NationStates Jolt Archive

The American Film Institute in Los Angeles, California, in 2008 honored America’s 10 greatest films in 10 classic film genres. The jury was asked to choose up to 10 movies per genre from a comprehensive list.
Western Films:

AFI described western films as "a genre of films set in the American West that embodies the spirit, the struggle and the demise of the new frontier. Brimming with subtext and mythology, westerns offer iconic images of a time gone by and perhaps a time that never was. A man of action with an unspoken code of honor, the western hero faces gun-toting opponents, hostile natives, lawless towns, the harsh forces of nature, and the encroachment of civilization. But the westerner keeps going, drawn to the freedom of the open plains and the promise of a new life."

Nominees: 11 of the 50 movies featured John Wayne; 10 of the 50 movies were directed by John Ford. Seven of these 21 movies featured both John Ford and John Wayne.

Winners: The Searchers (1956) (# 1), High Noon (1952) (# 2), Shane (1953) (# 3), Unforgiven (1992) (# 4), Red River (1948) (# 5), The Wild Bunch (1969) (# 6), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) (# 7), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) (# 8), Stagecoach (1939) (# 9), Cat Ballou (1965) (# 10).
http://www.filmsite.org/afi10toptennoms5.html



I'm going to agree strongly w/ the coment there that Cat Ballou does not belong on the lis.

So, for the poll, it's:
1) The Searchers
2) High Noon
3) Shane
4) Unforgiven
5) Red River
6) The Wild Bunch
7) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
8) McCabe & Mrs. Miller
9) Stagecoach
10) Other

So this isn't about the hotel? :)

well ok then....I choose High Noon

The whole list is off-kilter, and it isn't just that list. I'm still wondering what in the hell The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and It's a Wonderful Life have in common that make them both fantasy movies. I'd guess that very few of the people working on this particular list knew westerns, and they wanted to make a list that looked right to people rather than actually measuring quality, and they didn't want either Eastwood or Wayne to dominate. Which is why you have the overrated The Searchers at the top when The Searchers isn't even John Ford's best western.

The List as I'd put it:

1) Unforgiven
2) High Noon
3) The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
4) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
5) Shane
6) The Searchers
7) The Wild Bunch
8) The Outlaw Josie Wales
9) Stagecoach
10) I hemmed and hawed at this point between The Magnificent Seven, The Gunslinger, and For a Few Dollars More. Can't really decide.

That puts it about right. Very Wayne and Eastwood dominated, but their Westerns are the best Westerns. But put simply: any top ten list of westerns that includes not one Leone film is a list of westerns that isn't worth paying attention to. At all.

Personally I'd go with High Plains Drifter.

I like Holiday Inn myself.

Tombstone.

IMO...

1) The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
2) Winchester '73
3) Jesse James (1939)
4) High Noon
5) Once Upon a Time in the West
6) The Outlaw Josie Wales
7) Tombstone
8) The Magnificent 7
9) Duel in the Sun
10) The Mark of Zorro (1940)

Worst: The Last Hard Men (1976)

1. The Shootist
2. High Noon
3. They Call me Trinity
4. My Name is Nobody
5. Shane
6. Trinity is Still my Name
7. Magnificent Seven
8. A Fistful of Dollars
9. Pale Rider
10. ehm...can't think of many more...

Of the ones on the list, The Searchers, followed by The Wild Bunch.

Worst goes to that one with Adam West in it. The one they made in Israel. I can't remember the name, but, wow.

My favorite is Once Upon a Time in the West, but I'm not versed in the genre enough to make any real assessment.

1. The Shootist
2. High Noon
3. They Call me Trinity
4. My Name is Nobody
5. Shane
6. Trinity is Still my Name
7. Magnificent Seven
8. A Fistful of Dollars
9. Pale Rider
10. ehm...can't think of many more...Trinity series was good.
My vote for *really not good* is the McMurtry series - Lonesome Dove, Streets of Laredo, and Dead Man's Walk. Fucking terrible. Scenery the only plus.

The Magnificent Seven, and I mean the oldest one with Yul Brynner from back in about 1960 that very closely matched Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai

http://www.filmsite.org/afi10toptennoms5.html



I'm going to agree strongly w/ the coment there that Cat Ballou does not belong on the lis.

So, for the poll, it's:
1) The Searchers
2) High Noon
3) Shane
4) Unforgiven
5) Red River
6) The Wild Bunch
7) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
8) McCabe & Mrs. Miller
9) Stagecoach
10) Other

No "Young Guns"? No "Quick and the Dead"? For shame!

Best western? Serenity.

Best western? Serenity.

Certainly a good movie, but I'm not quite sure it's a Western....

Certainly a good movie, but I'm not quite sure it's a Western....

How not? It's got cowboys, a dark lawman who'll do whatever it takes, a chase across the prairie, civil-war, shootouts, a final one-on-one between an anti-hero hero and a heroic villain, a last stand, barbaric natives...

It's at least as much of a western as "Westworld" was.

Django and Duck You Sucker!

Not really a massive fan of Westerns, in case you couldn't guess.

Major Dundee

So this isn't about the hotel? :)
I like Holiday Inn myself.

Heheheh Yes, title was intended. :D (Damn the stupid OMAC similies - :) is retarted!)

No "Young Guns"? No "Quick and the Dead"? For shame!

Best western? Serenity.

Not my list.

Young Guns was right down there with the 1993 film Posse. Not really horrible, but certainly not among the top ten.

My list, in no special order:

Shane
Magnificent Seven
High Noon
The Shootist
Stagecoach
The Ox-Bow Incident
Tombstone
Unforgiven
Pale Rider
High Plains Drifter

Honestly, there were some hard choices there...

