The MoFo Top 100 Westerns: Countdown

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We've gone on holiday by mistake
Couple of Tarantino overachievers imo. They weren't bad but they weren't great either just like every Tarantino film post Pulp Fiction.
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The Hateful Eight was my #10, but Django Unchained was not in the running. There are plenty of obvious reasons why Hateful Eight is easy to see as a companion piece to Django Unchained, but a major one that gives it the edge for me is how it actively works against the earlier film's revisionist fantasy in favour of a more messy reality, almost as if Tarantino retroactively realises the problems with him trying to balance a sensationalist revenge narrative against the horrors of slavery in the antebellum South. Where Django... saw its title character go from hapless slave to badass folk hero under the guidance of the film's single benevolent white man (who ultimately steals the show thanks to Christoph Waltz's show-boating performance overwhelming Jamie Foxx's muted deadpan, never quite finding the right balance to make them a duo as thoroughly iconic as the likes of Jules and Vincent or Rick and Cliff), Hateful Eight just straight-up makes no excuses for how horrible everyone in its core ensemble ends up being in one way or another. It may come across as a much more we-live-in-a-society kind of film as a result of how much it rides on festering post-reformation resentments that have never truly disappeared from Western society, whether they are left in the open or masked behind insincere proclamations of respect, but it still proves better in handling this than Django... awkwardly trying to fit such subject matter in amidst a Kill Bill-esque rampage.
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Hateful Eight over Django? HELL NO.

Well, maybe the movie will grow more and more on me (it already has), but there’s many things about it that just didn’t work for me. And it’s easily Tarantino’s most self-mastrubating script. The dialogue sometimes sounds like it’s written by a QT fanboy.

Django however, was actually my #1. Not your typical western and it might not be the most heavy Tarantino flick, but it’s entertaining as hell. I have so much fun with it every time I see it. A freaking blast. So I put it at my number one. Perhaps a little extreme, but then again I’m not an expert on the western genre (yet), so I don’t have that much to pick from. So this modern spin on a western made the top spot.



Hateful Eight over Django? HELL NO.
By seven whole points. A travesty among travesties, to be sure.
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Quentin Tarantino is pretty hit or miss for me, but Django Unchained is one massive hit with its gorgeous visuals, delicious violence, and fantastic performances. Speaking of those performances, I actually don't find Waltz to be the show stealer at all. Sure he gives a fine performance, but my man Leonardo DiCaprio and motherf***ing Samuel L. Jackson are the standouts for me. Hell I found "Big Daddy" Don Johnson more memorable. It's probably my favorite Tarantino film and my 4th favorite Western.



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The Hateful Eight is a very tense movie with more of that signature Tarantino violence, but I just find it to be quite a bit less fun than Django Unchained. I'm a little surprised that it took the higher position, though I suppose it is more of a pure Western than Django. None of this is to say that The Hateful Eight isn't fun though. That ending was a blast and Samuel L. Jackson talking about his big black dingus had me rolling. I had it at #7.



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The Sisters Brothers is a really good looking film with an interesting story and some solid performances. Speaking of good looking things, you know I gotta represent Joaquin. Shame it just barely missed, with only 1 point separating its score from the #100 slot. I had it at #13.

Also, can I just say how not surprised I am that Dances With Wolves made the top ten?

My Ballot:
1. 3:10 to Yuma (2007) (#29)
3. Open Range (#36)
4. Django Unchained (#12)
5. The Quick and the Dead (#42)
6. The Hanging Tree (#87)
7. The Hateful Eight (#11)
8. The Revenant (#25)
10. Dead Man (#26)
12. The Dark Valley (#92)
13. The Sisters Brothers (Just Missed)
15. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (#52)
17. Tombstone (#28)
18. Slow West (#95)
21. Rango (#41)
25. In Pursuit of Honor (One-Pointers)



Also, can I just say how not surprised I am that Dances With Wolves made the top ten?
It would only have been surprising if it wasn't in the Top Ten.

Who wants to start making their guesses for the order of the Top Ten?



