From the Old West, to modern day Texas, the western genre has carried a poetic beauty that encompasses a lot of what makes filmmaking one of the greatest arts. Through its more than 120 years of existence, cinema has brought some of the most fascinating adventures, darkest character studies, and some of the most iconic imagery and music to ever grace the screen.
Rotten Tomatoes has used the adjusted ratings of their Tomatometer (which uses metrics like number of reviews and the age of the film) to calculate the best films of the Western genre. Here’s a closer look to the top 20.
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20 Shane
Paramount Pictures
This beautifully-shot George Stevens production portrays the archetype of the lonely gunslinger against the backdrop of the conflicting nature of the Wyoming territory in the late XIX century, the last days of the American West. Alan Ladd stars as the titular character in Shane who is now looking for peace after a life of fighting, but finds himself back to the gun when he must protect those close to him from a ruthless cattle baron.
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19 Once Upon a Time in the West
The beginning of the second unofficial trilogy of spaghetti westerns that made Sergio Leone a legend, Once Upon a Time in the West is a fresh piece of cinematic gold. This time, Leone lacked Clint Eastwood, but instead had a magnificent cast including Henry Fonda’s unusual turn as a villain, and a brilliant story outlined with the help of Dario Argento and Bernardo Bertolucci.
Once Upon A Time in the West serves as an homage to the genre as well as a step forward in it, taking many references from films such as Johnny Guitar or The Searchers but transcending the citations. The film also thematically takes on the end of the cowboy and the arrival of the modern world as the death of what makes up the world of the traditional western.
18 El Dorado
One of Howard Hawks’ last films finds strength from veterans John Wayne and Robert Mitchum along with a young James Caan to bring to life a thematically consistent movie in regard to previous Hawks productions. Leigh Brackett’s screenplay for El Dorado is a rework of Rio Bravo, with a more acute emphasis on Wayne’s age and a great deal of verbal jousting, which makes the film a typical western that enriches its story with well-placed dialogue.
17 Old Yeller
Buena Vista Distribution
A unique film in the genre, Old Yeller is a coming-of-age story of the bond between human and animal. Travis’ father departs for a cattle drive, leaving him, his brother, and his mother to lookout for their ranch. Travis experiences love and the hardships of growing up side by side with a runaway dog that originally causes damage to their ranch, but then befriends the boy as he saves his brother from a bear attack. Heartwarming and heartbreaking in almost equal measure, Old Yeller is as tender as it is hard, much like life itself.
16 Fort Apache
RKO Radio Pictures
A clash of titans is at the heart of this classic John Ford picture. Two of the western genre’s most beloved stars, Henry Fonda and John Wayne, find themselves at conflict when the former arrives to Arizona to take command of the Fort Apache outpost. Searching for a military glory that he feels is owed to him, Owen Thursday (Fonda) is determined on annihilating an Apache chief, which is advised against by Captain Kirby York (Wayne).
As Thursday’s stubbornness brings the confrontation with the natives ever so close, tragic consequence is soon to follow. One of Ford’s most humane efforts, Fort Apache is one of the very first films to showcase an authentic and positive view of Indigenous peoples in the typically prejudiced western genre of the 1950s and earlier.
15 The Rider
Sony Pictures
After getting his skull crushed at a rodeo, a once rising star of the circuit must face an uncertain future, as he searches for a new purpose to his life. The most recent film in this list, The Rider is a beautiful journey of self-discovery and acceptance, in which director Chloé Zhao injects new life into the genre.
The film tenderly presents a character study of masculinity in crisis, showing a very different male archetype to the ones usually presented in westerns, characterized by archetypical macho figures and violence. The film features a cast of non-professional actors, led by an outstanding performance of Brady Jandreau, whose real-life story is the basis of the film.
14 A Fistful Of Dollars
Jolly Film
An unofficial remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo, director Sergio Leone’s second entry on this list marks the beginning of his “Dollars Trilogy.” Clint Eastwood’s first leading role premiered in the States three years after its original release in Italy, alongside the following two films featuring “The Man With No Name,” catapulting him into stardom.
