Best modern westerns (movies and tv-series)
by arosfors | created - 15 Dec 2018 | updated - 27 Apr 2023 | PublicI have tried to watch what by many are considered to be the best of the old school westerns. Most of them are just too campy. And too many new ones are just too depressive and booring. I prefer a clear hero to vore for. My first westerns to reach my eyes where the Clint Eastwood ones. I don't know how many times i saw "The good, the bad and the ugly" before the age of 15. But spaghetti westerns are often filmed in rather dull locations. So, here is what i consider to be the best from the late 50s up'til the present.
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1. Silverado (1985)
PG-13 | 133 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A misfit bunch of friends comes together to right the injustices which exist in a small town.
Director: Lawrence Kasdan | Stars: Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner, Rosanna Arquette
Votes: 49,492 | Gross: $33.20M
Perhaps the best in my book.
2. Tombstone (1993)
R | 130 min | Biography, Drama, History
A successful lawman's plans to retire anonymously in Tombstone, Arizona are disrupted by the kind of outlaws he was famous for eliminating.
Directors: George P. Cosmatos, Kevin Jarre | Stars: Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton
Votes: 166,411 | Gross: $56.51M
3. Wyatt Earp (1994)
PG-13 | 191 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
From Wichita to Dodge City, to the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, a man becomes a myth in this thrilling journey of romance, adventure, and desperate heroic action.
Director: Lawrence Kasdan | Stars: Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, David Andrews
Votes: 54,970 | Gross: $25.05M
4. Open Range (2003)
R | 139 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.
Director: Kevin Costner | Stars: Kevin Costner, Robert Duvall, Diego Luna, Abraham Benrubi
Votes: 78,182 | Gross: $58.33M
Certainly one of my absolute favourites. Second only to Silverado and Tombstone.
5. Centennial (1978–1979)
TV-PG | 105 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
The economic and cultural growth of Colorado spanning two centuries from the mid 1700s to the late 1970s.
Stars: Raymond Burr, Barbara Carrera, Richard Chamberlain, Robert Conrad
Votes: 3,671
6. Dances with Wolves (1990)
PG-13 | 181 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
Lieutenant John Dunbar, assigned to a remote western Civil War outpost, finds himself engaging with a neighbouring Sioux settlement, causing him to question his own purpose.
Director: Kevin Costner | Stars: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant
Votes: 290,802 | Gross: $184.21M
Get the long version.
7. Last Man Standing (1996)
R | 101 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A drifting gunslinger-for-hire finds himself in the middle of an ongoing war between the Irish and Italian mafia in a Prohibition era ghost town.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Bruce Willis, Bruce Dern, William Sanderson, Christopher Walken
Votes: 61,015 | Gross: $17.60M
A classic western - similar to Silverado - in every way but the time it is set in.
8. Heaven's Gate (1980)
R | 219 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
During the Johnson County War in 1890 Wyoming, a sheriff born into wealth does his best to protect immigrant farmers from rich cattle interests.
Director: Michael Cimino | Stars: Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt, Sam Waterston
Votes: 17,158 | Gross: $3.48M
9. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
PG | 135 min | Drama, Western
Missouri farmer Josey Wales joins a Confederate guerrilla unit and winds up on the run from the Union soldiers who murdered his family.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Chief Dan George, Bill McKinney
Votes: 79,880 | Gross: $31.80M
10. Hang 'Em High (1968)
Approved | 114 min | Drama, Western
When an innocent man barely survives a lynching, he returns as a lawman determined to bring the vigilantes to justice.
