Last of the Mohicans? How is a tale set in upstate New York a western, even if it does include Indians and gunfights?

By w ziegler on Dec 5, 2008 at 1:49 pm

These films are NOT Westerns!
Bad Day at Black Rock
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Jeremiah Johnson
The Last of the Mohicans
The Mark of Zorro

By Mandy on Dec 6, 2008 at 7:52 pm

Comedy westerns are not true westerns
Laural and Hardy Way out West
Blazing Saddles
The Paleface

While they are entertaining, they should not be included in the top 100.

By DennisB on Dec 11, 2008 at 8:57 am

Some of these films are not westerns but contemporary movies.
Movies that may take place out west but in modern times for when they were made and not in the 19th century.
All such films should be removed from the list.

By John on Dec 11, 2008 at 5:47 pm

Cat Ballou,
Way out West,
The Mark of Zorro
Quigley Down Under
Ruggles of Red Gap
Support Your local Sheriff
Blazing saddles
The Pale face

Somes times experts are just high paid. No real lovers of the old west and that life style from that era, put these on a list of top 100 western movies and left off Wyatt Earp, Lonesome Dove, Silverado, and otheres. These listed above are comedies and have nothing to do with life as it was in the 1800’s.

By Mark Slaughter on Dec 11, 2008 at 9:46 pm

The Alamo (2004)???????????????? I’ve had root canal that was less painful. Just because a movie purports to be “accurate” doesn’t make it good.

By Duke on Dec 12, 2008 at 10:53 pm

Agree completely that comedy westerns should not be included, however, I might make an exception for Maverick and Support your Local Sheriff.
How in blazes did you ever come up with the idea of designating The Last of the Mohicans as a western?

By Tarheel on Dec 13, 2008 at 8:58 pm

Jeremiah Johnson is most definitely a western-there was a lot more to the West than Colt Peacemakers and Stetson Hats.
This is the reason that I stated in another post that The Long Riders should have been included.

By Tarheel on Dec 13, 2008 at 9:01 pm

Quigly Down Under and Man From Snowy River are Outbacks, not Westerns.
Blood Simple
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Just plain bad moviemaking. Peckinpah’s worst.
Any western made after 2000. No way to tell if they will stand the test of time.

By Eric Jamborsky on Dec 15, 2008 at 3:14 pm

True Grit, even though I live only a few miles from where it was filmed. Baaad acting.

By Robb on Dec 18, 2008 at 5:19 pm

Will Penny is certainly a Western, just a terrible movie: pointless, with no plot development, wooden acting by Heston (who admittedly specialized in this), and a surprise ending where he professes his love for the woman to whom he has paid no attention.

Should certainly not be on the list of top movies.

By Norman on Dec 18, 2008 at 5:28 pm

Normally I wouldn’t post to a site but there are some obvious errors for the best 100 westerns – as follows:

While John Wayne was outstanding most of his movies were not – the only Wayne movie that should be on here is The Searchers

I must agree with the above posts about the comedies – they are not westerns

Silverado NEEDS to be on this list

You must be kidding on the following:
Hang Em High
Treasure of Sierra Madre (not a western)
3:10 to Yuma 2007 – Nope replace it with the original
Last of the Mohicans
Little Big Man
Quigley
The Alamo (2004) bad acting
Maverick
Josey Wales
Pat Garret and Billy the Kid (horrible acting and boring)
The War Wagon
The MArk of Zorro (You’re kidding right?)
The Man from Snowy River
Cat Ballou (good movie but…)
El Mariachi (you MUST be kidding)

By David M. (TEXAN) on Dec 19, 2008 at 11:01 am

Most of the comedies here are comedies in Westerns drag, but “Support Your Local Sheriff” is at least 50% Western and qualifies for consideration.

“Bad Day at Black Rock” is no more (or less) a Western than “The Last Picture Show” or “Hud.”

“High Noon” is possibly the most over-rated film of all time. The cast, with the sole exception of Katy Jurado, is variantly bad, with Cooper at his most wooden (which is really saying something).

“Jeremiah Johnson” IS a Western, the mountain man film being as legitimate a sub-genre as the early 20th century Western.. The 18th century frontier New York genre is arguable, but probable; however, no version of Cooper’s “Last of the Mohicans” is particularly good.

Wrong version of “3:10 to Yuma” beyond debate. The original is better than so many films which ARE here that the presence of the recent remake PROVES a chronological bias on the part of the panel, which was suggested by several other titles already.

