In 1956, John Ford and John Wayne redefined the golden age of Westerns with The Searchers, but some masterpieces are even better. A genre that has covered everything from upstanding lawmen to dastardly outlaws, it always punches above its weight, even if audiences don't always reward it. As great as the adaptation of Alan Le May's novel may be, some outdo it.
Since the golden age, the Western has attracted some of the greatest stars, writers, and directors Hollywood has ever known. A genre that is always ripe for character study, suspense, and profound metaphor, it's been used for everything from historical biopics to analogies for modern social ills. Beating The Searchers is no easy task considering its enduring place as the quintessential American epic, but some edge it out.
10 The Wild Bunch Mythologizes American Outlaws
The Wild Bunch revolves around a gang of outlaws who, after a botched robbery, are forced to flee to Mexico to find refuge from bounty hunters. The last surviving members try to settle down in a small village, only to realize it lives in fear of a corrupt military officer. Realizing they may never find peace, they choose to spend whatever time they have left defending the locals, putting it all on the line to defeat the villain.
The Wild Bunch takes the outlaws of the Old West and affords them one final stab at glory before the era can come to an end. Like The Searchers, it suggests that the glory days of these men have passed, and the world ahead has no place for them. It paved the road for a more action-oriented approach to the genre, one still paying dividends today, and has flawless pacing that outclasses the best of John Wayne's career.
9 The Coen Brothers Got True Grit Right
In 2012, the Coen brothers crafted the second adaptation of Charles Portis' novel True Grit, casting Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Hailee Steinfeld as its heroes. It follows Mattie Ross' arrival in Fort Smith, where she recruits the aged marshal Rooster Cogburn in her quest for vengeance against her father's killer. Accompanied by a Texas Ranger, they head into Indian territory to find the outlaw Tom Chaney and bring him to justice.
True Grit is the perfect Western adventure, following its characters along a journey that cuts to the heart of the frontiersman spirit. Given every reason to question Rooster as a lawman, it tears down the hero mythology only to rebuild it in the best way possible. It's a bittersweet story that somehow balances cynicism and classic heroism, having as much to say about the genre as The Searchers, yet feels even more beautiful.
8 There Will Be Blood Covers the Death Knell For the Old West
In 2007, Paul Thomas Anderson turned in the best work of his career when he made There Will Be Blood. Beginning in 1897, it follows the ambitions of prospector Daniel Plainview, who uses his gold and silver fortune to become an oilman. He sets his sights on the desert community of Little Boston, extracting the oil beneath their feet to build his wealth. He is frustrated by a fraudulent preacher named Eli Sunday, whose religious influence is the only rival to his riches.
There Will Be Blood fills out the years between the waning days of the Old West and the modernization of the region, burying the untamed frontier beneath Plainview's empire. It's a perfect and gripping character study of the robber barons who seized control during the nation's industrialization, serving as a perfect way to bridge the gap between eras. Daniel Day-Lewis turned in the greatest performance of his career, and it's still a masterpiece of a movie today.
7 Shane Is the Definitive Gunslinger Western
In 1953, George Stevens adapted Jack Schaefer's story Shane to the silver screen, in turn perfecting the gunslinger mythology of the genre. It follows the arrival of Shane, a mysterious drifter with a notorious past, as he tries to settle down in a peaceful Wyoming valley. He becomes a protector to the Starretts, a family of homesteaders facing intimidation and violence from cattle baron Rufus Ryker, threatening the hero's hopes of normality.
Shane is the quintessential American Western every bit as much as The Searchers, doing for the gunfighter archetype what Ford did for the "cowboys and Indians" trope. Its stronger focus allowed it to feel much tighter and timeless, and it has remained the key influential piece of its era. In fact, it proved so profound that it's served as the blueprint for Hollywood heroes of all stripes, informing genres like action, thriller, and superhero.
6 Treasure of the Sierra Madre Explores the Dangers of Greed
Treasure of the Sierra Madre follows a pair of American workers to Mexico, where they see an opportunity to cash in on the gold of the titular mountains. Heading into the hills, they begin to mine and extract their fortune, only for the arrival of a third prospector and the presence of outlaws to throw things into disarray. Alone in desolation, exhausted by heat and driven to fear, they begin turning on each other over fear of betrayal for the loot.
