo
Shane
My Darling Clementine
3:10 to Yuma
Red River
Unforgiven
Stagecoach
For a Few Dollars More
The Magnificent Seven
Forty Guns
McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Yellow Sky
Jeremiah Johnson
The Great Silence
Johnny Guitar
Seven Men From Now
Man of the West




Could easily be in the 17-21 range:


The Ballad of Cable Hogue
A Fistful of Dynamite
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
The Man From Laramie
Ride Lonesome
The Tall T
The Naked Spur
Jubal
The Bravados
Face to Face
A Fistful of Dollars
Day of the Outlaw

  I didn't like the subplot of Shane.  It resembled Pale Rider in a sense that a outsider kinda took over a man's family.  The ending of Shane was pretty good though.  I need to watch it again...

[Moorman]

Currently I'd go something like this:

1. Tie Between, The Good The bad And The Ugly and Once Upon A Time In The West
2. The Searchers
3. Hombre
4. McCabe & Mrs. Miller
5. The Wild Bunch
6. 3:10 To Yuma (original)
7. Man Of The West
8. The Tall T
9. Red River
10. My Darling Clementine
11. For A Few Dollars More
12. Rawhide
13. The Oxbow Incident
14. Yellow Sky
15. Rio Conchos
16. The Big Gundown
17. The Bravados
18. Ride The High Country
19. Day Of The Outlaw
20. High Noon

I was trying to think of the  Day of the Outlaw.  I saw the last few scenes of it.  It looked pretty good.   Lots of people like McCabe and Mrs. Miller. I tried watching once and didn't like it for some reason. I might have to look at it again.  Glad i saw Rawhide and The Oxbow Incident on your list.  Great movies...

[drinkanddestroy]

Pale Rider over Shane? That's like having Body Heat over Double Indemnity. Sorry, had to give you a little gruff about that one.

It was I preferred Body Heat over Double Indemnity. It was like five years ago. I have since strongly disavowed that statement (although Body Heat is indeed a very good movie). 

[drinkanddestroy]

with the usual qualifications (off the top of my head, no particular order other than alphabetical... )

1-18
Dances With Wolves
Duck, You Sucker
The Far Country
A Fistful of Dollars
For a Few Dollars More
Fort Apache
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Gunfighter
Jesse James (its sequel, The Return of Frank James, is pretty good, too)
The Magnificent Seven
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
My Darling Clementine
Once Upon a Time in the West
Red River
Rio Bravo
Shane
Stagecoach

19-23
The Big Country
Django
Ride Lonesome
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
The Tall T

[Moorman]

with the usual qualifications (off the top of my head, no particular order other than alphabetical... )

1-18
Dances With Wolves
Duck, You Sucker
The Far Country
A Fistful of Dollars
For a Few Dollars More
Fort Apache
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Gunfighter
Jesse James (it's sequel, The Return of Frank James, is pretty good, too)
The Magnificent Seven
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
My Darling Clementine
Once Upon a Time in the West
Red River
Rio Bravo
Shane
Stagecoach

19-23
The Big Country
Django
Ride Lonesome
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
The Tall T

High noon is not on your list either. It seems to be a polarizing film.  It seems people either like it or don't. No middle ground...

[noodles_leone]

Pale Rider over Shane? That's like having Body Heat over Double Indemnity. Sorry, had to give you a little gruff about that one.

I usually stand better by my opinions, but I have to say the top 20 I gave was my "favorite westerns", not necessarily the best ones. I've watched Pale Rider much more often than I've watched Shane and I intend to watch Pale Rider more often than Shane. Shane is way more groundbreaking. Both have flaws. I like Eastwood

[dave jenkins]

Shane is way more groundbreaking.

Absolutely. That moment when Emile Meyer makes his "we were here first" speech changes everything we've known up to that point. Then we realize that Shane is actually working for the bad guys, Wilson is the true (and tragic) hero. Westerns in the 50s weren't usually capable of such reversals.

[noodles_leone]

Absolutely. That moment when Emile Meyer makes his "we were here first" speech changes everything we've known up to that point. Then we realize that Shane is actually working for the bad guys, Wilson is the true (and tragic) hero. Westerns in the 50s weren't usually capable of such reversals.

I was talking about the X-men like gay subtext that the film is actually all about.

[T.H.]

It was I preferred Body Heat over Double Indemnity. It was like five years ago. I have since strongly disavowed that statement (although Body Heat is indeed a very good movie).  

I wasn't trying to throw a playful jab, I just couldn't think of a better example to use.

Nearly every time someone bumps a thread from the 00s, I have to cross out or delete an old post haha.

I usually stand better by my opinions, but I have to say the top 20 I gave was my "favorite westerns", not necessarily the best ones. I've watched Pale Rider much more often than I've watched Shane and I intend to watch Pale Rider more often than Shane. Shane is way more groundbreaking. Both have flaws. I like Eastwood

True, it's 'favorite', I guess my list doesn't differentiate much between those two. I am definitely one of the bigger fans of Shane out there, I think it's one of the greatest movies ever made, but I understand your reasoning.

[Novecento]

3 - Little Big Man

7 - My Name is Nobody

How so?