# The TC Top 5 Recommended Westerns List



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

I will start taking nominations for the 5 greatest westerns of all time. List as many as you like up to 5. no voting except tie-breakers as necessary. Higher ranked movie will get more points.

I'll start off:
1. Shane 
2. Red River
3. My Darling Clementine
4. McCabe and Mrs. Miller
5. The Wild Bunch


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I would add High Noon with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly to any such list. Has the best song of any western too.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

1. Red River
2. My Darling Clementine
3. Rio Bravo
4. Fort Apache
5. The Searchers

I'm a great fan of westerns! I used to like the "spaghetti westerns" when I was younger, but long ago I drifted firmly into the "classic western" camp.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Xaltotun said:


> 1. Red River
> 2. My Darling Clementine
> 3. Rio Bravo
> 4. Fort Apache
> ...


Yup, like all your selections. I also thought Fort Apache was a great movie. Very powerful. Hpowders nomination of High Noon will be considered a #1 pick. Will tabulate the results in about a week.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

*The Missouri Breaks* (1976), *Blazing Saddles* (1974), *Eastwood's Spaghetti Trilogy* (1964 - 1966), *Once Upon a Time in the West* (1968), *The Searchers* (1956).


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

1. Unforgiven
2. Dances with Wolves
3. Open Range
4. Heaven's Gate
5. Legends of the Fall


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

1. The Wild Bunch - Sam Peckinpah (1969) [Director's Cut, 145 minutes] 
2. Once Upon a Time in the West - Sergio Leone (1968) 
3. McCabe & Mrs. Miller - Robert Altman (1971) 
4. Stagecoach - John Ford (1939) 
5. High Noon - Fred Zinneman (1952)


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## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

A brief top 10 I'd hate to be bound by (no order):

Red River
Hondo
The Man From Laramie
El Dorado
Winchester '73
Seven Men from Now
The Outlaw Josey Wales
High Noon
Shane
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

bz3 said:


> A brief top 10 I'd hate to be bound by (no order):
> 
> Red River
> Hondo
> ...


Never saw 7 Men From Now.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Phil loves classical said:


> Never saw 7 Men From Now.


In the time you've been posting here today, you coulda seen it ten times!!! :lol:


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## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

1. El Topo (1970)
2. Django Unchained (2012)
3. The Hateful Eight (2015)
4. Unforgiven (1992)
5. The Wild Bunch (1969)


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

tortkis said:


> 1. El Topo (1970)
> 2. Django Unchained (2012)
> 3. The Hateful Eight (2015)
> 4. Unforgiven (1992)
> 5. The Wild Bunch (1969)


Whoa, forgot about El Topo and certainly didn't expect to see it on these lists. Have you seen Dance of Reality from this decade? Not a Western, but his greatest film imo.


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## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

AfterHours said:


> Whoa, forgot about El Topo and certainly didn't expect to see it on these lists. Have you seen Dance of Reality from this decade? Not a Western, but his greatest film imo.


Before posting, I checked IMDb and confirmed that El Topo is tagged as Western.  I haven't watched Dance of Reality. (will do.) I purchased Jodorowsky DVD box set a long time ago, that contains El Topo, The Holy Mountain, Fando y Lis, Santa Sangre, and an interview disc.


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## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

Phil loves classical said:


> Never saw 7 Men From Now.


Every one of the Boetticher/Scott vehicles is worth seeing and ranks among the best 200 or so westerns. We're nearly as lucky for them as we are for the Mann/Stewarts and the Ford/Waynes and the Leone/Eastwoods - though they're decidedly more gritty than the dreamlike Leones, the lush Fords, and the theatrical Manns. Watch them all and you won't be disappointed.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

bz3 said:


> Every one of the Boetticher/Scott vehicles is worth seeing and ranks among the best 200 or so westerns. We're nearly as lucky for them as we are for the Mann/Stewarts and the Ford/Waynes and the Leone/Eastwoods - though they're decidedly more gritty than the dreamlike Leones, the lush Fords, and the theatrical Manns. Watch them all and you won't be disappointed.