“El Diablo” (1990) was made for premium cable’s HBO channel. If you understood that, then it must be said that several other made-for-TV Western features are better than many films here, starting with the same channel’s “The Tracker” starring Kris Kristofferson. If you did not, it should be removed.

Basically, the panel and by logical extension the list have little credibility.

By Ted Watson on Dec 19, 2008 at 2:52 pm

What belongs or does not depends on your definition of a Western. Since contemporary westerns are included, thei broadens the selection. I cannot understand a Laurel and Hardy picture regardless of what form is accepted. To Leave out classics like She Wore a Yellow Ribbon for Blood Simple leaves one scratching his head. So many disagreements. So little time.

By Ralph-Colorado Springs on Dec 22, 2008 at 4:34 pm

In my opinion these do not merit being on the top 100 list.
Paleface–Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid–Laurel & Hardy–Cat Ballou–El Mariachi– Johnny Guitar–Open Range (TV Movie) if this qualifies certainly does Lonesome Dove–Ruggles of Red Gap–Blazing Saddles– Blood Simple (definite drama set in a town in the west, not a western as you are describing them to be.)
I suggested some to add earlier. I know out of 4600 movies it was very difficult to get to 100. There were so many very good ones you could not have in the top 100, you made a good try. I grew up with a western every Saturday at the theater.
Are you going to try and list the top 100 actors in a western movie? Good luck!

By rtresso on Dec 25, 2008 at 12:16 am

The Alamo-boring, too long
Paleface-just a farce. Indians are wearing panties under their breechclouts, for goodness sake.
Any set in the twentieth century.
Or with jeeps.
Or with Gabby Hays, or Andy Devine.
The Wild Bunch is not a western. To coin a phrase, it is a “Mexican” , just like Rory Calhoun in “Treasure of Pancho Villa” or “The Professionals.”
No automatic machine guns. but Gatlings are OK.

By El Cutachero on Dec 30, 2008 at 3:42 pm

“Maverick” 1994

It put late 20th century values and the audience’s knowledge of James Garner to great effect, but it was not represenative of the period to which it refers.

By Mary Donnelly on Dec 30, 2008 at 6:52 pm

Maverick
Quigley
Laurel and Hardy
El Mariachi
Major Dundee
Two excellent movies, but not Westerns:
Blood Simple
Ride with the Devil

By Bob on Dec 30, 2008 at 11:44 pm

Western movies not on list. Apache with Burt Lancaster. Indian Fighter with Kirk Douglas, Last Wagon with Richard Widmark.

By james celovsky on Dec 31, 2008 at 9:52 am

Exclude:

The Last of the Mohicans (not a western to me)
The Mark of Zorro (what about the Tyrone Power version?)

Ruggles of Red Gap
Support Your local Sheriff
Blazing saddles
The Paleface
Laural and Hardy Way out West
Blood Simple (great movie, but not a western in any way, shape, or form)

By Greg H on Jan 1, 2009 at 1:46 pm

Apparantly nobody mentioned “The Shootist” here, but I just recently viewed it again. I thought it was a good movie, but I wouldn’t include it as a “Western” just because the main character resided in WY and they showed just a very few minutes of some mountain scenes that were supposed to be where he lived.

It is a modern day setting in D.C. for most of the movie and it is about an assination by a sharp shooter that happens there. Hardly a western in my book!

I agree with others that “Lonesome Dove” should truly be on this list.

I never saw the original “3:10 to Yuma”, but I do believe the new one was a good western and deserves to be on the list.

By Linda on Jan 16, 2009 at 2:18 pm

The “3:10 To Yuma remake, the original was much better in every way.
“The Alamo” boring

“High noon” boring and Cooper in his usual wooden style.

“Blood Simple” bah.

Any Spaghetti Western, they were all bad.

Any comedy Western, even the ones I like.

By Barry Giovannetti on Jan 18, 2009 at 4:21 pm

Obviously, “The Outlaw Josey Wales” doesn’t belong on the list. It is a bad movie even for Eastwood. It has no saving grace, and isn’t even a decent revenge tale. It doesn’t make a bit of sense, and there are no characters worth caring about. Total bomb.

Also, all the spaghetti westerns were garbage. Again, no identifiable characters, or even anyone to care about. All of them are one dimensional cardboard cutouts with no believable motivation, not to mention stupid scripts and clownish action.

Other terrible films include “Little Big Man”, just too one sided even for my liberal standards. Completely ridiculous.

