good, bad and ugly
the cowboys
true grit (original)

not necessarily in that order

both versions of true grit are great, and dififferent

the cowboys is good, but i might go the other direction for a third . how about "once upon a time in the west?"

or "butch cassidy and the sundance kid?"

My favorite big-screen western is "Mackena's Gold."

I loved that movie.

I also appreciate the attempts to make it valid, in terms of language, clothing, portrayals.

I also agree on Lonesome Dove, albeit the river scene with water moccasins will never leave me (and I am not snake-phobic)...

snake scene in Lonesome Dove. The second time I watched I closed my eyes.

It was filmed around my area by folks from around my area. It's a true story, I think, regardless it's well done. It's the last film Peter Fonda acted in, stars Bill Pullman.

I know a few of the behind the scenes people.

I feel a connection with the protagonist’s desire to live in isolation.

Little Big Man and Blazing Saddles, for sure.

i have to look up the guy who played custer in that one.

chief dan george , as usual, magnificent.

Blazing Saddles

miss.

That one is hysterically funny!

My neighbors always called the show, "The Barkleys" and we watched it on their big console size B&W tv...good days...

The Furies;
California;
Forty Guns;
Trooper Hook;
Cattle Queen of Montana;
The Violent Men;
The Moonlighter;
Union Pacific;
The Maverick Queen;
Annie Oakley.

Stagecoach

Silverado.

Great movie.
To ad lib, I see that you were decorated. And they sent you here?

I can't believe it's 40 years old now!

I also played a Sonata of his in my college senior recital.

Truly beautiful and great score.
Maugua so evil. Chingachkuk so handsome. Women beautiful.
Just tooo long.

All of these are pretty dark, the dark side of the old west. For example, the John Wayne character in The Searchers pretty much goes insane in the movie.

Siskel and Ebert's show At the Movies did a show in which they said Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope was actually a retelling of The Searchers. At first, I was skeptical but they made a good case for it and I can agree with most of what they said.

With honorable mention for The Wild Bunch.

Years ago when The Unforgiven first came out on VCR I went to Blockbuster and rented The Unforgiven and Pale Rider at the same time. I had seen Pale Rider before, but decided to watch that first and then watch The Unforgiven for the first time. Seeing the huge contrast in both characters played by Clint Eastwood back to back was pretty funny. I loved the scene in The Unforgiven where he was plinking at bottles with his pistol, got pissed off and went back in for his shotgun out of frustration. I'm not really a western movie fan, but I loved that in The Unforgiven they were trying to go after their bounties based on a horrible drawing of what the person might look like. It somehow seemed more realistic than other westerns including Pale Rider. Anyway, watching the two movies back to back was sort of an accident on my part, but watching the Pale Rider first made The Unforgiven even more entertaining to me. Enjoy!

Nicholson and Brando!

Wild, Wild West (TV)

I do like some of the old spaghetti westerns, though, just cuz of the memories of staying up late & watching them. The theme song to The Good, the Bad & the Ugly always takes me back to hot summer nights on my Grandma's porch.

Quite an epic film. Huge cast and great directing by John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, and others.

Also, Hang ‘em High and other Eastwood movies.

On TV, The Wild, Wild West. Lots of humor.

Especially John Ford movies. How The West Was Won is one of my favorites. The score is magnificent!

nt

I grew up about an hour’s drive from the real Tombstone, so I knew the real story, the legends, and the myths inside and out.

I used to roll my eyes at all the laughable films on the subject before the 1993 film came out. There were so many things they all got wrong.

It was far superior to Kevin Costner’s “Wyatt Earp”, not least of which was because of the filming location. “Earp” was filmed on the flat plains of South Dakota, while “Tombstone” was filmed in the mountains of southern Arizona, not far from the real Tombstone.

“Tombstone”, although it did change some things for dramatic purposes, is the most accurate film ever made about the Shootout at the O. K. Corral.

TV - the Lone Ranger and the Wild Wild West

... an Ennio Morricone soundtrack.

TV

El Dorado is up there, along with Pale Rider, & Unforgiven
Bit, all the parallel storylines in Siverado are interesting, the cast is awesome, & the scenery is fantastic.

The initial fight between the characters when they meet is priceless.

-- Mal

but if we're talking about films in the style of Westerns, then I'd go with "Logan".

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre;
The Ox Bow Incident;
The Misfits;
Ride, Vaquero!
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid;
The Westerner;
Man from Del Rio;
Blood on the Moon;
The Furies;
My Darling Clementine;
Bad Day at Blackrock;
Johnny Guitar;
High Noon;
Once Upon a Time in the West;
The Man who shot Liberty Valance.

The Ox Bow Incident and Johnny Guitar!

The Ox Bow Incident is kind of like 12 Angry Men.

Johnny Guitar: Joan Crawford vs Mercedes McCambridge!

Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969)
Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)

Excellent cast, great story. I really like the opening theme music with the horses pulling the stage coach. Hooves pounding, wheel spokes flashing in the sun.

A story Aeschylus might have written. Touches all the immortal themes.

Day of Anger (1967)

Lee Van Cleef

Original title: I giorni dell'ira

A scruffy garbage boy becomes the pupil of a famed gunfighter, and the stage for confrontation is set when the gunman overruns the boy's town through violence and corruption.


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061709/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_Anger

Tommy Lee Jones, et al, Jeremiah Johnson.

Hollywood story that's probably too good to be true: After seeing Howard Hawks' masterpiece "Red River" and the astounding performance Hawks got out of John Wayne, fellow Hollywood director John Ford (who directed Wayne in more movies than anybody else) supposedly said "I didn't know the big son-of-a-bitch could act!"

Like I say, it's probably too good to be true, but it's a worthy story, nonetheless...

Brisoc was a Western w a touch of Science Fiction. Very funny.

As I remember I liked Maverick best of those three. A couple of movies not mentioned:
Shane and Cat Ballou.

haven't seen them mentioned.

Rio Bravo - Cinema.

Yeah, I'm old!

And I loved F Troop when I was a kid.

The ending of Dances With Wolves ruined the entire movie for me. Never watched it again.

Socks got shot. I cry when that part comes on.

Yeah, I know that Costner was trying to make a point about the traditional ways dying out, but to me, it just seemed unnecessary. But that's just me. I don't even remember the very end. I feel like going all John Wick when moviemakers do that, lol. And don't get me started on Old Yeller or The Yearling either.

The final season started off a bit rocky, but they ended it pretty well.

but probably Gunsmoke. I grew up watching it and the characters feel like old friends.
I also loved Briscoe County, but I think I'd have liked Lonesome Dove better if I hadn't read the book first.
I loved Silverado, especially the theme song!