The Top 50 Westerns of All Time
My love of the western genre started with Red Dead Redemption 1, I soon watched A Fistful of Dollars and I was hooked! As my daughter embarrassingly tells everyone "my daddy loves cowboys".
I've added my favourite quote for each film below.
For all the westerns I've seen that didn't make the cut, you can find them here ranked again from best to worst: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls522356765/
If you like to read, here are my top 10 recommendations for western novels:
➊ Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
➋ The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
➌ The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
➍ The Gunslinger by Stephen King
➎ All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
➏ No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
➐ Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy
➑ Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty
➒ The Shootist by Glen Swarthout
➊⓿ Butcher's Crossing by John Williams
• Honourable mention - Dead Acre by Rhett C. Bruno, as it's narrated on Audible by Roger Clark, the voice of Arthur Morgan from Red Dead Redemption 2
Also, in my opinion, the best western TV Series:
➊ Godless
➋ Hatfields & McCoys
➌ Hell on Wheels
➍ Deadwood
If you like podcasts I'd highly recommend Legends of the Old West, it has a high production value and is well worth a listen.
I've added my favourite quote for each film below.
For all the westerns I've seen that didn't make the cut, you can find them here ranked again from best to worst: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls522356765/
If you like to read, here are my top 10 recommendations for western novels:
➊ Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
➋ The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
➌ The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
➍ The Gunslinger by Stephen King
➎ All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
➏ No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
➐ Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy
➑ Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty
➒ The Shootist by Glen Swarthout
➊⓿ Butcher's Crossing by John Williams
• Honourable mention - Dead Acre by Rhett C. Bruno, as it's narrated on Audible by Roger Clark, the voice of Arthur Morgan from Red Dead Redemption 2
Also, in my opinion, the best western TV Series:
➊ Godless
➋ Hatfields & McCoys
➌ Hell on Wheels
➍ Deadwood
If you like podcasts I'd highly recommend Legends of the Old West, it has a high production value and is well worth a listen.
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- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsClint EastwoodEli WallachLee Van CleefA bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.Blondie: "You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig."
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsClint EastwoodLee Van CleefGian Maria VolontèTwo bounty hunters with the same intentions team up to track down a gang of outlaws led by a psychotic Mexican bandit, who is plotting an audacious bank robbery.Red Cavanaugh: "I didn't hear what the bet was."
Monco: "Your life." - DirectorSergio LeoneStarsClint EastwoodGian Maria VolontèMarianne KochA wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge.Joe: "I don't think it's nice, you laughin'. You see, my mule don't like people laughing. He gets the crazy idea you're laughin' at him. Now if you apologize, like I know you're going to, I might convince him that you really didn't mean it."
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsJamie FoxxChristoph WaltzLeonardo DiCaprioWith the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.Django: "I like the way you die, boy."
- DirectorGeorge Roy HillStarsPaul NewmanRobert RedfordKatharine RossIn 1890s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid lead a band of outlaws. When a train robbery goes wrong, they find themselves on the run with a posse hard on their heels. After considering their options, they escape to South America.Butch Cassidy: "What's the matter with you?"
Sundance Kid: "I can't swim!"
Butch Cassidy: "Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill ya." - DirectorGeorge P. CosmatosKevin JarreStarsKurt RussellVal KilmerSam ElliottA successful lawman's plans to retire anonymously in Tombstone, Arizona are disrupted by the kind of outlaws he was famous for eliminating.Frank McLaury: "I've got you now... you son of a bitch!"
Doc Holliday: [holds up arms] "You're a daisy if you do!" - DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodSondra LockeChief Dan GeorgeMissouri farmer Josey Wales joins a Confederate guerrilla unit and winds up on the run from the Union soldiers who murdered his family.Bounty hunter: "A man's got to do something for a living these days."
Josey Wales: "Dyin' ain't much of a living, boy." - DirectorSergio LeoneStarsHenry FondaCharles BronsonClaudia CardinaleA mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.Frank: "People scare better when they're dyin'."
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsWilliam HoldenErnest BorgnineRobert RyanAn aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.Dutch Engstrom: "Silver rings, your butt! Them's washers! Damn!"
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsSamuel L. JacksonKurt RussellJennifer Jason LeighIn the dead of a Wyoming winter, a bounty hunter and his prisoner find shelter in a cabin currently inhabited by a collection of nefarious characters.John 'The Hangman' Ruth: "You only need to hang mean bastards, but mean bastards you need to hang!"
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodVerna BloomMarianna HillA gun-fighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago and is hired to bring the townsfolk together in an attempt to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.The Stranger: "You know you're going to look awfully silly with that knife sticking up your ass."
