58 Best - Westerns
by j66616814k00 | created - 17 Mar 2015 | updated - 7 hours ago | PublicExpanding to 100, eventually.
To qualify for this list, films must:
- Be set in the modern day state of either the USA, Canada or Mexico (occasionally Australia)
- Take place between 1840 and 1910
- Prioritise wilderness and frontier life over urban settings
- Have a least one man wearing a hat, one man with a gun, one horse and/or one cow and/or boy
See Also: 10 of the best - Spaghetti Westerns
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1. The Searchers (1956)
Passed | 119 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
An American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond
Votes: 96,328
2. Stagecoach (1939)
Passed | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A 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.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine, John Carradine
Votes: 53,788
3. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Approved | 178 min | Adventure, 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: 811,482 | Gross: $6.10M
4. A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
R | 99 min | Action, Drama, Western
A wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gian Maria Volontè, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy
Votes: 232,778 | Gross: $14.50M
5. For a Few Dollars More (1965)
R | 132 min | Drama, Western
Two bounty hunters with the same intentions team up to track down a gang of outlaws led by a psychotic Mexican bandit, who is plotting an audacious bank robbery.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volontè, Mara Krupp
Votes: 274,766 | Gross: $15.00M
6. 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: 349,166 | Gross: $5.32M
7. The Homesman (2014)
R | 122 min | Drama, Western
Three women who have been driven mad by pioneer life are to be transported across the country by covered wagon by the pious, independent-minded Mary Bee Cuddy, who in turn employs low-life drifter George Briggs to assist her.
Director: Tommy Lee Jones | Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Hilary Swank, Grace Gummer, Miranda Otto
Votes: 35,750 | Gross: $2.43M
8. Unforgiven (1992)
R | 130 min | Drama, Western
Retired 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."
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris
Votes: 436,296 | Gross: $101.16M
9. True Grit (1969)
G | 128 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A drunken, hard-nosed U.S. Marshal and a Texas Ranger help a stubborn teenager track down her father's murderer in Indian Territory.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: John Wayne, Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, Jeremy Slate
Votes: 51,446 | Gross: $31.13M
10. 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: 166,364 | Gross: $56.51M
11. 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: 290,756 | Gross: $184.21M
12. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
PG | 110 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
In 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.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin
Votes: 226,764 | Gross: $102.31M
13. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
R | 160 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Robert Ford, who has idolized Jesse James since childhood, tries hard to join the resurgent gang of the Missouri outlaw, but gradually becomes resentful of the bandit leader.
Director: Andrew Dominik | Stars: Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Shepard, Mary-Louise Parker
Votes: 192,853 | Gross: $3.90M
14. The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Approved | 128 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Seven gunfighters are hired by Mexican peasants to liberate their village from oppressive bandits.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Eli Wallach
Votes: 102,568 | Gross: $4.91M
15. High Noon (1952)
PG | 85 min | Drama, Thriller, Western
A 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.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges
Votes: 110,206 | Gross: $9.45M
16. Rio Bravo (1959)
Passed | 141 min | Western
A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson
Votes: 68,087 | Gross: $12.54M
17. 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: 90,390 | Gross: $12.06M
18. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Passed | 126 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
Two down-on-their-luck Americans searching for work in 1920s Mexico convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt, Bruce Bennett
Votes: 132,452 | Gross: $5.01M
19. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Approved | 123 min | Drama, Western
A senator returns to a Western town for the funeral of an old friend and tells the story of his origins.
Director: John Ford | Stars: James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin
Votes: 82,319
20. Red River (1948)
Passed | 133 min | Drama, Western
Dunson 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.
Directors: Howard Hawks, Arthur Rosson | Stars: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan
Votes: 34,403
21. The Ox-Bow Incident (1942)
Passed | 75 min | Drama, Western
When a posse captures three men suspected of killing a local farmer, they become strongly divided over whether or not to lynch the men.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Mary Beth Hughes, Anthony Quinn
Votes: 24,960 | Gross: $1.64M
22. 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: 30,576 | Gross: $11.50M
23. Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
Passed | 122 min | Biography, Drama, Western
Lawman Wyatt Earp and outlaw Doc Holliday form an unlikely alliance which culminates in their participation in the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming, Jo Van Fleet
Votes: 17,446 | Gross: $11.75M
24. Destry Rides Again (1939)
Approved | 95 min | Comedy, Western
Deputy sheriff Destry tames the town of Bottle Neck, including saloon singer Frenchy.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart, Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger
Votes: 12,556 | Gross: $0.35M
25. 3:10 to Yuma (1957)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama, Thriller, Western
Broke small-time rancher Dan Evans is hired by the stagecoach line to put big-time captured outlaw leader Ben Wade on the 3:10 train to Yuma but Wade's gang tries to free him.