Director: Ted Post | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Inger Stevens, Pat Hingle, Ed Begley
Votes: 43,126
11. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Approved | 178 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A 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.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè
Votes: 811,636 | Gross: $6.10M
12. Pale Rider (1985)
R | 115 min | Drama, Western
A mysterious preacher protects a humble prospector village from a greedy mining company trying to encroach on their land.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress, Sydney Penny
Votes: 64,726 | Gross: $41.41M
13. Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)
GP | 116 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
When 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.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Shirley MacLaine, Manolo Fábregas, Alberto Morin
Votes: 30,581 | Gross: $11.50M
14. Young Guns (1988)
R | 107 min | Action, Drama, Western
A group of young gunmen, led by Billy the Kid, become deputies to avenge the murder of the rancher who became their benefactor. But when Billy takes their authority too far, they become the hunted.
Director: Christopher Cain | Stars: Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen
Votes: 68,078 | Gross: $45.66M
15. Young Guns II (1990)
PG-13 | 104 min | Action, Drama, Western
Billy the Kid and his band of outlaws are pursued across New Mexico territory by Sheriff Pat Garrett, whom the young gunslingers must face-off with if they are to reach the safety of the border.
Director: Geoff Murphy | Stars: Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christian Slater
Votes: 39,061 | Gross: $44.14M
16. Lonesome Dove (1989)
TV-14 | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
Two former Texas Rangers renew their spirit of adventure as they and several other residents of a small Texas town join a cattle drive to the Montana Territory.
Stars: Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover, Diane Lane
Votes: 25,930
This entry stands for all five miniseries in the Lonesome Dove saga. I list them here in the order i think they should be seen, from the 1840s where the story begins, to the 1890s: 1. Dead man's walk. 2. Comanche moon. 3. Lonesome dove. (This one). 4. Return to Lonesome dove. 5. Streets of Laredo.
17. Quigley Down Under (1990)
PG-13 | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Sharpshooter Matt Quigley is hired from Wyoming by an Australian rancher paying a very high price. But when Quigley arrives Down Under, all is not as it seems.
Director: Simon Wincer | Stars: Tom Selleck, Laura San Giacomo, Alan Rickman, Chris Haywood
Votes: 24,564 | Gross: $21.41M
18. Broken Trail (2006)
Not Rated | 92 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A veteran cowboy and his nephew save five Chinese girls from prostitution while trekking from Oregon to Wyoming.
Stars: Robert Duvall, Thomas Haden Church, Greta Scacchi, Chris Mulkey
Votes: 6,744
A gem.
19. Hatfields & McCoys (2012)
TV-14 | 97 min | Drama, History, Romance
Dramatization of the bitter blood feud between the two families on the West Virginia/Kentucky border in the years after the Civil War.
Stars: Kevin Costner, Bill Paxton, Matt Barr, Tom Berenger
Votes: 29,344
Dark and depressing take on a piece of american history.
20. Wild Bill (1995)
R | 98 min | Action, Biography, Drama
The early career of legendary lawman Wild Bill Hickock is telescoped and culminates in his relocation in Deadwood and a reunion with Calamity Jane.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Ellen Barkin, John Hurt, Diane Lane
Votes: 7,882 | Gross: $2.17M
21. Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
GP | 108 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by the Crow tribe and proves to be a match for their warriors in single combat on the early frontier.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Robert Redford, Will Geer, Delle Bolton, Josh Albee
Votes: 35,006 | Gross: $47.74M
22. Last of the Dogmen (1995)
PG | 118 min | Adventure, Western
A Montana bounty hunter and an anthropologist discover a tribe of Native Americans living in a settlement isolated from the rest of the world.
Director: Tab Murphy | Stars: Tom Berenger, Barbara Hershey, Kurtwood Smith, Steve Reevis
Votes: 5,973 | Gross: $7.40M
Not a western per se, allthough it includes a lost indian tribe. Really good adventure this. Sadly not available on bluray as of yet.
23. The Revenant (I) (2015)
R | 156 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, Domhnall Gleeson
Votes: 874,747 | Gross: $183.64M
24. Klondike (2014)
46 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
Two childhood friends, Bill Haskell and Byron Epstein, embark on a journey to Klondike, Yukon, in hopes of discovering a fortune in a remote town.
