Western movies are not for everyone, but there are some classics of the genre that everyone should see. Western film date back to the beginning of popular cinema when these tales of outlaws and cowboys were recent history. More than a century later, the Wild West and its stories are still fascinating to audiences, though the genre has gone through various periods of popularity and decline. Western movies are not as common as they once were, but some movies of the genre have stood out among the best movies of all time. 2873d

James Coburn played roles in all types of movies over the course of his 45-year career, but might be most associated with Westerns, a genre ideally suited to his hard-edged brand of cool. With his sharp features, intense blue eyes, and mischievously crooked mouth, he looked like he was born to wear a dirty cowboy hat and wield a six-shooter.

Western movies have been around since the earliest days of cinema, and certain films have had an undeniable impact on the genre as a whole and changed it entirely moving forward. While early releases of the silent era have been mostly forgotten as disposable entertainment, directors like John Ford helped ensure that Westerns were taken seriously as works of art, and later filmmakers like Sergio Leone, Sam Peckinpah, and Clint Eastwood pushed this even further. As the stories of cowboys, outlaws, and gunslingers, the Western has continually grown and evolved throughout the years.

Tombstone might be Sam Elliott's best-known Western, but Conagher gave the veteran star one of his best characters. There have been many iconic Sam Elliott movies and TV shows over the years, spanning from Mask to The Big Lebowski or 1883; there's also Roadhouse, of course. Maybe more than any other actor, there's something about Sam Elliott that just fits neatly into a Western. While he's done plenty of great roles outside the genre, few performers are as convincing playing a cowboy.

The traditional Hollywood Western arguably reached its peak in the 1950s, the decade that saw the release of classics like High Noon, Shane, Rio Bravo, and The Searchers, movies that have entered the cinema canon. Changes would soon come, as cultural shifts rendered Hollywood traditionalism obsolete, opening the door for the genre reinventions of Sergio Leone, Sam Peckinpah, and others.

The long-standing theory that John Wayne's Ethan is really Debbie's father in The Searchers completely changed how I saw the classic Western. Of all the John Wayne/John Ford collaborations, The Searchers is commonly regarded as the best. More than that, it's recognized as arguably the greatest Western ever made, and The Searchers was one of Wayne's favorite movies of his own. The setup is simple; after his family is slaughtered during a Comanche raid and his niece Debbie is kidnapped, a bitter Civil War vet sets out on a years-long odyssey to find her.

Glenn Fordis one of the most iconic names in Western history, with a multitude of incredible Westerns to his name both well-known and obscure. A Canadian-born American actor, Glenn Ford might not be the biggest household name in the modern day, but was a genuine tour-de-force during the Golden Age of Hollywood. For many, he might be best-recognized for his role as Clark Kent's adoptive father, Jonathan Kent in the original 1978 Superman.

There are several Western remakes that not only stand up against the original movies that came before, but also sur their predecessors. The Western movie genre is one of Hollywood's oldest and most celebrated, with names like John Wayne, John Ford, Gary Cooper, Clint Eastwood, and Sergio Leone having made their mark as icons in the genre. With movies stretching back to the start of cinema, there has naturally been plenty of room for remakes.

2025 promises to be a fantastic year for the cinema industry. From exciting New York Times best-seller adaptations to long-awaited Marvel projects, theaters and streaming platforms will be filled with people curious to watch these gems. Among the many releases,theWesterngenre also has something thrilling in store. Characterized by a rugged, gritty atmosphere and morally complex antiheroes, these films have long been popular among spectators.

No Country for Old Menblends 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.