The MoFo Top 100 Westerns: Countdown

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I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Not a huge fan of either of the top 2,, but not really surprised they topped the list.

Here was my list:

1. High Noon (1952)
2. Dead Man (1995)
3. Hud (1963)
4. Quigley Down Under (1990)
5. The Oxbow Incident (1942)
6. Unforgiven (1992)
7. Stagecoach (1939)
8. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
9. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
10. The Magnificent Seven (1960)
11. McCabe and Mrs Miller (1971)
12. True Grit (2010)
13. The Revenant (2015)
14. Slow West (2015)
15. The Dark Valley (2014)
16. Calamity Jane (1953)
17. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
18. Red River (1948)
19. True Grit (1969)
20. Johnny Guitar (1954)
21. Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957)
22. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
23. My Darling Clementine (1946)
24. The Good, the Bad the Weird (2008)
25. Bad Girls (1994)


Thanks to Holden for compiling and hosting the countdown, great job.



Fantastic job, Holden! No offense to any list builder over time, but this one was my very favorite as Westerns hold a special place in my movie heart.
This was my favorite countdown to participate in. I love westerns and had a blast watching a bunch of them in preparation for my ballot.

Angel and the Badman, The Man From Laramie, Bend of the River, The Far Country
I love all those and The Man From Laramie, Bend of the River were on my ballot.



To echo everyone else, phenomenal hosting job by the inimitable @Holden Pike. The gorgeous graphics, beautiful layout, informative write-ups, detailed stats, on-schedule updates . . . You bring a level of professionalism and knowledge to these countdowns that no other host can match. We're always indebted to the members who take on the enormous challenge and workload that hosting these countdowns entail, and I think all our previous hosts have done a superb job in their own right, but your presentation is just on another level. Maybe we need to start a GoFundMe and throw a few dollars your way to reward and encourage you to host ALL countdowns going forward.

Shout-out to the community as well. The best thing about these countdowns is that they bring us all together. Even though the western isn't the most popular genre around here, I think we had a helluva turnout. 67 ballots is impressive. And as always, I enjoyed reading everyone's contributions along the way.



Captain Spaulding's Six-Shooting, Whiskey-Drinking, Saloon-Fighting, Cattle-Ranging, Tumbleweed-Blowing, Horse-Riding Western Round-Up:




#1) Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)


#2) For a Few Dollars More (1965)


#3) Rio Bravo (1959)


#4) The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)


#5) Johnny Guitar (1954)


#6) Unforgiven (1992)


#7) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)


#8) The Wild Bunch (1969)


#9) The Gunfighter (1950)


#10) Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)


#11) 3:10 to Yuma (2007)


#12) High Plains Drifter (1973)


#13) The Great Silence (1968)


#14) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)


#15) The Searchers (1956)


#16) The Big Country (1958)


#17) The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)


#18) Death Rides a Horse (1967)


#19) Forty Guns (1957)


#20) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)


#21) Winchester '73 (1950)


#22) Django Unchained (2012)


#23) Stagecoach (1939)


#24) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)


#25) True Grit (1969)
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very solid list. thanks for all the hard work, holden, all the graphics were incredible.

here's my list:
1. the hateful eight (quentin tarantino, 2015)
2. johnny guitar (nicholas ray, 1954)
3. the man who shot liberty valance (john ford, 1962)
4. the searchers (john ford, 1956)
5. warlock (edward dmytryk, 1959)
6. rio bravo (howard hawks, 1959)
7. the revenant (alejandro gonzalez inarritu, 2015)
8. man of the west (anthony mann, 1958)
9. once upon a time in the west (sergio leone, 1968)
10. the good, the bad, and the ugly (sergio leone, 1966)
11. my darling clementine (john ford, 1946)
12. dances with wolves (kevin costner, 1990)
13. the lusty men (nicholas ray, 1952)
14. the treasure of the sierra madre (john huston, 1948)
15. the naked spur (anthony mann. 1953)
16. django unchained (quentin tarantino, 2012)
17. day of the outlaw (andre de toth, 1959)
18. bone tomahawk (s. craig zahler, 2015)
19. pale rider (clint eastwood, 1985)
20. the rider (chloe zhao, 2018)
21. the ballad of buster scruggs (coen brothers, 2018)
22. the shootist (don siegel, 1976)
23. winchester ‘73 (anthony mann, 1950)
24. lone star (john sayles, 1996)
25. montana belle (allan dwan, 1952)


