Top 10 Western Genre Movies of All Time

Defining the Genre

AFI defined the Western as a movie "set in the American West that embodies the spirit, the struggle and the demise of the new frontier". The online Encyclopedia Britannica specifically defined the setting of a Western as something "set in the American West, usually in the period from the 1850s to the end of the 19th century".

A writer at a website called Filmsite agreed with both of these descriptions saying "Westerns are often set on the American frontier during the last part of the 19th century (1865-1900) following the Civil War, in a geographically western (trans-Mississippi) setting with romantic, sweeping frontier landscapes or rugged rural terrain". Overall though, we know the general time and the general place that define Westerns.

I also liked their description of the feeling and attitude of a Western where they wrote that a Western is "a nostalgic eulogy to the early days of the expansive, untamed American frontier (the borderline between civilization and the wilderness)". I like that emphasis on the borderline between civilization and wilderness, where people in the frontier were not living in big cities or developed areas, but they weren't exactly surviving in the wild either, for the most part.

Westerns are generally also defined by the presence of cowboys, which when you see one you know what it is. Sometimes the cowboys are soldiers fighting Native American warriors, sometimes they're marshals fending off bandits and outlaws, but no matter what there's always revolvers and rifles involved. Most often a cowboy is a lone wolf and a heroic legendary figure, though sometimes they rely on allies and shed back the legendary layers to become rounded, vulnerable people.

AFI's Top 10 Westerns List

1. The Searchers
2. High Noon
3. Shane
4. Unforgiven
5. Red River
6. Wild Bunch
7. Butch Cassidy Sundance Kid
8. McCabe & Mrs. Miller
9. Stagecoach
10. Cat Ballou

Majority of these, especially the Top 3, are very well known and well renowned Western genre movies. I had not really heard much of #8 before and I surely never heard of #10 before. Notice also that, while not totally dominating the list in the same way that Disney dominated the Animation list, John Wayne leads 3 of these movies, and there is a surprising lack of Clint Eastwood, though again that might be because AFI was limited to American movies and could not include the Spaghetti Western subgenre selections.

My Outline for My Genre List

I had two guides for helping me outline my own defining features of the Western genre. The first was the basic principle definitions found above. The second was a list of various subgenres of Westerns I found on the New York Film Academy website. Those subgenres include: Epic, Spaghetti, Revenge, Outlaw, Marshal, & Revisionist

-Character archetypes: Heroic cowboy, tough prostitute/saloon gal, marshal/sheriff, prim-proper lady
-Cowboy's features: Wide-brimmed hats, bandanas, boots, spurs, and horse-back riding.
-Morality examination: Right versus wrong and lawful versus unlawful, asks when it's okay to take law and order into one's own hands.
-Beautiful vista shots of rural landscapes including plains, sagebrush, desert, and mountains.
-Small developing town with a hotel, a saloon, and/or a tavern.
-Guns constantly used or play an important role.
-Late 19th century timeframe, not around modern times.
-Romanticized view of the past and the cowboy figure.
-Honest look at the reality of men and the frontier life, if not romanticized.

Honorable Mentions

-Assassination of Jesse James
-True Grit (Coens, I haven't seen the original all the way through)
-Open Range
-3:10 to Yuma (both versions)

As you can tell, majority of these mentions are more contemporary and newer movies. The themes and attitude come from a more modern sense, so they have a more honest look on life and philosophy in the west than older romanticized cowboy movies.

I generally consider Assassination of Jesse James to be more of a melodrama than a Western, though it certainly has the setting, gunplay, and thematic qualifications to be a Western. Not to mention Jesse James is a pretty common figure in Western cowboy mythology and media.

Ultimately, even though movies like Open Range and True Grit have sleek looks and fit within the confines of the Western genre, they ultimately do not hold my interest and excitement upon rewatching them, nor do I find them unique enough to be definitive examples of the genre.

My Top 10 Westerns List

10. Sukiyaki Western Django

A twist on Spaghetti Westerns, where instead of European actors having their lines dubbed over by native English speakers, this movie has Japanese actors speaking their own broken English dialogue. You have the heroic cowboy figure, clad in hat, boots, & spurs, staying in a small town in a desert mountain area. There's lots of gunplay involved, obviously influenced by the more ridiculous B-level Spaghetti Westerns of yore. Though there is also the presence of Japanese samurai movie artistry, it's cool to see another nation and culture interpret the American cowboy mythos and Western genre and put their own spin on it.

