Westerns Movie List by Bucko
Greatest Westerns
{by Bucko of Cowboylands}
{by Bucko of Cowboylands}
When did you realize you wanted to review movies?
I think of myself more an ambassador for westerns than strictly a critic—one trying to rehabilitate their image of being the cranky, racist, misogynist uncle who retells the same, boring stories in a too-loud voice, laughing too long at his own jokes, and smelling a little musty. There are westerns that deserve to be panned, but every western makes a statement about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that is worthy of exploration.
All-time favorite movie:
John Ford’s 1939 Stagecoach is the alpha and omega of westerns—its themes, characters, and settings are what every western filmmaker copies, parodies, pays homage to, reacts against, experiments with.
Movie you quote a lot:
A laconic hero, when he (or she) finally does choose to speak, makes for good sound bites, especially when a writer like Elmore Leonard is the wordsmith. Randolph Scott in The Tall T is an upstanding example: “Some things a man can’t ride around.” Even if you’re too afraid of horses to ride them, you feel your backbone straighten at the words.
Movie character that reminds you of yourself:
I want to say a stalwart bucko like Scott’s Pat Brennan or John Wayne’s Ringo Kid, but I’m more like the little punk in Shane, gawking at my heroes and wanting to be just like them. And shouting at random moments: “Shaaaane! Come back!”
Movie you wish you could un-see:
William Shatner’s turn as good cowboy/bad Indian twins warring against each other in 1968’s White Comanche comes close, but even a bad western film has insights into society, cinema, and psyche—even if the insights aren’t pretty.
You can find Bucko's articles at Cowboyland. Stay connected on twitter.
Learn why Bucko curated Western Movies:A tumbleweed crosses the road, and inevitably someone whistles the theme from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Westerns have that power—just the ching of spurs evokes the age-old struggle between good and evil. Westerns are socio-political commentary on gender and community packed in gun-totin’, wide-vista entertainment with explosions and kisses and handsome heroes standing tall, shooting straight, and getting the girl (or guy). But westerns didn’t start with John Ford and end with John Wayne. With this selection I want to share the scope and depth of the genre, from classic beginnings to today’s gritty renaissance.
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- The Phantom Empire DVD
- Gene Autrey shot to stardom when he took on a nation 20,000 feet underground in the first science fiction serial with sound. The singing cowboy stumbles upon the survivors of the ancient sunken continent of Mu, now living in Murania deep beneath his own Radio Ranch. Now, he's caught between… [ read more ]
- $14.99
- Stagecoach: The Criterion Collection DVD
- This is where it all started. John Ford's smash hit and enduring masterpiece Stagecoach revolutionized the western, elevating it from B movie to the A-list. The quintessential tale of a group of strangers thrown together into extraordinary circumstances - nine passengers traveling a… [ read more ]
- $39.95
- Destry Rides Again DVD
- American movie icon James Stewart stars in this unconventional western as the son of a legendary lawman who refuses to carry a gun. After a small town's sheriff is killed by banditos, Stewart shows up to bring law and order to the frontier village, despite his aversion to firearms. The great… [ read more ]
- $14.98
- Bad Day At Black Rock DVD
- Spencer Tracy stars as John J. MacReedy, a crippled stranger who takes a train to a tiny western town, in "Bad Day at Black Rock" (1955). Set in 1945, the one-armed MacReedy becomes a death target of the local town boss, played by Robert Ryan, and his army of gun-slinging thugs, when he… [ read more ]
- $19.98
- The Searchers DVD
- Working together for the 12th time, John Wayne and director John Ford forged The Searchers into an indelible image of the frontier and the men and women who challenged it. Wayne plays ex-Confederate soldier Ethan Edwards, a believer more in bullets than in words. He's seeking his niece,… [ read more ]
- $12.98
- Forty Guns DVD
- Notable gritty director Sam Fuller helmed this inventive Western tale which turns the familiar story paradigms upside down. Jessica Drummond (Barbara Stanwyck) is the tough as nails landowner who rules the roost thanks to her posse of hired guns. Along comes United States Marshall Bonnell… [ read more ]
- $14.98
- Wagon Train: The Complete Color Season DVD
- "Wagon Train: The Complete Color Season DVD" Expert Review: This long-running TV series chronicled the life of a different member of a wagon train every episode, in the early seasons with wagonmaster Seth Adams (Ward Bond) and scout, Flint McCullough. A-listers like Ernest Borgnine… [ read more ]
- $99.99
- The Magnificent Seven Collection DVD
- The East Goes West in "The Magnificent Seven Collection," featuring the gunslinging, rough and tumble, all-American remake of Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece "Seven Samurai" (1954). In the original 1960 hit "The Magnificent Seven," seven American gunmen are hired to defend a small Mexican… [ read more ]
- $29.98
- The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly DVD
- Considered the pinnacle of the "spaghetti western," this epic production features Clint Eastwood as The Man With No Name in a race for Confederate gold against Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach while the violent Civil War rages around them. The three gunslingers each have a piece of the puzzle… [ read more ]
- $14.98
- Keoma DVD
- Shoot to kill in this classic spaghetti Western! A half-white, half-Indian gunfighter visits his hometown, discovering that the entire village is under the sway of a deadly plague. He soon learns that the man in charge of the town is refusing to dispense medical supplies, effectively holding… [ read more ]
- $14.98
- Lonesome Dove: 2 Disc Collector's Edition DVD
- Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones star in the stunning and unforgettable Emmy Award-winning "Lonesome Dove " (1989). A pair of friends steal a thousand cattle and plan to drive them North in one final journey to the open land of Montana, in this adaptation of Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer… [ read more ]
- $14.93
- Unforgiven DVD
- "Clint Eastwood's ""Unforgiven"" (1992) is one of the most compelling Westerns from this great director. In this final bounty-hunter mission that Clint Eastwood's character finds himself on, he will come to terms with the fact that the past is a hard thing to let go of, and deal with the… [ read more ]
- $14.98
- Dead Man DVD
- A daring, poetic, mystical western, "Dead Man" (1995) is a masterpiece of avant-garde cinema. Johnny Depp plays a man who becomes a fugitive after murdering a man in self-defense. Wounded and fleeing from bounty hunters, he meets Gary Farmer, a wandering Native American who pledges to help… [ read more ]
- $6.99
- Tears Of The Black Tiger DVD
- Love never dies in the action romance "Tears Of The Black Tiger" (2000). A poor young boy falls for the daughter of a rich family. Though they are kept apart by their parents, they remain in love for years. Sadly, the boy's father is killed, and he becomes a renegade mercenary, turning his… [ read more ]
- $14.98
- Deadwood: The Complete Series DVD
- "The Black Hills of South Dakota. Witness the birth of an American frontier town - and the ruthless power struggle between its just and unjust pioneers.In an age of plunder and greed, the richest gold strike in American history draws a mob of restless misfits to an outlaw settlement where… [ read more ]
- $119.98
- No Country For Old Men: 3 Disc Collector's Edition DVD
- Acclaimed filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen deliver their most gripping and ambitious film yet in this sizzling and supercharged action-thriller. When a man stumbles on a bloody crime scene, a pickup truck loaded with heroin, and two million dollars in irresistible cash, his decision to take… [ read more ]
- $19.98
- Appaloosa DVD
- This stone-faced, tough-minded Western stars Ed Harris, who also directed; he and Viggo Mortensen play a pair of lawmen hired to help clean up a remote cattle town, after a new rancher and his gun thugs come to town. Things are complicated by a pretty widow, played by Renee Zellweger. Though… [ read more ]
- $5.98
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