Favorite Westerns or Neo-Westerns from Film and Television
The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that [embody] the spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier". Generally set in the American frontier between the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the closing of the frontier in 1890,: the genre also includes many examples of stories set in locations outside the frontier – including Northern Mexico, the Northwestern United States, Alaska, and Western Canada – as well as stories that take place before 1865 and after 1890. Western films comprise part of the larger Western genre, which encompasses literature, music, television, and plastic arts. Contemporary Western is a sub-genre of the Western genre that includes contemporary settings and uses Old West themes, archetypes, and motifs, such as a rebellious antihero, open plains and desert landscapes, or gunfights. This sub-genre includes the post-Western, neo-Western, and urban Western genres that include "the cowboy cult" in a modern setting that involves the audience's feelings and understanding of Western movies. A neo-Western can be said to use Western themes set in the present day.
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- DirectorAndrew V. McLaglenStarsJames ArnessAngie DickinsonRobert J. WilkeTwo bank robbers abandon their wounded partner to the posse and run with the loot but their partner, after serving time in prison, seeks revenge.
- DirectorJoseph H. LewisStarsRandolph ScottAngela LansburyWarner AndersonMarshal Calem Ware (Randolph Scott) must face unpleasant facts about his past when he attempts to run a criminal gang out of town.
- DirectorJohn A. AlonzoStarsElizabeth MontgomeryCliff PottsMichael CavanaughBelle Star is a bandit with an itch to ride with the outlaw legends, the James gang, the Youngers and the Dalton boys.
- DirectorJames MangoldStarsRussell CroweChristian BaleBen FosterA 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.
- StarsBill PaxtonJeffrey Dean MorganOlivier MartinezThe story of how the Texas Rangers were created.
- DirectorRichard BrooksStarsRobert TaylorStewart GrangerLloyd NolanIn 1883 South Dakota, two buffalo hunters start a personal feud over a captured squaw and a stand-off with a Dakota raiding party over some stolen horses.
- 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.
- CreatorRuth WoodmanStarsStanley AndrewsRobert TaylorRonald ReaganWestern stories and legends based, and filmed, in and around Death Valley, California. One of the longest-running Western series, originating on radio in the 1930s. The continuing sponsor was "20 Mule Team" Borax, a product formerly mined in Death Valley.
- DirectorLawrence KasdanStarsKevin CostnerDennis QuaidGene HackmanFrom 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.
- DirectorRobert DuvallStarsRobert DuvallJames FrancoDarien WillardsonA detective opens up a fifteen-year-old missing persons case, and begins to suspect that the missing boy was murdered, and that a local rancher was involved.
- DirectorByron HaskinStarsEdmond O'BrienDean JaggerForrest TuckerJohn Vickers joins Custer's cavalry regiment seeking private revenge.
- 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.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandArthur KennedyA highly fictionalized account of the life of George Armstrong Custer from his arrival at West Point in 1857 to his death at the battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsClark GableJane RussellRobert RyanTwo brothers discharged from the Confederate Army join a businessman for a cattle drive from Texas to Montana where they run into raiding Jayhawkers, angry Sioux, rough terrain and bad weather.
- StarsJack O'ConnellMichelle DockeryScoot McNairyIn 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.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJames StewartJohn WayneVera MilesA senator returns to a Western town for the funeral of an old friend and tells the story of his origins.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneClaire TrevorAndy DevineA group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsRobert WagnerJeffrey HunterHope LangeBiopic loosely based on the last 18 years of Jesse James' life and focused on the relationship between brothers Jesse and Frank James.
- DirectorDelmer DavesStarsRichard WidmarkFelicia FarrSusan KohnerWagon train survivors of an Apache attack entrust the sheriff's prisoner, scout Comanche Todd, with their lives despite his wanted-for-murder status.
- DirectorHoward W. KochStarsBen JohnsonJan HarrisonKent TaylorAt Fort Bowie, Captain Thompson favors peace talks but Major Wharton advocates war with the renegade Apaches led by Chief Victorio.