i had five that didn't make it, although man of the west was quite close at #101. i also watched robert mulligan's the stalking moon last week and that would probably have made my list at #24 or 25 if i had watched it in time.
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seen A Clockwork Orange. In all honesty, the movie was weird and silly
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Didn't anyone praise @Holden Pike for the splendid representation and general professionalism already? Guess I'll be the first then

So. I'll just post my ballot and make some short comments along the way when needed.

01: Once Upon a Time in the West (1968 - Leone)
The #1 spot on my vote was cast in stone. It's one of my absolute favorites and I've yet to see another western that even threatens to topple it from its throne.
02: Brimstone (2016 - Koolhoven)
My favorite movie from the past decade. Nasty, violent, and biblical exploration of oppression and freedom. Has one of the vilest villains of all time.
03: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966 - Leone)
The best film in Leone's trilogy. It's been going up steadily in my rankings over the years and on the latest rewatch I truly loved it.
04: The Great Silence (1968 - Corbucci)
05: Cut-Throats Nine (1972 - Marchent)
The most nihilistic and hopeless western in existence. No happy endings, and no happy in-betweens either.

06: The Proposition (2005 - Hillcoat)
07: For a Few Dollars More (1965 - Leone)
08: The Wild Bunch (1969 - Peckinpah)
09: The Hunting Party (1971 - Medford)
It turns up the violence from The Wild Bunch by a notch. A nihilistic story of vengeance and power.
10: The Dark Valley (2014 - Prochaska)

11: A Fistful of Dollars (1964 - Leone)
12: The Hired Hand (1971 - Fonda)
Surprised that this didn't make it. Even more surprised that I and @Citizen Rules voted for the same film that didn't make it.
13: Unforgiven (1992 - Eastwood)
14: The Hateful Eight (2015 - Tarantino)
15: They Call Me Trinity (1970 - Barboni)
A humoristic spaghetti with Terence Hill and Bud Spencer. I loved these guys as a kid and was surprised how good the film was on a recent rewatch. It has a darker side too as Hill's character is pretty much a psychopath.

--
From this position onwards all the films are more or less fillers and very likely to change almost daily. If I had spent more time watching (and rewatching) westerns most of these would probably have got knocked off.

16: Ulzana's Raid (1972 - Aldrich)
Another surprise not to make it. I remember it being quite neutral in its depiction of Apache and overall a very decent watch.
17: Dirty Little Billy (1972 - Dragoti)
Dirty little movie that kind of drags quite a bit, but the ending is rewarding.
18: Deadbirds (2004 - Turner)
Probably the best western horror I've seen. Not too original and the ending is kinda lame, but way more suspenseful than your average horror.
19: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007 - Dominik)
This is a possible exception to the filler clause above. It's this low because I didn't remember it well enough. If it holds up in a potential rewatch it would be higher.
20: Four of the Apocalypse (1975 - Fulci)
It's a slightly above average Fulci. Nihilistic and little violent, but as a whole Cut-Throats Nine does this style much better.

21: Hannie Caulder (1971 - Kennedy)
It was decent entertainment. I honestly don't know why I voted for it.
22: The Gunfighter (1950 - King)
23: Cemetery Without Crosses (1969 - Hossein)
Quite decent spaghetti about, surprisingly, vengeance. In this list it should have been a bit higher, I think.
24: Let the Corpses Tan (2017 - Cattet, Forzani)
The only modern-day western on my ballot. It's an OK film and I guess I mostly voted for it as a curiosity.
25: Bone Tomahawk (2015 - Zahler)
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Wow. This is an interesting and impressive thread. Thanks for all of your hard work on this, Holden. I have only seen 22 of the Top 100 movies!



The entire list was tracked HERE, the second post on the first page. Do you need something more than that? And I am sure that Yoda, busted wing and all, is readying the results into the Lists section of the site.
Thank you. That's what I was looking for, only in reverse order.



