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Definitive or Must Have Western Films

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Heisler:
So I'm looking to expand my western movie collection.  While I know we all have our favorite western films this time around I'm looking for those definitive western films. Along the lines of a director's best western film, an actor or actress' best western film. The only restrictions are:
1) You have to tell me why you picked that film so state whether its for the director or the actor. You can only name a director, actor or actress once. So for instance you could name Clint Eastwood twice, once for his best (or defining) western role and once for the best (or defining) western film he directed. He could still appear in other films you have selected.
2) Don't just throw a list out there, I want to know why I should consider hunting down that film.
3) You can name as many movies as you like as long as they fulfill the 1st restriction.

Ready......Go!

Steve63:
The Big Country Gregory Peck delivers a masterful performance with a superb monologue, a lesson in acting for anyone who thinks that the special effects make a good film.
Once Upon a Time in the West, Sergio Leone at his best and Henry Fonda gets to play a bad guy.
Unforgiven staring and directed by Clint Eastwood, the definitive cowboy actor in his definitive cowboy role.

NickNascati:
Definitely "Unforgiven" as the previous poster said, raw and grity.  Eastwood at his best
               "Open Range"  one of the best Westerns of recent years, a well done Kevin Costner movie
               "The Ox-Bow Incident", a powerful film.
               "Warlock",  Fonda and Quinn, classic re-telling of the Earp legend.
               "Tombstone",  it may have flaws, but it is a great movie.
               "The Searchers", Wayne at his best.
               "High Noon",  watch it just for Cooper's expression at the end.

The Western is America's contribution to cinema, as Jazz is our contribution to music.

sundayhero:
There is a one called Red Sun, with french actor Alain Delon (the bad guy),  a famous japanese actor Thosiro Mifune, and Charles Bronson (the good guy).

The story is pretty simple, a bandit (alain delon) stole a precious japanese sword of a ambassy japanese group, and Charles Bronson and the surviving japanese go chase him.

There is also the beautiful Ursula Andress (who is almost as beautiful as she was in 007 vs Dr No  ;D, but it's probably the bikini effect  lol).

It's a classic western, in term of iconography, landscapes, characters behaviour and western sterotypes (the saloon with prostitutes, the bad mexicanos, etc...), but the contrast of the japanese Ronin and his code of Honor and the quite brutal Charles Bronson outlaw are really interesting.

Overall it's also very entertaining, if you like classic "action" movies.

maxxon:
I don't go for directors or actors. I go for stories.

- Rio Bravo is western classic and also a good example how to set up chained scenarios in a town.
- Searchers by John Ford is another classic and surprisingly realistic for its time.
- True Grit for frontier action. I prefer the John Wayne version, but the Coen brothers remake is ok too.
- The Quick and The Dead is a hidden gem. Just try to ignore Sharon Stone as much as possible.
- McCabe and Mrs. Miller for gritty disillusioned 70's realism.
- La Grande Silenzia. Brutal spaghetti western, and it doesn't end the way you thought it would.
- Nevada Smith for the wisdom about peaches.
- Quiqley Down Under is very borderline, but the final shootout is a gem. You could basically ignore the rest of the film.
- Well, you can't have western list without the Wild Bunch.
- The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. Worth it for the Bad Bob scene alone. I used to rewatch this constantly when I was a kid.
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is another transitional film. It's a bit overlong if you ask me, but the final scene is a cinema classic and the piece they nipped off Jelly Bryce is good too.
- The Last Hard Men. If she can take it, so can you.
- Last Train From Gun Hill. Surprisingly modern for a film made in 1959. Also good for the surviving in a hostile town aspect.

Hmmm... looking at that list it seems I tend to favor the gritty side of things. And there's a lot of films about the end of the west there too...

I realize this is not what everyone is looking for in a western. And I do like the classics and genre films too, it's just that the films that differ from the norm are the ones that are more memorable.

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