A list of Best Western Movies. What makes a great Western? The best Western movies ever made include some true classics from the early days of cinema and more modern day films that captured our imagination and took us to the days of the wild, wild West. Aside from casting Clint Eastwood or John Wayne, an outstanding Western offers moviegoers fantastic characters, lots of drama and tension and certainly a nasty, memorable villain or two.
Best Western Movies
1. Unforgiven, 1992 | |
Description William Munny, a widower with two young kids, was once a very vicious gunfighter who gave up everything after marriage. Now, a man named Schofield Kid brings him an offer that he cannot refuse. |
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2. Rio Bravo, 1959 | |
Description A small-town sheriff enlists a drunk, a kid and an old man to help him fight off a ruthless cattle baron. |
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3. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, 1966 | |
Description During the Civil War, two men, Blondie and Tuco, form an uncomfortable alliance while looking for treasure. They must also outwit Angel Eyes, an outlaw who wants to plunder the riches for himself. |
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4. High Noon, 1952 | |
Description Former marshal Will Kane (Gary Cooper) is preparing to leave the small town of Hadleyville, New Mexico, with his new bride, Amy (Grace Kelly), when he learns that local criminal Frank Miller has been set free and is coming to seek revenge on the marshal who turned him in. When he starts recruiting deputies to fight Miller, Kane is discouraged to find that the people of Hadleyville turn cowardly when the time comes for a showdown, and he must face Miller and his cronies alone. |
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5. Tombstone, 1993 | |
Description Life for Wyatt was never easy, always dealing with outlaws. He thought life in Tombstone, Arizona is where he could relax. But he runs into the Cowboys and now it’s up to Wyatt to spread peace again. |
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6. The Searchers, 1956 | |
Description An Indian-hating Civil War veteran tracks down the tribe that slaughtered his family and kidnapped his niece in director John Ford’s masterpiece. |
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7. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969 | |
Description Two free-spirited bank robbers flee to Bolivia thinking they can outdo the law in the country. |
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8. The Magnificent Seven, 1960 | |
Description Chris Adams, an experienced gunslinger, forms a team with six other men in order to save a Mexican village from a group of bandits led by Calvera. However, each of the seven men has their own plan. |
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9. Once Upon a Time in the West, 1968 | |
Description There’s a single piece of land around Flagstone with water on it, and rail baron Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti) aims to have it, knowing the new railroad will have to stop there. He sends his henchman Frank (Henry Fonda) to scare the land’s owner, McBain (Frank Wolff), but Frank kills him instead and pins it on a known bandit, Cheyenne (Jason Robards). Meanwhile, a mysterious gunslinger with a score to settle (Charles Bronson) and McBain’s new wife, Jill (Claudia Cardinale), arrive in town. |
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10. Shane, 1953 | |
Description Shane is a 1953 American Technicolor Western film from Paramount Pictures, noted for its landscape cinematography, editing, performances, and contributions to the genre. |
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11. Dances with Wolves, 1990 | |
Description A Civil War soldier develops a relationship with a band of Lakota Indians. Attracted by the simplicity of their lifestyle, he chooses to leave his former life behind to be with them. Having observed him, they give the name Dances With Wolves. Soon he is a welcomed member of the tribe and falls in love with a white woman who has been raised in the tribe. Tragedy results when Union soldiers arrive with designs on the land. |
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12. The Wild Bunch, 1969 | |
Description A troop of aging outlaws plot a grand heist, before they could retire from the criminal world. They ride into a Texas border town in order to rob a local railroad office. |
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13. Stagecoach, 1939 | |
Description A group of disparate passengers battle personal demons and each other while racing through Indian country. |
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14. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, 1962 | |
Description An experienced gunman and a peace-loving tenderfoot clash with a Western bully. |
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15. Django Unchained, 2012 | |
Description When Django, a slave, is freed, he joins forces with a bounty hunter to rescue his wife, who has been captured by a hard-hearted plantation owner. |