- DirectorHoward HawksArthur RossonStarsJohn WayneMontgomery CliftJoanne DruDunson leads a cattle drive, the culmination of over 14 years of work, to its destination in Missouri. But his tyrannical behavior along the way causes a mutiny, led by his adopted son.
- DirectorJames NeilsonStarsJames StewartAudie MurphyDan DuryeaA fired railroad man is re-hired and entrusted to carry a ten thousand dollar payroll in secret, even though he is suspected of being connected to outlaws.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsGary CooperSusan HaywardRichard WidmarkA trio of American adventurers marooned in rural Mexico are recruited by a beautiful woman to rescue her husband trapped in a cave in Apache territory.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsJake GyllenhaalHeath LedgerMichelle WilliamsEnnis and Jack are two shepherds who develop a sexual and emotional relationship. Their relationship becomes complicated when both of them get married to their respective girlfriends.
- DirectorDon SiegelStarsJohn WayneLauren BacallRon HowardA dying gunfighter spends his last days looking for a way to die with a minimum of pain and a maximum of dignity.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsJohn WayneJorge RiveroJennifer O'NeillAfter the Civil War, Cord McNally searches for the two traitors whose treachery caused the defeat of McNally's unit and the loss of a close friend.
- CreatorGraham YostStarsTimothy OlyphantNick SearcyJoelle CarterEnforcing his own brand of justice, U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, a strong-willed, quiet law-man haunted by his past, returns to his native town to see that justice is served to those in need.
- DirectorJohn WayneStarsJohn WayneRichard WidmarkLaurence HarveyIn 1836, a small band of soldiers sacrifice their lives in hopeless combat against a massive army in order to prevent a tyrant from smashing the new Republic of Texas.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsBarbara StanwyckWendell CoreyWalter HustonA firebrand heiress clashes with her tyrannical father, a cattle rancher who fancies himself a Napoleon, but their relationship turns ugly only when he finds himself a new woman.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsJoan CrawfordSterling HaydenMercedes McCambridgeAfter helping a wounded gang member, a strong-willed female saloon owner is wrongly suspected of murder and bank robbery by a lynch mob.
- DirectorAntoine FuquaStarsDenzel WashingtonChris PrattEthan HawkeSeven 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.
- DirectorSimon WincerStarsMickey RourkeDon JohnsonChelsea FieldTwo lone riders hold up a bank's armoured car to save their friend's bar from imminent foreclosure. Soon, the mission goes awry when they discover the vehicle's unexpected cargo.
- 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."
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaLinda DarnellVictor MatureAfter their cattle are stolen and their brother murdered, the Earp brothers have a score to settle with the Clanton family.
- CreatorChristopher CanaanLeslie GreifPaul HaggisStarsChuck NorrisClarence Gilyard Jr.Sheree J. WilsonCordell Walker and his partner, James Trivette, are Texas Rangers. They make it their business to battle crime in Dallas and all around the state of Texas.
- DirectorRamón TorradoStarsAlan ScottFrank LatimoreDiana LorysThe Royal Canadian Mountain Police tries to stop an evil fur trader, who wants to provoke the Indians to attack the whites in the Canadian wild.
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsMaureen O'HaraBrian KeithSteve CochranAn ex-army officer accidentally kills a woman's son and tries to make up for it by escorting the funeral procession through dangerous Indian territory.
- DirectorBurt KennedyStarsRaquel WelchRobert CulpErnest BorgnineAfter she is raped and her husband murdered, a woman hires a bounty hunter to instruct her in the use of a gun so she can get her revenge on the three outlaws responsible.
- CreatorJohn LinsonTaylor SheridanStarsKevin CostnerLuke GrimesKelly ReillyA ranching family in Montana faces off against others encroaching on their land.
- CreatorBlanche HanalisStarsMelissa GilbertMichael LandonKaren GrassleThe life and adventures of the Ingalls family in the nineteenth century American Midwest.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsGary CooperGrace KellyThomas MitchellA town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train.