Directed by John Huston, Treasure of the Sierra Madre takes a look at the psychological toll greed and paranoia have on men, pushing them to commit unthinkable acts. It feels even more haunting than The Searchers, placing its audience in the shoes of the men living on the verge of violence.
5 Rio Bravo Is A Siege Tale of the Old West
Howard Hawks and John Wayne turned their disapproval of High Noon into a rival classic when they banded together to make 1959's Rio Bravo. It follows the Duke in the role of John T. Chance, the upstanding sheriff of a small frontier town, where he arrests the younger brother of a powerful cattle baron. After refusing to turn the killer loose, he turns to his motley crew of deputies to make a stand against a veritable army of henchmen.
Rio Bravo doubles as a day-in-the-life buddy drama and a Western siege tale, forcing its heroes to take on the odds to see justice prevail. It's a character film first and foremost, one that excels in keeping its audience interested as the climax approaches. Once the battle gets going, it's one of the most breathtaking sequences ever put to screen, and outclasses even the war sequence of The Searchers.
4 Hostiles Feels Like The Searchers For Modern Audiences
In 2017, Scott Cooper made the most underappreciated epic Western of the 21st century in Hostiles. It follows American-Indian Wars veteran Joseph Blocker as he's ordered to escort a dying Cheyenne chief, Yellow Hawk, to his ancestral homeland in Montana. With a long and perilous journey ahead, the former enemies must set aside their prejudices and trauma to overcome the myriad threats.
Both in scope and themes, Hostiles is the closest thing modern audiences have to a remake of The Searchers. Like the John Ford classic, it's a deconstruction of racial prejudice, but does so in a much better and more profound fashion than the golden age picture. In essence, this is a reimagining that does more to make the audience feel the brutality of the frontier than ever before.
3 Unforgiven Concluded Clint Eastwood's Gunslinger Career
In 1992, Clint Eastwood decided to retire his gunslinger persona through one last ride in his directorial masterpiece Unforgiven. He plays William Munny, a retired and aged gunfighter who, in an effort to provide for his kids, takes one last bounty. His return to a life of violence isn't easy, and he enlists an old friend to help find a pair of violent cowboys, only to meet his match in the brutal lawman Bill Daggett.
Unforgiven followed in the footsteps of profound movies like The Searchers in how it approaches violence. This was Eastwood's introspection of the roles that defined his career, stripping away the Hollywood version of the West for something more visceral. It leaves the viewer considerate of the cycle of revenge and bloodshed that influenced the West, and feels closer to the truth than Ford's classic.
2 Once Upon a Time in the West Is A Beautiful Sendoff For the West
After concluding the 'Dollars Trilogy,' Sergio Leone was ready for his most epic project yet: Once Upon a Time in the West. Made in 1968, it revolves around gunslingers Harmonica and Cheyenne as they come to the defense of the widow Jill McBain. Each motivated by a different cause, they stand up to the assassin Frank, who plans to steal the McBain ranch in a land-grab scheme.
This is a story made to allow the gunslingers of old to pass from history into legend, and uses Jill's story as a metaphor for the taming of the West. Featuring some of the strongest characters ever created for the genre, it's a heartbreaking finale for the frontier. Themes of revenge, honor, and courage run throughout, all setting up a new, brighter future that has no time for the mythical gunfighters who once roamed the West. When all comes together, it's among the most epic and ambitious of its kind.
1 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Is Simply A Perfect Western
Sergio Leone brought his 'Dollars Trilogy' to a close when he made The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, cementing his and Clint Eastwood's status as Western movie legends. It follows the Man With No Name as he forms an uneasy alliance with the outlaw Tuco as they hunt for buried Confederate treasure. Hot on their trail is the mercenary known as Angel Eyes, who hunts them across the battlefields of the Civil War to take the loot for himself.
An epic treasure hunt movie, Leone's finale doesn't have a second wasted, with every moment Blondie and Tuco are together nothing shy of thrilling. From the iconic slow-burn opening scene that builds up Angel Eyes as a terrifying adversary to the final stand-off, it mythologizes the age of the gunslingers spectacularly. It's been 60 years since the release of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and not a single Western has surpassed Clint Eastwood's epic as the best there is.
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