Top Westerns To Die For
by richie-tm | created - 12 Jul 2014 | updated - 19 Jan 2020 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. 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: 348,966 | Gross: $5.32M
2. A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
R | 99 min | Action, Drama, Western
A wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gian Maria Volontè, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy
Votes: 232,542 | Gross: $14.50M
3. For a Few Dollars More (1965)
R | 132 min | Drama, Western
Two bounty hunters with the same intentions team up to track down a gang of outlaws led by a psychotic Mexican bandit, who is plotting an audacious bank robbery.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volontè, Mara Krupp
Votes: 274,528 | Gross: $15.00M
4. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Approved | 178 min | Adventure, Western
A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè
Votes: 810,798 | Gross: $6.10M
5. The Searchers (1956)
Passed | 119 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
An American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond
Votes: 96,232
6. 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: 110,128 | Gross: $9.45M
7. 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: 90,328 | Gross: $12.06M
8. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
PG | 110 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
In 1890s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid lead a band of outlaws. When a train robbery goes wrong, they find themselves on the run with a posse hard on their heels. After considering their options, they escape to South America.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin
Votes: 226,652 | Gross: $102.31M
9. High Plains Drifter (1973)
R | 105 min | Drama, Mystery, Western
A gun-fighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago and is hired to bring the townsfolk together in an attempt to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Mitchell Ryan
Votes: 64,486 | Gross: $15.70M
10. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
R | 120 min | Drama, Western
A gambler and a prostitute become business partners in a remote Old West mining town, and their enterprise thrives until a large corporation arrives on the scene.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Rene Auberjonois, William Devane
Votes: 27,631 | Gross: $8.20M
11. 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: 1,693,903 | Gross: $162.81M
12. Django (1966)
Not Rated | 91 min | Action, Drama, Western
A coffin-dragging gunslinger and a prostitute become embroiled in a bitter feud between a Klan of Southern racists and a band of Mexican Revolutionaries.
Director: Sergio Corbucci | Stars: Franco Nero, José Canalejas, José Bódalo, Loredana Nusciak
Votes: 30,977 | Gross: $0.03M
13. 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: 79,804 | Gross: $31.80M
14. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
R | 112 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An American barroom pianist and his prostitute girlfriend go on a trip through the Mexican underworld to collect the bounty on the head of a dead gigolo.
Director: Sam Peckinpah | Stars: Warren Oates, Isela Vega, Robert Webber, Gig Young
Votes: 21,520 | Gross: $0.58M
15. 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: 37,480 | Gross: $0.70M
16. 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: 18,095 | Gross: $0.05M
17. Rio Bravo (1959)
Passed | 141 min | Drama, Western
A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson
Votes: 68,024 | Gross: $12.54M
18. Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
GP | 108 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by the Crow tribe and proves to be a match for their warriors in single combat on the early frontier.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Robert Redford, Will Geer, Delle Bolton, Josh Albee
Votes: 34,972 | Gross: $47.74M
19. 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: 132,382 | Gross: $5.01M
20. 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: 117,558
21. Meek's Cutoff (2010)
PG | 104 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Settlers traveling through the Oregon desert in 1845 find themselves stranded in harsh conditions.
Director: Kelly Reichardt | Stars: Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Paul Dano, Will Patton
Votes: 15,212 | Gross: $0.98M
22. 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: 41,877 | Gross: $5.02M
23. True Grit (2010)
PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Western
A stubborn teenager enlists the help of a tough U.S. Marshal to track down her father's murderer.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin
Votes: 357,394 | Gross: $171.24M
24. 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: 166,152 | Gross: $56.51M
25. 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: 290,458 | Gross: $184.21M
26. 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: 435,976 | Gross: $101.16M
27. 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: 4,973 | Gross: $0.02M
28. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Approved | 123 min | Drama, Western
A senator returns to a Western town for the funeral of an old friend and tells the story of his origins.
Director: John Ford | Stars: James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin
Votes: 82,254
29. Pale Rider (1985)
R | 115 min | Drama, Western
A mysterious preacher protects a humble prospector village from a greedy mining company trying to encroach on their land.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress, Sydney Penny
Votes: 64,669 | Gross: $41.41M
30. Silverado (1985)
PG-13 | 133 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A misfit bunch of friends comes together to right the injustices which exist in a small town.
