The 50 greatest westerns

Interesting list, but certainly a flawed one. While many on the list belong, I would certainly argue with the order. There also seems to be quite a few spaghetti westerns here as well. I would have liked to have seen some of the silents represented, The Great Train Robbery, Hell's Hinges, The Iron Horse, Tumbleweeds come to mind. And Johnny Depp's The Dead Man? Give me a break. I saw it and it was a horrible movie.

@micheal ,,i agree not a good list nor a bad one ..
def a few missed and unforgiven should be within the top 10 but thats "my" opinion and i think thats the problem with this list the person who wrote it has listed "his" favs ...

The list isn't good, nor is it bad. I would agree that about 35-40 of the films on the list are really good westerns. The other 10-15 are arguable. Even worse are the films you didn't even mention. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Jeremiah Johnson, True Grit (2010), Tombstone, Silverado, The Big Country, They Died with Their Boots On, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, 3:10 to Yuma (remake), Hud, Hondo, Brokeback Mountain, A Fistful of Dollars, Cat Ballou, For a Few Dollars More, No Country for Old Men, and There Will Be Blood.

Seems like you had a lot of trouble coming up with 50 odd names already. Why don't you go and watch some more westerns, you might be able to put up a better list.

ODD ! DEFINITELY ODD!

What? No Young Guns 2? ... Outrageous.

A pathetic top 50,magnificent 7num 48? Rio bravo 28,ur mad,where's the horse soldiers,they died with their boots on,tombstone,she wore a yellow ribbon and the sons of Katie elder to name a few,as was said before"art house nonsense"

Hmm. I love Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, but only as a hipster classic; it is so much of its time it is laughable (and rather gives away the vintage of those who have compiled this list). To rate it so far above Butch Cassidy (with which it shares much) is simple snobbery ( a kind of Dylan is cooler than Sacha Distel sort of thing). And of course everyone who knows movies knows that The Searchers is not only the greatest of all Westerns but also one of the very greatest movies of all time, which no-one would ever claim for McCabe and Mrs Miller, however interesting a picture that minor classi is (and it is).

dare I suggest that William Wyler's 'The Big Country' ought to be there too - somewhere in the middle 30s? the time out list seems to rate the allegorical western and this is one big cold world allegory with magnificent performances - especially by Burl Ives that makes it close to biblical in tone. wonderful music, big landscapes and the Peck Heston fight ought to be in soem ones best of list. And let's not forget the naughty horse!

You forgot Jeremiah Johnson and Rooster Cogburn and the Lady. JJ speaks for itself. Rooster Cogburn and the Lady isn't the best Western, but it does show JW at his absolute best as an actor. Also they way they depicted how a man and a woman could get along has influenced me.

You forgot Jeremiah Johnson!!!

nothing from ford's cavalry trilogy? walter hill's geronimo or long riders? run of the arrow, last of the mohicans...

The biggest omissions for me are Man of the West and Go West - both classy films. A good list though and loads of magic therein.

Any western nuts should get themselves down to the Exhibit cinema in Balham - some guys run a western film club down there every month called "guns in the afternoon" which is the alternate title to ride the high country - watched Johnny Guitar on the big screen last week and it certainly changed my opinion of it - Joan Crawford how she is meant to be seen - on the big screen in full colour!

Congratulations Time Out, for having the Courage to put McCabe and Mrs Miller, one of the most majestic films of all time, at the top of your list. Similar praise is heaped upon your filmic heads for inserting Jarmusch's Dead man in the top six.

However, you are not getting away with out some criticism. Having the good taste to champion Altman's masterpiece (well he made several), you could have endeavored to apprais the film more accurately. McCabe never planned to open a brothel with Mrs Miller; in fact he initially pimped three prostitutes before Mrs Miller arrived with a wagonfull of loose ladies. McCabe then took some persuading before setting up business with Ms Miller.

Similarly, the three gunmen sent by the company, were paid assassins not company stooges. Sent to kill hill him. The attempt to persuade McCabe to sell had been made earlier(unsuccesfully due to McCabe's poor bartering technique) by two company reps.

