The 10 Best Westerns Ever Made Ranked According To IMDb

The 10 Best Westerns Ever Made Ranked, According To IMDb

Things about westerns make them an enduring and beloved genre of film. Here are the 10 best ever made, ranked according to IMDb.

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Westerns have often been criticized as a genre offering the same, tired tropes and recycled stories – something that many blame for the genre’s ‘death’ following its huge popularity from the 1930s to the late 1960s. While westerns do draw from the same well of iconography to tell their stories thanks to their setting however, the genre is incredibly versatile and diverse in its storytelling. Fort Apache, for instance, is absolutely nothing like The Hateful Eight.

While some movies offer a more jingoistic look at the Old West of legend, others are much more cynical in their approach. It’s the different styles, sub-genres, and themes found in the western that’s given it such a beloved legacy, with many of the best films ever made being entries in the genre. With that in mind, here are the 10 best westerns ever made, according to IMDb.

10 Rio Bravo (1959): 8.0

Directed by filmmaking legend Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne, Rio Bravo follows the story of Sherriff John T. Chance, his deputy, and a hotshot sharpshooter, who sparks the ire of a ruthless gang of outlaws. This forces our heroes to take up arms to defend the titular town of Rio Bravo from the gang’s impending assault.

A lynchpin of the western genre, Rio Bravo is about as classic as it gets. Between its tried-and-true story, recognizable cast and accomplished director, the movie is the perfect introduction to the genre.

9 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969): 8.0

Between its incredible pairing of Paul Newman and Robert Redford in its title roles, subversion of the typical genre narrative and famously bleak ending, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is one of the most beloved westerns ever made.

The movie follows outlaws Butch Cassidy and his younger companion Sundance, as they commit a series of train robberies – subsequently being forced to flee to Bolivia to escape the law. Although several critics – including Roger Ebert – disliked the film initially, the movie has since earned a reputation as one of the classics of the genre and was even nominated for four Academy Awards.

8 A Fistful of Dollars (1964): 8.0

The first movie in Sergio Leone’s unmatched ‘Man with No Name Trilogy’, A Fistful of Dollars popularized an entire subgenre known as the Spaghetti Western with its flawless execution and iconic style. The movie sees the Man with No Name – played by Clint Eastwood – inserting himself into a tense conflict with three warring brothers, playing the different factions off against each other.

Largely responsible for catapulting Eastwood into pop culture legend, A Fistful of Dollars also features a beautiful score from composer Ennio Morricone – all of which adds up to one of the genre’s most well-known masterpieces.

7 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962): 8.1

With John Ford in the director’s chair, as well as the likes John Wayne, James Stewart, Lee Marvin and Vera Miles in front of the camera, it’s no surprise that The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance became such a huge hit.

Telling the familiar story of an underdog – James Stewart’s Ranse Stoddard – who’s forced to take on a merciless outlaw – Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance – the movie succeeds through its unique style of storytelling, playing with the notion of the ‘western myth’ and making its characters feel much more real in the process.

6 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948): 8.2

Based on the 1935 novel of the same name by B. Traven, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre sees three impoverished men – played by Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt, and Walter Huston – set out to strike gold in Mexico.

The movie explores the pitfalls and insidious influence of greed, taking some surprisingly dark turns for a western of the time. Subverting the traditional ‘good vs evil’ narrative that was something of a staple of the genre at the time, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is one of John Huston’s finest ever directorial efforts – and that’s saying something.

5 Unforgiven (1992): 8.2

While most of the westerns on this list were released in the height of the genre’s popularity, the Clint Eastwood-directed Unforgiven was released in 1992 – a long time after the apparent ‘death’ of the western.

Nevertheless, the movie was a huge success, and was hailed for its more critical portrayal of the west’s supposed ‘heroes’ – with Eastwood’s protagonist Munny having committed countless murders of men, women and children before the events of the movie. Unforgiven’s greatest strengths lie in its lack of Hollywood gloss, making its story feel somehow bleaker yet more human than any western preceding it.

4 For A Few Dollars More (1965): 8.3

For A Few Dollars More serves as the middle chapter of the fantastic Man with No Name Trilogy, with Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone teaming up to deliver another all-time classic. After Eastwood’s Manco and Lee Van Cleef’s Colonel Douglas Mortimer set their sights on the same bounty, the two men join forces to take down the vicious outlaw El Indio.

Like many classic movies, For A Few Dollars More wasn’t particularly well-received upon its release but has since become hailed as a shining example of the genre, with Leone’s stylish direction setting the movie apart from others of its ilk.

3 Django Unchained (2012): 8.4

It may come as a shock to see a film as recent as 2012’s Django Unchained so high on a list of the best westerns ever made. Between its revisionist sensibilities and unique blend of the traditional and the modern however, the movie’s fresh take on the western more than earns its place on this list.

Managing to tell a harrowing story about slavery and vengeance while somehow filling it with humor, heart and blood-soaked action, Tarantino keeps a lot of plates spinning with Django Unchained – without dropping a single one. The result is a movie that’s satisfying on almost every conceivable level – with its dialogue, characters and nail-biting tension culminating in one of the most thrilling shootouts ever put to film.

2 Once Upon a Time in the West (1968): 8.5

As overused as the word has recently become, there’s no other word to accurately describe Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West than epic. Boasting an ensemble cast featuring the likes of Charles Bronson and an against-type Henry Fonda, the movie spins a sprawling, revisionist yarn about violence in the Old West.

A firm favorite amongst many of the greatest contemporary filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese, Once Upon A Time in the West’s initially lukewarm reviews eventually gave way to widespread acclaim, with the movie considered to be the quintessential western movie.

1 The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (1966): 8.8

If there was only one western to accurately represent the entire genre, it would undoubtedly be Sergio Leone’s 1968 classic The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. The grand finale of the Man with No Name Trilogy, every single aspect of the movie from its memorable Ennio Morricone score to its perfectly stylized direction has become iconic.

Following the exploits of Eastwood’s Blondie, as he competes with the nefarious Angel Eyes and the foolish Tuco for a stash of Confederate gold, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’s striking visuals, beautiful score and relentless tension helped launch the movie into pop culture legend.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/best-westerns-ever-made-ranked-imdb/

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