- CreatorNick AdamsAndrew J. FenadyStarsNick AdamsChuck HamiltonSid TroyAfter the end of the Civil War, a former Confederate Army private roams the Wild West, and, as a rogue drifter, gets involved in helping out various settlers threatened by various bad guys.
- DirectorNathan JuranStarsAudie MurphyLori NelsonChill WillsWhen a wagon train is wiped-out by the Yaqui Indians, the surviving guide Jim Harvey is accused of desertion and cowardice but Jim escapes the town jail in search of the truth.
- 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.
- CreatorDavid DortortFred HamiltonStarsLorne GreeneMichael LandonDan BlockerThe Wild West adventures of Ben Cartwright and his sons as they run and defend their Nevada ranch while helping the surrounding community.
- CreatorCharles Marquis WarrenClyde WareStarsJames ArnessMilburn StoneAmanda BlakeMarshal Matt Dillon keeps the peace in rough-and-tumble Dodge City.
- DirectorDaniel MinahanStarsTimothy OlyphantIan McShaneMolly ParkerAs the residents of Deadwood gather to commemorate Dakota's statehood in 1889, saloon owner Al Swearengen and Marshal Seth Bullock clash with Senator George Hearst.
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsPierce BrosnanStewart BickVlasta VranaThe story of the life and work of the Canadian fur trapper-turned-conservationist who claimed to be an aboriginal North American.
- DirectorJames BridgesStarsJohn TravoltaDebra WingerScott GlennBud is a young man from the country who learns about life and love in a Houston bar.
- DirectorLawrence KasdanStarsKevin KlineScott GlennKevin CostnerA misfit bunch of friends comes together to right the injustices which exist in a small town.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanJohn WayneStarsJohn WayneRichard BooneMaureen O'HaraIn 1909, when John Fain's gang kidnaps Jacob McCandles' grandson and holds him for ransom, Big Jake sets out to rescue the boy.
- DirectorMark RydellStarsJohn WayneRoscoe Lee BrowneBruce DernRancher Wil Andersen is forced to hire inexperienced boys as cowhands in order to get his herd to market on time but the rough drive is full of dangers and a gang of cattle rustlers is trailing them.
- DirectorAndrew V. McLaglenStarsJohn WayneMaureen O'HaraPatrick WayneWealthy rancher G. W. McLintock uses his power and influence in the territory to keep the peace between farmers, ranchers, land-grabbers, Indians and corrupt government officials.
- DirectorChristopher CainStarsGeorge StraitLesley Ann WarrenIsabel GlasserDusty gets tired of all the smoke and light effects, wonders what happened to doing it the way that made him famous and happy. Takes a walk to find what seems to be missing and finds himself and his music again!
- DirectorBudd BoetticherStarsRandolph ScottJohn CarrollKaren SteeleBart Allison and sidekick Sam arrive in the town of Sundown on the wedding day of town boss Tate Kimbrough, whom Allison blames for his wife's death years earlier.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsJohn WayneKim DarbyGlen CampbellA drunken, hard-nosed U.S. Marshal and a Texas Ranger help a stubborn teenager track down her father's murderer in Indian Territory.
- CreatorJim ByrnesAlbert S. RuddyStarsJames ArnessBruce BoxleitnerKathryn HolcombThe Macahans, a family from Virginia, headed by Zeb Macahan, travel across the country to pioneer a new land and a new home in the American West.
- DirectorMel BrooksStarsCleavon LittleGene WilderSlim PickensIn order to ruin a western town, a corrupt politician appoints a black Sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsPaul NewmanMelvyn DouglasPatricia NealHonest, hard-working Texas rancher Homer Bannon has a conflict with his unscrupulous, selfish, arrogant, egotistical son Hud, who sank into alcoholism after accidentally killing his brother in a car crash.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinMack SwainTom MurrayA prospector goes to the Klondike during the 1890s gold rush in hopes of making his fortune, and is smitten with a girl he sees in a dance hall.
- DirectorGary NelsonStarsVera MilesSam ElliottClu GulagerIn New Mexico, a sheriff's unhappy mid-aged wife aids a condemned prisoner escape her husband's jail and elopes with the young and attractive outlaw to Mexico, pursued by the sheriff's posse.
