The history of Westerns movies more or less begins with the end of the Old West itself. Westerns flourished in the silent era, though the genre’s popularity flowed and ebbed ever since — mainly fading from the view in the ’80s but experiencing some resurgences in succeeding decades — this never frightened to fade away. The Western is an essential genre with a habit of reinventing it every few years to double talk about America’s history when reflecting on the present. A strand of psychologically complex, violent Westerns that emerged in the 1950s, for instance, catches both of the changing attitudes toward the West’s settlement and the treatment of Native Americans when channeling the country’s spirit recovering from the devastating World War. And while some certain elements and themes define the genre, it has also been proven to be adaptable and capable of playing host to various stories and the infinite diversity of characters.
1. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Believe this or not, the film has nothing to do with America’s favorite indie film festival. This has been picked for the United States National Film Registry; the Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy are traditional tales of two outlaws heading out on the lam following the botched train robbery.
2. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
From Spaghetti Western ideological Sergio Leone, the Ugly, the Bad, and The Good is the Italian epic set in the Civil War-era where three men compete for the hidden fortune.
3. The Searchers
Nothing states “Western” actually like John Wayne being the lead and John Ford directing. Wayne stars as a Civil War veteran who begins searching for his kidnaped niece alongside the nephew.
4. High Noon
On the verge of retirement, a town marshal heard that a group of outlaws has been planning to murder him the following day at noon. Faced with some moral dilemma, he needs to decide whether to flee town or take on the outlaws alone and hang up the badge for good.
5. Stagecoach
Another John Wayne and John Ford classic, Stagecoach, follows a crew of passengers on a journey across the Wild West to New Mexico in 1880.
6. True Grit
Matt Damon, Jeff Bridges, and Hailee Steinfeld, lead in the Coen Brothers Western remake because the unlikely trio who will join the forces when they understand they are tracking the same murderous outlaw. This begins like daughter’s quest to avenge the murdered father becomes one perilous, adventurous, and test of true grit.
7. No Country for Old Men
One more Coen Brothers 21st-century western star . In No Country for Old Men, Josh Brolin is a hunter whose trail starts getting tracked after he stumbled upon some drug deal which got wrong.
8. Red River
John Wayne plays a frontiersman leading the cattle drive to Missouri in beliefs of reaping hard-earned fruits of his hard work. However, the road to their fortune becomes rough when the caravan of once-loyal farmhands starts turning on him.
9. The Wild Bunch
This heist film went western; The Wild Bunch reflects one outlaw’s last heist with the “wild bunch.” However, the withdrawal from the active life becomes more distant than expected when it is realized that his old partner’s heist was a set-up.
10. My Darling Clementine
Nothing declares revenge like getting back in the town where the brother got murdered and being the sheriff. This is based on a fictionalized biography Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal, My Darling Clementine.
11. Rio Bravo
John Wayne plays the sheriff of Rio Bravo, Texas. He arrests one man for murder, taking help from a town drunk, played by Dean Martin. However, the sheriff’s duty has proved twofold when it is realized that the murderer is a wealthy rancher’s brother who is set to free him.
12. Once Upon a Time in the West
One more classic spaghetti western by Sergio Leone, Once Upon a Time in the West, is the dual narrative of incidents unfolding in the fictional west town of Flagstone.
The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (1948)
This is based on the 1935 novel with the identical name by B. Traven. Three impoverished men – played by Walter Huston, Humphrey Bogart, and Tim Holt – set out for striking the gold in Mexico.
Unforgiven (1992)
While most Westerns on the list got released to the extent of the genre’s reputation, this Clint Eastwood-directed Unforgiven got released in 1992 – long after the western’s sudden death.
For A Few Dollars More (1965)
For A Few Dollars More serves the middle chapter of the excellent Man with No Name Trilogy, beside Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood teaming up for delivering the all-time classic. When Lee Van Cleef and Eastwood’s Manco Colonel Douglas Mortimer set the sights on the same prize, the two men joined forces to take down the wicked outlaw El Indio.
Django Unchained (2012)
It may appear as a shock to view the recent film like 2012’s Django Unchained so crucial on a list of best westerns ever produced. The movie’s good take on the western earns it a place on this list between its revisionist sensibilities and different blend of modern and traditional.
Once Upon A Time In The West (1968): 8.5
As overused this word has lately become, there’s no word to perfectly describe the epic Once Upon a Time in the West from Sergio Leone. Boasting the ensemble cast starring Charles Bronson’s likes and the against-type Henry Fonda, this movie spins a revisionist, sprawling yarn about the violence in the Old West.
CONCLUSION:
The movies have been the classiest of all time. Even now, no project can be matched with any one of these. From plot, storyline, cast, and everything, everything in them is perfect. These should be in everyone’s movie playlists.