The Best Westerns - a Moralist and Leftist View
by vmv-rantanen | created - 22 Mar 2014 | updated - 21 Aug 2017 | PublicList of westerns that I deem best. My view is moralistic and leftist, but I also aim to list movies which represent their sub-genre in the best possible way.
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1. 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: 110,200 | Gross: $9.45M
By far the best western. Duty. For those who yern to understand virtuist ethics.
2. 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: 5,079
A "zapata western" - a spaghetti western with political undertones. Among the best of it's kind.
3. 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: 436,260 | Gross: $101.16M
Revisionist western.
4. Duck, You Sucker! (1971)
PG | 138 min | Drama, War, Western
A low-life bandit and an I.R.A. explosives expert rebel against the government and become heroes of the Mexican Revolution.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Rod Steiger, James Coburn, Romolo Valli, Maria Monti
Votes: 37,509 | Gross: $0.70M
Zapata western, with a little bit of something for those who sympathise the Irish cause.
5. 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
Pondering the mob rule. A noir western.
6. Dead Man (1995)
R | 121 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
On the run after murdering a man, accountant William Blake encounters a strange Native American man named Nobody who prepares him for his journey into the spiritual world.
Director: Jim Jarmusch | Stars: Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Crispin Glover, Lance Henriksen
Votes: 103,101 | Gross: $1.04M
Acid western - civilization critical undertones.
7. The Shooting (1966)
G | 82 min | Drama, Western
A mysterious woman persuades two cowboys to help her in a revenge scheme.
Director: Monte Hellman | Stars: Millie Perkins, Jack Nicholson, Will Hutchins, Warren Oates
Votes: 6,431
Another proper acid western.
8. 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
Political spaghetti western, higly moralistic with messianic undertones a la Che.
9. 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: 90,383 | Gross: $12.06M
Zapata western.
10. Open Range (2003)
R | 139 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.
Director: Kevin Costner | Stars: Kevin Costner, Robert Duvall, Diego Luna, Abraham Benrubi
Votes: 78,173 | Gross: $58.33M
One of those "a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do" -westerns.
11. 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: 79,863 | Gross: $31.80M
A late take on zapata western genre.
12. Appaloosa (2008)
R | 115 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.
Director: Ed Harris | Stars: Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Renée Zellweger, Jeremy Irons
Votes: 64,731 | Gross: $20.21M
Not really representative in any way, simply a good western.
13. Soldier Blue (1970)
R | 112 min | Drama, War, Western
After a cavalry patrol is ambushed by the Cheyenne, the two survivors, a soldier and a woman, must reach the safety of the nearest fort.
Director: Ralph Nelson | Stars: Candice Bergen, Peter Strauss, Donald Pleasence, John Anderson
Votes: 6,279 | Gross: $0.51M
Strong revisionist western. Bringing in the red man's view on "how the west was won".
14. The Shootist (1976)
PG | 100 min | Drama, Romance, Western
A dying gunfighter spends his last days looking for a way to die with a minimum of pain and a maximum of dignity.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, James Stewart
Votes: 26,832
Never much cared for John Wayne, the imperialist pig and no good actor. This movie however, is a fairly decent one.
15. Terror in a Texas Town (1958)
Not Rated | 80 min | Western
A Swedish whaler is out for revenge when he finds out that a greedy oil man murdered his father for their land.
Director: Joseph H. Lewis | Stars: Sterling Hayden, Sebastian Cabot, Carol Kelly, Eugene Mazzola
Votes: 2,412
A great fairly unknown western. Not much politics in this one, although the primus motor of evil forces at work is a fat cat.
16. Invitation to a Gunfighter (1964)
Not Rated | 92 min | Western
In New Mexico, a Confederate veteran returns home to find his fiancée married to a Union soldier, his Yankee neighbors rallied against him and his property sold by the local banker who then hires a gunman to kill him.
Director: Richard Wilson | Stars: Yul Brynner, Janice Rule, George Segal, Alfred Ryder
Votes: 2,344
Ethnic questions.
