No Country for Old Men blends the crime and Western genres together in such an effective way that there have been many fans who have sought out other movies that pull off this combination well. Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men is a bleak neo-Western set in the 1970s, following a rancher named Moss (Josh Brolin) who finds a bag of money following a drug deal gone wrong. However, he becomes hunted by a relentless killer (Javier Bardem) with a seasoned lawman (Tommy Lee Jones) following their bloody trail.

With its brutal violence, dark tone, and unforgettable antagonist in the form of Bardem's Anton Chigurh, No Country for Old Men created a movie that has remained one of the most acclaimed of the 21st century, along with winning Best Picture at the Oscars. While not a Western in the traditional sense, No Country for Old Men brings a lot of the genre elements to its story, with several other Western crime movies offering a similar blending of genres to great effect.

10 Appaloosa (2008)

Directed By Ed Harris

Appaloosa is a little-known yet excellent crime Western with a stellar cast of Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris, Renée Zellweger, Jeremy Irons, and others. Though it is largely a Western in its traditional sense, it delves much deeper into psychology, making it stand out from the crowd. Harris and Mortensen play two friends who are hired by a small town as a Marshal and Deputy due to the locals being terrorized by a rancher. Along the way, the friends get involved in a love triangle with a young widow who has recently arrived in town.

The complex characters and relationships go a little deeper than the average Western, making for a complicated story that goes to some unexpected places by the end.

The Western is based on the book by Robert B. Parker and captures a lot of the pulpy nature of the Western genre in this relatively small story. However, similar to No Country for Old Men, it speaks to humanity in an intriguing way. The complex characters and relationships go a little deeper than the average Western, making for a complicated story that goes to some unexpected places by the end.

9 The Sisters Brothers (2018)

Directed By Jacques Audiard

The Sisters Brothers features a total of four outstanding actors playing the lead roles, with John C. Reilly, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riz Ahmed, and Joaquin Phoenix. The crime Western takes well-known genre tropes and subverts them in unexpected ways. Reilly and Phoenix play the infamous assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters, chasing after a gold prospector (Ahmed) and a private detective (Gyllenhaal) seemingly working with the Sisters brothers.

The premise sets up the kind of chase movie that No Country for Old Men starts out as, with the dangerous brothers making their way across the Wild West and encountering a number of colorful characters along the way. However, like No Country for Old Men, the typical genre fare begins to fade away as it becomes a meditation on the consequences of violence and the peace of redemption.

8 Silverado (1985)

Directed By Lawrence Kasdan

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score, Silverado was both a critical and commercial success. Interestingly, the Western crime was co-written, produced, and directed by Lawrence Kasdan, who is known for writing movies in the Star Wars and the Indiana Jones franchises. In 1880, a group of four misfits arrive in the city of Silverado, where they must fight the bad guys and right the wrongs the townspeople have been put through.

While No Country for Old Men has some witty moments among all the darkness and brutality, Silverado is a much lighter movie. It is a fun Western with humor and likable characters. However, it is also a movie that subverts Western expectations with the kinds of characters who might be considered the heroes and the villains. It also features an outstanding cast, including Kevin Kline, Jeff Goldblum, and Danny Glover, while also marking Kevin Costner's first Western movie.

7 The Proposition (2005)

Directed By John Hillcoat

The Proposition is an unusual entry on this list because it is actually an Australian Western. The film is particularly noted for its accurate portrayal of indigenous Australian culture in the time setting of the story. In late-nineteenth-century rural Australia, two of the three notorious criminal brothers are captured by Captain Stanley. The middle brother is offered a unique proposition: he can save his younger brother from being executed by finding and killing their older brother.

While No Country for Old Men is often looked at as one of the bleakest of modern Western movies, The Proposition certainly gives it a run for its money. There are few characters who could be considered good people and the movie ruminates on violence in the world, linking it to how this lawless life of the past can still reflect the world today and the cycles of violence.

6 The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada (2005)

Directed By Tommy Lee Jones

The crime neo-Western The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada was a critical success, winning Best Actor and Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival while also getting a nomination for the Palme d'Or. Directed by Tommy Lee Jones (who also starred in the movie) and co-produced by Luc Besson, it uses a narrative rich with flashbacks while some events are presented from different points of view. Inspired by real-life events, it follows a ranch foreman trying to fulfill his promise to his recently deceased friend, who has to be buried in his Mexican hometown.