9. Hostiles

I was hesitant to put this movie on the list since it is the most recent out of the bunch and not necessarily even the most memorable movie I've seen in 2018. There's not even a typical cowboy figure. What impressed me the most about this movie was the landscapes. The places that this group journeys through out in the wild frontier really reminded me of the kind of landscapes I saw when I spent time in Montana and Colorado. These are very definitive Western locations and the cinematography captures them beautifully. Add in the struggle of frontier survival and antagonistic relationships between white soldiers and Native Americans and you have a recipe for a subtle yet realistically human Western.

8. Tombstone

There had to be some interpretation of the infamous O.K. Corral battle on this list, and it just happened to be the most fun, most Hollywood version of it (technically also the only one I've seen). There's drinking, there's cigar smoking, there's gambling in saloons and taverns. Handsome mustaches, cowboy hats, revolver twirling, marshals battling outlaws. It's very much a definitive Western. What makes this movie stand out though is Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday. He embodies that tough heroic cowboy figure often given in to vices, but he's a charming southern gentleman and a good friend to other tough heroic cowboy figures.

7. Magnificent Seven

Yes, a part of me put the movie here for a joke. Courageous cowboys stand up against insurmountable odds out of a sense of honor and pride. Poor farmers take the law into their own hands in a place without law & order. There's plenty of gunplay and dusty trails covered. The cowboys are very romanticized in this movie since they are the heroes, even if they are selfish or troubled.

6. Unforgiven

I initially had this movie in the Honorable Mentions area because of just how dark and revisionist of a Western it is. Our protagonist used to be a ruthless killer who has worked to amend for his past sins but in the end reverts to his old ways. And the antagonist is not really anything too different, it's just a beyond-tough lawman who abuses his power without remorse. There's nothing very noble going on about either of their actions since the main conflict revolves around the protagonist accepting a financial reward by killing men in order to avenge an abused prostitute.

I think what makes this Western work and stand out compared to the others is that if this was a Clint Eastwood movie 20 years earlier (like Outlaw Josey Wales), his character and actions would be glorified, but here it's depressing and examined in a negative light. No one is heroic or glorified here in the traditional sense of standard Western films.

5. Rio Bravo

This one is just more of a model of fun, action Western. You've got John Wayne in his typical cowboy gear with rifle in tow. Dean Martin is an alcoholic gunslinger. There's carefree yet tense use of guns throughout. It's about the courage of a few in the face of many enemies, an alternative take on High Noon. The marshal must defend himself and his friends from outlaw thugs bent on freeing their captured leader. Like I stated earlier, I mainly just remember this movie for the fun interaction between the romanticized cowboys and the gunplay involved throughout the movie.

4. High Noon

What puts this movie ahead of Rio Bravo is the philosophical, moral quandary at its center. Is it better to give up violence and run away, or to stand up and fight even if it means doing it alone? There's the law versus the outlaws. There's a tense gun battle at the end. The protagonist sheriff is obviously afraid and nervous about having to face the battle alone, but none of the other men in town have the courage and loyalty to fight alongside him. The sheriff wants to put away the past, but there's a new prim and proper Quaker wife that he has to live for and protect.

3. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Once again, it's the philosophical questions that really make this film special. When is it okay to kill someone? Is truth or legend the better reality? Should a man avoid guns at all costs or learn to live with them? Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne are both known for their dramatic roles in Western movies and these performances are highlights of that fact. This movie both romanticizes the wild past of the west and gives an honest examination on what the men, life, and ideas were really like in the wild west.

2. The Searchers

The cinematography is one of the most outstanding elements of this movie. It really captures the look and feel of living out in the American western frontier. The colors really stand out and the shots are framed with purpose. John Wayne plays more of a gritty Clint Eastwood type in this movie, having a sense of purpose in his actions but lacking the romantic charm and friendliness of cowboys in earlier Westerns. This seems to be the start of the divide between fun, idealized cowboy movies and the gritty honest look at real frontier living. I think had Johns Ford and Wayne not visited this location and made such a stellar team up in an earlier movie, this may have been the number one. 

1. Stagecoach

In my Valuable Films list, I placed Stagecoach as the top Western movie and I still stand by that. Some of the defining traits of the Western film genre that I mentioned included: character archetypes, guns, horseback riding, particular landscape locations in southwest US, 19th century time period. I also mentioned how it lacked gritty violence and anti-heroism seemed to define later Western movies. People are not as good as they seem nor as they as bad as they may seem. I'd say the only characters that really lack depth or complexity to them is the thieving banker, Mr. Gatewood, and the whiskey drummer Rev. Hancock...I mean Mr. Peacock.

Movies That May Replace Choices on My List Upon Future Viewing

Shane
Red River
The Good the Bad and the Ugly
Once Upon a Time in the West

Top 10 Animation Genre Movies of All Time

I recently examined the 10 Top 10 Lists of Movies by the American Film Institute. These are lists compiled by a prestigious cinema organization and each list is split by a different genre, from romantic comedy to courtroom drama to epic and animation. After looking at some of the lists, I got inspired to create my own versions of them.

My goals are for these Top 10 lists are: to properly define and identify the genre in question, quickly examine the picks from the American Film Institute, and then present my own list to show my own take on the genre in question.

As per usual, my own personal list will be presented in descending order from 10 to 1 (least to greatest) and is just made up of movies I have personally seen all the way through, so chances are there may be some movies you think are missing from my list that deserve a spot. Feel free to let me know if that's the case. Anyway, without further ado, let's kick of these Top 10s with an examination of Animation.

Defining the Genre

The AFI's website broadly defined the Animation genre as movies where "the film’s images are primarily created by computer or hand and the characters are voiced by actors". The Merriam Webster Dictionary definition kind of further specified that by stating that an animated movie is "a motion picture that is made from a series of drawings, computer graphics, or photographs of inanimate objects (such as puppets) and that simulates movement by slight progressive changes in each frame".

So, as could be assumed, defining the genre for animation into a specific, finite definition is a challenge. This is mainly because animation is a form of art within a form of art, with various techniques and styles from around the world on display. Technology has also played a huge role in expanding the capabilities within the world of animation, making it tougher to narrow down.

Basically, what we really know is that "animation" means real-life actors are not the focal point of a movie's presentation and that some sort of series of handcrafted images are put together instead. It's basically like the cartoon found in the corners of a flipbook.

AFI's Top 10 Animation List

1. Snow White
2. Pinocchio
3. Bambi
4. Lion King
5. Fantasia
6. Toy Story
7. Beauty & The Beast
8. Shrek
9. Cinderella
10. Finding Nemo

Not too much to say here, other than Disney obviously dominates the genre selections. Which is expected since Disney has been the primary and dominate company creating movies in this genre. It looks like the AFI wanted to give a shoutout to computer-generated animation, though I'm somewhat surprised that movies like the first Shrek and Finding Nemo won over some of their counterparts in their respective studios. The list is also somewhat limited by the fact that, well, their selection was only from movies made in the U.S., which leaves out international companies like Studio Ghibli which could also dominate the list.

My Outline of My Genre List

This is basically the guidelines for how I'm going to select movies for this list. These are the standards by which I will hold the chosen animated movies to. The hope is that the movies on my personal Top 10 list will reflect the traits below and help us better understand what it means for a movie to be in the animated genre.

-Only 1 choice per studio (not a list full of Disney, Pixar, or Ghibli options)
-Still images coming to life through motion
-Variety of colors and hues
-Effective use of shadows and darkness
-Specially effective use of light
-Vivid textures
-Showcase the history of animation styles and artistic technological advances
-Show an improvement over time of a particular company or group's technique, if applicable.
-Timeless artwork

Honorable Mentions

The Thief & The Cobbler
Isle of Dogs
Titan A.E.
Fantasia
Bambi
Beauty & The Beast
Prince of Egypt
Toy Story
The Peanuts Movie

These are all movies that are high quality movies from within well-respected animation companies or they stand out as unique pieces of cinema. Basically, if I didn't have my option of watching the following 10 movies, these would be the backups I would happily watch again and again.

My Top 10 Animations List

10. Lord of the Rings-Ralph Bakshi

Hear me out. It's an example of doing animation with a miniscule budget. Infamous for its use of rotoscoping over live actors, especially in the second half of the movie. Lots of deep, painted backgrounds. Very dark and shadowy in the right moments. The hand-drawn characters on top of the landscapes really transports us to a fantasy setting.

