Best Western Movies

new western 11111Want to know the best Western Movies movies?  How about the worst Western Movies movies?  Curious about Western Movies box office grosses or which Western Movies movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Western Movies movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information…and alot more.

Recently got a request to do a Westerns page from Chris.  This page represents page two of that request.  The first page looked at the Top 100 Westerns based on critic reviews and audience voting.  This page lists all the movies we researched (252 movies currently) but did not make the Top 100.  When I played football in high school….the 3rd stringers had to ride the bus with the cheerleaders (not really a problem) and the equipment.  Think of this page as that bus….they all want to get to the first bus…..and all the people on the first bus want to avoid the 2nd bus.

Obviously they are way more Westerns out there.  Is your favorite western missing?….just commented at the bottom and I will research and include that movie.  If your favorite is good enough….it might even make it to the Top 100 Western page.

once-upon-a-time-in-the-west

Western Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort Western Movies by the stars of the movies
  • Sort movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses based on actual ticket sells (in millions)
  • Sort movies by yearly domestic box office rank
  • Sort by how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each movie received.
  • Sort Western Movies movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.

All-Time Worldwide Western Box Office Hits

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39 thoughts on “Best Western Movies”

  1. Sorry but they messed up. I have saw each and every one of these movies except maybe three that I can’t remember, I love western movies and TV shows. This is not the ranking I would put on some of them and NO comedies. Comedies are not true westerns. If you want to include them, then Support Your Local Sheriff with James Garner should have been there. Blazing Saddles, Son of Pale Face, and My Little Chickadee?? Come on people. They were written in a western setting but to put them above the Magnificent Seven and some of the other westerns on that list is just messed up.

    Reply

    1. Hey Lona….thanks for the feedback… The Magnificent Seven ended up as the 19th best reviewed western. The table started with the 100th movie and moved down to the top movie. We went back and forth on the comedies….but in the end….every list, book and video listed Blazing Saddles as one of the best movies ever. So when included that one…it brought Cat Ballau, Support Your…and others with it. As for My Little Chickadee….yes it is a comedy….but it is all western. Outlaws, gunfights, saloons, ranchers…can’t get more Western than that.

      Reply

      1. Thanks Cogerson for your comments to me. I appreciate it. They were all made for entertainment and I was entertained by each and every one of them. I just have a different rating in mind for some of them. I know that none of them are true life but I do like the ones that try to be more true to life than comedies, but that is just me. Life was rough back then. There wasn’t too much funny about it. I love comedies but I give them a world of their own. I suppose that I am still influenced by my dad. Westerns was “our thing” to share and he was not amused by comedies in Westerns. He has been gone a long time now and watching them are the way I feel close to him. That must also be the reason I watch them over and over and over and…………ha ha.

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        1. Hey Lona…. Thanks for sharing your memories of you, your dad and westerns. In my house it was World War 2 movies….he was born 1936….and as a young boy the war fascinated him and he never forgot. On the western side…my best friend’s father loved John Wayne. When VHS became popular we would search for Wayne movies at the video store (an ancient relic of the 1980s) and bring them for him to watch. I can fully understand….about comedies and westerns…I worked on this page for about 3 weeks….and I only caved at the very end….lol. Thanks for the great feedback.

