this was already brought up a few days ago
once upon a time in the west
The Wild Bunch
Man of the West
For each their different reasons:
“The Searchers”
“The Wild Bunch”
“Once Upon a Time in the West.”
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
It’s still The Searchers, but there are many very worthy contenders.
The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly
The Wild Bunch
Anything that was based on a samurai movie.
RED RIVER, IMHO better and more original than the Searchers.
(And The Searchers has this meant-to-be-funny but truly-tasteless-and-ugly scene of the squaw bride being kicked down the hill never to be shown again.)
LEFT-HANDED GUN.
HIGH NOON.
THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES…
Wonder,
Yep, the “squaw” (Beulah Archuletta) being treated both as a moron and as a cliche, is ugly indeed. The humor in “The Searchers” is very whitish and crude, yet the whole film still survives as something greater than its parts.
I find the film delivers ‘between the lines’ and I think that is why it is in fact an enduring classic.
Just about anything by Ford, I’d say. And I think the “Squaw” scene is more important to the film than some might think. Ford shows Wayne and Hunter’s characters belittleing the squaw, and before long the Squaw runs away, only to be massacred by the U.S. Cavlery. That might also be one piece of Ford’s genious as a filmmaker, like Shakespere, he follows “Comedy” with Tragedy. After the whites have come to America, nothing is safe for the Natives.
Once Upon a Time in the West
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The Magnificent Seven
The Wild Bunch
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
@claus/jackford
Just one brief shot by Ford of the squaw in pain at the bottom of the hill would have aknowledged the cruelty/injustice of Wayne and Hunter and the humanity of this woman. But the arrogant macho prick didn’t see the point of wasting film on that.
Too bad because, as you say, the film has great moments.
I disagree with you, Wonder6789. I’m assuming you arn’t a devotee to Ford’s work, because if you were, you would be aware that Ford, like in his earlier Fort Apache, instead trusts the audience in having the humanity to see what’s wrong with Wayne and Hunter’s actions.
But perhaps I’m still wrong. Maybe Ford, master psychologist as he was, was still not able to forsee that people would not be able to intinctually see the more subtle things in his work without being familiar with his other work.
And anyways, the woman’s humanity is emphised in the next scene!
Jackford-I agree that the audience probably sees that scene for what it is. That Wayne and Hunter are victims of their own prejudice-which would be the norm for that time. But the scene comes directly from Alan Le May’s novel so I don’t know how much consideration Ford was giving it.
There Will be Blood. It will take 30 years for people to agree with me, but when people look back at this film and study it, it will go down as one of the best Westerns ever made. I already think it is, but it needs time for its legs to grow. Some don’t consider this a true Western, but I think it fits this genre more than any other one.
Anyways, Anthony Mann’s westerns are excellent as well, The Naked Spur and Man of the West in particular.
Does Daniel Day Lewis ride a horse in there will be blood? Because its not a western if there aren’t horses.
I’m trying to remember what Red River was about…oh, was that the one with the cattle drive and the Chisolm Trail? Awesome film, although I’m not sure that I would rank it quite up there with Liberty Valance and the Searchers, or some of Leone’s work; but it is very high indeed.
There Will Be Blood is not a western. Sorry.
Jason, the cattle drive/stampede scenes in “Red River” are the best I have seen in a film. I rank this movie right up there with Liberty and Searchers. A very underrated movie imo.
The good the bad and the Ugly
people also overlook how historically accurate it is
Horse (Andy Warhol, 1965)
I think your right soybean. Red River does rank up there with Liberty and Searchers in many respects. Its definitely among the ten greatest Westerns.
in no order…
Few Dollars More
Good, bad, ugly,
OUATI the west
Liberty Valance
Searchers
Red River
Unforgiven
…there are a few others that I have to get around to watching, so I’ll stop right there. I still have to see Rio Grande, Fort Apache, Srgt. Rutlidge, and I’ll probably give She wore a Yellow Ribbon another try.
McClintock is a very good western.
UNFORGIVEN for me.
Then THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALENCE and DEAD MAN
I might have considered The Searchers as one of the best westerns, but after seeing My Darling Clementine again recently, I’d have to give it that distinction more.
Also, I’d argue too that Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid is right up there.
The Wild Bunch also…
I’d have to say Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is the greatest western of all time. I believe that it is an almost perfect film and sadly underrated, beyond that I think Pat Garret and Billy the Kid in the version that was released recently was also a masterpiece by Pickenpah. If you haven’t seen the new 2005 release of this film check it out you won’t be dissapointed. Both films have a lot in common in their poetry of cinema
Good the bad and the ugly
not being a big western fan, all i can do is name the film’s i’ve seen that impressed me. they’re much more modern, and aren’t typical of classic standards of “westerns”…they just happen to take place in the old west.
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Unforgiven
The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
…or if you are a film critic and look at everything from a textbook method of film genre identification:
Yojimbo :-)
Shane!!!
come back Shane…. can’t believe it hasn’t got a guernsey thus far.
Equallywith My Darling Clementine for me.
followed closely by
Searchers, Red River, Stagecoach, Man Of The West,
special mention to a couple of off beat ones….. Ox Box Incident, Bad Company (1972 Robert Benton), and Altman’s McCabe of course is a great choice.
Ivan Gutierrez
Anyone?