Commentary on Indiewire's 100 Greatest Westerns

‘Heaven’s Gate’ (dir. Michael Cimino, 1980)
Thumbs up

‘The Gunfighter’ (dir. Henry King, 1950)
Haven't seen but would like to

‘City Slickers’ (dir. Ron Underwood, 1991)
wtf

‘The Professionals’ (dir. Richard Brooks, 1966)
Looks good

‘The Cowboys’ (dir. Mark Rydell, 1972)
Never heard of

‘The Daughter of Dawn’ (dir. Norbert A. Myles, 1920)
?

‘Open Range’ (dir. Kevin Costner, 2003)
Looks good

‘Tombstone’ (dir. George P. Cosmatos, 1993)
Hmm

‘Little Woods’ (dir. Nia DaCosta, 2018)
Hard to win me over w/ recent westerns

‘The Ox-Bow Incident’ (dir. William Wellman, 1943)
Tbh this one left me cold. Glad Wellman made the list though

‘The Good, the Bad, the Weird’ (dir. Kim Jee-woon, 2008)
Never heard of

‘Black Rodeo’ (dir. Jeff Kanew, 1972)
Never heard of this too

‘Two Mules for Sister Sara’ (dir. Don Siegel, 1970)
Hmm maybe someday

”49-’17’ (dir. Ruth Ann Baldwin, 1917)
Never heard of

‘Blood on the Moon’ (dir. Robert Wise, 1948)
?

‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ (dir. George Roy Hill, 1969)
I'm sick of New Hollywood

‘Posse’ (dir. Mario Van Peebles, 1993)
Haven't heard of

‘A Fistful of Dollars’ (dir. Sergio Leone, 1964)
I'm not even sure if I've seen this; I don't really like Leone that much tbh

‘Tumbleweeds’ (dir. King Baggot, 1925)
I like that they put in a bunch of silent movies

‘The Learning Tree’ (dir. Gordon Parks, 1969)
Haven't heard of

‘The Covered Wagon’ (dir. James Cruze, 1923)
Haven't heard of this either

‘The Settlers’ (dir. Felipe Gálvez, 2023)
Nor this

‘Dances with Wolves’ (dir. Kevin Costner, 1990)
I recall really liking this in 11th grade English. I am still a big Costner fan so it could be fun to revisit

‘Harlem on the Prairie’ (dir. Sam Newfield, 1937)
Have not heard of

‘The Iron Horse’ (dir. John Ford, 1924)
Hmm is this the first Ford???

‘Westward the Women’ (dir. William Wellman, 1951)
How are they selecting these? Is this even famous at all?

‘The Proposition’ (dir. John Hillcoat, 2005)
Modern enough to make me skeptical

‘Hell’s Heroes’ (dir. William Wyler, 1929)
Hmm

‘Lone Star’ (dir. John Sayles, 1996)
Looks good tbh

‘True Grit’ (dir. Joel and Ethan Coen, 2010)
Hated it, but maybe it'll emerge on another spin

‘Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia’ (dir. Sam Peckinpah, 1974)
This was a bit dull. But as a place to go back and hang out, it seems amazing. And maybe I'm a bigger Warren Oates guy now.

‘The Ruthless Four’ (dir. Giorgio Capitani, 1968)
Hmm

‘The Phantom Empire’ (dir. Otto Brower, B. Reeves Eason, 1935)
Hmmm

‘Nope’ (dir. Jordan Peele, 2022)
I've seen a part of this and it doesn't feel like a western. It feels more like Southern Cal. 

‘Meek’s Cutoff’ (dir. Kelly Reichardt, 2010)
Didn't like

‘Companeros!’ (dir. Sergio Corbucci, 1970)
Looks good

‘Buck and the Preacher’ (Sidney Poitier, 1972)
Haven't heard of 

‘Rodeo’ (dir. Carroll Ballard, 1969)
Nor this

‘Bend of the River’ (dir. Anthony Mann, 1952)
Finally a good western finds its way in lol

‘Sergeant Rutledge’ (dir. John Ford, 1960)
Ok winning me over now

‘The Ballad of Cable Hogue’ (dir. Sam Peckinpah, 1970)
Quite the streak!!!! 

‘The Man from Laramie’ (dir. Anthony Mann, 1955)
Another banger!!!

‘Django’ (dir. Sergio Corbucci, 1966)
I don't love this tbh

‘Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid’ (dir. Sam Peckinpah, 1973)
Would be fun to revisit

‘River of No Return’ (dir. Otto Preminger, 1954)
Huh.

‘Rancho Notorious’ (Fritz Lang, 1952)
50s Dietrich western seems like too much

‘El Topo’ (dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1970)
Hmm this guy

‘Near Dark’ (dir. Kathryn Bigelow, 1987)
I like Bigelow, so maybe someday

‘Forty Guns’ (dir. Samuel Fuller, 1957)
I want to see this

‘Day of the Outlaw’ (dir. Andre de Toth, 1959)
An all-timer

‘The Rider’ (dir. Chloe Zhao, 2018)
Could be decent

‘The Magnificent Seven’ (dir. John Sturges, 1960)
This could be good

‘The Ballad of Little Jo’ (dir. Maggie Greenwald, 1993)
Haven't heard of

‘There Will Be Blood’ (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
Is this really a western? Fine you can have it

