Favorite Westerns?

[Pondosinatra]

Quick and the Dead

[HuggyBear73]

My favorite western of all-time is THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY. But my favorite American western is THE WILD BUNCH.

[Oblivion138]

Any western directed by Sergio Leone
Django
Dead Man
High Noon
The Searchers
The Wild Bunch
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
3:10 to Yuma (both versions, though I lean toward the more recent one)
True Grit (much prefer the Coen Brothers' adaptation)
Unforgiven
Tombstone
The Proposition
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (more of an Existentialist character study than a traditional western)

Some of those are not at all suitable for family viewing, however. The classic Hollywood westerns (High Noon, Treasure of Sierra Madre, Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, etc.) are clean. Leone's spaghetti westerns introduced much harder violence, and that facet has pretty much stuck in modern westerns. Django is certainly quite violent. Peckinpah's westerns (Wild Bunch, in particular) thrive on major displays of violence. The Proposition is probably the most violent film on my list, and also features characters who are rapists. A great, great film, but not something you'd want to watch with the kids. As for the new True Grit, which I loved, I was actually pretty shocked at how violent it was, considering its PG-13 rating. It felt R-rated to me.

And depending on your attention span, a lot of these films could potentially be considered boring. Leone's later films, in particular, move at their own pace, and are alternately viewed as mesmerizing or boring. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford has also been criticized for its slow pace and long runtime.

Originally Posted by painted_klown

There is a film titled "Sukiyaki Western Django" out on BD and I am curious about it as well. I assume it is sort of an homage to the original Django film. Either way, I need to get the original film so I have a baseline for comparison when I watch the others.

SWD is a fun flick, in my estimation. Since the spaghetti westerns had their roots in the Japanese samurai films of Akira Kurosawa (A Fistful of Dollars is essentially a scene-for-scene remake of Yojimbo), it was cool to see a talented Japanese director like Takashi Miike bring the genre back to Japan.

[wilky61]

Originally Posted by Oblivion138

Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid

The most underrated film mentioned in this thread, imo.

[painted_klown]

Originally Posted by Oblivion138

SWD is a fun flick, in my estimation. Since the spaghetti westerns had their roots in the Japanese samurai films of Akira Kurosawa (A Fistful of Dollars is essentially a scene-for-scene remake of Yojimbo), it was cool to see a talented Japanese director like Takashi Miike bring the genre back to Japan.

Ahh, I was not aware that A Fistful of Dollars was a remake of Yojimbo. Thanks for the info.

Knowing that makes me angry at myself for missing out on the sale Amazon just had for the Man with no name trilogy.

So it looks like I need to sit down and watch Yojimbo, Sanjuro, The Man with no name trilogy, and Django prior to seeing Quentin Tarantino's next film.

He always does such an excellent job on his movies and pays loving tributes to the things he enjoys. It pays to go into his films with prior film knowledge. It adds to the enjoyment and gives you a lot of laughs/smiles/parts that make you react, when you see the QT flair on classic ideas. I am sure his next effort will not be anything less than awesome!

[greekak229]

The Proposition is without a doubt one of the more underrated westerns out there. It's so ridiculously good. I love it. I'd say that, Assassination of Jesse James, The Wild Bunch, and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly are my favorite of that particular genre.

[BostonMA22]

IMO, there are TOO many films being listed as Westerns that are simply not of that genre. No Country for Old Men is first and foremost a crime drama, and The Treasure of Sierra Madre is a 'drama' (perhaps a psychological thriller, but certainly NOT a Western).

if the films of the "Western" genre were so waveringly listed then i'd be here all day.

[Wildcat47]

Not enough love being given to Rio Bravo, think I've only seen one person mention it. All the Eastwood westerns I'd recommend, pale rider, josey Wales, high plains drifter, hang em high, sister Sara, etc etc. All great in my book. I personally like all the Dukes westerns too, with the exception being the musical one (movie title slipped my mind). Deadwood is exceptional, but no kiddos. Young guns 1 & 2 are fun, Tombstone is beyond good, I could go on for a while. My best advice, start with Rio bravo and the cowboys.

[Oblivion138]

Originally Posted by BostonMA22

IMO, there are TOO many films being listed as Westerns that are simply not of that genre. No Country for Old Men is first and foremost a crime drama, and The Treasure of Sierra Madre is a 'drama' (perhaps a psychological thriller, but certainly NOT a Western).

if the films of the "Western" genre were so waveringly listed then i'd be here all day.

The Searchers is a psychological drama...does that prevent it from being a western?