Young Guns was right down there with the 1993 film Posse. Not really horrible, but certainly not among the top ten.


I wasn't really serious about "Young Guns", or "The Quick and the Dead", I admit it.

I stand by "Serenity", though. :)

IMHO, Stagecoach takes the cake. Of course, the fact that this is the film that made me fall in love with the genre sort of colors my perspective...but that's how it is sometimes.

Honestly, why isn't 3:10 to Yuma on there? I think I would put that about eight or nine on the list. And for best, IMO, it's a toss up between Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Magnificent Seven.

Fistful Of Dollars is my favourite Western. Why? This (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeFpM2OEWPs).

You forgot A Fist Full of Dollars...

Any list of Best Westerns that doesn't include the one in Oak Harbor, WA is way off... Oh, never mind.

Any list of best westerns that doesn't include The Magnificent Seven or How the West Was Won, is way off. The Magnificent Seven should win for the score, alone. How the West Was Won should win for the for having Claudia Cardinale in it.

How not? It's got cowboys, a dark lawman who'll do whatever it takes, a chase across the prairie, civil-war, shootouts, a final one-on-one between an anti-hero hero and a heroic villain, a last stand, barbaric natives...

It's at least as much of a western as "Westworld" was.

I know, but somehow I find it hard to not notice the fact that it involves spaceships.

You all realize that Fistfull of Dollars is just another remake of a Kurasawa Samurai movie, dontcha? I asw Yojimbo a few years back, and it's also worth seeing.

I know, but somehow I find it hard to not notice the fact that it involves spaceships.

And who said Westerns can't have spaceships? Where is that written?

I have to go with Sholay.

You all realize that Fistfull of Dollars is just another remake of a Kurasawa Samurai movie, dontcha? I asw Yojimbo a few years back, and it's also worth seeing.
The Magnificent Seven was a remake, too. So what? A good story is a good story. Remaking a Japanese movie to be set in the American West is a great way to get it told.

You all realize that Fistfull of Dollars is just another remake of a Kurasawa Samurai movie, dontcha? I asw Yojimbo a few years back, and it's also worth seeing.

Yojimbo was also a remake - it was based on Dashiell Hammett's The Glass Key and Red Harvest.

The Magnificent Seven was a remake, too. So what? A good story is a good story. Remaking a Japanese movie to be set in the American West is a great way to get it told.

Especially as Kurosawa was consiously imitating the Western genre.

Yojimbo was also a remake - it was based on Dashiell Hammett's The Glass Key and Red Harvest.



Especially as Kurosawa was consiously imitating the Western genre.

Further, Kurosawa was on record as being a big fan of The Magnificent Seven. He felt it had translated his work to the west both effectively and with conmsiderable respect for the source material.

For me:

The Searchers

Unforgiven

Once Upon a Time in the West

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Magnificent Seven

Rio Bravo

The Shootist

Bad Day at Black Rock

High Noon

Shane

I'd also put an honorable mention for Soldier Blue.

Yojimbo was also a remake - it was based on Dashiell Hammett's The Glass Key and Red Harvest.



Especially as Kurosawa was consiously imitating the Western genre.
Reminds me of something attributed to Woody Guthrie... “Oh, he just stole from me. I steal from everybody.”

Makes things a lot more interesting.

The only one of those I'm sure I've seen is High Noon, which I hated.

Once Upon A Time in The West, hands down.

"And Frank?"
"Frank sent us."
"Did you bring a horse for me?"
"Well... looks like we're...looks like we're shy one horse."
"You brought two too many."



Unless Deadwood counts?

Ive never liked staying there...Im more of a Holiday Inn kinda guy, lol

3) The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
4) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance


Yes where are these two?

Of course can you really say The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a western isn't it a Spaghetti Western? :)

And I too thought we would discuss our experiences staying in a Best Western.

And I too thought we would discuss our experiences staying in a Best Western.

lol, it was what i first thought when i saw the title...

But, I dont really read westerns...well, unless you count Trigun or Cowboy Bebop...which i dont, lol...

I like Sci-Fi, Fantasy, History, and Mythology usually...

I stand by "Serenity", though. :)Seconded!
*mega-BOW*

I stand by "Serenity", though. :)

Well, if you get Serenity, I call Trigun :p

Well, if you get Serenity, I call Trigun :p

Not seen Trigun (heresy, perhaps?) - but Cowboy Bebop might count... :)

Given the list in the OP, I'd have to go with The Searchers but overall, this:


The List as I'd put it:

1) Unforgiven
2) High Noon
3) The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
4) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
5) Shane
6) The Searchers
7) The Wild Bunch
8) The Outlaw Josie Wales
9) Stagecoach
10) I hemmed and hawed at this point between The Magnificent Seven, The Gunslinger, and For a Few Dollars More. Can't really decide.

That puts it about right. Very Wayne and Eastwood dominated, but their Westerns are the best Westerns. But put simply: any top ten list of westerns that includes not one Leone film is a list of westerns that isn't worth paying attention to. At all.

The whole list is off-kilter, and it isn't just that list. I'm still wondering what in the hell The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and It's a Wonderful Life have in common that make them both fantasy movies.

...they both contain elements of the magical and scientifically impossible, that being pretty much the textbook definition of "fantasy"? (I do agree with the comment that LOTR is better categorized as an epic film, though - and I also don't quite understand why Fellowship beat out ROTK.)

Erm... why on earth isn't For A Few Dollars More in the top ten of that list?

Erm... why on earth isn't For A Few Dollars More in the top ten of that list?

Because while A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More are most excellent and groundbreaking films, they are totally eclipsed by the undying greatness that is The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Tombstone.

I'll second this one. Loved it. I actually just watched it a few days ago for the first time.