The MoFo Top 100 Westerns: Countdown

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Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood is a helluva film with one of the most powerfully mesmerizing central performances ever committed to celluloid. Daniel Day-Lewis smolders and roars as Daniel Plainview, a silver prospector who ruthlessly turns himself into an oil man in early 20th Century California, in conflict with his own demons as well as the Sunday family led by fire and brimstone preacher Eli (Paul Dano). It’s eligibility as a Western was debated HERE with enough MoFos agreeing it should be in the mix. And here it is, in grand fashion as the fourteenth highest rated film of the countdown. The singular experience that is There Will Be Blood was on twenty ballots including a ninth, an eighth, a seventh, two fourth, one third, five second, and four first place votes!

Clint Eastwood’s second Western as a director himself is The Outlaw Josey Wales. Clint’s Wales is a quiet farmer in Missouri doing his best to tend to his wife and child near the end of the Civil War and stay out of the fighting. Some Kansas hellraisers led by a Union Captain “Redlegs” Terrill (Deliverance’s Bill McKinney) burn his home and murder his family. Wales survives, picks up a gun, and joins a band of Confederates in his search for Redlegs. Spoiler alert: the North wins the War. Fletcher (John Vernon) convinces the rebels to surrender. But they are double crossed, massacred by Redlegs, further fueling Josey’s vengeance. A wanted man pursued into the frontier, Wales eventually teams with an old Cherokee (Chief Dan George), a Navajo (Geraldine Keams) he frees from captivity, and a family of settlers with Grandma Sarah (Paula Trueman) the matriarch and pretty Laura Lee (Sondra Locke) in tow. Together they have to deal with Indians and bandits and a series of bounty hunters looking to cash in on Wales, as well as Captain Terrill and his men. The Outlaw Josey Wales was on twenty-eight ballots including a first, second, third, two fourth, two sixth, two eighth, a ninth, and four tenth placers adding up to it being the first film on the countdown to pass 400 points.




The Sons of Katie Elder, North to Alaska, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Shootist, Red River, The Cowboys, El Dorado, True Grit, Stagecoach,
Two Mules for Sister Sara, Pale Rider, High Plains Drifter, For a Few Dollars More, A Fistful of Dollars
and The Outlaw Josey Wales
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It wouldn't surprise me simply because it's so well-known that a lot of people would vote for it practically by default, but whether or not it actually deserves it...that's another question entirely.
Or MAYBE they voted for it because they genuinely enjoy it and think it’s worthy. Just a thought....



There Will be Blood made my list... at #1!!! Yes, I call it a Western by any real definition of that genre, to me it's not only the best Western ever made but one of the greatest movies ever made. Very glad it made the list, and higher than I expected!!

Seen: 30/88
- 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)

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
18. A Fistful of Dollars
19. Red River
20. The Gunfighter
21. Bone Tomahawk
23. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
24. Stagecoach
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There Will Be Blood is very good but again it's one of those that wasn't considered for my ballot. The Outlaw Josey Wales was though, and I like it enough for it to lay claim the penultimate spot on said ballot.

Seen: 54/88
My list:  

Faildictions (yee-haw version 1.12):
12. Dances With Wolves
11. Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid



Welcome to the human race...
Or MAYBE they voted for it because they genuinely enjoy it and think it’s worthy. Just a thought....
Like the guy says, deserve's got nothin' to do with it. It's a decent enough movie and certainly better than some of the other titles to make this list, but I never got the impression that it was a film enough people genuinely loved to the point where it would comfortably crack the top 15, which is why I'm guessing it ended up on the tail end of a bunch of ballots that were stretching to make it to 25.

Anyway, I had There Will Be Blood at #4 and The Outlaw Josey Wales at #17. Both excellent examples of the genre.
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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0



I never got the impression that it was a film enough people genuinely loved to the point where it would comfortably crack the top 15, which is why I'm guessing it ended up on the tail end of a bunch of ballots that were stretching to make it to 25.
I don't think that's true at all, but I guess we'll find out once Holden reveals the stats.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
The Outlaw Josey Wales is my #4 and There Will be Blood is my #24. Read this crap if you have the inclination.