          Reply

  2. Once Upon a Time in the West airs often on a channel we get in Canada called Silver Screen Classics.

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  3. Hi

    I decided to comment on this page as you’ve done probably every Western that’s worth mentioning. No doubt a couple didn’t make the list but as said before, lists are always problematic. As a kid, Westerns were cowboy films, and one cowboy above all was John Wayne. Practically all my school friends loved Wayne. One friend in particular actually walked like Wayne. His favourite movie was The Alamo and his party piece was the famous death scene.
    I think to most people, Wayne was black and white, always the good guy. Admittedly in movies like The Searchers and Red River, the lines were blurred. But mostly, he was the good guy. Two of my favourite Wayne movies, although not critically considered, but I always enjoyed, was The Commoncheros and The Undefeated. I seen both in the cinema.
    When Wayne died, I think it had a massive impact on many people’s lives of my generation, he was somebody we all grew up with. Somebody wrote at the time that the world doesn’t seem quite as safe without Wayne. That was some testimony to his power as a movie icon.
    Of course there were other Western stars, Stewart Cooper, Fonda, Scott. But I don’t think any of them were comparable to Wayne. Stewart had a terrific run of movies with Anthony Mann, but my 2 favourite would be Destiny Rides Again and Shenandoah. I watched it recently and it’s a terrific show. Catherine Ross is in it (whatever happened to her!)
    I loved Fonda in My Darling Clemintine and Jesse James.
    To be honest Spaghetti Westerns never did it for me and I wouldn’t be a particular fan of Clint Eastwood. I appreciate the guy’s talent but he doesn’t do it for me.
    My three favourite Westerns are The Big Country, High Noon and Shane. I could never understand why so many people hated High Noon, Wayne hated it. He felt it was unrealistic that the Sheriff couldn’t get anyone to help him out in the town with the bad guys. Well I think Cooper was brilliant in it and deserved his Oscar.
    The Big Country is more a soap opera than a Western in a way, two warring families fighting over land. Burl Ives for me stole the show. I’m glad he got the Oscar.
    But as I said before, my favourite would be Shane. Not a great fan of Alan Ladd but in this film he was absolutely magic and so right for the part. In fact everybody was superb, especially the wee boy played by Brandon De Wilde. Sad that he died so tragically in a car crash.
    You’ve done a fantastic page and the work and effort is really appreciated.

    Reply

    1. Hey Chris.
      1. Happy to report that both pages….have been very popular. The top 100 westerns page was actually the fastest page to reach 9,000 impressions from any of our 3 websites we have had over the years.
      2. I agree with you Wayne….even his “bad guy” roles….he usually ended up doing the right thing.
      3. When reading about friend doing the Wayne walk I was picture Leon from The Professional doing the same walk.
      4. Katharine Ross turned 40 and that is pretty much the kiss of death for actresses.
      5. I loved the Eastwood\Leone westerns…. But we can not agree on all movies….lol.
      6. I like you Top 3….,especially The Big Country….a great movie that gets better with each new viewing.
      7. Glad you enjoyed your requested page….it was a difficult one to do…..but now that it is done I am very happy with the results.

      Reply

      1. The page is starting to grow….but so far only one movie has cracked the Top 100….about to share on TCM….I imagine they will throw out some names that I have never heard of before…lol.

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  5. That’s quite a list Bruce, I’m impressed. And there are a couple there I’d never heard of before, Meek’s Cutoff?

    As a western fan it was easier to count the ones I hadn’t seen than the ones I have, from your current list of 251 westerns I have seen 193. Assuming you might be adding more to the list.

    Looking at my movie files, I have 401 westerns in my collection, not sure if I’ve watched them all.

    Flora mentioned The Fastest Gun Alive, a minor western classic I watched again recently, that’s missing from this list. Also missing is The Tin Star starring Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins.

    I’ve seen all the films topping the UMR chart right up to In Old Arizona at no.39. I’m siding with the critics chart on this one, the top 10 are all favorites of mine.

    I will go and check out your top 100 westerns now. Good work Bruce. Voted Up!

    Reply

    1. Hey Steve. So far none of the missing movies…have had to be added to the Top 100 page. I will add in The Fastest Gun and The Tin Star….as soon as I finish this comment. Already added in 3 Audie Murphy movies since I first published.

      Tally count…you at 193….Flora at 129…Laurent at 135…me at 140. You easily get the top spot…the rest of us were pretty close.

      Hopefully I did this smarter this time…..as this will be the “working table” as I add in “missing movies”…and only really good movies….I think 77.5% critical rating is the 100th movie on the Top 100…..will make the Top 100 page.

      Critics ranking seemed to be the best way to rank these movies….but the UMR score still puts some really good movies near the top.

      Thanks for all the suggestions….it is greatly appreciated.

      Reply

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