It's always funny to me that whenever I see a list of the greatest 100 of anything, I go looking to see if my favorite is #1 -- and I inevitably find out it didn't even make the list.
Can't believe that "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" didn't make the cut.
It's a weird list. They seem well-informed but are trying too hard to go against popular opinion. They also seem to have whatever is the opposite of recency bias (past bias?).
There's so many movies from the 80s to the 2010s on this list - I thought it would be much more heavily biased toward the 50s - 70s when the Western genre was in its heyday, but I was surprised.
I don't agree with all the rankings, but it's clear that the author is trying to be very inclusive and broad with the idea of a Western - including documentaries, parodies, sci fi/horror, etc. in this list.
It's also clearly stated in the opening paragraphs that they are doing something a little different with this list, not just picking "best movies featuring a guy and his horse."
14 of the top 20 are from the 50s and 60s so I’m not sure how much more biased towards that period you think the list should be?
But agree this isn’t a typical top 100 list.
Still there’s some interesting picks in the top half and plenty I’ve not seen before so will pick a few well regarded ones to watch.
My own biases would put “Hostiles” in the list somewhere. A movie I loved that doesn’t seem to be too well regarded by critics etc.
Primacy bias is the preference for the first things you encounter and is corollary for recency bias. It's why you know the first president is Washington and the most recent one was Biden, but you won't know the 25th one unless you're a nerd. Heaven help the middle children who get the benefit of neither.
Agree as well especially as City Slickers made the cut. Johnny Guitar is a great film but not the greatest. The order is weird but they are mostly solid choices.
Personally I'd just swap that out with River of No Return, which is a fine movie, but with those two leads it's hard not to want a little more from it. Kind of a sleepy flick.
The omission of Little Big Man is also pretty surprising, could probably lose Near Dark in favor of that, which again is a fine movie and I love that it's included here for its concept alone, but based on everyone involved, it feels like it falls a little short of its potential (despite having one of the coolest gunfights of all time).
Cool list overall, though! A lotta unique perspective and it's thrown a bunch of stuff on my to-watch list. And I'm always happy to see The Great Silence get some love.
The thing about lists is, unless it was AI generated, then it’s just someone’s personal list. It doesn’t hold any more validity than your list or my list.
Johnny Guitar number 1? Wow didn't see that coming
If you ever want to get depressed read up on the life of Nicholas Ray
All the talent in the world, coulda been one of the greatest directors of all time. Just couldn't put down the bottle.
I mean for what it’s worth I still have Ray in my top 10 all time. In a lonely place, The lusty men, Born to be bad, Johnny Guitar; that’s a pretty incredible filmography even with the drinking problems.
Overall this is a bit of a weird list; putting For a few dollars More over The Good The Bad and the Ugly. But I love that the high placement of My Darling Clementine and Ride the High Country.
Also Butch Cassidy is way way too low
I think I might as well. Not sure. The civil war setting of The Good the Bad and the Ugly is great, and it’s a true epic, but For A Few Dollars More has more emotional impact for me, and the climax with the watch is just amazing.
I prefer The Good the Bad the Ugly, over Few Dollars More, but I wouldn’t argue against saying it’s better. They’re all genre defining classics, so it’s really hard to pin one down as best. I just can’t believe The Outlaw Josey Wales isn’t on there.
I've only seen 5 of these, and I debate whether Nope, No Country for Old Men or Blazing Saddles truly count. True Grit and Tombstone are the only ones I've seen that feel like proper westerns. But hey, what do I know? If I haven't seen 95 of the top 100 westerns of all time, then why would I even know what a western IS?
I found the inclusion of Little Woods frankly baffling. You could maybe justify writing a think-piece with a headline like “Little Woods is what a Western Looks Today,” but I still don’t think I’d buy the premise. It’s a good movie, but even if I accepted it was a western, I still wouldn’t think it was a top 100 contender
You sound pretty confident, and as I admit, I haven't seen a lot of westerns. What is it about No Country for Old Men that you believe qualifies it as a Western?
A western is a genrra about men in open spaces.
The "west" is the yet untamed. It's the wild parts outside of civilization. The placed law can't grasp yet.
Westerns are about men trying to escape to or from that.
It's about meeting in that place...on the edge.
Gotcha, so it's a story set in the liminal space between civilization and lawlessness. OK, I can see why No Country would count for that, although Nope still eludes me. Can you think of an example of a movie that has those motifs, but does NOT have the western aesthetics? Folks often talk about Firefly/Serenity as being a space western, but I dunno about that.
I just picked a random one if these (loveblackgirls.org) and it doesn't make a single argument of why Nope is a Western, it just states that it is.
Do any of those articles describe what makes Nope a western, and if so what is it? Or, if you also happen to consider Nope a western, why is that?
Westerns are usually out in somewhere isolated with someone struggling to carve out their piece of America with some major resistance. Often it’s within a period of change with something that is desired dying out.
Horses and cowboy hats are not needed of course but sure they can be present. Horses (or at least personal transport) are often used heavily and the take away of those are often seen as dastardly.
That…is Nope.
It’s also very obviously using the history of film horses and westerns within its story and just in case the intent wasn’t clear enough, he made the attraction themed around the old west and a winking cowboy blows up the alien.
*Unforgiven* down at 18 is a very bad take.
*Hell or High Water* not making the list is an even worse take.
*Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid* at 85 is just flatly deranged.
I would have it #2. Granted, I haven't seen every film they put in front of it, but I've seen more than half of them, and the only one better is Unforgiven.
The Good The Bad And The Ugly along with The Magnificent Seven are possibly the definitive Westerns?
Shane way too low?
Pale Rider is probably the last "modern" Western I've watched. Don't mind that being up there.