17. Boss Nigger (1974)
PG | 87 min | Comedy, Western
Two black bounty hunters, pursuing an outlaw, take over a small Western town without a sheriff.
Director: Jack Arnold | Stars: Fred Williamson, D'Urville Martin, William Smith, R.G. Armstrong
Votes: 2,929
Blacksploitation western. For those who are thrilled about black power.
18. No Name on the Bullet (1959)
Passed | 77 min | Western
When hired killer John Gant rides into Lordsburg, the town's folk become paranoid as each leading citizen has enemies capable of using the services of a professional killer for personal revenge.
Director: Jack Arnold | Stars: Audie Murphy, Charles Drake, Joan Evans, Virginia Grey
Votes: 3,061
As Audie Murphy oughts to be mentioned, this one is his best. A moral study.
19. 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: 349,144 | Gross: $5.32M
Magnificent. Railroad kills the west. Against proggressivism for it's own sake and of course, big money.
20. 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: 132,445 | Gross: $5.01M
One of the best movies of all times. A noir film - can also be called a noir western.
21. Keoma (1976)
R | 105 min | Drama, Western
A half-breed ex-Union gunfighter attempts to protect his plague-ridden hometown from being overridden by his racist half-brothers and a Confederate tyrant.
Director: Enzo G. Castellari | Stars: Franco Nero, William Berger, Olga Karlatos, Orso Maria Guerrini
Votes: 6,192
Not necessarily enjoyable to watch (mostly due to the track) but a milestone on it's spaghetti western - and a highly political one. Also very acidy.
22. A Man Called Blade (1977)
Not Rated | 101 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A bounty hunter is hired by a mining town's crippled mayor to find his daughter, who has been kidnapped by the mayor's corrupt right-hand-man and his outlaw gang.
Director: Sergio Martino | Stars: Maurizio Merli, John Steiner, Sonja Jeannine, Donald O'Brien
Votes: 1,981
Zapata western with a peculiar main characters weapon of choice.
23. The Mercenary (1968)
PG-13 | 110 min | Comedy, Western
A greedy Polish mercenary helps a mine worker and a peasant girl lead a revolution against the Mexican Government, all while being pursued by an American rival.
Director: Sergio Corbucci | Stars: Franco Nero, Tony Musante, Franco Giacobini, Eduardo Fajardo
Votes: 6,154 | Gross: $0.03M
Zapata western.
24. Sabata (1969)
PG-13 | 111 min | Action, Drama, Western
A master gunfighter sides with a banjo-playing drifter and a Mexican tramp to foil the dignitaries of Daugherty, who want to use stolen army money to buy land that the railroad will cross.
Director: Gianfranco Parolini | Stars: Lee Van Cleef, William Berger, Ignazio Spalla, Aldo Canti
Votes: 5,649 | Gross: $0.23M
Lee van Cleef shoots bluecoats. Brilliant! A zapata western.
25. Osceola (1971)
109 min | Western, Drama
Florida, 1830 - Of all eastern Native American tribes, only the Seminoles have resisted being moved to reservations. Having retreated to Florida, they live a simple horticultural life. But ... See full summary »
Director: Konrad Petzold | Stars: Gojko Mitic, Horst Schulze, Iurie Darie, Karin Ugowski
Votes: 256
A red western, straight from DDR.
26. Die Söhne der großen Bärin (1966)
92 min | Western
Although the Indians were assured their lands adjacent to the Black Hills by contract, the Whites want to expel them. Meanwhile, gold has been discovered there and the unscrupulous settler,... See full summary »
Director: Josef Mach | Stars: Gojko Mitic, Jirí Vrstála, Rolf Römer, Hans Hardt-Hardtloff
Votes: 426
Gojko Mitic stars in this DDR red western.
27. The Legend of Nigger Charley (1972)
PG | 98 min | Western
A slave kills a white man in self-defense and heads West towards freedom, pursued by a professional slave hunter.
Director: Martin Goldman | Stars: Fred Williamson, D'Urville Martin, Don Pedro Colley, Thomas Anderson
Votes: 501 | Gross: $1.95M
Another blacksploitation western.
