The best and worst western movies:

[Redthies]

As the thread title says, which are your votes for best and worst duster of all times? Feel free to do a top/bottom 3 if you can’t name just one!

Best:

1. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
2. Fistful of Dollars
3. Unforgiven

Honerable mention to Blazing Saddles!

Worst:

1. Hickok
2. Hickok
3. Hickok

[Redthies]

PS: I’m currently suffering through Hickok and so bored I started this thread instead of watching! And yes Mags, I have a lever action on the coffee table!

[JEBar]

BEST :
1 most any picture staring the Duke and/or Clint
2 most any with picture with Tom Selleck and/or Sam Elliott .... example The Sacketts
3 Lonesome Dove

WORST :
Navajo Jo

[Ojaileveraction]

Top Three
No particular order.
The Searchers
Seven Way To Sundown
A Fist Full of a Few Good Dollars Bad and Ugly, Not one movie but a Trilogy

Worst Movie, Flaming Star

[Henry88]

the man who shot liberty valance
the magnificent seven
butch cassidy and the sundance kid

Can't really think of a bad one........Did Bill Shatner make a Western?

[ChefDuane]

Best: (not necessarily in this order other than The Searchers being #1 for me)
The Searchers
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Unforgiven
Open Range
The Magnificent 7
How the West was Won

Worst:
The Villian (comedy with Kirk Douglas as 'Cactus Jack' and Arnold Swarzenegger as 'Handsome Stranger')
The Terror of Tiny Town
The Wild Wild West movie 1999 (Kenneth Branagh as Loveless and Will Smith as Jim West - a REAL stinker)
The Quick and The Dead (Sharon Stone as a gunslinger filmed in some weird yellow/brown haze )
Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (never seen it, I just like the title!)

[Mistered]

Maybe I am overthinking it but maybe the 'worst' should be limited to westerns that were intended to be Realistically scripted as opposed to comedic - as the comedy westerns are in a class of their own.

With regard to 'best' I'll have to give that some thought as a few already mentioned by others are on my list - as well as some of the worst!

I will however add as one of the best was a made for tv mini series titled 'Broken Trail' with Robert Duval and Thomas Haynes Church. This was incredibly well directed and patterned in the style of a 'big screen' movie as opposed to tv.
It was very realistic in props and dress for the script time period (1898) and the human interest and emotion of the cast was very moving - especially the final scenes. I highly recommend it for any fan of 'serious' westerns.

[CT_Shooter]

Best of the best
1. Once Upon a Time in the West
2. The Searchers
3. How the West Was Won
4. Red River
5. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
6. Quigley, Down Under

[The Wiz]

I am going with some earlier westerns just to give some balance.

Shane ( Jack Palance, oh my! )
High Noon
Stage Coach

Favorite " modern" western: Ballad o f

[The Wiz]

opps: Ballad of Josey Wales ( horse back gun play! )

[Sir Henry]

I love John Wayne but The Green Berets was the worst western. Not a western you say? Then how come the movie ends with the sun setting over the South China Sea with John walking away with the boy? It was written as a western.

[The Wiz]

I think I mentioned this before but when I want a good laugh I put that movie on. It was a propaganda film for the Vietnam War and contained all sorts military inaccuracies. Your take on it was not one I thought about but I do believe your right.

[Redthies]

I love John Wayne but The Green Berets was the worst western. Not a western you say? Then how come the movie ends with the sun setting over the South China Sea with John walking away with the boy? It was written as a western.

They wrote it like western because JW couldn’t act as anything other than a cowboy! They just changed his costume for the various non-western roles. The acting stayed the same!

[RanchRoper]

Best: Lonesome Dove Appaloosa, Monte Walsh (Selleck one), Tom Horn, Searchers

Worst: either Magnificent 7, Once Upon a Time in the West, Hateful Eight

[Sir Henry]

I love John Wayne but The Green Berets was the worst western. Not a western you say? Then how come the movie ends with the sun setting over the South China Sea with John walking away with the boy? It was written as a western.

They wrote it like western because JW couldn’t act as anything other than a cowboy! They just changed his costume for the various non-western roles. The acting stayed the same!

In the Sands of Iwo Jima John Wayne was told he needed to get the men moving in a scene. He barks out "saddle up".

[North Country Gal]

We have a great Western movie collection, so have all the favs listed, so far. I really would have a hard time picking a favorite, but the classics that always get listed in the top 5, such as Shane and High Noon are tough to beat. Shane, especially, gets the award for the story line most copied by westerns that followed, including some of Clints.

Guess my favorite Clint movie and one definitely in my top five is Josey Wales. It's one of those movies I can watch over and over and never get tired of it. Another favorite of mine is Tom Selleck in Quigley. How could I not love this movie, given my love of classic single shots? For a Costner movie, I love Dances with Wolves, but more for the scenery than Costner's acting. I think he was much better in Open Range. Lastly, Tombstone with its great cast and story line. Val Kilmer as Doc was unforgettable.

As for the worst, I really don't have a western I hate, just some I rarely watch, again.

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

Strange as I am pretty much a Western watcher, but probably 95% TV Shows in comparison to Movies though.

The ones I know the best are:

-The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
-Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
-Lonesome Dove
-Josey Wales

How about Rooster Cogburn?

[RanchRoper]

Oh ya....forgot Tombstone. That's like meat & potatoes in my house. In my top 5.

[Mistered]

One of my favorites is Winchester 73 with James Stewart.
It is interesting in that it was a ‘first’ in a few regards - one being it was the first movie where the lead actor (Stewart) took a % of the gross instead of an agreed upon amount - and did very well. It has also been referred to as the first ‘concept’ western In that there was an actual storyline that had a realistic plot with an adventure that led to a harmonious (and romantic) ending.
In effect W-73 ‘set the stage’ for what would become the ‘modern’ westerns starting in the 1950s. Another interesting thing is it was one if the first movies to use what would become a common ‘trifecta’ in action/adventure movies in that there is a defined, strong male lead (stewart) , a trusty sidekick (Millard Mitchell) and the beautiful woman (Shelly Winters).

[ChefDuane]

I love John Wayne but The Green Berets was the worst western. Not a western you say? Then how come the movie ends with the sun setting over the South China Sea with John walking away with the boy? It was written as a western.

They wrote it like western because JW couldn’t act as anything other than a cowboy! They just changed his costume for the various non-western roles. The acting stayed the same!

In the Sands of Iwo Jima John Wayne was told he needed to get the men moving in a scene. He barks out "saddle up".

My contention has always been that John Wayne never truly "acted." They would just give him some lines and he would just "be John Wayne." He was just that compelling and appealing as ANY character. Still, one of the most celebrated and loved (certainly by me) films stars of all-time. A true 'Movie Star'.