Didn't anyone praise @Holden Pike for the splendid representation and general professionalism already? Guess I'll be the first then
Just about everyone already did. In fact Captain Spaulding was so excited by it all that he had to take a cold shower



Just about everyone already did. In fact Captain Spaulding was so excited by it all that he had to take a cold shower
I hope you realize it was meant as a joke

Oh, and I just checked that I guessed our lists would have only one film in common but it seems the correct answer is three (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Gunfighter and The Hired Hand). Was it close (only two off) or far (truth is three times my guess), I don't know?



I hope you realize it was meant as a joke

Oh, and I just checked that I guessed our lists would have only one film in common but it seems the correct answer is three (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Gunfighter and The Hired Hand). Was it close (only two off) or far (truth is three times my guess), I don't know?
I thought you were joking But I'm not sure what you mean by your last sentence?


The ones I've seen and liked in green
The ones I haven't seen in black
Seen and didn't like in gray

pahaK's ballot:
01: Once Upon a Time in the West (1968 - Leone)

02: Brimstone (2016 - Koolhoven)
03: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966 - Leone)
04: The Great Silence (1968 - Corbucci)

05: Cut-Throats Nine (1972 - Marchent)
06: The Proposition (2005 - Hillcoat)
07: For a Few Dollars More (1965 - Leone)
08: The Wild Bunch (1969 - Peckinpah)

09: The Hunting Party (1971 - Medford)
10: The Dark Valley (2014 - Prochaska)
11: A Fistful of Dollars (1964 - Leone)
12: The Hired Hand (1971 - Fonda)
13: Unforgiven (1992 - Eastwood)

14: The Hateful Eight (2015 - Tarantino)
15: They Call Me Trinity (1970 - Barboni)
16: Ulzana's Raid (1972 - Aldrich)
17: Dirty Little Billy (1972 - Dragoti)
18: Deadbirds (2004 - Turner)
19: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007 - Dominik)
20: Four of the Apocalypse (1975 - Fulci)
21: Hannie Caulder (1971 - Kennedy)
22: The Gunfighter (1950 - King)
23: Cemetery Without Crosses (1969 - Hossein)
24: Let the Corpses Tan (2017 - Cattet, Forzani)
25: Bone Tomahawk (2015 - Zahler)



Is 948 points a record for one of these countdowns?
No. On the MoFo Top 100 of the '70s List (that I also ran), The Godfather had over 1,200 points. But I believe that list also has the record for number of ballots: 99! Clicky HERE.


__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra



The trick is not minding
This was a fun countdown. My first time. Can’t wait til we another. Thanks again, Holden for hosting It, and for all the hard work you put into it. You did great!



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I didn't watch Once Upon A Time in the West because I didn't care for most of the spaghetti westerns that I watched for this countdown, but since it placed so high on this countdown, maybe I'll give it a chance if I come across it someday.

I had already seen The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly before this countdown, and I didn't care for it, but I rewatched it for this countdown. I'm still not a fan of the movie, but at least it was better on the rewatch.


I already posted my complete list here a couple of days ago. I'm glad that I participated in this countdown because I found a lot of great western movies that I probably never would have watched on my own. It's kind of strange because when I was younger, I used to enjoy watching a lot of the old western TV shows like "The Lone Ranger", "Maverick", "Branded", "The Rifleman", "The Wild Wild West", etc., but for some reason I stopped watching them. This countdown reminded me of how much I used to love those shows. Fortunately, I have some of them on DVD.


@Holden Pike, Thanks for all of your hard work. I loved everything about your presentation of the countdown.



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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.



Here's my partial list. I did make a mistake with Westworld and Bad Girls. I was trying to decide whether or not to put Westworld higher because it actually had a chance of making the list (as you can see, most of my list didn't and there were a few which made it that I didn't think would) and whether I could include it as a Western seeing as that's not really how I think of it (same thing happened with City Slicker and a few others I asked Holden to clarify for me) and in the end I thought I'd decided to be true to myself and put Bad Girls higher. Apparently I didn't . I think I've seen them all at least once but most of them were a very long time ago and the viewings would've been quite close together. The only one I'm not 100% about is Cheyenne Autumn which basically made my list because my granddad thought so well of it.