- DirectorRon UnderwoodStarsBilly CrystalJack PalanceDaniel SternOn the verge of turning 40, an unhappy Manhattan yuppie is roped into joining his two friends on a cattle drive in the southwest.
- DirectorTimothy Woodward Jr.StarsLuke HemsworthKris KristoffersonTrace AdkinsLegendary lawman and gunslinger, Wild Bill Hickok, is tasked with taming the wildest cow-town in the west. While delivering his own brand of frontier justice, the infamous gunfighter's reputation as the fastest draw in the west is put to the test.
- DirectorEddie DewPaul LandresStarsWillard ParkerMara CordayBarton MacLaneDon Pablo Salazar steals a fortune in jewels from an Indian tribe and an Aztec medicine man puts a curse on the jewels until they are returned. Years later an American insurance man, Breen Mathews (Willard Parker) promises to deliver the Salazar fortune to the rightful heir after Luis Salazar, son of Don Pablo, is killed. Breen heads for Topaz, where he hopes to find the surviving heir, Teresa. He finds instead, Louisa, daughter of Teresa, and is forced to fight a crooked group of townspeople, who are after the Salazar fortune, cursed or otherwise. Included in the group are Judge Cole (Billy House), known as "the Hanging Judge" and Barnum (Barton MacLane), local saloon owner. After defeating all the crooks, Breen is told by Louisa that she, the last of the Salazars, is going to return the treasure to its rightful owners, and lift the curse.
- DirectorBaz LuhrmannStarsNicole KidmanHugh JackmanShea AdamsIn 1939, an Englishwoman inherits a sprawling ranch in northern Australia and reluctantly makes a pact with a stockman to drive 2000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape.
- DirectorMichael D. MooreStarsRobert LansingPatrick WayneSlim PickensA former bounty hunter teams up with a younger one, to track down and kill the wanted gang leader who murdered his wife and little boy.
- CreatorNancy HowerJohn LehrStarsJohn LehrNick BrownAllison DunbarSheriff John Henry Hoyle and his reluctant Deputy Eli introduce the emerging science of forensics to an 1875 Kansas town.
- DirectorJohn Lee HancockStarsDennis QuaidBilly Bob ThorntonEmilio EchevarríaBased on the 1836 standoff between a group of Texan and Tejano men, led by Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, and Mexican dictator Santa Anna's forces at the Alamo in San Antonio Texas.
- DirectorMolly HermannStarsSteve AlexanderKirk ChapmanRon GlasgowThe U.S. expands westward after the Civil War displacing the last of the free-roaming Native Americans onto Reservations. This show focuses special attention on General George A. Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn and Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show.
- CreatorA.I. BezzeridesLouis F. EdelmanStarsRichard LongPeter BreckLee MajorsThe Wild West adventures of the Barkley family in California's San Joaquin Valley.
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsMel GibsonJodie FosterJames GarnerBret Maverick, needing money for a poker tournament, faces various comic mishaps and challenges, including a charming woman thief.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsHenry FondaAnthony PerkinsBetsy PalmerA cynical former sheriff turned bounty hunter helps a young, recently appointed acting sheriff with his advice, his experience and his gun.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsGary CooperJulie LondonLee J. CobbA reformed outlaw becomes stranded after an aborted train robbery with two other passengers and is forced to rejoin his old outlaw band.
- DirectorJohn FarrowStarsJohn WayneGeraldine PageWard BondArmy dispatch rider Hondo Lane discovers a woman and young son living in the midst of warring Apaches and becomes their protector.
- DirectorKelly AsburyLorna CookStarsMatt DamonJames CromwellDaniel StudiA captured mustang remains determined to return to his herd no matter what.
- DirectorMichael WinnerStarsCharles BronsonJack PalanceJames WhitmoreIn 1870s New Mexico, a half-breed kills a bigoted sheriff in self-defense but the posse that eventually hunts him finds itself in dangerous territory.