A Fistful Of Dollars marked the arrival to America of the spaghetti western, a subgenre both mocking and honoring the traditional western while adding a European sensibility to its craft. Mostly shot in Spain, the film finds Eastwood entering a Mexican village in the middle of a power struggle between two forces of which none seems to be either good or bad. The Man With No Name proceeds to sell false information to both sides for his own benefit as the conflict ensues.
13 No Country For Old Men
Miramax
One of the Coen brothers’ best films is led by stellar performances from Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones. No Country For Old Men is as dark as it is beautiful, never has a present-day-set western, felt as dangerous and unpredictable as the old classics which the genre is associated with.
A tale of greed, violence, and corruption, all the characters in the film are faced with the ticking of time, the inevitability of powers beyond them and their roads becoming the more and more narrow. Tensions builds up in the driest of ways, almost making an echo as how drug money and violence are a normal part of life nowadays, all this, personified in the terrifying, Anton Chigurh, one of Bardem’s most renowned roles to date and a villain for the ages.
12 Winchester ‘73
Universal Pictures
Winchester ‘73 explores one of the key elements of the genre: the relationship between a man and his tool, otherwise known as his gun. As Lin McAdam (James Stewart, always great in westerns) chases down Dutch Henry Brown (Millard Mitchell), he finds himself beating him in a shooting competition, whose prize is a one-of-a-kind Winchester rifle.
After Brown steals it, McAdam begins a manhunt where it isn’t clear if the objective is the original one, or an obsession over the rifle which has more of a story than what it appears to have. Anthony Mann’s transition from film noir to western is also a revitalization of Stewart’s career, as it begins a line of more complex characters which the actor would take on after Winchester ‘73.
11 Red River
United Artists
One of the genre’s most revered films, Red River is a fictional account of one of the first cattle drives from Texas to Kansas. A massive production, directed by the already experienced Howard Hawks, as in many films on this list, is carried by John Wayne’s striking presence and commitment. Nearly a decade after Stagecoach, the actor finds himself in another western-meets-road movie in which the dramatic action comes from his character quarreling with his adopted son over the long and exhausting journey.
10 The Searchers
Warner Bros.
The Searchers is a dark, ambivalent tale of morality and the passing of time. John Ford’s epic has John Wayne as a Civil War Veteran returning to his family in Texas. After his brother’s home is attacked by Comanches, his vow to find his niece becomes an obsession that drags him for years on a never-ending search, where his motives become increasingly doubtful.
Due to its heavy underlying narratives (race relations, prejudice, moral dilemmas), iconoclastic imagery, and one of John Wayne’s most memorable characters, The Searchers has become an undeniable influence on generations of filmmakers to come.
9 My Darling Clementine
20th Century Fox
Much is said of the legendary working relationship between John Ford and John Wayne, but some of the finest moments of the legendary director came when he partnered with Henry Fonda. My Darling Clementine is one those collaborations, and one of the best Wyatt Earp tales filmed.
Breathtaking compositions, the classic struggle between good and evil, romance, revenge, this film has all the ingredients that westerns needed at the time. In My Darling Clementine, Ford slows down the tempo, trading bravado for tenderness, making the most out of every frame, making up a movie that at its heart is not so much about revenge and death but about life and its beauty.
8 Unforgiven
It’s only right that the man who became the face of modern westerns made an ode to the genre from the director’s chair as well. Clint Eastwood directs and stars in this tale of a retired for-hire killer now a widower farmer, coming back for one last job when faced with the dire need to support his motherless children.
As for the plot, it follows the conventions of a lot of westerns, paying homage to them in the way, but the magic of Unforgivenis the poetry there is in a mature Clint Eastwood, facing his history and becoming that elderly statesman of the genre, the last cowboy at his finest moment.
7 True Grit
To take on a classic and remake it may seem like an everyday thing nowadays. No one expects it to overcome the original, so when this actually happens, it’s a thing of beauty. Only the Coen brothers could remake one of the greatest films of John Wayne late period’s and arguably outdo it in such an outstanding way.