Director: Lawrence Kasdan | Stars: Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner, Rosanna Arquette
Votes: 49,396 | Gross: $33.20M
31. 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
R | 122 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A small-time rancher agrees to hold a captured outlaw who's awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. A battle of wills ensues as the outlaw tries to psych out the rancher.
Director: James Mangold | Stars: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Ben Foster, Logan Lerman
Votes: 330,959 | Gross: $53.61M
32. 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: 64,703 | Gross: $20.21M
33. 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: 54,977 | Gross: $1.90M
34. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
R | 122 min | Biography, Drama, Western
Pat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.
Director: Sam Peckinpah | Stars: James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Richard Jaeckel, Katy Jurado
Votes: 21,081 | Gross: $0.95M
35. 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: 78,122 | Gross: $58.33M
36. Little Big Man (1970)
PG-13 | 139 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Jack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Native Americans and fighting with General Custer.
Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, Chief Dan George, Martin Balsam
Votes: 37,880 | Gross: $31.56M
37. Stagecoach (1939)
Passed | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine, John Carradine
Votes: 53,724
38. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
R | 160 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Robert Ford, who has idolized Jesse James since childhood, tries hard to join the resurgent gang of the Missouri outlaw, but gradually becomes resentful of the bandit leader.
Director: Andrew Dominik | Stars: Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Shepard, Mary-Louise Parker
Votes: 192,753 | Gross: $3.90M
39. Heaven's Gate (1980)
R | 219 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
During the Johnson County War in 1890 Wyoming, a sheriff born into wealth does his best to protect immigrant farmers from rich cattle interests.
Director: Michael Cimino | Stars: Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt, Sam Waterston
Votes: 17,137 | Gross: $3.48M
40. 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: 103,059 | Gross: $1.04M
41. Winchester '73 (1950)
Passed | 92 min | Action, Drama, Western
A cowboy's obsession with a stolen rifle leads to a bullet-ridden odyssey through the American West.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally
Votes: 21,970
42. My Darling Clementine (1946)
Passed | 97 min | Drama, Romance, Western
After their cattle are stolen and their brother murdered, the Earp brothers have a score to settle with the Clanton family.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, Victor Mature, Cathy Downs
Votes: 25,745
43. 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: 4,604
44. The Long Riders (1980)
R | 100 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The origins, exploits and the ultimate fate of the Jesse James gang is told in a sympathetic portrayal of the bank robbers made up of brothers who begin their legendary bank raids because of revenge.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: David Carradine, Stacy Keach, Dennis Quaid, Keith Carradine
Votes: 12,890 | Gross: $23.00M
45. Man in the Wilderness (1971)
GP | 104 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
Left for dead after a bear attack, a fur-trapper recuperates and pursues his former companions through dangerous Indian territory.
Director: Richard C. Sarafian | Stars: Richard Harris, John Huston, Henry Wilcoxon, Percy Herbert
Votes: 3,477
46. Hombre (1967)
Approved | 111 min | Drama, Western
John Russell, disdained by his "respectable" fellow stagecoach passengers because he was raised by Native Americans, becomes their only hope for survival when they are set upon by outlaws.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Paul Newman, Fredric March, Richard Boone, Diane Cilento
Votes: 13,826
47. The Professionals (1966)
PG-13 | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
An arrogant Texas millionaire hires four adventurers to rescue his kidnapped wife from a notorious Mexican bandit.
Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode
Votes: 18,823 | Gross: $19.54M
48. Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
Passed | 122 min | Biography, Drama, Western
Lawman Wyatt Earp and outlaw Doc Holliday form an unlikely alliance which culminates in their participation in the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming, Jo Van Fleet
Votes: 17,415 | Gross: $11.75M
49. The Tin Star (1957)
Approved | 93 min | Western
A cynical former sheriff turned bounty hunter helps a young, recently appointed acting sheriff with his advice, his experience and his gun.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: Henry Fonda, Anthony Perkins, Betsy Palmer, Michel Ray
Votes: 6,551
50. The Gunfighter (1950)
Approved | 85 min | Western
Notorious gunfighter Jimmy Ringo rides into town to find his true love, who doesn't want to see him. He hasn't come looking for trouble, but trouble finds him around every corner.