I just finished watching Seven Men from Now. Surprisingly haven't heard of it earlier. It is better than a lot of classic Westerns, interesting plot, good characters, plus it's got Lee Marvin.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

tortkis said:


> 1. El Topo (1970)
> 2. Django Unchained (2012)
> 3. The Hateful Eight (2015)
> 4. Unforgiven (1992)
> 5. The Wild Bunch (1969)


El Topo, that one crazy movie.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

bz3 said:


> The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance


Damn I forgot this one, should have been in my top 5!!


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Xaltotun said:


> Damn I forgot this one, should have been in my top 5!!


It's Ok. Where would you insert it? Or you csn just send a revised list.


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

Phil loves classical said:


> I just finished watching Seven Men from Now. Surprisingly haven't heard of it earlier. It is better than a lot of classic Westerns, interesting plot, good characters, plus it's got Lee Marvin.


I like Ride Lonesome (1959) better. Plus its got Lee Van Cleef who's completely forgotten the appalling crime for which Randolph Scott is seeking revenge. And a burning tree...

The Bravados (1958)
For a Few Dollars More (1965)

I'm surprised no one has mentioned The Magnificent Seven (1960).

Guilty Pleasure: Thunder Pass (1954).

P.S. Ride the High Country (1962) deservedly has its adherents.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

geralmar said:


> I like Ride Lonesome (1959) better. Plus its got Lee Van Cleef who's completely forgotten the appalling crime for which Randolph Scott is seeking revenge. And a burning tree...
> 
> The Bravados (1958)
> For a Few Dollars More (1965)
> ...


I did watch Commanche Station, by the same director and actor combo. Never watched the Tall T, but it is considered possibly their best.

I liked Bravados up to a certain point, don't remember the ending too well.


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

Phil loves classical said:


> I did watch Commanche Station, by the same director and actor combo. Never watched the Tall T, but it is considered possibly their best.
> 
> I liked Bravados up to a certain point, don't remember the ending too well.


You might like Ride the High Country (1962), directed by Sam Peckinpah (before he went all gritty), and considered the swan songs of Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea. Lonely Are the Brave (1962) with Kirk Douglas places the western in a modern setting with a helicopter and jeep replacing the posse. Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) is a tense slowburner western if one can ignore another jeep. Hour of the Gun (1967) is the hard edged sequel to the lumpish Gunfight at the OK Corral. I even have affection for Duel at Diablo (1966) and its jazz score. Hombre (1967) is another sharp edged western.


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## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

The Tall T is my 2nd favorite Boetticher, Boone really does give it a great performance and the end is very tense. I just like Lee Marvin a lot and think Seven Men From Now is more exciting throughout. Can't go wrong with any of those Boetticher/Scott films though.

A few more I enjoy a lot that haven't been mentioned are Man of the West, Last Train from Gun Hill, Tall in the Saddle, Angel and the Badman, the Gunfight at the OK Corral, Hang Em High. Especially Tall in the Saddle - kind of gets overlooked as a truly great John Wayne because it has shades of his oater days but it's more than that.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

geralmar said:


> You might like Ride the High Country (1962), directed by Sam Peckinpah (before he went all gritty), and considered the swan songs of Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea. Lonely Are the Brave (1962) with Kirk Douglas places the western in a modern setting with a helicopter and jeep replacing the posse. Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) is a tense slowburner western if one can ignore another jeep. Hour of the Gun (1967) is the hard edged sequel to the lumpish Gunfight at the OK Corral. I even have affection for Duel at Diablo (1966) and its jazz score. Hombre (1967) is another sharp edged western.