I enjoy how Eastwood takes his time developing the story, bringing in more and more characters, starting out tragically, then lightening the tone. Sam Bottoms (The Last Picture Snow, Apocalypse Now) is very affecting as the young Rebel who's Josey's closest friend at the beginning. Chief Dan George (Little Big Man) is a hoot as always and plays well opposite Eastwood. John Vernon (Dirty Harry, Animal House) is effective playing Wales' friend and enemy depending on his orders and Billy McKinney, The Rodent's fave character and the rapist from Deliverance is hateful as Captain Redlegs. Will Sampson (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) brings great dignity to Ten Bears in his brief, powerful, and extremely-well-written meeting with Josey. Sondra Locke, who was so good in her debut, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, makes an ethereal love interest who brings out the gentler side in Josey, and makes her first of six appearances in Eastwood films. Eastwood is as iconic here as in any of his Leone flicks and spits a mean wad of tobacco juice. His direction often resembles that of John Ford and Howard Hawks at times. Here was my last write-up about it [responding to someone who didn't like westerns]:

The Outlaw Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood, 1976)


No matter how Eastwood came to direct the film this remains his best, most-thoughtful and entertaining flick. It's simple yet complex, it's highly-dramatic but very funny, it's crammed with action but has many thought-provoking scenes. The Outlaw Josey Wales is a fortuitous set of events especially for all filmwatchers who partake of its charms. If you truly believe that Eastwood is a slipshod filmmaker who stumbles into his awards and acclaim, maybe you should take some deep breaths and watch this film. If you still don't get it maybe you should try studying some American history instead of acting like Westerns are beneath you and have nothing for you to learn about and enjoy.

I'd say there is about 2% shouting in There Will be Blood. Plainview is a salesman, and if you haven't been exposed to a certain type of salesman, then you should count yourself lucky and use this film as an innocent way to experience them without literally getting locked in a room with one or more. Some people believe that the final scene is over-the-top; the whole milkshake/bowling alley diptych, but it actually is a mirror of the earlier scene where Daniel spent his most-open, honest exchanges in the film. Those were with his "brother" Henry. They talked about what they shared in the past and what's "inside" Daniel as he becomes more and more successful and why he acts the way he does; at least his rationalization of why he does what he does. And to tell you the truth, you don't have to be an American capitalist to relate to his thoughts. He wants to win at all costs and doesn't enjoy seeing others do well. Sure, it could be a capitalist who thinks such things, but it could also be a socialist dictator or an imperialist from our ancient past. The fact that when Daniel finds that there is a bit of his exposed soul out there with Henry, who turns out to not be his brother, means that Daniel has to kill him and get rid of any evidence of his true feelings from anyone who isn't of his own blood. This can also be seen as a parallel theme to why Daniel isn't as open and honest with his "son" because he, too, is not "of his blood".

The same thing happens at the end of the film. Daniel apparently likes to hang out in his "War Room", his bowling alley, at night. He drinks and he passes out, right in the middle of the bowling lane where he undoubtedly tries to violently mow down all the little enemy pins with his violent bowling ball(s). Poor, overmatched Eli believes that he still has the trump card on Daniel, so he enters his boudoir of violent success with absolutely an innocent's concept of the kind of battle he will find himself in. Daniel seems to be in hog heaven when he has a chance to pay back somebody else who has seen him expose his weakness, even if in that case, Daniel was still in salesman mode and was never sincere for a second, but Eli could still lord it over him in front of his parishioners. The fact that Daniel could drink Eli's milkshake before destroying him physically is Daniel's psychological payback to Eli for having the audacity to believe that he was his equal in any regard, including salesmanship. The drinking of people's "milkshake"s isn't really over-the-top either, since Daniel knows that Eli is not long for this world. Why not give him a personal show even more spectacular than the ones that Eli presented in his "church"? I just find it very interesting that the desire for oil as a way to defeat an enemy and to become and strengthen oneself as a "superpower" does have its satiric value, even if I still don't see the movie as a "true" critique of the current U.S. administration.

I drank some of my daughter's chocolate milkshake in Alaska. I used a straw. It was very difficult for me to actually get it to pass through the straw because it seemed to collapse in on itself the harder I sucked. The way I was able to get a good taste of the milkshake was to take the straw out and suck on the bottom (opposite end) of it. It made me start to wonder why Daniel had such an easy time drinking Eli's milkshake.

