My nod goes to 1969's "The Wild Bunch"; not only the greatest western, but one of the top 10 U.S. films. How can macho hobbyists ( & some providers ), not like a film that features a higher & bloodier body count than World War 2 & a bevy of beautiful Latina hookers ?------LOL !

A definite masterpiece from director Sam Peckinpah.

P.S. :  there used to be a hobbyist posting under the name of "Tector Gorch". That was the name of a character played by the late, great Ben Johnson in "The Wild Bunch"

So, folks, what's your nomination for favorite movie western ?

Silverado. Even with man/boy Kevin Costner.


Best line: "I had a woman do that to me once mister,i didn't make her my wife."

It has cows in it and everything.

Mitch is a middle aged big-city radio ads salesman. He and his friends Ed and Phil are having mid-life crisis. They decide the best birthday gift is to go on a two week holiday in the wild west driving cattle from New Mexico to Colorado. There they meet cowboy Curly who not only teaches them how to become real cowboys, but also one or two other things about life in the open air of the west.

Too many good ones to pick just one.  Here's a list, in no particular order:

*Rooster Cogburn
*The Cowboys
*War Wagon
*310 to Yuma
*Unforgiven
*Red Sun
*100 Rifles
*Magnificent Seven
*True Grit
*Sons of Katy Elder
*Just about anything with John Wayne, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, and/or Clint Eastwood.

and dirty talk.

My favorite is Wyatt Earp. The one staring Kevin Costner. My favorite scene is where Wyatt rushes to the hotel to break up a big as fight between his best friend Doc Holiday and his whore; Big Nose Kate. She had a gun and was to kill that stinking sick as holiday with her Smith and Wesson.

Wyatt hauls Doc outside and plunges his head into the horses watering box a few times, and they sit there talking a bit with the crowd gathering and Doc gives the best line of the movie, drunkenly he states to the crowd.

"Ya'll can kiss my rebel dick".

See, it was about hookers, swearing, violence and penises. Right on topic. lol

Once Upon a Time in the West, Sergio Leone's masterpiece of Operatic Violence & Silence. A movie that is one of the best directed films of all time and gives his second character with no name to Western film lore "The Man with the Harmonica".

Aside from the cinematography and amazing score you have some of the best character actors in play with some of the best dialog in westerns.

Claudia Cardinal as the smart, capable retired escort looking to build a life is both 100% feminine and sexy while also holding her own on screen with Charles Bronson Jason Robards.

If you can take 3 hours out of your life with no distractions and let yourself get caught up in the story it's the best western ever put on celluloid.

iCoitus
Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati

Harmonica: The reward for this man is 5000 dollars, is that right?
Cheyenne: Judas was content for 4970 dollars less.
Harmonica: There were no dollars in them days.
Cheyenne: But sons of bitches... yeah.

Midnight Cowboy would be my vote.

Oh, I forgot some other great ones:

*Tombstone
*Wyatt Earp
*Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
*Open Range
*Lonesome Dove
*etc...

Outlaw Josie Wales. Chief Dan George was hilarious. Some of Clint Eastwood's non-Spagetti Westerns like Pale Rider, High Plains Drifter, The Unforgiven would also be on my list.

Not the typical shootum up. Had a lot of both humor and tragedy, and presented a picture of the truly crazy nature and reality of the west being settled, that the original settlers and Native American Indians experienced.

With Bogie and the most famous movie line of all movie lines - which was ad libbed:

"Baches?  We doe ha no baches, we doe need no stinkin baches...."

The Magnificent Seven.

Chief Dan George was the bomb!  Besides that, I like the fact that the filmmakers were willing to shake up the revisionist history nonsense that permeated most Westerns.

Blazing Saddles? I really did like Butch and the Kid and how about Newman in Hondo. If they could do Cormac Maccarthy's Blood Meridan that would be something.