“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, and “Support Your Local Gunfighter” are corny even by adolescent standards. If I want a comedy, I’ll take a rip roaring one like Saddles or Ballou.

“Ulzana’s Raid” was an attempt at a good movie, but I felt that even though it covered three characters thoroughly, for a full length movie, that doesn’t qualify. In contrast, “The Commancheros” explores many characters to great extents. In fact, for me, it is the minor characters that make a movie.

Which is why I’m glad to see some great movies on the list. Obviously, “Ride the High Country”, “Union Pacific”, “Hombre”, “Shane”, and “Gunman’s Walk” belong on any list. I think one or two of these were omitted. That’s a monstrous oversight.

By Johnny Matheis on Jan 18, 2009 at 6:37 pm

“Western” Comedies, are technically westerns but do not belong on a list of the greatest westerns:

Ruggles of Red Gap
Support Your local Sheriff
Blazing saddles
The Paleface
Laural and Hardy
Way out West

“Westerns” that actually are not westerns:

Blood Simple
Bad Day at Black Rock
El Mariachi
Quigly Down Under
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Last of the Mohicans
Lonely Are the Brave

Westerns that are just bad or not worthy of inclusion:

Posse!
Johnny Guitar
One-Eyed Jacks
Dead Man
Ride With the Devil

3:10 to Yuma-Remake was great, but why no inclusion of the original???

By Scott on Jan 19, 2009 at 5:40 pm

McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)

This movie just doesn’t make the grade as a top Western movie. It is a stylized Hollywood dark drama whose only relationship to the Old West is the set.

By Larry Cagle on Jan 21, 2009 at 6:52 pm

I don’t think that Maverick, Mcabe and Mrs. Miller, The Alamao (2004) were good enough to be on the list. The Silence (never heard of it) should not be on the list. Blood Simple was not a Western; you must be on crack cocaine to believe that it was a Western. Last of the Mohicans was very good, but it was not a Western.

But I do think that the hilarious Support Your Local Sheriff should be on there!

By Shane Mann on Jan 25, 2009 at 11:20 am

Cat Ballou should be taken off the list and replaced with Silverado.
Thank You

By sheik on Feb 9, 2009 at 5:26 pm

“The Paleface”, “Blazing Saddles”, “Way Out West” and “McCabe and Mrs. Miller” should NOT be anywhere near the list.

By Chuck on Feb 11, 2009 at 9:32 pm

I think that The Paleface, Blazing Saddles, and Cat Ballou are comidies not westerns.

By Wayne on Apr 24, 2009 at 7:34 pm

My favorite and what I think is the most accurate is Steven Spilberg’s “Into the West”

By Wayne on Apr 24, 2009 at 7:50 pm

How the heck POSSE made it on this list is still a mystery to me. I do commend you, though, for putting movies that would not be conventional westerns on the list like BLOOD SIMPLE and BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK.

By Willie Holmes on May 23, 2009 at 2:31 pm

These movies are not w westerns and shouls not be consideredwestersns Blazing Saddles
The Paleface
Quigly Down Under
Man From Snowy River
Silverado
Last of the Mohicans
Little Big Man
Cat Ballou
El Mariachi
Laural and Hardy Way out West
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (THIS MOVIE SUCKED)

By Dickie Swindle on May 25, 2009 at 5:55 pm

The Following is other kind of cinema:

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Blood Simple

Thanks

By Hugo D on Jun 5, 2009 at 7:50 pm

The Shootist is one of the worst movies of all time and a truly lousy western.

By Chris D on Jul 19, 2009 at 5:21 pm

310 to yuma 2007 remake was terrible and so was the actor crowe.

By Johnny Presley on Aug 1, 2009 at 8:17 pm

No wonder the list is Weirder than Wieder. The 10 experts…looks like they know very little about movies (read their bios)…being a history professor or a writer about culture isn’t the same as a movie critic, someone in the film industry, a film archivist or a diehard fan. Movies that definitely DON’T belong here:
1) Support Your Local Sheriff (how did that make the list??)
2) Quigley Down Under (Australia…and it is a good movie, but short of great)
3) Blood Simple
4) The Alamo (2004)
5) Last of the Mohicans (not a western)
6) El Mariachi (good but not a western, a modern Mexican thriller)
7) Add 3:10 to Yuma original…

Personally, although some say comedies don’t belong here, I think some do. Notably Blazing Saddles…and Cat Ballou, only because of Lee Marvin’s wonderful role.

By Western Dog on Oct 30, 2009 at 12:05 am