[AeroK]

I forgot to mention Red Headed Stranger with Willie Nelson. I always liked it.

[Harry Caul]

Wild Bunch
The Searchers
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
El chuncho, quien sabe? (Bullet for a General)
Rio Grande
Il grande Silenzio (The great silence)
Faccia a Faccia (Face to Face)
Stagecoach
Giu la Testa (Duck you sucker
Per qualche dollaro in più (For a few dollars more)
Deadwood

[Ite]

Unforgiven is my fave.

[poke smot]

Originally Posted by Ite

Unforgiven is my fave.

+1. just watched Big Country. wow thats a fun movie. could be my new fave; just so long though. also like all the others in my collection.

[BostonMA22]

Originally Posted by Oblivion138

The Searchers is a psychological drama...does that prevent it from being a western?

The Searchers has psychological elements to it no doubt (just as almost EVERY WESTERN has), but it's first and foremost a Western.

The Treasure of Sierra Madre and No Country for Old Men are not first and foremost of the Western genre, which is why they shouldn't be mentioned.

also, i forgot about Corbucci's The Great Silence. that's right up there with the best of them as well (thought Django was great but not on Silence's level).

[dfms23]

Originally Posted by tuck301

+1. just watched Big Country. wow thats a fun movie. could be my new fave; just so long though. also like all the others in my collection.

Is this worth a blind buy? I have a couple of unopened Blus I want to return that I don't have the receipt

To give some background the Westerns in my (sorely lacking of Westerns) collection are:

True Grit (1969)
Unforgiven
Stagecoach
The Searchers

and

Lonesome Dove coming in from a trade.

Is Lonesome Dove an epic first and a Western second? I have never seen it.

[Briscogun]

Originally Posted by ObiTrentKenobi

So I blind bought The Magnificent Seven a little while ago, and though I am very impressed with the Bluray release quality and picture clarity for a 50+ year old film... it's incredibly boring.

So, name a few great Westerns that you guys/gals really enjoy. Can you recommend;
1. Great action
2. Strong characterization
3. VERY LITTLE BOREDOM
4. Clean. I'm looking for one I can watch while the kids are in the room i.e. no nud1ty. little-to-moderate cussing and moderate violence is ok.

Would the new True Grit fit this description? especially #4? I may rent it first.

I haven't seen many westerns in my day, Tombstone is really all that comes to mind.

What's your fav's? Assume I haven't seen any.

Try Silverado. One of my all time favorites! I can't remember there being anything overtly "adults only", no nudity or gratuitous violence. But it is still a Western so there are gun fights and people getting shot. This might fit the bill for you perfectly!

And yes, Magnificent Seven is a bit slow compared with todays action packed mega-epics, but that movie has some of the best all time one-liners ever. Try it a second time, it's like an acquired taste...

[svecaj]

Italian westerns:
1. Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968)
2. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Sergio Leone, 1966)
3. Face to Face (Sergio Sollima, 1967)
4. The Big Gundown (Sergio Sollima, 1966)
5. The Great Silence (Sergio Corbucci, 1968)
6. The Mercenary (Sergio Corbucci, 1968)
7. For a Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone, 1965)
8. Death Rides a Horse (Giulio Petroni, 1967)
9. Duck, You Sucker! (Sergio Leone, 1971)
10. Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (Giulio Questi, 1967)

American westerns:
1. The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah, 1969)
2. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1971)
3. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (Sam Peckinpah, 1973)
4. Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch, 1995)
5. Ulzana's Raid (Robert Aldrich, 1972)
6. The Hired Hand (Peter Fonda, 1971)
7. The Culpepper Cattle Co. (Dick Richards, 1972)
8. High Plains Drifter (Clint Eastwood, 1973)
9. The Outlaw Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood, 1976)
10. The Professionals (Richard Brooks, 1966)

[Page14]

Originally Posted by blonde_devil

there are a lot that i haven't watched for a while but my favorite is the original trinity movie. Watched it as a kid and it is just funny yet it doesn't make fun of the genre. Can toss that movie on anytime and be happy. I love the leone movies, pale rider, josey wales, etc but for me, that is my favorite.

+1

Ditto for what BillyJack said earlier ... hopefully the Trinity movies find there way to bluray.

[AeroK]

Originally Posted by dfms23

Is Lonesome Dove an epic first and a Western second? I have never seen it.

I didn't include it in my main list because it's a mini series but I guess it's an epic first. There's nothing more epic than a cattle drive across the frontier. It's probably my favorite mini series of all time. The chemistry between Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall is great. They completely disappear into those roles. Just a great cast all together.

[The Dark Uniter]

Easily The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.