Image via Getty/Ullstein Bild
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)
High Noon is often the first movie that comes to mind when people think about “classic Westerns.” While High Noon can be considered a model Western film, imitated so often as to become somewhat of a cliché, the film was actually groundbreaking when it was released in 1952. High Noon pioneered storytelling methods in Westerns, with a story that unfolds in real time, with the audience held in suspense for the entire ride.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford is one of the most underrated Westerns of all time. Director Andrew Dominik crafted a thrilling narrative around the legendary story of Jesse James, and Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck give masterful performances as Jesse James and Robert Ford. The era of 19th century Wild West is brilliantly recreated and comes to life on the screen. The result is an under-appreciated work of art. The production of the film was tumultuous, with studio dissatisfaction leading to production delays and several version of the movie created in the editing room. Though the film disappointed at the box office, the final product belies the troubled production of the project, and the movie is a must-see for any Western buff.
Stagecoach (1939)
John Ford’s Stagecoach set the template for what the next two decades of Westerns would be. Catapulting John Wayne into stardom, Ford’s masterpiece was a seminal film for the Western genre. The film follows a team of strangers as they traverse hostile Apache territory. The chase scenes and stunts performed in the film were groundbreaking achievements in 20th century cinema.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Vance (1962)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Vance was ahead of its time, with self-awareness that reflected the Western genre’s common themes. Legendary director John Ford masterfully bookends an era of Western cinema that he himself ushered in 23 years earlier with the groundbreaking Stagecoach. Where Stagecoach marked the beginning an era of classic Western movies, The Man Who Shot Liberty Vance highlights the growth and cinematic achievements the genre had seen over the previous 23 years.
Unforgiven (1992)
This masterpiece from Clint Eastwood won Best Picture at the 1993 Academy Awards, and the film was added to the United States National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2004. With a story about good defeating evil, Unforgiven is an old-school tale of revenge. Clint Eastwood plays a reformed outlaw and killer who returns to his former lifestyle with a classic character arc reminiscent of old-style Westerns. The film is a celebration of the tradition of the Western genre, and even though the spirit of the Western has lived on, in 1992, critics like Roger Ebert saw the film as an elegy of a bygone era. With a seasoned veteran of Western films in Clint Eastwood at the helm, Unforgiven powerfully embodies a passing time, paying respect to a classic genre that the world had begun to overlook.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
This classic movie is as cool as they come. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is centered around the charisma and chemistry of the film’s legendary leads, Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Paul Newman’s Butch Cassidy is the ideas guy, while Robert Redford’s Sundance Kid is all about action in this classic cops-and-robbers caper.
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Director Ang Lee’s game-changing masterpiece Brokeback Mountain shattered expectations of the Western genre by embracing LGBTQ themes. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal both received Oscar nominations for their roles. In a major upset, Brokeback Mountain lost the 2006 Best Picture Oscar to Crash, but the enduring legacy of the film has created a lasting cultural impact in the years since its release.
Django Unchained (2012)
Many of Quentin Tarantino’s films showcase the Western-style badass on a mission of revenge. When Jamie Foxx’s Django Freeman sets out to rescue his enslaved wife from a plantation owner in Mississippi, Django is the ultimate form of a Western hero. The Western genre has been historically dominated by white voices and white heroes. Django’s revenge is more than just payback for the enslavement of his wife; it feels like a statement of retribution for black voices that have been underrepresented in the genre as a whole.
The Revenant (2015)
The Revenant isn’t exactly a traditional Western, but it has all of the elements that every true Western ultimately shares. The scenery and the regional setting evokes the free-roaming spirit of the Wild West frontier, while the determination of the main character hell-bent on revenge harkens back to classic Western films. After sacrificing his body for the brutally taxing lead role in the film, Leonardo DiCaprio took home his long-awaited first Academy Award for his efforts. If for no other reason than DiCaprio’s incredible performance, The Revenant is a must-see movie.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
This all-time classic from legendary director Sergio Leone is about three cowboys who betray and double-cross each other in the hunt for Confederate gold during the Civil War. Clint Eastwood was never cooler than in his turn as Blondie, the cigar-smoking bounty hunter known as “The Good” in this Spaghetti Western classic. The Good the Bad and the Ugly is Western at its most badass.