Watched all those except Duel at Diablo. Will look into it. I didn't like Ride the High Country so much. Hombre was great. I was never a Kirk Douglas fan.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Any of you guys been to Monument Valley? Lone Pine? I've also been to Red Rock Canyon where the last scenes in Man of the West was filmed. I just watched it for the time several months ago, and recognized the rock forms. Will be going to Colorado, Utah and Arizona end of this month for a pilgrimmage.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

geralmar said:


> You might like Ride the High Country (1962), directed by Sam Peckinpah (before he went all gritty), and considered the swan songs of Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea. Lonely Are the Brave (1962) with Kirk Douglas places the western in a modern setting with a helicopter and jeep replacing the posse. Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) is a tense slowburner western if one can ignore another jeep. Hour of the Gun (1967) is the hard edged sequel to the lumpish Gunfight at the OK Corral. I even have affection for Duel at Diablo (1966) and its jazz score. Hombre (1967) is another sharp edged western.


By the way, Bad Day at Black Rock seems like a cross between an Alfred Hitchcock movie and a western :lol:


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Current Score, by counting top movie as 5 points, 2nd top movie as 4 points, and so on:

1. Red River (9 points)
2. My Darling Clementine (7 points)
2. The Wild Bunch (7 points)
2. Unforgiven (7 points)
3. High Noon (6 points)
3. Once Upon a Time in the West (6 points)

Others have 5 points or less.


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

Phil loves classical said:


> Current Score, by counting top movie as 5 points, 2nd top movie as 4 points, and so on:
> 
> 1. Red River (9 points)
> 2. My Darling Clementine (7 points)
> ...


Good start! I'm rooting for The Wild Bunch as it is by far the greatest western in my opinion -- not that many others aren't great too -- it's just the only one I'd place at or near strict standards for "all time masterpiece".


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Here's my list updated to include The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

1. Red River
2. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
3. My Darling Clementine
4. Rio Bravo
5. Fort Apache

Phil loves classical, we seem to have very similar tastes in westerns, so I'll have to check out the films on your list that I haven't seen. I also love Shane and would definitely include it in my top 10. I'm usually not that keen on films of the 60's and 70's (with exceptions) so I remain wary of those ones that have been recommended here.

There are also some "semi-westerns" that have a lot of the elements of the genre, but perhaps not enough to count as pure westerns, and those can be very good, too. I'm thinking Sjöström's _The Wind_, Ford's _Young Mr. Lincoln_ (one of my favourite Ford films) and Jarmusch's _Dead Man_.

_High Noon_ in an interesting case. It's clearly a very well made and intelligent film, and a very "pure" western in a way, but at the same time, it seems to lose something crucial to a western. By being a bit too sophisticated for it's own good, it loses the essential element of being able to choose one's destiny, which is at the very heart of the western. I like it nonetheless, but not as much as some others.

Westerns that I haven't seen but that I'd really like to see are _The Outlaw, Pursued, The Gunfighter_ and _The Ox-Bow Incident._ There are probably many more that deserve to be seen, though.

If I ever crossed the great Atlantic I would head straight to the Monument Valley. I think I'd probably faint. Can't believe that nature has made something that impressive to us humans. The great American outdoors must surely be a sight to behold. I mean, just reading a couple of lines about it by F. W. Emerson makes my eyes wet.


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## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

A few 1930s westerns I really like are the DeMille/Cooper/Arthur team-up in "The Plainsman" about Wild Bill Hickok, playing it fairly loose with the history but is immensely entertaining. In the same vein, the lush MGM feature "Dodge City" with Flynn and de Havilland is great fun as well, even if Flynn out west still seems goofy today. Both are kind of larger than life, as you'd expect from MGM bringing back the Robin Hood principals or DeMille in general. The third I'll mention is Stewart/Dietrich in "Destry Rides Again."

Another good Gary Cooper from around the same period where he plays a historical figure is Wyler's "The Westerner." Wyler is one of my favorite directors and the movie is pretty good, though not an all-timer (it's not as good as his later "The Big Country" for instance, and IMO Wyler's gift was much better served in other genres). Interestingly, the historical character from "The Westerner" again appears in "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean" with Newman/Gardner which itself has the distinction of being my least favorite John Huston picture (I've seen all but 3 or 4, Huston is also one of my very favorite directors).