28. Valdez Is Coming (1971)
PG-13 | 90 min | Drama, Western
A Mexican-American sheriff (Burt Lancaster) must resort to violence against a powerful rancher (Frank Tanner, played by Jon Cypher) in order to get just compensation for the pregnant Indian widow of a wrongly killed black man.
Director: Edwin Sherin | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Susan Clark, Frank Silvera, Jon Cypher
Votes: 4,533 | Gross: $0.06M
Racial issues.
29. Neulovimye mstiteli (1967)
78 min | Action, Adventure, Western
Teenagers take revenge on cruel chieftains during the civil war. Soviet blockbuster in the best traditions of the western
Director: Edmond Keosayan | Stars: Vasiliy Vasilev, Viktor Kosykh, Valentina Kurdyukova, Mikhail Metyolkin
Votes: 1,989
Ostern. Overrated, but still a watchable movie, and a classic.
30. White Sun of the Desert (1970)
Not Rated | 84 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
At the end of the Russian Civil War, Red Army soldier Fyodor Sukhov is ordered to guard the harem of a Caspian Sea guerrilla leader.
Director: Vladimir Motyl | Stars: Anatoliy Kuznetsov, Pavel Luspekayev, Spartak Mishulin, Kakhi Kavsadze
Votes: 7,837
Ostern, one of the best in it's subgenre. A hint of revisionist touch.
31. The Bear (1988)
PG | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
An orphan bear cub hooks up with an adult male as they try to dodge human hunters.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Tchéky Karyo, Bart the Bear, Youk the Bear, Jack Wallace
Votes: 19,090 | Gross: $31.75M
A beautiful nature flick. Not really a western per se, but can be seen as a northern.
32. Louis Riel (1969 TV Movie)
126 min | Musical
Opera portraying Metis leader Louis Riel and his Northwest Rebellion.
Director: Leon Major | Stars: John Arab, Maurice Brown, Mary Morrison, Patricia Rideout
Tells the story of a Canadian rebel hero.
33. At Home Among Strangers, a Stranger Among His Own (1974)
97 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Set during the Civil War between the Reds and the Whites that followed the 1917 revolution in Russia
Director: Nikita Mikhalkov | Stars: Yuriy Bogatyryov, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Sergey Shakurov, Aleksandr Porokhovshchikov
Votes: 3,516
An ostern with a revisionist touch.
34. Bad Company (1972)
PG | 93 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A God-fearing Ohio boy dodging the Civil War draft arrives in St. Joseph, MO where he joins up with a hardscrabble group of like runaways heading west
Director: Robert Benton | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Barry Brown, Jim Davis, David Huddleston
Votes: 4,603
A revisionist western.
35. Deadwood (2004–2006)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, History
A show set in the late 1800s, revolving around the characters of Deadwood, South Dakota; a town of deep corruption and crime.
Stars: Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane, Molly Parker, Brad Dourif
Votes: 117,681
A revisionist series.
36. Rojo (1966)
82 min | Western
A gunfighter called "El Rojo" arrives in Gold Hill to avenge his massacred family.
Director: Leopoldo Savona | Stars: Richard Harrison, Nieves Navarro, Piero Lulli, Mirko Ellis
Votes: 160
Xenophobic thematics.
37. Warlock (1959)
Passed | 121 min | Western
A famous gunman becomes the marshal of Warlock to end a gang's rampages, but is met with some opposition by a former gang member turned deputy sheriff who wants to follow only legal methods.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn, Dorothy Malone
Votes: 7,053 | Gross: $3.71M
Moral ponderings.
38. 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: 166,352 | Gross: $56.51M
Revisionist, brutal.
39. The Proposition (2005)
R | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Western
A lawman apprehends a notorious outlaw and gives him nine days to kill his older brother, or else they'll execute his younger brother.
Director: John Hillcoat | Stars: Ray Winstone, Guy Pearce, Emily Watson, Richard Wilson
Votes: 54,986 | Gross: $1.90M
Southern.