- DirectorKevin CostnerStarsKevin CostnerMary McDonnellGraham GreeneLieutenant 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.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsJohn WayneDean MartinMartha HyerRanch owner Katie Elder's four sons determine to avenge the murder of their father and the swindling of their mother.
- 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.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsJohn WayneRobert MitchumJames CaanCole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with old friend, Sheriff J.P. Hara. Together with an old Indian fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher who's trying to steal their water.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMichael J. FoxChristopher LloydMary SteenburgenStranded in 1955, Marty McFly learns about the death of Doc Brown in 1885 and must travel back in time to save him. With no fuel readily available for the DeLorean, the two must figure how to escape the Old West before Emmett is murdered.
- DirectorLee SholemStarsMaureen O'HaraAlex NicolWilliam BishopIn Wyoming, Sweetwater town sheriff Stan Blaine finds himself in the middle of a range war between greedy cattle barons and newcomer settlers who compete for public lands and unbranded stray cattle.
- DirectorKevin CostnerStarsKevin CostnerRobert DuvallDiego LunaA former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.
- DirectorR.G. SpringsteenStarsRory CalhounCorinne CalvetJohn RussellVarious stage coach passengers and outlaws travelling through Indian country are forced to join forces against the Apaches.
- DirectorWilliam F. ClaxtonStarsDale RobertsonYvonne De CarloWilliam BendixHothead Pete Stone has been arrested for the murder of George.
- CreatorCharles Marquis WarrenStarsClint EastwoodPaul BrinegarSteve RainesGil Favor is trail boss of a continuous cattle drive. He is assisted by Rowdy Yates. The crew runs into characters and adventures along the way.
- StarsFrank McGrathTerry WilsonRobert HortonStories of the journeys of a wagon train as it leaves post-Civil War Missouri on its way to California through the plains, deserts, and Rocky Mountains.
- DirectorChristopher CainStarsEmilio EstevezKiefer SutherlandLou Diamond PhillipsA 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.
- DirectorGeoff MurphyStarsEmilio EstevezKiefer SutherlandLou Diamond PhillipsBilly 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.
- DirectorRobert BentonStarsJeff BridgesBarry BrownJim DavisA God-fearing Ohio boy dodging the Civil War draft arrives in St. Joseph, MO where he joins up with a hardscrabble group of like runaways heading west
- DirectorRay MillandStarsRay MillandMary MurphyWard BondA gunfighter's main hope lies in the trust of a beautiful woman who hides him out when he is wrongly suspected of a stagecoach massacre.
- DirectorJerry HopperStarsCharlton HestonRhonda FlemingJan SterlingBuffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickock work to establish the Pony Express and fight Indians and California Separatists who seek to destroy it.
- CreatorTaylor SheridanStarsTim McGrawSam ElliottFaith HillThe 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.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsAlan LaddJean ArthurVan HeflinA weary gunfighter in 1880s Wyoming begins to envision a quieter life after befriending a homestead family with a young son who idolizes him, but a smoldering range war forces him to act.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsBurt LancasterKirk DouglasRhonda FlemingLawman Wyatt Earp and outlaw Doc Holliday form an unlikely alliance which culminates in their participation in the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsRobert TaylorTina LouiseFess ParkerU.S. Marshal Bovard comes to a small border town to identify and arrest a fugitive, but the whole town seems determined to prevent the Marshal from doing his job.
- DirectorJoe JohnstonStarsViggo MortensenOmar SharifZuleikha RobinsonIn 1890, a down-and-out cowboy and his horse travel to Arabia to compete in a deadly cross desert horse race.
- StarsRobert DuvallTommy Lee JonesDanny GloverTwo 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.
- DirectorMichael CurtizJohn WayneStarsJohn WayneStuart WhitmanIna BalinTexas Ranger Jake Cutter arrests gambler Paul Regret, but soon finds himself teamed with his prisoner in an undercover effort to defeat a band of renegade arms merchants and thieves dealing with the Comanches known as Comancheros.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsClark GableAva GardnerBroderick CrawfordEx-President Andrew Jackson sends Texan Devereaux Burke back home on a mission to facilitate Sam Houston's drive for U.S. statehood.