Nope, no can do:

El Dorado w/ John Wayne and Robert Mitchem
Two Mules for Sister Sara w/ Clint Eastwood and Shirley McLain
Once Upon a Time in the West w/ Henry Fonda and Claudia Cardinale


Hmm... they all have hookers in them...

Or "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" ?---both GREAT John Ford westerns, featuring fine performances in both films by THE quintessential star of Westerns, John ( "The Duke" ), Wayne.

Blondy(Clint.E), Blue Eyes(Lee Van Cleef) and Tucco....man that ending duel was an amazing scene. Great soundtrack as well. The spaghetti westerns by sergio leone rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The Man with no name.......

We had to study "The Searchers" shot by shot in a film class. Maybe that's why I don't think much of it.

Red River with John Wayne and Monty Cliff.
The Searchers and mosdt Huston movies.

1. The wagon train forms a circle, and the white guys engage in target practice on the Indians who cluelessly ride their horses around in a circle getting shot while attempting to shot the white guys from this moving platform.

Yeah- Im sure thats how it really happened.


     2. Two gunfighters engage each other on  dusty street waiting for the other to draw.

   In fact, planned gunfights like that rarely happened. Yet this scene is a staple of even some of the best movies. (Sorry Clint).

   If your movie has either of these scenes, then you have identified yourself as part of Hollywoods target audience.

Hondo is a 1953 John Wayne film. Loved "Blood Meridian" ! Would make a great film ! Lastly, if posters want to expand to 10 greatest westerns, fine by me.

Thank you
2010 = 28

There are many others but I just really liked this movie.

Credit to IMDB.com for pertinent facts and quotes.

John Ford's "The Searchers" (1956) with John Wayne. It's a thinly veiled commentary on the period's race relations.    

"The Cowboys" (1972) with John Wayne. A fantastic movie that dealt the boys becoming men and a man approaching the twilight of his life. It also had some of the best quotes ever.  Ex. Jebidiah Knightlinger played by Roscoe Lee Browne: [referring to the madam Kate Collingwood's offer of sexual favor] Well, I have the inclination, the maturity, and the wherewithal... but unfortunately, I don't have the time.

[before fighting Asa Watts]
John Wayne as Wil Andersen: I'm thirty years older than you are. I had my back broke once, and my hip twice. And on my worst day I could beat the hell out of you.

Clint Eastwood's "The Outlaw Josie Wales" (1976)

Kurt Russell never looked so...stupid..but hot.

Val Kilmer made a great Doc Holliday. lol.

it was just my favorite movie!!

The Cowboys
True Grit
Broken Trail
Open Range
Geronimo: An American Legend

So if something depicted in a western movie wasn't real, then the movie is disqualified? Really? Who are you to tell anyone else what movies do and don't qualify as a decent movie.

Any money making business (movie making is one of those) is going to have a target customer base. Cater to that and you will make money. Movies are made to be fun escapes from daily grinds. So if movie makers put in things that draw in an audience that didn't really happen, it makes the movie unable to be "decent"?

Westerns aren't made to be biographically correct, they are made for entertainment. So what if some of the things depicted in movies (westerns, comedies, romance, sci0fi...etc) didn't really happen or couldn't really happen, that is not the intent anyway.

b-

Dances with Wolves

Oh, the horror.  It is just so insensitive of you all to even talk about them.

No better Western than "Blazing Saddles"!!

I love all Westerns, even the silly gunfight scenes. I've seen all of them.

Hugs,
Ciara

High Noon
Clint Eastwood's "Spaghetti" westerns
Outlaw Josie Wales
Treasure of  the Sierra Madre
Blazing saddles
The Long Ranger & The Lost City Of Gold
Terror In A Texas Town : A little known B movie starring Sterling Hayden as whaler who avenges his father's death!!!! The ending scene is  not your normal showdown in the middle of the street!!! In this movie you have the typical gunman, but Sterling wields a harpoon!!! Sterling wins the battle!!!!