Western movieshave 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. Whileearly releases of the silent erahave 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.
The verybest Western moviesnot only succeeded as mainstream crowd-pleasers but actually brought something new to the table from a creative perspective. From inspired narrative choices toawe-inspiring uses of special effects, Western movies have been pushing the boundaries of what can be depicted on screen and helped inspire everything that came after them. Whilepeople may disagree about what the greatest Western of all timeis, nobody can deny that these movies didn’t change the game entirely.
Despite being one of the oldest genres in all of cinema, the Western movies of the early film industry were mostly disposable adventures that weren’t taken seriously as works of art. There are notable exceptions like the trailblazing use of close-up shots inThe Great Train Robberyfrom 1903. However, during the silent era and the early days of sound, small studios churned out countless low-budget features and Western serials that have mostly been forgotten by modern audiences.
It was John Ford’sStagecoachthat acted as a defining moment in the Western genre being taken seriously, as it not onlycemented John Wayne as a leading manbut also brought depth to the genre itself. With complex characters and a sense of moral ambiguity, this story of a group of travelers riding a stagecoach through Apache territory added a new level of sophistication to Western storytelling.Stagecoach’sinfluence even extended beyond the genre itself, with Orson Welles calling it the perfect textbook for filmmaking and watching it more than 40 times while preparing to makeCitizen Kane.
While stories of cowboys, gunslingers, and outlaws weren’t totally without political connotations,High Noonbrought overtly political themes into the genrein a way that was unprecedented at the time. Described by John Wayne as “the most un-American thing I’ve ever seen,”High Noonwas widely considered an allegory for the political climate of the 1950s, particularly McCarthyism. With Gary Cooper as Marshal Will Kane, this story of a man abandoned by his townsfolk to face a gang of outlaws alone mimicked the public fear of being targeted during the Red Scare.
High Noonused a real-time structure that powerfully demonstrates the urgent suspense of Kane’s dilemma throughout its swift 85-minute runtime. By breaking through classic Western conventions of typical heroes who act first and ask questions later,High Noonwas able to push past standard themes of heroes versus villains to address more complex political questions. As a powerful statement on political responsibility and the isolating societal response to fear,High Noonstands as a Western that has not lost any of its relevance all these decades later.
For as long as the West has been around, filmmakers have been telling stories of cowboys versus so-called Indians. With very little cultural understanding, most early Westerns depicted the Native American indigenous populations as brutal savages. A defining moment in changing this wasThe Searchers, a film that took a major step forward in depicting Native tribes as more than just faceless enemies and as having their own families, culture, and motivations.
The Searcherswas far from perfect when it came to breaking through stereotypes and was still steeped in the prejudices of its era. However, it was also a genre-defining stepping stone that opened the door to more nuanced portrayals of indigenous peoples. Most importantly,The Searcherswas also a critique of the violence enacted by white settlersand explored the cyclical nature of violence in the Wild West. Even ifThe Searchersdoes not live up to today’s cultural sensibilities, it was still a watershed moment in the history of Westerns and a major step in the right direction.
Director Sergio Leone spearheaded a new style of filmmaking with his Spaghetti Western movies starring Clint Eastwood as the cinematic icon, The Man with No Name. These stylish Westerns were low-budget co-productions between Italy, West Germany, and Spain and kickstarted withA Fistful of Dollarsbefore being quickly followed byFor a Few Dollars MoreandThe Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Not only werethese Westerns produced outside of the United States, but they were also a radical departure from the typical depiction of a clean-cut cowboy.
Eastwood’s The Man with No Name was gruff, gritty, and spewed hilarious one-liners as he shot his way through the Wild West. As an anti-hero who played by his own rules, Eastwood’s characterization influenced other movies likeDjango,Kill Johnny Ringo,and the parodyMy Name Is Nobody. Elevated by its iconic score from Ennio Morricone,A Fistful of Dollarsand the entireDollars Trilogysignaled the dawning of a whole new era of popularity for the Western genre.
As the 1960s were coming to an end, filmmakers were starting to examine the old tenets of the Western genre with more scrutiny, and out of this came several incredibly revisionist Westerns. These were films that presented a less simplistic view of the Old West and included releases likeButch Cassidy and the Sundance KidandThe Wild Bunch. As two genre-defining films, Sam Peckinpah’sThe Wild Bunchpushed the genre even further through its brilliant technical innovation and trailblazing use of slow-motion shots.
The Wild Bunchwas unlike any Western before it, as its use of intricate, multi-angle, quick-cut editing paired with slow-motion shots added a sense of graphic realism to its most violent sequences. This stylistic choice allowed audiences to see the true brutality and barbarism of murder in the Wild West in more detail than they were used to. By forcing them to engage with the violence head-on and sit with it longer than they were comfortable with,The Wild Bunchhad an immediacy and power that was previously absent from Western movies.
Director Robert Altman delivered the quintessential anti-Western withMcCabe & Mrs. Miller, a fascinating film that consciously subverts the conventions of traditional Westerns. With a realistic and cynical presentation of the American Old West, this revisionist story starred Warren Beatty and Julie Christie as the title characters pushing back against capitalist exploitation. What starts with the classic story of a mysterious stranger riding into town soon devolves into a brutal tale of corporate interests quashing McCabe and Mrs. Miller’s small-time schemes.
Through the use ofa sparse soundtrack made up of somber songs by Canadian songwriter Leonard Cohen,McCabe & Mrs. Millercaptured a mournful tone as the charismatic gambler John McCabe must contend with the ruthless capitalists who are determined to force him out of the town where he makes his livelihood. Rather than featuring classic Western villains, the transactional nature of modern times was the real antagonist ofMcCabe & Mrs. Miller, an outlook that perfectly encapsulated the disillusionment of post-Vietnam America.
Clint Eastwood has been contributing to changes within the Western genre his entire career, with his role as The Man with No Name in Sergio Leone’sDollars Trilogybeing a defining part for the star. However, it was much later, withUnforgiven,that Eastwood finally took home the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director. This outstanding revisionist Western saw Eastwood portray an aged outlaw who comes out of retirement for one last job and acted as the summation of his entire career and his defining statement on the genre as a whole.
Unforgivenwas one of the most effective Western movies of all time for the way it deconstructed the myth of the Old West and shone a harsh light on the cyclical nature of violence. While The Man with No Name was characterized by witty one-liners,Eastwood’s William Munny was haunted by his violent pastand had to carry the burden of a murderous outlaw’s life of sin.Unforgivenstripped the Western genre of all its heroism and showcased the Wild West as a brutal, unforgiving landscape in a way it had never been depicted before on screen.
Ang Lee’sBrokeback Mountainwas a profoundly poignant reimagining of the Western genre that addressed long-standing themes of masculinity, emotional repression, and homoerotic subtext head-on. By introducing two cowboy figures, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), who embodied the very essence of stoic, rugged masculinity, and exploring their repressed love affair over decades,Brokeback Mountainforced audiences to consider LGBTQ+ outlooks in a way rarely depicted in mainstream Hollywood at the time.
Brokeback Mountainsubverted the myth of Western heroes by presenting its characters as vulnerable and struggling individuals who, rather than engaging in saloon shootouts, were instead stunted by societal prejudices and personal fear. As a major hit with critics and audiences alike,Brokeback Mountainopened the door for more thoughtful LGBTQ+Westernsin the subsequent years, such as Jane Campion’sThe Power of the Dog.