40. Django Unchained (2012)
R | 165 min | Drama, Western
With the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington
Votes: 1,695,638 | Gross: $162.81M
A good remake blacksploitation.
41. Death of a Gunfighter (1969)
M | 94 min | Drama, Western
A Texas town's council fires the town's old-fashioned marshal who refuses to resign, thus leading to violence from both sides.
Directors: Don Siegel, Robert Totten | Stars: Richard Widmark, Lena Horne, Carroll O'Connor, David Opatoshu
Votes: 1,620
Much alike High Noon.
42. The Violent Men (1955)
Approved | 96 min | Western
A bitter land dispute causes a Civil War veteran to take extreme action.
Director: Rudolph Maté | Stars: Glenn Ford, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Dianne Foster
Votes: 3,340
Rich against poor, and guerilla campaigning.
43. Outland (1981)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
A federal marshal stationed at a mining colony on the Jupiter moon of Io uncovers a drug-smuggling conspiracy. He gets no help from the workers or authorities when he finds himself marked for murder.
Director: Peter Hyams | Stars: Sean Connery, Frances Sternhagen, Peter Boyle, James Sikking
Votes: 32,372 | Gross: $17.37M
High Noon in space. Space western.
44. Talpuk alatt fütyül a szél (1976)
90 min | Drama, Western
Gyurka Farkos Csapó escapes from prison and returns to the steppe to find those who betrayed him.
Director: György Szomjas | Stars: Ferenc Bessenyei, Djoko Rosic, István Bujtor, György Cserhalmi
Votes: 376
A goulash western.
45. Pruncul, petrolul si Ardelenii (1981)
104 min | Comedy, Western
The three Brad brothers want to return to Romania, but one of them gets married and they buy a farm. Unfortunately for them, the neighbors are Hungarian, and they become enemies.
Director: Dan Pita | Stars: Ilarion Ciobanu, Ovidiu Iuliu Moldovan, Mircea Diaconu, Jean Constantin
Votes: 475
A Soviet Romania made western.
46. The Big Gundown (1967)
Approved | 110 min | Drama, Western
An unofficial lawman and would-be senator is tasked by a railroad baron with hunting down a knife-wielding Mexican peasant accused of raping and killing a young girl.
Director: Sergio Sollima | Stars: Lee Van Cleef, Tomas Milian, Walter Barnes, Nieves Navarro
Votes: 7,090
One of the most famous zapata westerns.
47. Compañeros (1970)
R | 115 min | Action, Comedy, Western
A Swedish arms dealer and a Mexican peon team up to rescue the intellectual leader of the Revolutionary cause, while taking part in numerous misadventures along the way.
Director: Sergio Corbucci | Stars: Franco Nero, Tomas Milian, Fernando Rey, Iris Berben
Votes: 4,976 | Gross: $0.02M
Zapata western.
48. Viva Villa! (1934)
Passed | 115 min | Biography, Western
After enacting revenge on the overseer who murdered his father, Pancho Villa becomes a bandit, earning the respect of the poor by brutally attacking the wealthy.
Directors: Jack Conway, Howard Hawks, William A. Wellman | Stars: Wallace Beery, Fay Wray, Leo Carrillo, Donald Cook
Votes: 1,570 | Gross: $1.11M
A positive take on the Mexican revolutionary before the time of zapata westerns.
49. Broken Arrow (1950)
Approved | 93 min | Drama, Romance, Western
Tom Jeffords tries to make peace between settlers and Apaches in Arizona territory.
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: James Stewart, Jeff Chandler, Debra Paget, Basil Ruysdael
Votes: 9,682
One of the first movies bringing the Indian perspective to the genre.
50. Face to Face (1967)
R | 111 min | Western
A history professor has a chance meeting with an infamous outlaw and eventually assumes leadership of his gang.
Director: Sergio Sollima | Stars: Gian Maria Volontè, Tomas Milian, William Berger, Jolanda Modio
Votes: 3,361
A political spaghetti western.
