Definitive Western Movies

[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.For instance you could name Clint Eastwood twice, once for his best (or defining) western role and once for his 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!

[Talae]

Tombstone for Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday.

 

(This is a difficult task, because my favorites are not necessarily because they are the best a director or actor has done)

[Humansquish]

Quigley Down Under because Alan Rickman in a western.

[dsmiles]

Tombstone for Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday.

 

(This is a difficult task, because my favorites are not necessarily because they are the best a director or actor has done)

Tombstone because Tombstone. One of the best westerns I've seen. Amazing casting all around.

 

 

Quigley Down Under because Alan Rickman in a western.

And Tom Selleck as a gunslinger. It was an interesting combination of actors, and it worked. It. Worked.

 

My personal favorites:

• Pale Rider - Clint Eastwood was always one of the best actors for westerns, IMO.
• The Jack Bull - I'm a huge John Cusack fan, and I really liked him in a western. It was a different character style for him, and he really pulled it off.

[ladystorm]

five of my favorites:

Blazing Saddles, Mel Brooks director

Stagecoach, John Ford director

Butch Cassidy & Sundance Kid, Newman & Redford actors

High Noon, Gary Cooper actor

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, the cast

[vutpakdi]

Broken Trail  for Robert Duval, Thomas Haden Church, the interplay between the two, and for highlighting the experience of some Chinese women sold as sex slaves.

 

Ron

[Talae]

 

Tombstone for Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday.

 

(This is a difficult task, because my favorites are not necessarily because they are the best a director or actor has done)

Tombstone because Tombstone. One of the best westerns I've seen. Amazing casting all around.

 

 

I was going to type basically that same reasoning, but I was trying to follow the rules.

 

Some of my favorites:

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - because Newman and Redford

Unforgiven - because Eastwood with Freeman

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - Best Eastwood movie, probably

The Assassination of Jesse James - because Pitt

 

Some that people tend to leave off that I still enjoy:

True Grit - because Jeff Bridges

[Talae]

Does Jeremiah Johnson count? I love that movie. It is my dad's favorite movie, so it brings back memories of watching it with him as a kid.

[Heisler]

Does Jeremiah Johnson count? I love that movie. It is my dad's favorite movie, so it brings back memories of watching it with him as a kid.

 

I don't see why not.

[Hibou]

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance-  This movie has one of Jimmy Stewart's finer acting performances as well as a good performances by Lee Marvin and John Wayne.  

[Seer of the Pitt]

The Sabata Trilogy

The three movies star Lee Van Cleef, Yul Brynner in the second and Van Cleef again in the final installment.  Plus it's about $25 for three movies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

edited for spelling

Edited January 2, 2015 by Seer of the Pitt

[Talae]

I blame you for the fact I just watched Unforgiven again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...thanks.

[Dr.Bedlam]

Stagecoach is perhaps the DEFINITIVE western, with iconic performances by John Wayne, Andy Devine, John Carradine, and pretty much everyone else in the movie, and set John Ford up for the rest of his career.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance cemented Jimmy Stewart's western chops, as well as being one of the best westerns ever made.

Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns served as a fascinating deconstruction of the iconic American western while serving as some pretty good examples of the genre.

...and Randolph Scott was just flat out fun.

[ShadowRaven]

True Grit (the original) Audrey Hepburn and John Wayne both their characters  and as actors played off each other very well to make a very appealing story

 

Once Upon a Texas Train. Willie Nelson plays a one time legendary outlaw in a movie that is really very funny, and somewhat heartwarming 

[Dilvish the Deliverer]

Westerns are Awesome Wife's favorite genre so we have many here on our movie shelf and we watch many more on TV.

 

Unforgiven is the best movie by Clint Eastwood.  Just excellent all around and like the progression of his character returning to the bad man that he once was.

 

Awesome Wife's says that the best John Wayne western would have to be Rio Grande with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hare.  She tells me that in order for the studio to make the Quiet Man (one on my favorite Wayne movies) he had to agree to make another western and Rio Grande was that movie.