Speaking of Huston, I don't really count it as a western but if I did "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" would easily rank in my top 10. Along those same lines, "The Mississippi Gambler" is not a western per se but it's about riverboats and New Orleans and certainly feels a bit western-y - at least as much as a quality melodrama can. It is also very good and little remembered in discussions of great movies, at least among people I know. It doesn't help that it's a Fox feature and therefore not ever (or at least very rarely) shown on TCM.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Xaltotun said:


> Here's my list updated to include The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
> 
> 1. Red River
> 2. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
> ...


I'm not that big a fan of High Noon either. The cutting to the high noon with the train whistle was great though, sends chills down my spine. A thought another great western is Gary Cooper's first movie, the Virginian. The gunfighter is good, I thought better thsn High Noon. Naked Spur I thought was amazing. One of James Stewart's best roles.

Ox-bow had some great cinematography, but nothing in the same league as My Darling Clementine. Jeremiah Johnson had great cinematography too. Yeah, i also liked Dead Man, especially the soundtrack. The Proposition is an interesting Austrailian western.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

bz3 said:


> A few 1930s westerns I really like are the DeMille/Cooper/Arthur team-up in "The Plainsman" about Wild Bill Hickok, playing it fairly loose with the history but is immensely entertaining. In the same vein, the lush MGM feature "Dodge City" with Flynn and de Havilland is great fun as well, even if Flynn out west still seems goofy today. Both are kind of larger than life, as you'd expect from MGM bringing back the Robin Hood principals or DeMille in general. The third I'll mention is Stewart/Dietrich in "Destry Rides Again."
> 
> Another good Gary Cooper from around the same period where he plays a historical figure is Wyler's "The Westerner." Wyler is one of my favorite directors and the movie is pretty good, though not an all-timer (it's not as good as his later "The Big Country" for instance, and IMO Wyler's gift was much better served in other genres). Interestingly, the historical character from "The Westerner" again appears in "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean" with Newman/Gardner which itself has the distinction of being my least favorite John Huston picture (I've seen all but 3 or 4, Huston is also one of my very favorite directors).
> 
> Speaking of Huston, I don't really count it as a western but if I did "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" would easily rank in my top 10. Along those same lines, "The Mississippi Gambler" is not a western per se but it's about riverboats and New Orleans and certainly feels a bit western-y - at least as much as a quality melodrama can. It is also very good and little remembered in discussions of great movies, at least among people I know. It doesn't help that it's a Fox feature and therefore not ever (or at least very rarely) shown on TCM.


The Westerner was really fun. i can't remember Destry too much and will have to watch it again. Watched the Tall T yesterday, it was ok, but not as fun as Seven Men from Now.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

bz3 said:


> Speaking of Huston, I don't really count it as a western but if I did "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" would easily rank in my top 10.


Yeah, it one of those semi-westerns, and a superb film!!



Phil loves classical said:


> I'm not that big a fan of High Noon either. The cutting to the high noon with the train whistle was great though, sends chills down my spine. A thought another great western is Gary Cooper's first movie, the Virginian. The gunfighter is good, I thought better thsn High Noon. Naked Spur I thought was amazing. One of James Stewart's best roles.
> 
> Ox-bow had some great cinematography, but nothing in the same league as My Darling Clementine. Jeremiah Johnson had great cinematography too. Yeah, i also liked Dead Man, especially the soundtrack. The Proposition is an interesting Austrailian western.


My Darling Clementine really shines with the poetic images. Dead Man is the film that made me love films - it made me realize that films can be something else than entertainment, all the way back in '96. I also saw The Proposition on the big screen when it came out. I remember liking it very much, but I think my tastes have changed since, and it might be too brutal for me these days.


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