Top 5: Westerns

I've said a few times how "This western could be in my top 5" but I don't think I've actually fully stated my top 5, I know in one post I listed some really good ones, but not 5, and not in order. So I'm sure you, dear reader, are smart enough to figure out where this post is going.

5. True Grit (1969)

True Grit is pretty simple for a western, girl's father is murdered so she rounds up a posse and goes off to hunt him down, but the thing that makes this movie so special is Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne). Wayne won his only Oscar for this movie (He probably should have won for The Shootist but he had tough competition that year). The movie has everything a good Western has a grizzled gun fighter, a basterd of a villain, and a final shoot out that will be remembered for years. True Grit is truly one of the Duke's finest and one of the finest Westerns Period.




4. Unforgiven (1992)

Unforgiven is it's own monster. The movie doesn't rely on too many conventions and it doesn't try and recreate all the movies that came before t, it just tells it's own tale and tells it incredibly well. Clint Eastwood is William Munny, a retired gunfighter trying to live a peaceful life as a farmer (Think the Saint of Killers and Old Man Logan) but he's called back into the Saddle and brings hell to Big Whiskey. All the acting is truly top notch here and the story is powerful and moving tearing down the myth of the west well building up the real west.





3. The Wild Bunch (1969)

Where as even the Spaghetti westerns lacked a certain level of faux blood, The Wild Bunch aimed for realism and captured the true violence of the old west, too bad the last remaining gun fighters weren't in the old west, they were in 1910s Mexico, and were still living by the Old West code. The movie works beautifully commenting about how the Old West needs to stay in the West and the final showdown may be one of the greatest movie showdowns of all time.






2. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (1966)

I know that if I get any comments on this post it will be about giving TGTBATU number 2, but I stand by this. TGTBATU is one of the greatest films ever made. The acting is amazing, the score is haunting, and the story is consistently strong even as it approaches the 3 hour mark. Some of the most iconic western moments happen in this movie, and it deserves every bit of praise, but this is MY top 5, and that's why my number 1 is...





1. The Man who Shot Liberty Valence (1962)

Yes, I believe that The Man who Shot Liberty Valence is a better movie than TGTBATU (sue me). Jimmy Stewart (in my opinion) is the greatest American Actor and AFI agrees with me (kind of) he got #3 on their list. The movie involves Lawyer Ransom Stoddard arriving at a western town to try and bring the law to the West, but he realizes that as long as there are villains like Liberty Valence (Lee Marvin) he can't just bring law to the town. With a little help from Tom Doniphan (John Wayne) Ransom learns how to fire a gun and finally faces Liberty in the streets and everyone sees him shoot down Liberty Valence. The movie has a good wist at the end though, and really comments on violence and the law. While the rest of this list is truly great, TMWSLV holds a special place in my heart and is my all time favorite western.