Director: Henry King | Stars: Gregory Peck, Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell, Jean Parker
Votes: 12,515
51. Bone Tomahawk (2015)
Not Rated | 132 min | Drama, Horror, Western
In the dying days of the old west, an elderly sheriff and his posse set out to rescue their town's doctor from cannibalistic cave dwellers.
Director: S. Craig Zahler | Stars: Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins
Votes: 117,868
52. In a Valley of Violence (2016)
R | 104 min | Action, Western
A mysterious stranger and a random act of violence drag a town of misfits and nitwits into the bloody crosshairs of revenge.
Director: Ti West | Stars: Ethan Hawke, John Travolta, Taissa Farmiga, James Ransone
Votes: 20,786 | Gross: $0.05M
53. Yellow Sky (1948)
Approved | 98 min | Crime, Drama, Western
A pistol-packing tomboy and her grandfather discover a band of bank robbing bandits taking refuge in the neighboring ghost town.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Gregory Peck, Anne Baxter, Richard Widmark, Robert Arthur
Votes: 5,757
54. Rawhide (1951)
Approved | 89 min | Drama, Romance, Western
A stagecoach stop employee and a stranded woman traveller find themselves at the mercy of four desperate outlaws intent on robbing the next day's gold shipment.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Tyrone Power, Susan Hayward, Hugh Marlowe, Dean Jagger
Votes: 3,136
55. 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: 26,813
56. Bite the Bullet (1975)
PG | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A pair of ex-Rough Riders, a former prostitute, a gunfighter, an aging cowboy and an English gentleman enter a 700-mile horse race through the Southwest desert in 1908.
Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen, James Coburn, Ben Johnson
Votes: 5,862
57. The Naked Spur (1953)
Passed | 91 min | Drama, Thriller, Western
A bounty hunter trying to bring a murderer to justice is forced to accept the help of two less-than-trustworthy strangers.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker
Votes: 12,654
58. The Man from Laramie (1955)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama, Western
Newcomer Will Lockhart defies the local cattle baron and his sadistic son by working for one of his oldest rivals.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp, Cathy O'Donnell
Votes: 12,003
59. Brimstone (2016)
R | 148 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
From the moment the new Reverend climbs the pulpit, Liz knows that she and her family are in great danger.
Director: Martin Koolhoven | Stars: Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning, Emilia Jones, Carice van Houten
Votes: 45,138
60. El Dorado (1966)
Passed | 126 min | Drama, Romance, Western
Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with old friend, Sheriff J.P. Hara. Together with an old Indian fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher who's trying to steal their water.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, James Caan, Charlene Holt
Votes: 30,403
61. El Topo (1970)
Not Rated | 125 min | Drama, Western
A mysterious black-clad gunfighter wanders a mystical Western landscape encountering multiple bizarre characters.
Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky | Stars: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Brontis Jodorowsky, José Legarreta, Alfonso Arau
Votes: 31,375 | Gross: $0.04M
62. Seraphim Falls (2006)
R | 115 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
After the end of the American Civil War, a former Confederate colonel hunts down a former Yankee officer with whom he has a grudge.
Director: David Von Ancken | Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Liam Neeson, Anjelica Huston, Michael Wincott
Votes: 34,500 | Gross: $0.42M
63. Hostiles (2017)
R | 134 min | Drama, Western
In 1892, a legendary Army Captain reluctantly agrees to escort a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory.
Director: Scott Cooper | Stars: Scott Shepherd, Rosamund Pike, Ava Cooper, Stella Cooper
Votes: 95,640 | Gross: $29.82M
64. The Hateful Eight (2015)
R | 168 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In the dead of a Wyoming winter, a bounty hunter and his prisoner find shelter in a cabin currently inhabited by a collection of nefarious characters.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins
Votes: 659,310 | Gross: $54.12M
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