- DirectorDavid MackenzieStarsChris PineBen FosterJeff BridgesToby is a divorced father who's trying to make a better life. His brother is an ex-con with a short temper and a loose trigger finger. Together, they plan a series of heists against the bank that's about to foreclose on their family ranch.Alberto Parker: "Sometimes a blind pig finds a truffle."
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodMichael MoriartyCarrie SnodgressA mysterious preacher protects a humble prospector village from a greedy mining company trying to encroach on their land.The Preacher: "Nothing like a nice piece of hickory."
- DirectorSergio SollimaStarsLee Van CleefTomas MilianWalter BarnesAn unofficial lawman and would-be senator is tasked by a railroad baron with hunting down a knife-wielding Mexican peasant accused of raping and killing a young girl.Cuchillo Sanchez: "By yourself, you couldn't catch a limping snail!"
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsRod SteigerJames CoburnRomolo ValliA low-life bandit and an I.R.A. explosives expert rebel against the government and become heroes of the Mexican Revolution.Juan Miranda: "Sh, sh, sh, sh, sh, SHIT, SHUSH! I know what I am talking about when I am talking about revolutions! The people who read the books go to the people who can't read the books, the poor people, and say, "We have to have a change." So, the poor people make the change, ah? And then, the people who read the books, they all sit around the big polished tables, and they talk and talk and talk and eat and eat and eat, eh? But what has happened to the poor people? THEY ARE DEAD! That's your revolution! Sh... so, please... don't tell me about revolutions. And what happens afterwards? The same fucking thing starts all over again!"
- DirectorAndrew DominikStarsBrad PittCasey AffleckSam ShepardRobert Ford, who has idolized Jesse James since childhood, tries hard to join the resurgent gang of the Missouri outlaw, but gradually becomes resentful of the bandit leader.Jesse James: "Can't figure it out, do you want to be like me or do you want to BE me?"
- DirectorSergio CorbucciStarsFranco NeroJosé CanalejasJosé BódaloA coffin-dragging gunslinger and a prostitute become embroiled in a bitter feud between a Klan of Southern racists and a band of Mexican Revolutionaries.Django: "You can clean up the mess, now. But don't touch my coffin."
- DirectorSergio CorbucciStarsFranco NeroTomas MilianFernando ReyA Swedish arms dealer and a Mexican peon team up to rescue the intellectual leader of the Revolutionary cause, while taking part in numerous misadventures along the way.Yolof Peterson: "Excuse me, but your mother is a prostitute, your father is a crook, and your grandfather is a man with a very broad buttocks."
Pepito Tigrero: "What?"
Yolof Peterson: "Allow me to explain. Your mother is a whore, your father is a damn thief, and your grandfather is a notorious fag."
[Yolof punches Pepito out]
Yolof Peterson: "I generously spared your sister..." - DirectorSergio CorbucciStarsFranco NeroTony MusanteFranco GiacobiniA greedy Polish mercenary helps a mine worker and a peasant girl lead a revolution against the Mexican Government, all while being pursued by an American rival.Kowalski aka the Pole: "Good luck, Paco! Keep dreaming... but with your eyes open!"
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsSharon StoneGene HackmanRussell CroweA female gunfighter returns to a frontier town where a dueling tournament is being held, which she enters in an effort to avenge her father's death.Cantrell: "Sergeant Cantrell."
Shemp: "How do you spell that?"
Cantrell: "Correctly." - DirectorDon SiegelStarsClint EastwoodShirley MacLaineManolo FábregasWhen a former Civil War soldier saves a nun from a gang of bandits, they team up to help the Mexicans in their war against the French.Hogan: "Jeeesus Christ! What the hell's a nun doing out here?"
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodGene HackmanMorgan FreemanRetired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner Ned Logan and a young man, The "Schofield Kid."Will Munny: "That's right. I've killed women and children. I've killed just about everything that walks or crawled at one time or another. And I'm here to kill you, Little Bill, for what you did to Ned."
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsJames CoburnKris KristoffersonRichard JaeckelPat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.Billy: [after firing a coachgun loaded with 10 cents coins at Deputy Bob Ollinger] "Keep change, Bob!"
- DirectorRichard BrooksStarsBurt LancasterLee MarvinRobert RyanAn arrogant Texas millionaire hires four adventurers to rescue his kidnapped wife from a notorious Mexican bandit.Rico: "So what else is on your mind besides hundred-proof women, 'n' ninety-proof whiskey, 'n' fourteen-carat gold?"
Bill Dolworth: "Amigo, you just wrote my epitaph!" - DirectorAntonio MargheritiStarsKlaus KinskiPeter CarstenMarcella MichelangeliA man takes his revenge on the family responsible for his wrongful sentence to ten years of hard labor.