Otherwise it is a reasonable synopsis, though possibly more could have been made of Altman's comment on the Western myth that McCabe's refusal to confirm or deny his gun-shooting prowess. Congratulations once again.

Ignore the last comments on the next submission. I forgot it was Westerns only.

This list is rubbish, like a lot of the films that are on it. Where was The Last Command, with Sterling Haydn, John Lee Hancock's film The Alamo, which surrendered without a fight in the cinema despite being a superb film far more historically acurate that John Wayne's version. Not a single sword and sandals epic such as El Cid, not a single Bible film like Barabbas.

@David J: that you all agree on how bad Butch & Sundance is totally disqualifies you from even thinking about writing this list. This strikes me as the top Westerns as compiled by people who don't even like them. Agree wholeheartedly with those who lament the exclusion of the aforementioned, True Grit (2010), Tombstone, The Proposition and Silverado. Also, Ride With The Devil and No Country For Old Men??

I read on in horror as I realized there was no way they would have included Silverado in the top 10, nor Butch Cassidy in the top 5... my god, what have they done??

This list is slightly different to the list I would have compiled. I am appauled (sic) and sickened to my stomach. You have placed A Man Called Horse at number 38 when it is patently the 37th best Western of all time. You people make me want to defecate.

Just as I was beginning to wonder where McCabe & Mrs Miller was in your list of
Top 50 Westerns , I tentatively clicked on Number 1 and , lo & behold , there was my own personal favourite !
For once , I agree wholeheartedly with you Time Out
Good to see Dead Man in there as well
Terry Maunder

Weird list. Watched McCabe just the other week. Yes It's underrated, but that does not make it the best Western ever. Not even the best Altman ever.
Can't argue with Pat Garrett, though Wild Bunch drives it close.
Obviously some of the order of the pictures here are all over the place. And all Leone Westerns should be here, especially what I consider his most underrated masterpiece A Fistfull Of Dynamite/Duck You Sucker, now that's a radical Western!

Disappointing. Your list is notable for its omissions (Where is Raoul Walsh's Pursued or William Wyler's The Westerner? for instance). I reckon My Darling Clementine should have been at the top.

A tunnel-visioned list for sure....So many great ones missing as mentioned by others and including The Proposition, which is much better than third of this list.

Gotta give some credit to include 'The Great Silence', though the order is so out of whack for obviously well known films. Gotta Piss on this list.

Monte Walsh w/ Lee Marvin and Jack Palance. Have you even seen it. If you just took this list for its dialogue it could be argued for its order. But as is, taken in character, screenplay, cinematography, no way. In an art scence, possibly. Strictly an opinion otherwise. A movie doesn't have to make you feel good to be good. I've walked out of a theater feeling sick and even feeling of depression still realizing it was a valid film.

A list designed to cause arguements.

I Prefer Bottichers The Tall T to the other Randolph Scott westerns also Anthony Manns The Furies should be on here.
How about more modern Westerns ?
I mean Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia ,Bronco Billy,Junior Bonner etc
And my final wish Wild Rovers ,Blake Edwards western is vastly underated cotaining as it does a cracking performance from William Holden.
Oh and not enough Walter Hiil;

This list is terrible. In vengeance us yanks will rate the top 50 costume dramas and rank batman number 1.

WHere is Warlock FFS ? That has got to be in anyones top ten for the cast alone.

I got one question where in the hell is butch cassidy and the sundance kid?

Nice fixation on Hollywood. But watch more Keoma, Blindman, Deadlock, Red Sun or Kill! and you will be cured.

That Pat Garrett and B The Kid is number 2 is justifiable, but Mcabe and Mrs Miller number 1 - rediculous. Good film, but is it better than Shane, The Searchers, The Unforgiven, or even Heavens Gate. No western list is complete without My Name is Nobody, strangely absent, and where was Lawman by Michael Winner. So many other films so far down on the list, like those of Anthony Mann, one wonders about the credentials of those choosing them, all except Once Upon a Time in the West, very overated....