51. The Price of Power (1969)
90 min | Drama, Western
In Dallas, an ex-Union soldier attempts to expose a conspiracy of Southerners who murdered his father, his friend and the President.
Director: Tonino Valerii | Stars: Giuliano Gemma, Warren Vanders, María Cuadra, Rai Sanders
Votes: 920
A Western take on the Kennedy assassination.
52. Ride in the Whirlwind (1966)
G | 82 min | Drama, Western
Three cowboys, mistaken for members of an outlaw gang, are relentlessly pursued by a posse.
Director: Monte Hellman | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Cameron Mitchell, Millie Perkins, Katherine Squire
Votes: 4,401
Another acid western. Unenjoyable. Bewildering.
53. Vera Cruz (1954)
Approved | 94 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
During the Mexican Rebellion of 1866, an unsavory group of American adventurers are hired by the forces of Emporer Maximilian to escort a countess to Vera Cruz.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster, Denise Darcel, Cesar Romero
Votes: 11,328
American zapata western.
54. Viva Zapata! (1952)
Approved | 113 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who led a rebellion against the corrupt, oppressive dictatorship of President Porfirio Díaz in the early 20th century.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Marlon Brando, Jean Peters, Anthony Quinn, Joseph Wiseman
Votes: 12,465
Another American zapata western.
55. 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: 290,738 | Gross: $184.21M
A strong revisionist take.
56. The Big Trees (1952)
Approved | 89 min | Drama, Western
A Quaker colony tries to save the giant sequoias from a timber baron.
Director: Felix E. Feist | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Eve Miller, Patrice Wymore, Edgar Buchanan
Votes: 1,857
Quakers and tree hugging.
57. Viva Zalata (1976)
Adventure, Comedy, Romance
Zalata escapes from Egypt after divorcing his four wives and moves to a fictional town called Texico where he becomes a dangerous outlaw and later its governor. After he shoots the leader ... See full summary »
Director: Hassan Hafez | Stars: Fouad El-Mohandes, Shouweikar, Samir Ghanem, Tawfik El Deken
Votes: 152
An Egyptian zapata western. Haven't seen.
58. My Name Is Pecos (1966)
83 min | Western
A Mexican pistolero exacts revenge on the man responsible for the murder of his family, who has taken over his hometown in an effort to recover money that was stolen during a recent robbery.
Director: Maurizio Lucidi | Stars: Robert Woods, Pier Paolo Capponi, Lucia Modugno, Peter Carsten
Votes: 439
"Racist thugs against an avenging Mexican."
59. Day of Anger (1967)
M | 111 min | Action, Drama, Western
A scruffy garbage boy becomes the pupil of a famed gunfighter, and the stage for confrontation is set when the gunman overruns the boy's town through violence and corruption.
Director: Tonino Valerii | Stars: Lee Van Cleef, Giuliano Gemma, Walter Rilla, Christa Linder
Votes: 5,562
Nice spaghettiwestern with questions of moral and power.
60. Ride a Crooked Trail (1958)
Approved | 88 min | Drama, Western
Fugitive bank robber Joe Maybe steals the identity of a marshal and rides into a town whose judge asks Joe to act as town marshal but an old flame almost betrays his real identity forcing Joe to claim she's his wife.
Director: Jesse Hibbs | Stars: Audie Murphy, Gia Scala, Walter Matthau, Henry Silva
Votes: 1,271
An Audie Murphy movie with a moral growth story.
61. A Bullet for Sandoval (1969)
PG-13 | 105 min | Western
A Confederate deserter, whose Mexican girlfriend dies during childbirth, starts a feud with her Mexican family, becomes an outlaw and vows revenge on all who wronged him.
Director: Julio Buchs | Stars: George Hilton, Ernest Borgnine, Alberto de Mendoza, Leo Anchóriz
Votes: 536
A Western with social class issues and a story of moral decay.
62. Top Gun (1955)
Approved | 73 min | Western
A gunslinger returns to his hometown to warn of an impending outlaw gang attack, but he's met with hatred and fear for his previous killings.