One other thing I started thinking about (notwithstanding the earlier comment that "I drink your milkshake" was a direct political quote) was that I always ordered a chocolate malt(ed) instead of a milkshake because I always found it easier to pass through the straw, let alone the fact that it had more flavor. Now, did Daniel drink Eli's milkshake because it was the more difficult way to get what he wanted? Daniel does seem to occasionally do things the difficult way. I want to ask all the people who recall the beginning of the film, how in the hell did Daniel drag himself, apparently for miles, with a broken leg, up out of his mine and all across the rugged territory he had to navigate to get to lay claim to his find? I realize that he's a tough S.O.B., and I don't mean this early scene to be a flaw in the film. Maybe you can just fill in some of the details which we all miss from the time he's screwed to the time he makes it to the assayer's office. What do you think happened? I'd say it was as significant as anything else that IS ACTUALLY SHOWN in the film.

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
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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A Fistful of Dollars is a great Clint movie that just couldn't not be on this countdown, and absolutely couldn't not be on my list. I had it at #7 on my list.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a great movie and I love it but never considered it for the countdown.

There Will Be Blood is a fantastic film that has one of Daniel Day-Lewis' best performances, among many great performances in his resume. Just a riveting movie all the way through and one I didn't place on my list.

The Outlaw Josey Wales This stabs my heart to not see it in the Top Ten at least, it being my favorite Western of all. Saw this at the theaters twice when it was released and love it still. It has just about everything you could want in a Western and then some. Best of all is the humor that Eastwood brings to it, with Chief Dan George and Clint trading off sneaking up on each other, Clint getting bored by the Chief's long-winded tales, and especially Clint practicing his aim with his chewing tobacco all throughout the movie. And I loved it that this lone gunman reluctantly picks up a whole passel of folks along the way, bemoaning this new responsibility only to find that this crew can take care of themselves just fine. He even picks up a scrawny dog along the way and for once in a movie I like that features a dog, the dog lives! Yes! Anyway, at least it made the Top 20 and my #1. I'm beginning to think that a certain Jimmy Stewart classic that should be on this list will not make it.

My list so far:
Hombre Me: 13 The list proper: 88
The Naked Spur Me: 25 The list proper: 86
Ride the High Country Me: 10 The list proper: 63
Winchester '73 Me: 20 The list proper: 53
El Dorado Me: 2 The list proper: 47
The Professionals Me: 23 The list proper: 45
Shane Me: 12 The list proper: 43
True Grit Me: 4 The list proper: 38
Open Range Me: 19 The list proper: 36
Tombstone Me: 15 The list proper: 28
The Big Country Me: 9 The list proper: 27
The Magnificent Seven Me: 5 The list proper: 24
For a Few Dollars More Me: 6 The list proper: 18
A Fistful of Dollars Me: 7 The list proper: 16
The Outlaw Josey Wales Me: 1 The list proper: 13
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It's been too long since I watched There Will Be Blood to comment on it. But I guess that says the movie didn't really stick with me, either that or I'm just plum forgetful


The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)...I think I liked Joe Kidd better, but maybe I had too high of expectations for this. I've seen it a couple of times but not for 20 years. I didn't remember a damn thing except the scenes with Chief Dan George, and those scenes were by far the best thing about the movie. I liked the character 'Granny' too. Shooting locations were great, and Eastwood's direction was smooth and focused, as one would expect.

I had to laugh a bit how Eastwood keeps picking up sidekicks to travel with until he's got this whole motley crew of misfits with him. I have to agree with Cricket's opinion of Sondra Locke, I just don't see any thing alluring or fascinating about her and she didn't seem to fit the role in this western movie. There's one scene where Josey Wales is beaming at her, looking like a love struck bunny...and you just know in that moment Clint slipped out of being Jose and back into his own skin. It's an interesting scene if you look for it.

++
The '++' is for Chief Dan George.





Before The Outlaw Josey Wales Clint Eastwood’s cinematic gunslinger was a classic loner. His characters might entertain a beneficial partnership, but the point was he was a lone, mysterious, nearly invincible bad ass. In his directorial debut High Plains Drifter (#31) that was taken to the extreme, and one of the taglines for Wales claims, “He is an army of one”. But Josey Wales is no loner. He amusingly and reluctantly gains a family of misfits, even a dog, which is the strength of the movie for me. I had The Outlaw Josey Wales near the bottom of my list at twenty.