‘3:10 to Yuma’ (dir. Delmer Daves, 1957)
Ah, glad Daves made it in

‘The Shootist’ (dir. Don Siegel, 1976)
I've never been able to get into Siegel

‘The Wild Bunch’ (dir. Sam Peckinpah, 1969)
Kinda boring tbh

‘The Quick and the Dead’ (dir. Sam Raimi, 1995)
Looks bad tbh. What a joke of a list

‘Brokeback Mountain’ (dir. Ang Lee, 2005)
Amazing movie--don't think of it as a western tho

‘Paris, Texas’ (dir. Wim Wenders, 1984)
Ah nice to recall this movie--but definitely not a western lol

‘Hud’ (dir. Martin Ritt, 1963)
Hmm. Seems ridiculous to include this. No way this is that good

‘Ulzana’s Raid’ (dir. Robert Aldrich, 1972)
Seems promising

‘The Hanging Tree’ (dir. Delmer Daves, 1959)
Nice another Daves

‘The Winning of Barbara Worth’ (dir. Henry King, 1926)
Ooh silent King

‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’ (dir. John Huston, 1948)
yeah idk

‘Bad Day at Black Rock’ (dir. John Sturges, 1955)
Hmm

‘No Country for Old Men’ (dir. Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)
Needs less Chigurrh

‘Shane’ (dir. George Stevens, 1953)
Ooh Alan Ladd appearance!

‘Silver Lode’ (dir. Allan Dwan, 1954)
Masterpiece. And a Dwan appearance!

‘The Lusty Men’ (dir. Nicholas Ray, 1952)
Ah very nice selection

‘Kill and Pray’ (dir. Carlo Lizzani, 1967)
Hmm haven't seen

‘Black God, White Devil’ (dir. Glauber Rocha, 1963)
Looks good

‘Dead Man’ (dir. Jim Jarmusch, 1995)
Oh yeah. I feel like this is good

‘Blazing Saddles’ (dir. Mel Brooks, 1974)
Mel Brooks huh

‘The Misfits’ (dir. John Huston, 1961)
Hmm

‘The Tall T’ (dir. Budd Boetticher, 1957)
Oh nice Budd appearance

‘Man of the West’ (dir. Anthony Mann, 1958)
I struggled with this Mann, but it's better than basically everything else on here.

‘Pale Rider’ (dir. Clint Eastwood, 1985)
This is probably the greatest Eastwood western

‘Red River’ (dir. Howard Hawks, 1948)
Wow first Hawks appearance!

‘The Big Country’ (dir. William Wyler, 1958)
I'm skeptical, but maybe it's good

‘The Wind’ (dir. Victor Sjöström, 1928)
Interesting

‘High Noon’ (dir. Fred Zinnemann, 1952)
Hmm I hated this one

‘Unforgiven’ (dir. Clint Eastwood, 1992)
I mean we knew it'd be on here

‘The Great Silence’ (dir. Sergio Corbucci, 1968)
This the real shit. An all-timer for me

‘The Searchers’ (dir. John Ford, 1956)
Very nice

‘Winchester ’73’ (dir. Anthony Mann, 1950)
Ok, glad to see Jimmy again

‘Ride the High Country’ (dir. Sam Peckinpah, 1962)
Oh yeah. Cookin

‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly’ (dir. Sergio Leone, 1966)
Haven't seen

‘Rio Bravo’ (dir. Howard Hawks, 1959)
Need to rewatch. Didn't love tbh

‘The Great Train Robbery’ (dir. Edwin S. Porter, 1903)
Hmm

‘The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance’ (dir. John Ford, 1962)
I'm due to see this again. 

‘The Shooting’ (dir. Monte Hellman, 1967)
Hellman!!!! This isn't my favorite but probably since I saw it long ago

‘Jeremiah Johnson’ (dir. Sydney Pollack, 1972)
No way Bob Redford's in a great western

‘Stagecoach’ (dir. John Ford, 1939)
Very nice

‘Ride Lonesome’ (dir. Budd Boetticher, 1959)
Pristine selection

‘McCabe and Mrs. Miller’ (dir. Robert Altman, 1971)
Hated this, but maybe rewatch will warm things up

‘For a Few Dollars More’ (dir. Sergio Leone, 1965)
hmm more Leone dick-sucking
  
‘My Darling Clementine’ (dir. John Ford, 1946)
Wow perfect

‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ (dir. Sergio Leone, 1968)
I did like Cardinale in this

‘Johnny Guitar’ (dir. Nicholas Ray, 1954)
Lol

Edit: Some westerns worthy of inclusion

The Ridiculous 6 

Bone Tomahawk 

The Homesman - TLJ

China 9, Liberty 37 - Hellman

A Time for Dying - Budd

Garter Colt

The Hellbenders - Corbucci

Navajo Joe - Corbucci

Ride in the Whirlwind - Hellman

Cheyenne Autumn - Ford

Two Rode Together - Ford

The Horse Soldiers - Ford

Westbound - Budd

The Badlanders - Daves

The Bravados - King

Seven Men from Now - Budd

Jubal - Daves

Passion - Dwan

The Raid - Fregonese 

Apache - Aldrich

The Far Country - Mann

Ride Clear of Diablo

The Naked Spur - Mann

The Big Sky - Hawks

Along the Great Divide - Walsh

Rio Grande - Ford

Broken Arrow - Daves

Colt .45

Wagon Master - Ford

Fort Apache - Ford

Pursued - Walsh

Duel in the Sun - Vidor

Canyon Passage - Tourneur

The Falcon out West

They Died with their Boots on - Walsh

Santa Fe Trail - Curtiz

Dodge City - Curtiz