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: Glenn Ford, Van Heflin, Felicia Farr, Leora Dana
Votes: 21,653
26. Fort Apache (1948)
Passed | 128 min | Drama, Western
At Fort Apache, an honorable and veteran war captain finds conflict when his regime is placed under the command of a young, glory hungry lieutenant colonel with no respect for the local Indian tribe.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Shirley Temple, Pedro Armendáriz
Votes: 19,698
27. Shane (1953)
Not Rated | 118 min | Drama, Western
A 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.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon De Wilde
Votes: 44,153 | Gross: $20.00M
28. High Plains Drifter (1973)
R | 105 min | Drama, Mystery, Western
A gun-fighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago and is hired to bring the townsfolk together in an attempt to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Mitchell Ryan
Votes: 64,551 | Gross: $15.70M
29. Bone Tomahawk (2015)
Not Rated | 132 min | Drama, Horror, Western
In the dying days of the old west, an elderly sheriff and his posse set out to rescue their town's doctor from cannibalistic cave dwellers.
Director: S. Craig Zahler | Stars: Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins
Votes: 118,056
30. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
PG | 135 min | 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: 79,870 | Gross: $31.80M
31. How the West Was Won (1962)
G | 164 min | Adventure, War, Western
A family saga covering several decades of Westward expansion in the 19th century, including the Gold Rush, the Civil War, and the building of the railroads.
Directors: John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, Richard Thorpe | Stars: James Stewart, John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Henry Fonda
Votes: 23,334 | Gross: $46.50M
32. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
R | 120 min | Drama, Western
A gambler and a prostitute become business partners in a remote Old West mining town, and their enterprise thrives until a large corporation arrives on the scene.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Rene Auberjonois, William Devane
Votes: 27,661 | Gross: $8.20M
33. Jane Got a Gun (2015)
R | 98 min | Action, Drama, Western
A woman asks her ex-lover for help in order to save her outlaw husband from a gang out to kill him.
Director: Gavin O'Connor | Stars: Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, Ewan McGregor, Rodrigo Santoro
Votes: 23,849 | Gross: $1.51M
34. The Keeping Room (2014)
R | 95 min | Drama, Western
Left without men in the dying days of the American Civil War, three women must fight to defend their home and themselves from two rogue soldiers who have broken off from the fast-approaching Union Army.
Director: Daniel Barber | Stars: Brit Marling, Hailee Steinfeld, Sam Worthington, Muna Otaru
Votes: 7,592 | Gross: $0.03M
35. Django (1966)
Not Rated | 91 min | Action, Drama, Western
A coffin-dragging gunslinger and a prostitute become embroiled in a bitter feud between a Klan of Southern racists and a band of Mexican Revolutionaries.
Director: Sergio Corbucci | Stars: Franco Nero, José Canalejas, José Bódalo, Loredana Nusciak
Votes: 31,012 | Gross: $0.03M
36. Red Sun (1971)
PG | 112 min | Action, Drama, Western
In 1870, a gang robs a train and steals a ceremonial Japanese sword meant as a gift for the U.S. President, prompting a manhunt to retrieve it.
Director: Terence Young | Stars: Charles Bronson, Toshirô Mifune, Alain Delon, Ursula Andress
Votes: 10,721 | Gross: $4.84M
37. My Name Is Nobody (1973)
PG | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Western
A young, easy-going gunman worships and competes with a famed gunfighter, insisting that he must face down a gang of 150 outlaws before he can retire.
Director: Tonino Valerii | Stars: Terence Hill, Henry Fonda, Jean Martin, R.G. Armstrong
Votes: 29,577 | Gross: $0.39M
38. ... If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death. (1968)
Not Rated | 95 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
A cabal of dignitaries hire Mexican and American gangsters to steal their bank's shipment of gold as part of an insurance scam, but master gunfighter Sartana interferes with their plans.
Director: Gianfranco Parolini | Stars: Gianni Garko, William Berger, Sydney Chaplin, Gianni Rizzo
Votes: 1,929
39. They Call Me Trinity (1970)
G | 115 min | Comedy, Western
A lazy, unorthodox gunfighter and his portly, horse-thieving brother defend a Mormon settlement from a land-grabbing Major, a Mexican bandit, and their henchmen.
Director: Enzo Barboni | Stars: Terence Hill, Bud Spencer, Steffen Zacharias, Dan Sturkie
Votes: 25,022
40. God Forgives... I Don't! (1967)
PG-13 | 97 min | Western
After a train is robbed of its payroll, an insurance agent and a card-shark team-up to retrieve the loot from the bandits who guard it at a secret location near the Mexican border.
