The 50 greatest westerns – The full list

I was surprised and elated to see McCabe & Mrs. Miller crown the top of this list. I truly do feel that it is the greatest Western film, alongside Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West and Corbucci's The Great Silence. Once Upon a Time in the West is superior in every respect to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (although both do deserve to be on the list.) All in all, this was the best list of Westerns I've yet seen. My Top Ten: 10. Meek's Cutoff 9. The Wild Bunch 8. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly 7. Track of the Cat 6. Day of the Outlaw 5. Dead Man 4. Heaven's Gate 3. Once Upon a Time in the West 2. The Great Silence #1. McCabe & Mrs. Miller

what about the longriders

This list is to stir controversy, its abundantly clear the author has no clue about westerns in general, albeit ones opinion is subjective. My list includes most of Clints westerns, Wild Bunch, Open Range, many others I won’t name right now. But what I don’t understand is why some of the made for TV series like Centennial, Broken Trail, and two of my favourites Into the West and the Lonesome Dove Series my personal favourite and all time best. The series begins with Deadman Walking, next Comanche Moon, which leads to Lonesome Dove and then Return to Lonesome Dove and finishes with Streets of Laredo. Yea, its TV but the picture quality is great and acting superb and we can bond with these guys cause we watch them from cradle to grave. There are others like Roots and North and South, all great, I wonder if its because they’re hard to get a hold of. Its to bad cause they’re great watches I highly recommend them. As for the author list, there are at least 49 that were better than McCabe & Mrs. Miller.

How can True Grit not be on this list?

Yeah I'm not sure who decided to put McCabe and Mrs. Miller at number 1, most people who know and understand genre theory involving westerns probably wouldn't even let that touch the top 20. This list is written by someone who's watched a few of these and googled the rest, I'm with a bunch of the guys below me in the comments, completely daft.

Hombre (1967) Paul Newman ?

I'm just glad someone appreciates McCabe & Mrs. Miller for the masterpiece that it is.

You missed jerimiah johnson

Daft list. The maker of the list is clearly not a fan of the genre, like asking a vegetarian to rate the best steakhouse. Great films are made when they impact and even change the time and society in which they were made, and any list of top fifty needs to reflect that. To have High Noon at #20, Red River at #17 and McCabe & Mrs. Miller at #1 is a joke. Please stick genres you understand.

Fashions come and go. Whoever made up the list doesn't know westerns, but likes to drop popular auteurist names. These are junk: Johnny Guitar Heaven's Gate Forty Guns The Great Silence These are not even worthwhile watching except for completists: Dead Man Django 7 Women (set in China) Rancho Notorious Day of the Outlaw Rancho Deluxe High Plains Drifter These are honorable, but not very good movies: McCabe and Mrs Miller Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid Decision at Sundown The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford El Topo Seven Men from Now A Man Called Horse Wagon Master The Claim The Hired Hand Once Upon a Time in the West This I have not seen: Requiescant My list ("Modern" westerns, set after WWI, are not included) 1) The Wild Bunch 2) The Searchers 3) Lonesome Dove 4) The Magnificent Seven 5) Rio Bravo 6) Little Big Man 7) Ride the High Country 8) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 9) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 10) My Darling Clementine 11) Shane 12) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 13)The Ballad of Cable Hogue 14) The Broken Trail 15) High Noon 16) Open Range 17) Gunfight at the OK Corral 18) The Professionals 19) One Eyed Jacks 20) Tombstone 21) Red River 22) For a Few Dollars More 23) Blazing Saddles 24) True Grit 25) Appaloosa 26) Rustler's Rhapsody 27) The Scalphunters 28) Will Penny 29) Cheyenne Autumn 30) The Gunfighter 31) She Wore a Yellow Ribbon 32) Vera Cruz 33) El Dorado 34) Major Dundee 35) A Fistful of Dollars 36) The Outlaw Josey Wales 37) The Man From Laramie 38) The Tin Star 39) Three Amigos 40) Valdez in Coming 41)The Cowboys 42) Support Your Local Sheriff 43) Nevada Smith 44) The Naked Spur 45) Unforgiven 46) Winchester '73 47) Hour of the Gun 48) Fort Apache 49) Rio Grande 50) The Long Riders