Who wants to start making their guesses for the order of the Top Ten?
Very much a guess, but here goes:

1.The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
2. Once Upon a Time in the West
3. Unforgiven
4. The Wild Bunch
5. Dances with Wolves
6. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
7. Rio Bravo
8. The Searchers
9. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
10. High Noon



Voted for both of these, can’t help but love Tarantino

Seen: 32/90
- Slow West (#95)
- The Big Gundown (#85)
- The Furies (#84)
- The Gold Rush (#78)
- The Shooting (#71)
- The Grey Fox (#66)
- The Great Train Robbery (#60)
- Meek’s Cutoff (#58)
- Red River (#56)
- Bone Tomahawk (#54)
- The Cowboys (#50)
- Rango (#41)
- The Gunfighter (#40)
- Open Range (#36)
- Hell or High Water (#35)
- The Great Silence (#34)
- The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (#33)
- Johnny Guitar (#30)
- Tombstone (#28)
- The Revenant (#25)
- Stagecoach (#23)
- True Grit (#22)
- Blazing Saddles (#21)
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (#20)
- The Ox-Bow Incident (#19)
- For a Few Dollars More (#18)
- McCabe and Mrs. Miller (#17)
- A Fistful of Dollars (#16)
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (#15)
- There Will be Blood (#14)
- Django Unchained (#12)
- The Hateful Eight (#11)

My list:
1. There Will be Blood
5. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
6. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
7. McCabe and Mrs. Miller
8. Blazing Saddles
11. For a Few Dollars More
12. Johnny Guitar
14. Hell or High Water
16. The Revenant
17. The Lone Ranger
18. A Fistful of Dollars
19. Red River
20. The Gunfighter
21. Bone Tomahawk
22. The Hateful Eight
23. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
24. Stagecoach
25. Django Unchained

Too bad the Lone Ranger didn’t make it, that was my #17.




The Hateful Eight is #19 on my ballot and my 5th favorite QT flick. Love everything about it; the cast, the panavision choice, the ‘clue’ style delivery, tributes to earlier lesser known classics of the genre. Maybe a bucket or two less blood in the final scene but other than that, perfecto. Also I just love snowy surroundings in film; mccabe and mrs miller, the great silence (the grey, arctic, the thing etc.).

Lonely Are the Brave and Cat Ballou are both high on my western-watchlist, will be watching soon.


Seen list 59/90 + ranking on my personal list:
90. Duck, You Sucker! (#53)
85. The Big Gundown (#52)
82. ¡Three Amigos! (#50)
80. The Mercenary (#21)
79. My Name is Nobody (#13)
76. The Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean (#27)
75. Pale Rider (#60)
74. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (#58)
72. Maverick (#95)
69. Westworld (#65)
68. Bad Day at Black Rock (#62)
67. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (#18)
66. The Grey Fox (#85)
64. Django (#36)
63. Ride the High Country (#92)
62. City Slickers (#82)
61. Young Guns (#11)
58. Meek's Cutoff (#67)
57. The Shootist (#40)
56. Red River (#78)
55. Back to the Future Part III (#49)
54. Bone Tomahawk (#55)
53. Winchester '73 (#32)
52. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (#54)
51. Giant (#53)
48. 3:10 to Yuma (#35)
47. El Dorado (#29)
46. The Proposition (#68)
45. The Professionals (#71)
44. My Darling Clementine (#78)
43. Shane (#90)
42. The Quick and the Dead (#88)
40. The Gunfighter (#8)
39. Little Big Man (#33)
37. Jeremiah Johnson (#4)
36. Open Range (#47)
35. Hell or High Water (#17)
34. The Great Silence (#22)
32. One-Eyed Jacks (#7)
31. High Plains Drifter (#48)
30. Johnny Guitar (#93)
29. 3:10 to Yuma (#57)
28. Tombstone (#12)
27. The Big Country (#15)
26. Dead Man (#24)
25. The Revenant (#26)
24. The Magnificent Seven (#77)
23. Stagecoach (#37)
22. True Grit (#60)
20. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (#28)
19. The Ox-Bow Incident (#16)
18. For A Few Dollars More (#29)
17. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (#20)
16. A Fistful of Dollars (#31)
15. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
14. There Will Be Blood
13. The Outlaw Josey Wales (#10)
12. Django Unchained (#74)
11. The Hateful Eight (#19)