Stars: Abbie Cornish, Marton Csokas, Ian Hart, Greg Lawson
Votes: 6,596
25. The Quick and the Dead (1995)
R | 108 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A 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.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio
Votes: 102,910 | Gross: $18.64M
26. The Man from Snowy River (1982)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In 1880s Australia, after young Jim Craig's father dies, he takes a job at the Harrison cattle ranch, where he is forced to become a man.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Tom Burlinson, Terence Donovan, Tommy Dysart
Votes: 10,033 | Gross: $20.66M
27. Appaloosa (2008)
R | 115 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.
Director: Ed Harris | Stars: Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Renée Zellweger, Jeremy Irons
Votes: 64,738 | Gross: $20.21M
28. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
PG-13 | 166 min | Western
A mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards
Votes: 349,218 | Gross: $5.32M
This one makes the list by a narrow margin. There is something about it i don't like. Could be that you don't get to like anyone in particular in it. The cinematography is so nice though.
29. The Magnificent Seven (2016)
PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Seven gunmen from a variety of backgrounds are brought together by a vengeful young widow to protect her town from the private army of a destructive industrialist.
Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio
Votes: 228,307 | Gross: $93.43M
30. 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
R | 122 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A small-time rancher agrees to hold a captured outlaw who's awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. A battle of wills ensues as the outlaw tries to psych out the rancher.
Director: James Mangold | Stars: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Ben Foster, Logan Lerman
Votes: 331,186 | Gross: $53.61M
31. Deadwood (2004–2006)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, History
A show set in the late 1800s, revolving around the characters of Deadwood, South Dakota; a town of deep corruption and crime.
Stars: Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane, Molly Parker, Brad Dourif
Votes: 117,723
Here's where i abandon my own criteria for inclusion on this list, because what this series lacks is clear cut heroes. The good guys end up dead here and the dirtbags thrive. At least as long as i cared to watch. Yet, somehow the level of production value that has gone into it, must be applauded. This really is quality work. I'll give it another try soon...
32. Godless (2017)
TV-MA | 65 min | Action, Drama, Western
In the 1880s American West, murderous outlaw gang leader Frank Griffin hunts for ex-protege Roy Goode. Frank's chase leads him to La Belle, New Mexico--a town inhabited, after a mining disaster, almost entirely by women.
Stars: Jack O'Connell, Michelle Dockery, Scoot McNairy, Merritt Wever
Votes: 78,658
33. The Professionals (1966)
PG-13 | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
An arrogant Texas millionaire hires four adventurers to rescue his kidnapped wife from a notorious Mexican bandit.
Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode
Votes: 18,848 | Gross: $19.54M
34. Rough Riders (1997)
16+ | 240 min | Action, Drama, History
Undersecretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt resigns to form a volunteer militia unit called "The Rough Riders" to fight in the Spanish-American War.
Stars: Tom Berenger, Sam Elliott, Gary Busey, Brad Johnson
Votes: 2,285
35. The Wild Bunch (1969)
R | 135 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.
Director: Sam Peckinpah | Stars: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien
Votes: 90,405 | Gross: $12.06M
Sam Peckingpah's so-called masterpiece. Well, it's watchable. And it has some real classic and genre-defining moments.
36. True Grit (2010)
PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Western
A stubborn teenager enlists the help of a tough U.S. Marshal to track down her father's murderer.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin
Votes: 357,640 | Gross: $171.24M
37. Django Unchained (2012)
R | 165 min | Comedy, Drama, Western
With the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington
Votes: 1,696,309 | Gross: $162.81M
A bit off the track for me, but i guess it's ok. Perhaps i'd like the original better.
38. The Lone Ranger (2013)
PG-13 | 150 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Native American warrior Tonto recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid, a man of the law, into a legend of justice.