As those who saw me post back in the day would expect, the 70's and 90's are pretty heavily represented.

1. Unforgiven (1992)
2. Westworld (1973)
3. Bad Girls (1994)
4. The Quick And The Dead (1995)
5. High Plains Drifter (1973)
6. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
7. Young Guns (1988)
8. Young Guns II (1990)
9. The Claim (2000)
10. El Mariachi (1992)
11. The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007)
12. Ride With The Devil (1999)
13 City Slicker (1991)
14. A Man Called Horse (1970)
15. Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
16. Dances With Wolves (1990)
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5-time MoFo Award winner.



Still only seen 43 /100
Updated list:

1. Once Upon a Time in the West #2 - Confirmed as my favorite with a recent rewatch.
2. The Shooting (1966) #71
3. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) #8
4. Unforgiven #3 - Also saw this recently and it's still that good.
5. Dances with Wolves (1990) #7
6. Tombstone (1993) #28
7. True Grit (1969) #38
8. Django (1966) #64
9. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly #1- Was a top five until a recent rewatch for Western HoF.
10. True Grit (2010) #22
11. The Ox-Bow Incident (1942) #19
12. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) #4
13. Django Unchained (2012) #12
14. Stagecoach (1939) #23
15. Ride in the Whirlwind (1966) Probably a no at this point
16. McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971) #17
17. Bone Tomahawk (2015) #54
18. Three Amigos (1986) #82
19. Vera Cruz (1954) guessing, no
20. Rio Bravo (1959) #10
21. Buck and the Preacher (1972) not looking good
22. The Searchers (1956) #5
23. For a Few Dollars More (1965) #18
24. Maverick (1994) #72
25. 3:10 to Yuma (2007) #29

Thanks Holden for all the work you put into the countdown. It really was outstanding!



This was quite a feat Holden, very well done! Good job!
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Imagine an eye unruled by man-made laws of perspective, an eye unprejudiced by compositional logic, an eye which does not respond to the name of everything but which must know each object encountered in life through an adventure of perception. How many colors are there in a field of grass to the crawling baby unaware of 'Green'?

-Stan Brakhage



Here's my partial list. I did make a mistake with Westworld and Bad Girls. I was trying to decide whether or not to put Westworld higher because it actually had a chance of making the list (as you can see, most of my list didn't and there were a few which made it that I didn't think would) and whether I could include it as a Western seeing as that's not really how I think of it (same thing happened with City Slicker and a few others I asked Holden to clarify for me) and in the end I thought I'd decided to be true to myself and put Bad Girls higher. Apparently I didn't . I think I've seen them all at least once but most of them were a very long time ago and the viewings would've been quite close together. The only one I'm not 100% about is Cheyenne Autumn which basically made my list because my granddad thought so well of it.

As those who saw me post back in the day would expect, the 70's and 90's are pretty heavily represented.

1. Unforgiven (1992)
2. Westworld (1973)
3. Bad Girls (1994)
4. The Quick And The Dead (1995)
5. High Plains Drifter (1973)
6. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
7. Young Guns (1988)
8. Young Guns II (1990)
9. The Claim (2000)
10. El Mariachi (1992)
11. The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007)
12. Ride With The Devil (1999)
13 City Slicker (1991)
14. A Man Called Horse (1970)
15. Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
16. Dances With Wolves (1990)
Still a decent 16, surprised to see El Mariachi but no Desperado.



25. Bone Tomahawk
24. Jubal
23. The Revenant
22. Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
21. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
20. Ravenous
19. Outland
18. 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
17. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
16. Wind River
15. The Hateful Eight
14. Django Unchained
13. Rio Bravo
12. The Gold Rush
11. The Wild Bunch
10. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
09. Cat Ballou
08. Ox Bow Incident
07. High Plains Drifter
06. Unforgiven
05. Tombstone
04. Giant
03. The Searchers
02. Once Upon a Time in The West
01. High Noon