Top 20 Western Movies

[Heroine of the Dragon]

Do you watch westerns?
What are your top 20 favourite western movies?

[Booyakasha]

I like 'Rio Bravo' a lot. There's a town under siege-----------the men of a powerful cattle baron have the place bottled up because the sheriff (played by John Wayne, natch) is holding the cattleman's son for murder. But the bad guys can't just kill the sheriff and free the son, because the sheriff's crippled old deputy is holed up in the jail, ready to execute him at the first sign of trouble. So there's loads of tension, and the sheriff is trying to enlist help, and the baddies are looking for every angle. Fun flick.

[Booyakasha]

Any of you guys hear of 'Quigley Down Under'? That's a bit of an oddball. Tom Selleck plays Quigley, an American Civil War veteran and sharpshooter who has traveled to Australia at the behest of an Aussie cattle baron. The cattleman has contracted with Quigley to use his sniping skills to protect his ranch from the local wildlife-----------however, upon arriving at the ranch, Quigley learns that he's actually been hired to hunt down aboriginal folk. Disgusted, Quigley gets into a fight with the cattleman and his goons, and is overcome; they drag him off into the desert and leave him to die. However, Quigley is (ironically) rescued from death by the indigenous folk, and sets to work requiting himself on the eviltons. It's a good flick----------reminiscent of 'Dances With Wolves', if DWW weren't such a lame no-fun stick in the mud. Oh, and the cattle baron is played by Alan Rickman, somewhere in-between 'Die Hard' and 'Robin Hood'. He's always great in the bad guy role, and I think this might be his best.

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

^ Never heard of it, myself.

Westerns aren't my genre at all, but let's see what I can scrape together (these aren't all necessarily good, just the least boring I've seen)...

Back to the Future III
3:10 to Yuma
The Hateful Eight
Shanghai Noon
Wild Wild West
No Country For Old Men
Tremors 4
Back to the Future III
The Ridiculous 6
Cowboys & Aliens
Rango

There was one other movie I can't remember the name of, but it was like a cheesy B movie Western/Samurai kinda blend. It wasn't good but it was interesting. I also saw Schwarzenegger's Last Stand on a list, so I guess add that too.

[CaptHayfever]

My dad is way more into westerns than I am, but there's a bunch I really enjoy:
Rio Bravo
True Grit (both versions)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence
The Dollars Trilogy
Hombre
Shanghai Noon
Rango
Back to the Future 3
Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[Booyakasha]

So it feels funny to talk up 'Support Your Local Sheriff!', being that it's pretty much the exact same premise as 'Rio Bravo', only a more comedic version. Instead of standard upright John Wayne-type sheriff, you have fast-talking conman James Garner sheriff. It's a real good flick. Here's a laugh-----------Walter Brennan, who played the sheriff's old limping deputy in 'Rio Bravo', gets to play the bad guy laying siege to the town in 'Sheriff'. Funny turnaround, but he pulls it off. [EDIT: 'Support Your Local Sheriff!' is on YouTube, as is 'Support Your Local Gunfighter!', its kind of spiritual sequel. 'Sheriff' is the superior film, but 'Gunfighter' is similarly a bag of laughs.]

I really like seeing Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne together. They fit. Obviously 'Quiet Man' isn't a western, and even I'm not dumb enough to enthuse breathlessly about 'McLintock!'------------so 'Big Jake' is a good flick. It's like 'The Searchers' without uncomfortable grey areas--------the bad guys are irredeemably bad, the good guys are simply good. Put on your respective white or black hats and commence doing western stuff in a western fashion, already.