Director: Gore Verbinski | Stars: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, William Fichtner, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 244,547 | Gross: $89.30M
A bit over the top. And, i mean - a western with Johnny Depp in it (don't take me wrong, i love the Pirates of the carribean-franchise...) ...but I love steam trains, ok, and it's a fun ride.
39. Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973)
PG | 103 min | Drama, Western
A tough Marshal has a difficult task when his two sons join a gang and rob a bank.
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen | Stars: John Wayne, George Kennedy, Gary Grimes, Neville Brand
Votes: 7,231
40. The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
Passed | 122 min | Drama, Western
Ranch owner Katie Elder's four sons determine to avenge the murder of their father and the swindling of their mother.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Martha Hyer, Michael Anderson Jr.
Votes: 19,203 | Gross: $13.33M
41. Geronimo: An American Legend (1993)
PG-13 | 115 min | Drama, History, Western
The story of the Apache chief and his armed resistance to the U.S. Government's subjugation of his people.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Jason Patric, Gene Hackman, Robert Duvall, Wes Studi
Votes: 13,495 | Gross: $18.64M
42. Forsaken (I) (2015)
R | 90 min | Action, Drama, Western
In 1872, an embittered gunslinger named John Henry Clayton attempts to make amends with his estranged father Reverend Samuel Clayton while their community is besieged by ruthless land-grabbers.
Director: Jon Cassar | Stars: Esther Purves-Smith, Kiefer Sutherland, Donald Sutherland, Lex Cassar
Votes: 13,803
43. Legends of the Fall (1994)
R | 133 min | Drama, Romance, War
In the early 1900s, three brothers and their father living in the remote wilderness of Montana are affected by betrayal, history, love, nature, and war.
Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Julia Ormond
Votes: 183,189 | Gross: $66.64M
44. A River Runs Through It (1992)
PG | 123 min | Drama
Two sons of a stern minister - one reserved, one rebellious - grow up in rural 1920s Montana while devoted to fly fishing.
Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Craig Sheffer, Brad Pitt, Tom Skerritt, Brenda Blethyn
Votes: 65,497 | Gross: $43.44M
45. The Horse Whisperer (1998)
PG-13 | 169 min | Drama, Romance, Western
The mother of a severely traumatized daughter enlists the aid of a unique horse trainer to help the girl's equally injured horse.
Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Robert Redford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sam Neill, Dianne Wiest
Votes: 43,548 | Gross: $75.38M
46. Yellowstone (2018– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Western
A ranching family in Montana faces off against others encroaching on their land.
Stars: Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley
Votes: 221,005
47. City Slickers (1991)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Western
On the verge of turning 40, an unhappy Manhattan yuppie is roped into joining his two friends on a cattle drive in the southwest.
Director: Ron Underwood | Stars: Billy Crystal, Jack Palance, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby
Votes: 63,099 | Gross: $124.03M
The only comedy in the list. And perhaps not considered a real western by some, but well... ...i love it.
48. The Mountain Men (1980)
R | 102 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A pair of grizzled frontiersmen fight Indians, guzzle liquor and steal squaws in their search for a legendary valley 'so full of beaver that they jump right into your traps' in this fanciful adventure.
Director: Richard Lang | Stars: Charlton Heston, Brian Keith, Victoria Racimo, Stephen Macht
Votes: 2,608
49. 1883 (2021–2022)
TV-MA | 56 min | Drama, Western
The post-Civil war generation of the Dutton family travels to Texas, and joins a wagon train undertaking the arduous journey west to Oregon, before settling in Montana to establish what would eventually become the Yellowstone Ranch.
Stars: Tim McGraw, Sam Elliott, Faith Hill, Isabel May
Votes: 116,379
50. 1923 (2022–2023)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Western
The Duttons face a new set of challenges in the early 20th century, including the rise of Western expansion, Prohibition, and the Great Depression.
Stars: Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, Brandon Sklenar, Julia Schlaepfer
Votes: 53,839
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