My Ballot 16/25:
  1. - Top 2
  2. - Top 5
  3. - 100%
  4. Jeremiah Johnson 1972
  5. - Top 3
  6. - 100%
  7. One-Eyed Jacks 1961
  8. The Gunfighter 1950
  9. - 100%
  10. The Outlaw Josey Wales 1976
  11. Young Guns 1988
  12. Tombstone 1993
  13. My Name Is Nobody 1973
  14. - 100%
  15. The Big Country 1958
  16. The Ox-Bow Incident 1943
  17. Hell or High Water 2016
  18. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid 1973
  19. The Hateful Eight 2015
  20. McCabe & Mrs. Miller 1971
  21. The Mercenary 1968
  22. The Great Silence 1968
  23. - 100%
  24. Dead Man 1995
  25. - 0%

Can’t wait for the top ten!

Let’s Go!



I'm not a fan of Tarantino. At least we got both of his films back to back. Now on to hopefully some of the great westerns.
Yesss, can’t wait for The Good the Bad the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West



I voted for Django Unchained while The Hateful Eight was a near miss. For some reason I thought Django was the more popular of the two.

3. Little Big Man (#39)
4. The Ox-Bow Incident (#19)
5. The Big Country (#27)
7. Shane (#43)
8. McC abe and Mrs. Miller (#17)
9. One-Eyed Jacks (#32)
10. My Darling Clementine (#44)
11. The Shootist (#57)
14. Django Unchained (#12)
16. For a Few Dollars More (#18)
18. Day of the Outlaw (#77)
19. Red River (#56)
21. The Cowboys (#50)
23. Open Range (#36)
24. The Furies (#84)
25. Winchester 73 (#53)



The Wind (1928) was my #16. I thought for sure it would make the countdown as it had been a nom in the first western HoF. I know it has it's fans here...well at least some of us voted for it.



I suck at trying to predict countdown orders, but here it goes anyway

1 Unforgiven
2 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
3 Once Upon a Time in the West
4 High Noon
5 The Searchers
6 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
7 Rio Bravo
8 Dances with Wolves
9 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
10 The Wild Bunch



I'm not a fan of Tarantino. At least we got both of his films back to back. Now on to hopefully some of the great westerns.
Make your predictions on the order of the Top Ten. Miss Vicky is the only one on record, so far.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
I liked both of Tarantino's westerns and considered them before they were cut. Instead, I'll "talk" about one of my films that didn't make it. Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is my #17.

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (John Sturges, 1957)



Sturges fashions Leon Uris's script into a taut, thinking-man's western with an exciting payoff in the title incident. Lancaster plays Wyatt Earp as something of an athletic saint but Douglas plays Doc Holliday full of self-loathing and self-destruction. The film is divided into two halves, the first where Earp is the marshal of Dodge City and the second where he quits to go help his brothers in their feud with the Clantons and McLowerys in Tombstone. The theme song by Frankie Laine sets everything up wonderfully over the opening credits and Dimitri Tiomkin's great music is an asset throughout, accenting the various tense incidents which fill out the movie. The supporting cast includes Rhonda Fleming as a lady gambler whom Earp romances and Jo Van Fleet as Doc's woman who runs off with Johnny Ringo (John Ireland) when Doc gets too ill from drink and TB. Other interesting casting choices include Dennis Hopper as Billy Clanton as well as DeForest Kelley (Bones on the original "Star Trek") and Martin Milner ("Adam-12") as two of Wyatt's brothers. Lyle Bettger, Ted de Corsia, Lee Van Cleef, Jack Elam, Frank Faylen and Earl Holliman round out the cast in my vote for the best O.K. Corral flick ever and probably the first western I watched over and over as a young kid.
My List

1. Little Big Man
3. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
4. The Outlaw Josey Wales
7. One-Eyed Jacks
8. The Professionals
10. Red River
11. Oklahoma!
12. Hud
13. The Big Country
14. Giant
17. Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
19. The Ox-Bow Incident
20. The Ballad of Cable Hogue
22. Support Your Local Sheriff!
23. The Revenant
24. There Will be Blood
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My guesses... I guess

1. Once Upon a Time in the West
2. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
3. Unforgiven
4. The Searchers
5. The Wild Bunch
6. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
7. Dances with Wolves
8. Rio Bravo
9. High Noon
10. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance