The MoFo Top 100 Westerns: Countdown

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Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is one I had no doubt would be in the Top 5, so it didn't need my help and I placed it at #11 on my list. I love this movie. Saw it three times when it was first released. My favorite line used to be: "Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill ya."
After years of re-watching it, it's: "Boy, I got vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals."

So much mirth in an action Western, with the decidedly down ending that really doesn't make me feel down. The decision not to show their deaths was a smart move I thought. The freeze-frame became a classic still that was used a lot to advertise the movie. And I might add that Katharine Ross gets overlooked a lot when this movie is mentioned, and she should not. Maybe her role wasn't showy (except when she strips for Sundance :) but she has rarely looked more beautiful. I remember my childhood doctor had the classic poster of the three of them posing for a photograph on their travels, and it was on the backside of his door, so whenever I went to see him I always hoped he'd shut the door.

What a great movie. Just can't get enough of it. So glad to see it make to #4.

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
Rio Bravo Me: 17 The list proper: 10
The Wild Bunch Me: 3 The list proper: 9
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Me: 16 The list proper: 8
The Searchers Me: 18 The List proper: 5
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Me: 11 The list proper: 4
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Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid has been a favorite movie for as long as I can remember, so I knew that it would place somewhere on my list. The mix of the charm of Redford and Newman, along with the fun and adventure, make this one of the best movies ever. I rewatched it for this countdown, and in the end, it landed at #2 on my list.


That's the last movie from my list that will make the countdown, so I'm posting my list now. The movies in red didn't make the countdown.

My Top 25 Westerns List:
1) Oklahoma! (1955)
2) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
3) No Name on the Bullet (1959)
4) The Electric Horseman (1979)
5) Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
6) Support Your Local Sheriff (1969)
7) The Frisco Kid (1979)
8) The Gunfighter (1950)
9) Maverick (1994)
10) A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966)
11) 8 Seconds (1994)
12) North to Alaska (1960)
13) The Bravados (1958)
14) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
15) High Noon (1952)
16) City Slickers (1991)
17) The Hanging Tree (1959)
18) Rio Bravo (1959)
19) Winchester '73 (1950)
20) The Quick and The Dead (1995)
21) Dances with Wolves (1990)
22) The Ox-Bow Incident (1942)
23) El Dorado (1967)
24) Zorro: The Gay Blade (1981)
25) Incredible Rocky Mountain Race (TV Movie - 1977)
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“Hell of a thing, killin’ a man. You take away everything he's got and everything he's ever gonna have.”

David Webb People’s script for Unforgiven was originally titled The Cut-Whore Killings. That is a great, pulpy, and accurate title…but likely would not have won many Oscars. Francis Ford Coppola bought the script for Zoetrope and when Eastwood got his hands on it he knew he had to have it. He did purchase it…and then he sat on it, waiting to age into the lead role and make his definitive statement on violence and the genre that made him famous. It was worth the wait. From ”Rawhide” to Leone to Siegel and his own films he had a lot of screen time in the saddle to think about the Western. Unforgiven’s elegiac tale involves William Munny (Eastwood), a former killer who gave up liquor and a life of bloody rage to raise a family. But his wife has died leaving him with a struggling farm and two small children. When the nephew (Jaimz Woolvett) of a former acquaintance comes calling with word of a bounty on a pair of cowboys who cut up a prostitute in the town of Big Whiskey, Wyoming he enlists his former riding partner (Morgan Freeman) and the three men head north. A brutal sheriff (Gene Hackman) runs the town and is hell bent on keeping any potential hired guns out, including a famous gunman named English Bob (Richard Harris), sending all involved on a bloody collision course.

Eastwood’s masterpiece was nominated for nine Academy Awards winning Best Editing, Best Supporting Actor (Hackman), Best Director, and Best Picture and probably deserved a few more though, as William Munny observed, “Deserve’s got nuthin; to do with it.”. It didn’t quite win the top prize on our countdown but it did very well. Exactly 800 total points – a 197 point jump from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – on forty-four ballots (66%). Unforgiven received NINE first place votes but finishes third. It also tallied four second place, four third, three fourth, a fifth, four sixth, a seventh, a ninth, and a tenth.




The Sons of Katie Elder, North to Alaska, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Shootist, Red River, The Cowboys, El Dorado, True Grit, Stagecoach, Rio
Bravo, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Searchers, Two Mules for Sister Sara, Pale Rider, High Plains Drifter, For a Few Dollars More,
A Fistful of Dollars, The Outlaw Josey Wales,
and Unforgiven





Of course the masterful Unforgiven was on my list, all the way up at number two. It is damn near perfect, from the script and production design on up. The entire cast is on target with two of my favorites Saul Rubinek’s wandering biographer W.W. Beauchamp and Anthony James as Skinny the proprietor of the billiards hall/saloon/whore house. Eastwood does his career best in front of the camera, but not surprisingly it is Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman who put on acting clinics without a false note. Besides taking on roles as the star of the movie, the director, and the producer Eastwood also wrote the very evocative musical theme. It is another one of those movies I cannot pass up whether it is just starting or there is an hour left or five minutes, I’m watching.

Two movies left and one of them was my top choice.

HOLDEN PIKE'S LIST
2. Unforgiven (#3)
3. The Wild Bunch (#9)
4. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (#17)
5. Little Big Man (#38)
6. The Ox-Bow Incident (#19)
7. The Ballad of Cable Hogue (#83)
8. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (#4)
9. Dead Man (#26)
10. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (#52)
11. Lonely Are the Brave (#104)
12. The Great Silence (#34)
13. My Name is Nobody (#79)
14. The Grey Fox (#66)
15. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (#8)
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)
22. Zandy’s Bride (DNP)
23. The Professionals (#45)
24. The Revenant (#25)
25. Support Your Local Sheriff! (#89)



Been a while again. I've seen High Noon and The Searchers a long time ago (a very long time for the first). I don't remember that much of them except as a kid (preteen kid) I did like High Noon but I don't think I've seen it since (maybe I should rewatch it). It's been less time since The Searchers and I'm quite sure I didn't like it. I'll probably end up watching it again at some point too.

I don't even remember seeing Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid but that doesn't mean I haven't caught it on TV 30+ years ago.

But Unforgiven was #13 on my ballot. It may take its revisionism a bit too far and it would have benefitted from more brutal violence but it's still quite good and entertaining western.

So it looks Leone (and Morricone) takes the top two. That's OK with me. I just hope they're in the right order
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Sergio and Ennio in the top two now...
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-Stan Brakhage



There's my #1 film from my list, Unforgiven, which is not only my favorite western but also my all-time favorite movie, and it's not even close. I saw it originally when it came out and I walked out of the cinema and said to my friends, "That might be Clint Eastwood's best movie." A couple more viewings confirmed for me it was indeed Eastwood's best movie, and it has remained my favorite ever since. I'm pleased it made the top three.

My List:

1. Unforgiven (#3)
2.
3. McCabe and Mrs. Miller (#17)
4. The Outlaw Josey Wales (#13)
5. High Plains Drifter (#31)
6. Little Big Man (#39)
7. Jeremiah Johnson (#37)
8. The Wild Bunch (#9)
9. The Big Country (#27)
10. The Shootist (#58)
11. Rio Bravo (#10)
12. The Ox-Bow Incident (#19)
13. The Gunfighter (#40)
14.
15. 3:10 to Yuma (1957)(#48)
16. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (#8)
17. The Sisters Brothers (#102)
18. The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (#76)
19. The Naked Spur (#86)
20. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (#67)
21. Lone Star (DNP)
22. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (#33)
23. The Man from Laramie (DNP)
24. Support Your Local Sheriff! (#89)
25. Johnny Guitar (#30)
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Dynamic and charismatic duo Newman/Redford, fun, action, adventure, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid seems cemented in my western top ten. Have it @ #6, love it.

Unforgiven is my #3 and probably the #1 non-spaghetti western of all time.

Seen list 67/98

My ballot 22/25:
  1. .............
  2. High Noon 1952
  3. Unforgiven 1992
  4. Jeremiah Johnson 1972
  5. ...............
  6. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969
  7. One-Eyed Jacks 1961
  8. The Gunfighter 1950
  9. Rio Bravo 1959
  10. The Outlaw Josey Wales 1976
  11. Young Guns 1988
  12. Tombstone 1993
  13. My Name Is Nobody 1973
  14. Dances with Wolves 1990
  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. The Wild Bunch 1969
  24. Dead Man 1995
  25. - 0%



I also predicted Unforgiven to show up at #3.

It was a movie that I liked when I first saw it and then liked quite a bit more on the second watch. But I certainly don’t love it. Therefore it was actually dead last on my partial. At #17



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Unforgiven is my #18.

I'll write something later.


My List

1. Little Big Man
2. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
3. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
4. The Outlaw Josey Wales
5. Dances with Wolves
6. Friendly Persuasion
7. One-Eyed Jacks
8. The Professionals
9. Barbarosa
10. Red River
11. Oklahoma!
12. Hud
13. The Big Country
14. Giant
16. The Searchers
17. Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
18. Unforgiven
19. The Ox-Bow Incident
20. The Ballad of Cable Hogue
22. Support Your Local Sheriff!
23. The Revenant
24. There Will Be Blood
25. High Noon
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Every time I see people talk about The Searchers it sounds good, but I didn't like it when I saw it. Maybe I should give it another shot someday.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was the only film I rewatched for this list. I enjoyed it a lot, despite Burt Bacharach still being awful, and it made my list at #8. No rules in a knife fight is my favourite bit, but there's stiff competition as there are a lot of good scenes and lines.

Unforgiven was my #4. Excellent film. Lots of good acting, looks great and I liked the tone of it.



Finally one from my personal ballot exactly matches it's position on the countdown proper

Seen: 62/98
My list:  

Faildictions (yee-haw version 1.12):
2. Once Upon A Time In The West
1. Carry On Cowboy



That's my #1. If this was Westerns, I'd be a fan. But it's not, it's the best and no other really comes close. In fact, it's so good I prefer it to a film with a naked Drew Barrymore. I really can't praise it any more highly, can I?

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I've seen Unforgiven many times and it's been my favorite western since the first time. Great cast with a special shout out to Richard Harris who makes a huge impact in a very short time. It's got dialogue that would make Tarantino jealous. It's one of the best movies I've seen.

1. Unforgiven (#3)
2. The Searchers (#5)
3. Little Big Man (#39)
4. The Ox-Bow Incident (#19)
5. The Big Country (#27)
6. The Wild Bunch (#9)
7. Shane (#43)
8. McC abe and Mrs. Miller (#17)
9. One-Eyed Jacks (#32)
10. My Darling Clementine (#44)
11. The Shootist (#57)
12. The Man Who Short Liberty Valance (#8)
14. Django Unchained (#12)
15. Dances with Wolves (#7)
16. For a Few Dollars More (#18)
18. Day of the Outlaw (#77)
19. Red River (#56)
21. The Cowboys (#50)
22. High Noon (#6)
23. Open Range (#36)
24. The Furies (#84)
25. Winchester 73 (#53)



We've gone on holiday by mistake
It's a helluva movie.
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Unforgiven was my #3, absolutely remarkable!!

Seen: 38/98
- 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)
- Rio Bravo (#10)
- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (#8)
- High Noon (#6)
- The Searchers (#5)
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (#4)
- Unforgiven (#3)

My list:
1. There Will be Blood
3. Unforgiven
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
9. The Searchers
10. Rio Bravo
11. For a Few Dollars More
12. Johnny Guitar
13. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
14. Hell or High Water
15. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
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



That's my #1. If this was Westerns, I'd be a fan. But it's not, it's the best and no other really comes close. In fact, it's so good I prefer it to a film with a naked Drew Barrymore. I really can't praise it any more highly, can I?
My #25 didn't show up on the 1-pointer list so at least one other person voted for it. Probably honeykid.
One MoFo's obscure joke one-point pick is another MoFo's full 25-pointer holy grail*.




*Bad Girls received only 24 points: 23 from honeykid, 1 from Thursday Next



Welcome to the human race...
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was my #15. There's some reluctance to go higher with it because I tend to prefer my Westerns a little more grim/poetic/romantic, and while Butch has its fair share of moments in those regards (dat ending), I do just think of it as a fun ride more than anything else (and judging by this list, it's arguably the best example of a fun Western out there). Two handsome leads trading snappy banter with each other and whoever else crosses their path, "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head", all sorts of goofy shenanigans like jumping off cliffs or using a little too much dynamite, trying to learn how to rob a bank in Spanish...the list goes on. Definitely helps that its technical quality is on par with (or even superior to) many films that take themselves much more seriously so as to really make it a prestigious enough film even as it throws out all sorts of New Hollywood rebellion.

Unforgiven was my #7. I run a little hot and cold on Eastwood as both an actor and a director, but this is arguably him at his peak in both those regards. The best revisionist Westerns always have to know just what to revise and how to revise them, and while one could argue about the broadness of how it is handled here (the aforementioned W.W. Beauchamp serving as would-be biographer to various gunslingers), it is an impressive means of weighing the incredibly grey morality of the real Wild West against the people who try to find their place within it (not-so-subtly indicated by how the protagonist and antagonist are both named William, or how the film really does drive home how "a whippin' ain't no little thing").
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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0