Admittedly, I don’t watch Western films as much as I should, or even as much as I’d like to. However, most of the Westerns I have seen, I’ve enjoyed intensely. There’s just something romantic about that setting that I find irresistible. I’ve always been drawn to rugged action heroes; men who live by moral principals and won’t be bullied. The Old West is a good setting for those types of characters; it was kind of a lawless place - still is in some places - and principled men are hard to find.
Anyway, here’s a short list of some Westerns I’ve enjoyed the most.
Pale Rider
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I saw Pale Rider relatively recently, so the story is still fresh in my mind. A mining camp in Northern California is being oppressed by mining baron Coy LaHood. The miners are outnumbered and outgunned. The law is powerless to stop LaHood and his men.
Then along comes a travelling preacher on a pale horse. He’s come to bring the Good News to the mining camp, but he finds himself caught in the struggle between good and evil.
What I find especially interesting about this film is the references to the book of Revelation. There’s a scene where a young girl is reading from the passage of Revelation where is speaks of the Four Horsemen, including the rider on the Pale Horse - from which this film derives its name.
Clint Eastwood plays the Preacher. He’s a kind man of strong moral convictions, who isn’t afraid to deal out violence when the situation calls for it. It’s a great film.
Tombstone
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Tombstone is one of those iconic movies that a large number of people have seen. I would consider it one of the greatest Westerns of all time.
Based on true events, Tombstone follows Wyatt Earp, a “retired” peace officer of note. Earp and his two brothers have come to Tombston, AZ to settle down and do business together. There they meet Wyatt Earp’s longtime friend, Doc Holliday, who has come to the Southwest in search of relief for his tuberculosis and new places to gamble.
The Earp brothers start a successful saloon in Tombstone, but run afoul of a local gang of outlaws known as the Cowboys. The violence escalates, coming to a head at the Shootout at the OK Coral. Wyatt Earp makes it his personal mission to rid the West of the scourge of the Cowboys.
This film, like Pale Rider, also references the book of Revelation, specifically to the Pale Horse. I find it to be an exciting, humorous, and engaging film, even if you don’t normally watch Westerns.
A Fistful of Dollars
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This is a classic Western from 1964, which put Clint Eastwood on the map as far as action movie stars go.
The story follows a war between two rival gangs in a small town in the West. An unnamed stranger (Eastwood) rides into town on a mule. Having heard of the gang war from an innkeeper, he decides to play both sides against each other. A poor Mexican family has been caught in the middle of the conflict, and the stranger lends his gun and wits to their cause. The violence escalates until a final shootout between the last remaining gang members and the stranger.
As I said, this is an engaging film, detailing the struggle between order and chaos in the Old West.
For A Few Dollars More
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This is the sequel to A Fistful of Dollars and follows Clint Eastwood’s stranger through another Western epic.
The stranger is a bounty hunter, traveling through the West, putting an end to ne’er-do-wells along the way. There he runs afoul of retired army colonel, Douglas Mortimer, (Lee Van Cleef) who has taken up the same profession. The two eventually come to an understanding, joining forces to fight the bank robber Indio, who has plans to rob the bank of El Paso.
I would personally argue that this is even better than the first movie, but this is just an opinion. It’s a riveting film either way.
Quigley Down Under
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While this movie takes place in Australia, not the Wild West, I still consider it thematically a western.
Tom Seleck plays the titular Quigley, a hired gun from the old West, come to the Land Down Under in response to a newspaper ad, in search of a gunman with excellent aim at extraordinary distances. When Quigley arrives in Sydney, he meets “Crazy Cora”, an attractive young woman from the Texas who has apparently lost her wits and is under the impression that Quigley is her husband, Roy. This sets up an interesting sub-plot.
Quigley then meets his would-be employer, Elliot Marston (Alan Rickman) at his station (basically a ranch) and Quigley demonstrates his skill with his custom rifle. He then finds out that Marston plans to eradicate the aborigines living around his property. Quigley doesn’t take too well to this idea (he tosses Marston through a window).
Marston, humiliated and angry, knocks Quigley and Cora unconscious and dumps them in the Outback with no food or water, but rescued by aborigines. Time goes by, there’s some gun-play, and Quigley has an Old West shootout with Marston.
This is an exciting film about good guys and bad guys and I just love it. Not just a favorite Western, but a favorite movie of mine.
So what are your favorite Westerns? Write them below! Comments locked? $5/month will fix that.
Thanks for reading and have an awesome week!