9. Shaun the Sheep-Aardman

Exemplary stop motion animation using play-doh-esque material, a.k.a claymation. Stylish and improved art style by Aardman studios (Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit). Shiny and sleek appearance. Fluid movement yet malleable character designs for creative stop motion. It almost makes you think you really are seeing sheep walking about in a real life city.

8. Kubo and the Two Strings-Laika

A form of stop-motion, utilizing a combination of claymation and computer generated images.
Good use of Japanese-influenced artistry and scenery. Improved, definitive art style by Laika (Coraline, Paranorman). Proper atmosphere built between dark spooky moments and bright, lighthearted comedy. The designs and textures of our main characters really bring the animation to life.

7. Fantastic Mr. Fox-Wes Anderson

Stop motion using puppetry/ doll-like models. Very textured appearance, with specific details in the fur of the animals as well as phenomena like water and smoke. Hues of yellow, orange, and brown match the appearance of the titular character. Beautiful glow to the lighting in sunsets and apple juice basement scene. There's even an interesting scene with an alternative art style involving a cartoon wolf.

6. Shrek 2-Dreamworks

While Prince of Egypt stands out as the exemplary 2-D animation by Dreamworks, and later movies like How to Train Your Dragon or Kung Fu Panda are more fluid in motion/ colorful in design, Shrek 2 to me stands out as the model CGI animation work by Dreamworks. It sharpens the CGI from original Shrek. The humans look like real life humans, not obvious cartoons like Dragon. The fantasy and realism blend together well here, and all the characters have unique textured designs. The realism in the CGI artwork is so effective, at one point I really did believe a giant ginger-bread man wreck havoc on a Starbucks knockoff Godzilla-style.

5. Secret of NIMH-Don Bluth

I was very close to putting Titan A.E. on this list for its blend of CGI and hand-drawn animation. However, Secret of NIMH really shows the hard hard work that Don Bluth and company went through to achieve success from the get-go. It's very stellar hand-drawn artistry that equals the skills of early Disney masterpieces. What especially stands out is the glowing lights that pop up in characters' eyes and in the backgrounds. The movement is very fluid and while the characters are cartoonish interpretations of real animals, they still feel and look like real mice, rats, crows, cats, etc.

4. Secret of Kells-Cartoon Saloon

Hand-drawn animation with trippy uses of flats character designs and fleshed-out, developed backgrounds. Takes inspiration from the Illumination techniques used in Biblical artwork (ex...The Book of Kells) and translates it into bright, explosive layers of colors and lights. Finely detailed line work. The fantasy elements are given some special designs and treatment, but the animation still gives grandeur and respect to the religious elements.

3. Inside Out-Pixar

You can see lots of fine details in the various textures of the characters, from Joy's skin to Disgust's hair to Anger's fire. Creative physical representations of words, ideas, and phrases. The humans are drawn and presented in a realistic way, not cartoony. Tons of different shades of color and glowing lights, though the momentary uses of darkness and shadows are effective. There's even enough time for a playful experiment in abstract CGI animation. This movie shows the continuing development in Pixar's mastery of the CGI animation style.

2. Pinocchio-Disney

It is a signature Disney art style. It doesn't have similar problems to Snow White where the animation truly shows its age. It also has a higher quality to the animation than some of my favorites like Robin Hood. I think when people think of Disney, people think of this kind of fantastical 2-D hand drawn animation. It has some dark, shadowy moments, but also some color and pizzazz. Pinocchio almost looks and moves like a real boy, and it's only when he transforms into the real thing in the end that you realize he was really wooden all along.

1. Princess Mononoke-Studio Ghibli

Exemplary of the anime style of animation, and a particularly timeless example of Studio Ghibli's artistry. Presents both bright, colorful, well-lit images as well as shadowy, grotesque, violent images. Humans are either realistic or cartoonish as necessary, but the creatures are all impressive and vivid. Mixes fantasy with realism. Miyazaki's appreciation for nature and distaste for industrial interference with nature is on display in the animation. The battle scenes are all paced well and move in a way that is flowing yet understandable visually.

Movies That May Replace Choices on My List Upon Future Viewing

Akira
Triplets of Belleville
Wolf Children
The Adventures of Prince Achmed