HOLDEN PIKE'S LIST
4. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (#17)
5. Little Big Man (#38)
6. The Ox-Bow Incident (#19)
7. The Ballad of Cable Hogue (#83)
9. Dead Man (#26)
10. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (#52)
12. The Great Silence (#34)
13. My Name is Nobody (#79)
14. The Grey Fox (#66)
16. Hombre (#88)
17. The Big Country (#27)
18. Pursued (#73)
19. Jeremiah Johnson (#37)
20. The Outlaw Josey Wales (#13)
21. One-Eyed Jacks (#32)
23. The Professionals (#45)
24. The Revenant (#25)
25. Support Your Local Sheriff! (#89)



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
A Fistful of Dollars was one of the first spaghetti westerns that I watched for this countdown, and I was distracted by the audio and video being off. It was like watching those old martial arts movies that comedians make fun of all the time. I rewatched it a few weeks later, after watching a few other spaghetti westerns, and it was a little bit better, but it still was never considered for my list.

I never thought of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre as a western, but it wouldn't have made my list anyway. I prefer the Bogart cameo in the Looney Tunes cartoons over the actual movie.




There Will Be Blood was on my watchlist for this countdown, but it was one of the movies that I just didn't get a chance to see yet.

I watched The Outlaw Josey Wales shortly after this countdown was announced, but to be honest, I don't remember much about it past the opening scene. The only notes on I have on my watchlist for this movie is "No", so it wasn't on my list.
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OPEN FLOOR.



I wanted/needed to re-watch There Will Be Blood before the countdown, not only to refresh my memory but also to check it's eligibility, didn't get round to it, so it didn't make my ballot and I'm not able to solve Mark F's Milkshake conundrum.

Now The Outlaw Josey Wales is one of my all time favorite westerns it was in my top 10 before I watched a lot westerns for this countdown and it's still in my top 10 after, that's tough! Classic western, classic Eastwood and #10 on my ballot.


Seen list 57/88 + 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)

My Ballot 15/25:
  1. - Top 2 for sure.
  2. - Top 5.
  3. - 1000%
  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. - 75%
  20. McCabe & Mrs. Miller 1971
  21. The Mercenary 1968
  22. The Great Silence 1968
  23. - 100%
  24. Dead Man 1995
  25. - 0%

Unofficial Henry Fonda counter: IIII



I can’t remember if I knew There Will Be Blood qualitied or not. I didn’t think much about it anyways... it didn’t make my list, but it could have perhaps been in the lower parts of it. Despite my huge love for PTA, probably my favorite director working today, his most beloved masterpiece is one of my least liked movies of his.

I have not seen Outlaw.



Blood was my #2


Glad I asked about it now tbh for eligibility... incredible movie. First time I watched it struck me pretty hard as to what sort of movie I was in for when the first 15 minutes has no dialogue.



01. Young Guns (1988) --- 61st
02. There Will Be Blood (2007) --- 14th
03. Definitely
04. Definitely
05. Definitely
06. The Cowboys (1972) --- 50th
07. Definitely
08. True Grit (2010) --- 22nd
09. True Grit (1969) --- 38th
10. The Quick And The Dead (1995) --- 42nd
11. The Sons Of Katie Elder (1965) --- 100th
12. Maybe not now
13. Hope so
14. Hope so
15. The Magnificent Seven (1960) --- 24th
16. Definitely
17. Probably not now
18. Westworld (1973) --- 69th
19. Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid (1973) --- 67th
20. 3:10 To Yuma (1957) --- 48th
21. Tombstone (1993) --- 28th
22. Probably not now
23. The Big Country (1958) --- 27th
24. Probably
25. Definitely



I did like There Will Be Blood when I saw it. I just never thought of it as a western and didn't vote for it (quality-wise it would certainly fit my ballot). The Outlaw Josey Wales I (re?)watched a while ago and thought it was only OK. Never considered voting for it either.
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Seen Jose Wales a few times over the years. I like it a lot but I didn't vote for it.

There Will Be Blood is brilliant but I don't think of it as a western.



Welcome to the human race...
I think it's easy to forget it qualifies since it doesn't involve gunslingers and the like, but it's kind of a prospector movie in the same vein as Treasure of the Sierra Madre as well as a land baron movie like Giant or The Big Country.