Director: Giuseppe Colizzi | Stars: Terence Hill, Frank Wolff, Bud Spencer, Gina Rovere
Votes: 5,399
41. The Big Sky (1952)
Approved | 140 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
The success of the journey focuses on keeping the Indian girl alive as well as themselves to complete trade with the Blackfeet.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Dewey Martin, Elizabeth Threatt, Arthur Hunnicutt
Votes: 4,751
42. Winchester '73 (1950)
Passed | 92 min | Action, Drama, Western
A cowboy's obsession with a stolen rifle leads to a bullet-ridden odyssey through the American West.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally
Votes: 21,987
43. Dead for a Dollar (2022)
R | 107 min | Action, Drama, Western
A famed bounty hunter runs into his sworn enemy, a professional gambler and outlaw that he had sent to prison years before.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Christoph Waltz, Willem Dafoe, Rachel Brosnahan, Warren Burke
Votes: 6,410
44. News of the World (2020)
PG-13 | 118 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A Civil War veteran agrees to deliver a girl taken by the Kiowa people years ago to her aunt and uncle against her will. They travel hundreds of miles and face grave dangers as they search for a place that either can call home.
Director: Paul Greengrass | Stars: Tom Hanks, Helena Zengel, Tom Astor, Travis Johnson
Votes: 95,663
45. 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: 54,964 | Gross: $25.05M
46. The Great Silence (1968)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, Western
A mute gunfighter defends a young widow and a group of outlaws against a gang of bounty killers in the winter of 1898, and a grim, tense struggle unfolds.
Director: Sergio Corbucci | Stars: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Klaus Kinski, Frank Wolff, Vonetta McGee
Votes: 18,105 | Gross: $0.05M
47. El Dorado (1966)
Passed | 126 min | Drama, Romance, Western
Cole 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.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, James Caan, Charlene Holt
Votes: 30,443
48. A Bullet for the General (1967)
M | 115 min | Action, Western
A band of Mexican gunrunners employed by a revolutionary General accept an American mercenary into their gang, unaware of his true intentions.
Director: Damiano Damiani | Stars: Gian Maria Volontè, Klaus Kinski, Martine Beswick, Lou Castel
Votes: 5,080
49. China 9, Liberty 37 (1978)
R | 102 min | Romance, Western
The railroad hires a condemned killer to murder an uncooperative rancher but the assassin fails to deliver, prompting the railroad men to go after him instead.
Directors: Monte Hellman, Tony Brandt | Stars: Jenny Agutter, Warren Oates, Fabio Testi, Sam Peckinpah
Votes: 1,410
50. 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: 24,556 | Gross: $21.41M
51. El Diablo (1990 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 115 min | Comedy, Western
When the notorious outlaw El Diablo kidnaps a schoolgirl, her teacher, an Easterner named Billy Ray, decides to rescue her. Incompetent to track her alone, Billy Ray enlists the aid of an unscrupulous gunman.
Director: Peter Markle | Stars: Anthony Edwards, Louis Gossett Jr., John Glover, Joe Pantoliano
Votes: 1,105
52. Montana Belle (1952)
Passed | 82 min | Western
In Oklahoma, outlaw Belle Starr joins the Dalton gang but she causes a romantic rivalry and a rift between the gang members, especially on the eve of the planned robbery of a bank where a posse is secretly waiting in ambush.
Director: Allan Dwan | Stars: Jane Russell, George Brent, Scott Brady, Forrest Tucker
Votes: 529
53. 100 Rifles (1969)
R | 110 min | Adventure, Drama, War
In 1912 Sonora, Mexico, native revolutionary Yaqui Joe (Burt Reynolds) robs a bank to buy arms for his oppressed people, but finds himself sought by an American lawman and the Mexican Army.
Director: Tom Gries | Stars: Jim Brown, Raquel Welch, Burt Reynolds, Fernando Lamas
Votes: 3,930
54. Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
Passed | 81 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A one-armed stranger comes to a tiny town possessing a terrible past they want to keep secret, by violent means if necessary.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Dean Jagger
Votes: 24,267
55. Hannie Caulder (1971)
R | 85 min | Crime, Drama, Western
After 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.
Director: Burt Kennedy | Stars: Raquel Welch, Robert Culp, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam
Votes: 4,175 | Gross: $0.46M
56. Bandolero! (1968)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Western
Mace Bishop (James Stewart) masquerades as a hangman in order to save his outlaw brother, Dee (Dean Martin), from the gallows, runs to Mexico chased by Sheriff July Johnson's (George Kennedy's) posse and fights against Mexican bandits.
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen | Stars: James Stewart, Dean Martin, Raquel Welch, George Kennedy
Votes: 5,730
57. Bend of the River (1952)
Approved | 91 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
When a town boss confiscates homesteaders' supplies after gold is discovered nearby, a tough cowboy risks his life to try and get it to them.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: James Stewart, Rock Hudson, Arthur Kennedy, Julie Adams
Votes: 9,904
58. Butcher's Crossing (2022)
R | 105 min | Drama, Western
An Ivy League drop-out travels to the Colorado wilderness, where he joins a team of buffalo hunters on a journey that puts his life and sanity at risk. Based on the highly acclaimed novel by John Williams.
Director: Gabe Polsky | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Fred Hechinger, Jeremy Bobb, Paul Raci
Votes: 4,089
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