Jones, whose performance is part of the impact of No Country for Old Men's ending, delivers another powerful yet reserved performance here. The movie is partially a revenge story, but it examines the idea of finding love at the heart of such an act. There are complicated characters on both sides who make mistakes and who do good deeds, reflecting the complexities of the real world, even in a genre that often deals with the idea of good versus evil.

5 The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Directed By Andrew Dominik

With outstanding performances from both Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is an epic revisionist Western that was a huge critical success and was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best ing Actor. Based on the novel of the same name, the movie depicts the relationship between Jesse James and Robert Ford as the events they experience slowly lead up to the murder referenced in the title.

No Country for Old Men is one of the best movies to comment on true evil in the world. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a reminder that the romanticized view of the Old West had just as much evil in it. Jesse James has been seen as a folk hero in some movies, but this depiction makes him a paranoid and cold-blooded killer, proving that heroes of legend can be more complicated than the stories tell.

4 Hell Or High Water (2016)

Directed By David Mackenzie

Another great crime neo-Western, Hell or High Water is notable for being written by Taylor Sheridan, showing his take on the genre before he opened up his Yellowstone universe on the small screen. In fact, the movie was a huge success getting multiple Academy Award nominations, including one for Sheridan. Chris Pine and Ben Foster play two brothers who go on a bank-robbing spree in an attempt to save their family ranch while on the run from two Texas Rangers (played by Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham).

Hell or High Water (2016) has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Sheridan has always had a talent for taking the tropes of the Western genre and examining them in the modern context of America. Hell or High Water is perhaps his best work in this regard. The movie looks at the idea of doing a bad thing for a good reason and the morally gray area that reality exists in. Bridges' lawman character reflects Jones' character in No Country for Old Men as an old cowboy seemingly out of place in the modern world.

3 3:10 To Yuma (2007)

Directed By James Mangold

Featuring outstanding performances from Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, James Mangold's 3:10 to Yuma is a movie that combines elements of such genres as Western, action, crime, and drama to create a remake that is even better than the original. Crowe plays an infamous outlaw who is captured by authorities and must now be delivered to a train that will take him to court in Yuma. Bale plays a small-time rancher who finds himself among those accompanying the outlaw as they try to outsmart each other throughout the journey.

It makes for an exciting cat-and-mouse story that plays out much differently than the one in No Country for Old Men.

This is another movie that challenges the idea of the hero and villain. Bale's character is the dedicated and noble family man, but Crowe's character is shown to have different shades to him, being a killer without remorse while also showing comion for those he feels are worthy of it. It makes for an exciting cat-and-mouse story that plays out much differently than the one in No Country for Old Men.

2 The Hateful Eight (2015)

Directed By Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight is a Revisionist Western thriller full of everything that the director is known for, but also has the suspense and mystery to wrap the crime elements in. Like Tarantino's other works, it was wildly successful and is particularly notable for composer Ennio Morricone winning his first Academy Award. The ensemble cast portrays eight strangers following the American Civil War who find themselves in a stagecoach stopover as they try to hide from the blizzard raging on outside.

The movie has elements of an Agatha Christie mystery at times as the strangers attempt to discern who is really who they say they are and who may have ulterior motives. It plays on the exciting premise of assembling all kinds of villainous, deceptive, and dangerous characters from across the Western tropes and putting them in one tense situation with each other.

1 Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969)

Directed By George Roy Hill

Perhaps one of the greatest Westerns ever made, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was massively successful in every aspect though it did initially open to mixed and negative reviews before becoming a classic over time. In the early 1900s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid lead a group of outlaws whose train robbery goes wrong. Now on the run, the band decides to head for Bolivia.

This is another Western that embraces the fun and lightness of the genre, with the chemistry between stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford making for one of the most iconic onscreen pairings of all time. They are shown to be criminals who are fun and likable, even when they are robbing trains. However, the movie does build in darkness over time, leading towards the iconic ending that leaves the audience with an emotional gut punch.