I fell of my seat when I saw what was at number 1. I wonder whether these lists are just trying to cover all the bases of 'western themes' that need to be covered, or whether the compiler is just trying to goad and provoke readers by showing off his preference and knowledge of obscure westerns? Some of the most obvious omissions: The Shootist, Pale Rider, Dodge City, Gunfight at the OK Coral, Valdez is Coming, Last Train from Gunhill.

Wither "A Fistful of Dollars"; "My Name is Nobody"; or the criminally overlooked/underrated "Tom Horn" and "Will Penny"?

I appreciate this list for giving me some wonderful reminders of westerns I've overlooked but the inclusion of a few titles and the order of many of them is ridiculous. This is my problem with post-modern ideals I see so often out oof British sites (no offense but you Brits are further aheadin your post modern "values" than we Yanks). Thats the only explanation I can come up with for your putting "Dead Man" and "Heaveans Gate" so high on the list (o listed at all).

I beleive a movie needs to stand the test of time a bit before being lauded for anythin beyond its immediate technical quality. Neither film, nor many of the others deserve some of the praise you heaped on them, and a few you were plain wrong in critisizing ("Blazing Saddles" was worse for featuring Cleavon Little??? Really??)

Also the exlcusion of the masterful remake of "3:10 to Yuma" is nigh unforgivable, but I guess it's not as revisionist/humanistic as "The Asassination of Jesse James...."

1-Any list that fails to include THE BIG COUNTRY, can never be taken seriously.
2-"Angst" is a silly reason to include some of these titles.

Good list, but that picture on #24 is not from Shane. I don't know what it is from, but it is not from Shane.

These commenters don't half get carried away. It's a good list. And good to see someone rating Heaven's Gate so highly!

where was true grit,,butch cassidy and the sundance kid,,rio conchos.the great scout and cathouse thursday,cat ballou,rio lobo,mcclintock,chisum.the sons of katie elder-----these are the best westerns,,,my all time favs

Not a bad list, I like the inclusion of Boetticher, but guys come on where is Ride Lonesome a way better film than Decision at Sundown (which is a great film too.)

I disagree with the order and the inclusion and exclusion of some titles, but at least it's not your run of the mill list.

Kudos for your #1 choice. ‘McCabe & Mrs. Miller’ is a masterpiece and it had more impact on me than any other movie I have ever seen. (And I own over 500 DVDs).

This is a list compiled by a LONDON writer. The English know two things about Westerns. Jack and S#!^. And Jack just left. Once Upon a Time in the West, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and The Wild Bunch are the top three of all time. El Topo is the biggest pile of crap ever committed to film. Just cuz John Lennon liked it doesn't make it good. Horrible list.

Wow, what a haggardly list! Absurd! Laughable! I only looked at the top 10, and just wow. I can't believe it.

did i miss Treasure of the Sierra Madre on the list? or is that not a western

I have to say, this list sickens me. Just because a movie is old, doesn't mean it's good. That being said, why in the Hell isn't True Grit (2010) or 3:10 to Yuma (2007) in the Top 10????????????????

what a load of art house bullshit! DEAD MAN? Are you kidding me? McCabe!? Good films but HARDLY top ten material in such an expansive and histroic genre. What in gods name were your critiria?

Nice to see the appreciation for "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" which is my favorite western and often underrated or dismissed. Not sure if it deserves the second greatest of all time but nice to see the appreciation. In regards to "Red River", the Dunson character is quite dark and the film opens with him taking land that isn't his. The film is not critical of this but it is shown in a matter of fact manner. "Red River" may conform to many western myths but it also hints at the darkness and greed underneath.

some of the greatest westerns are here but in the wrong order big time and some that should not be here and many greats missing.once upon a time in the west ,wild bunch,shane,josey wales and good bad ugly my top 5.

Has the individual who put this list together ever actually watched a Western? No Dances with Wolves, True Grit, Tombstone or 3:10 to Yuma? Why did you even bother to do a list like this if you were going to screw it up so badly?

Gotta say I disagree big-time with the order of the list. I have seen most of these flicks and the best ones on the list were consistently in the 20-40, and the top ten was full of very good, but not great westerns.

i dont know who rated this list, but this clown wouldnt know a good western if it bit him in the azz, now if this is a london site, it figures, stick to tea and crumpets