Director: Ray Nazarro | Stars: Sterling Hayden, William Bishop, Karin Booth, James Millican
Votes: 725
A western about prejudice, and moral high and low grounds.
63. Silver Lode (1954)
Approved | 81 min | Western
In the western town of Silver Lode, Dan Ballard is arrested for murder and theft by marshals, but he denies the charges and searches for the real culprit as the townsfolk gradually turn against him.
Director: Allan Dwan | Stars: John Payne, Lizabeth Scott, Dan Duryea, Dolores Moran
Votes: 2,301
How easily the masses turn on their fellow man, how easily people are persuaded just by official documents.
64. Desperado (1987 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 93 min | Drama, Western
Cowboy Duell McCall wants to quickly deliver a herd of cattle to town, get paid and move on but romance with local girl Nora gets him involved in a feud between the town boss and Nora's dad.
Director: Virgil W. Vogel | Stars: Alex McArthur, David Warner, Yaphet Kotto, Donald Moffat
Votes: 338
An ok western, with an evil mining company - much alike Mannaja. However, they could have taken so much more out of this.
65. The Ruthless Four (1968)
M/PG | 96 min | Western
Four men embark on a mission to unearth a fortune in gold from a mine.
Director: Giorgio Capitani | Stars: Van Heflin, Gilbert Roland, Klaus Kinski, George Hilton
Votes: 827
A sort of a retake on the theme of The Treasure of Sierra Madre. Gay subtext.
66. The Ugly Ones (1966)
Approved | 95 min | Western
An escapee Mexican outlaw returns to his hometown, where he is sheltered from a tenacious bounty killer by the townspeople - who discover too late that he is a changed man.
Director: Eugenio Martín | Stars: Richard Stapley, Tomas Milian, Halina Zalewska, Hugo Blanco
Votes: 701
A critical stance on "social banditism". Milan does great job.
67. The Bounty Killer (1965)
Approved | 92 min | Western
A tenderfoot becomes a bounty hunter in the hopes of making a better future for himself and his new love.
Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet | Stars: Dan Duryea, Rod Cameron, Audrey Dalton, Richard Arlen
Votes: 449
A moralist story. Nice, small western.
68. Don't Turn the Other Cheek! (1971)
PG | 103 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A self-proclaimed Russian prince, a Mexican bandit and a radical Irish female journalist team up during the Mexican Revolution to find fortune and notoriety.
Director: Duccio Tessari | Stars: Franco Nero, Eli Wallach, Lynn Redgrave, Horst Janson
Votes: 646
Comical zapata western.
69. Jack Slade (1953)
Approved | 90 min | Western
When his father is killed in front of him during a stagecoach holdup, a teenage boy vows to rid society of outlaws and he eventually grows into a vicious gunman working for a stagecoach line.
Director: Harold D. Schuster | Stars: Mark Stevens, Dorothy Malone, Barton MacLane, John Litel
Votes: 248
Noirwestern.
70. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
R | 121 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
Ranch foreman Pete Perkins looks to fulfill the promise to his recently deceased best friend by burying him in his hometown in Mexico.
Director: Tommy Lee Jones | Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Barry Pepper, Dwight Yoakam, January Jones
Votes: 41,890 | Gross: $5.02M
A neowestern with focus on the status of immigrants.
71. Blackthorn (2011)
R | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In Bolivia, Butch Cassidy (now calling himself James Blackthorn) pines for one last sight of home, an adventure that aligns him with a young robber and makes the duo a target for gangs and lawmen alike.
Director: Mateo Gil | Stars: Sam Shepard, Eduardo Noriega, Stephen Rea, Magaly Solier
Votes: 10,358 | Gross: $0.20M
72. Free State of Jones (2016)
R | 139 min | Action, Biography, Drama
A disillusioned Confederate army deserter returns to Mississippi and leads a militia of fellow deserters and women in an uprising against the corrupt local Confederate government.
Director: Gary Ross | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali, Keri Russell
Votes: 62,455 | Gross: $20.76M
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