Featuring stellar performances by newcomer Hailee Steinfeld (who is not outshone by her more experienced costars), Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin, True Grit is special because of the directors understanding of America and its cinema: its past, future and present, all blended into a western that manages to be both nostalgic and contemporary.
6 Hell Or High Water
LionsgateCBS Films
What makes David Mackenzie’s best film to date so great is not what it shows but what it chooses to hide away from the viewer. It’s not so guns blazing; it’s more about situational hardships and the smart escalation of tension.
A nuanced work of visual composition, southern poetry, and concise performances, Hell Or High Water incorporates the spirit of the genre into a smart heist film with actor-turned-filmmaker Taylor Sheridan’s finest screenplay, which chooses clever editing and witty storytelling over direct action. With outstanding performances by Chris Pine, Ben Foster, and Jeff Bridges, this thriller is carried by the ever so present narrative of land, family, and protection throughout history in the western genre.
5 Rio Bravo
The first cinematic appearance of basically the same plot found in El Dorado and Rio Lobo, Rio Bravo is Howard Hawks at his best and freshest. The film stars John Wayne as a sheriff detaining a powerful rancher’s brother for murder who must defend his station from the rancher’s gang.
Filled with humor and humanity, Rio Bravo is one of the most celebrated westerns as Hawk’s characters are tied up to a location and must endure whatever comes their way. Hawks redefines standard western genre tropes, as sprawling landscapes are exchanged for smart and more claustrophobic compositions, and exuberant action traded for tension and subtle storytelling.
4 Stagecoach
The film that basically jump started the genre is also one that transcends it. Stagecoach more than a western is about the creation of the American myth. The characters serve more than their roles, their very existence and archetypes, are a vehicle for understanding how society is built up.
It’s funny how John Wayne jump to fame came in a movie with an ensemble cast, where the acting weight is shared equally by all the passengers on the stagecoach. A fascinating study of social classes, prejudice, understanding and human change, the film is an undeniable influence on all the others present in this list.
3 High Noon
The iconic film High Noon is also the list’s most political, essentially working as an allegory for the McCarthy witch hunts and Red Scare of the ’50s. Gary Cooper stars as a marshal who must decide between facing bandits or running away from town with his new wife. A film about facing duty and taking unpopular decisions, at its time was panned by the genre’s biggest star, John Wayne. He deemed it un-American, as it did not comply with the typical heroism expected of a protagonist or a positive portrait of society.
As one of the first revisionist westerns, High Noon is a deeply influential picture that went against many of the creeds established for a film like it, thus making history and opening way for a more open and diverse understanding of not only westerns, but of the portrayal of masculinity in film.
2 The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre
A film about the corruption of the human soul and morality in the face of change, The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre is a deeply entertaining and influential film, in which two American roundabouts (Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt) in Mexico, strike up gold with the help of an ex-miner (Walter Huston, the director’s father).
What ensues is a dirty struggle to stay true oneself and those close, even when money changes things. A full-bodied western that trades the old west for early 20th century Mexico, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre director John Huston is at the height of his powers here, crafting a film that’s both smart, funny, and dark. Brilliant acting, writing, and direction helm this fantastic study on how power changes human lives.
1 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Not only is The Good, the Bad and the Ugly arguably the most iconic and important western, but one of the most impressive and important films of all time. Sergio Leone at the peak of his powers, Ennio Morricone delivering atemporal sonic gems, and Clint Eastwood as cool as ever, are part of the magic recipe which makes The Good, the Bad and the Ugly such a memorable experience.
From its iconography to its themes, its development to its sprawling narrative, and yes, that iconic duel, this film captures everything that makes up a western, and every aspect of the genre that has become so influential to the history of filmmaking. Adding it all up, it’s the quintessential western film, one that has stood the test of time and transcended its original significance to become so much a part of the pop lexicon that it’s already engrained in the working cogs of culture.