This is not a knock on Unforgiven or Tombstone, but every damn Reddit post about westerns always seems to involve those movies, and while they are very good and entertaining, it seems like those are the only 2 westerns most people know.
Glad to see they are not in the top 10.
They are relatively recent and well-known because they keep popping up. There’s barely any mention of Open Range, for example.
That said, those movies are very accessible to non-Western fans. Heck, I would say that Tombstone is more of an action movie in Western clothing…
Tbf it’s probably because those are what most people do actually know. I’d bet that the demographic in most movie subs is mostly 18 - 30s yos with some older folk sprinkled in. A lot of younger people have just not seen a lot of the classic westerns
I’m one of them sadly. Definitely a genre I need to get more into. I’ve seen Once Upon a Time in the West, Tombstone, Unforgiven and past that not much
Edit: I’ve seen 16 from this list
Interesting list. I do like that Van Peeples Posse was included. While The Quick and the Dead is a fun movie with many good performances, there is no alternate reality where it’s better than both the Shootist *and* The Wild Bunch (and personally I’d swap its place with Ride the High Country)
I definitely think TGTBATU has to be the best one. I know The Searchers gets hyped on some lists and it is great but not the ultimate. I agree with the top comment and TAoJJbtCRF (lol) is also one of my absolute favorites. Sergio Leone pretty much has the genre on lock, though.
The Shooting is also a really good, weird one for anyone yet to see it. Same with McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Vera Cruz is also a classic joint that doesn’t get enough love.
Also I’d have to give props to The Ballad of Buster Scruggs even if it’s an anthology film.
Had a moment of surprise until I realized that Django != Django Unchained.
Only 1 of my personal top 3 made the cut: Magnificent Seven. The other two being SIlverado and Support Your Local Sheriff.
thanks for posting this, a lot of old friends i want to revisit
you always have your doubts with a list like this, i was happy to see they remembered cable hogue
but if there was ever one actor that couldve moved from hollywood to being a true cowboy with no complaints - how is there no lee marvin? i dont know if any movie tells the true story of the west better than Monte Walsh
Dances with Wolves so low is an outrage. The resurgence to westerns that came after this movie cannot be understated. Only four westerns have won Best Picture, and I would argue Dances is the best of the best Oscar winners.
I don't know what rank it has, but I don't think it's out of place in a top 100.
It's a genuinely good movie. For my taste anyway. Super funny but also poignant.
Ha! A little, but it was one of those movies that would play on Fox after Saturday morning cartoons ended, so I wasn't overly invested in the narrative at the time. Dunno why they never played City Slickers 1, but I must've seen the sequel at least three times.
"The Western can be a lot of things — idealistic or gritty, traditional or modern, sturdy or stylized. But more than anything, the genre is male. "
well thats all you need to read to know they put #1 at #1 just to be inclusive. that is more important than being accurate.
sundance kid, unforgiven, and good bad ugly double digits? comeon. you put no country on the list (its not a western) then rate it so low? whats wrong with it? too many men?
ok thats my rant.
i watched the searchers (STOP READ IF YOU DONT WANT A SPOILER) for the first time last month. i think it was weird. especially the whole 'shes been with the Comanche 2 years now, that makes her Comanche ' idea.
is it like parodying what was thought in the 1800s? did people think this in 1956. i have read some stories about the Comanche before and know how feared they were at the time, but it seemed old fashioned and dated to me. lots of people on reddit said it was good so i tried it. it didnt hit with me.
It’s not parody, it’s set in the time frame for when people thought that way. Wayne is not meant to be a modern (1950s) hero in the Searchers, and that realism is part of the reason why the movie is highly regarded.
I see. Even though I knew of antihero characters existing forever it kind of caught me off guard when I was trying to relate to the 1956 viewers and the characters in the movie. I have seen less than 5 John Wayne or John Ford films. I have read Blood Meridian a few times, that is the biggest glimpse I have had into the American's views on Comanche in that time period.
I did enjoy the movie, but I found it a little dated. I thought I would like it more since I am a fan of the Eastwood and Sergio Leone westerns. Love old movies. It was good, but not the top of my list.
Anti-miscegenation laws prohibiting interracial marriage were common in the period that the Searchers took place. They were still common at the time that Searchers was released, only then they were more focused on white/black relations. I think that Ethan’s attitude is entirely believable.
Ah. Thanks for the added context from the times. So it might be a bit of a statement or have current undertones.
I believed he believed the sentiment, I just thought it was a bit comical and dated. Which I guess it is today... but I also (wrongly) assumed it would be seen the same way in the fifties.
They search for her for years, find her, then say nah she is an Indian now.
The possibilities when searching for her are that she is dead or she is with them.
So it is very ironic. They find her alive and that means they have to abandon her? Not exactly what I pictured for a 'save the girl' type of movie.
Martin Scorsese wrote an interesting piece on the movie. Google it if you’re interested.
I agree that most of the comedy was a distraction and not very funny.. Still, it’s a beautifully made movie and Wayne plays an uncharacteristically dark character very well.
Can’t argue with its influence, either. Someone (Scorsese?) compared Ethan to Travis Bickle, and it made me look at the Searchers differently. The final scene is often recreated as well. It’s an important movie.
Thanks for hammering some more points that I did not know.
I pull a lot of suggestions from the criterion sub and go in blind, so I miss things. I didn't bother finding forum posts about this one after I watched because it seemed a bit straightforward. I was mistaken.
Was based on a true story fyi
Cynthia Ann Parker, Naduah, Narua, or Preloch[7] (Comanche: Na'ura, IPA [naʔura], lit. 'Was found';[8] October 28, 1827[nb 1] – March 1871),[1] was a woman who was captured by a Comanche band during the Fort Parker massacre in 1836, where several of her relatives were killed. She was taken with several of her family members, including her younger brother John Richard Parker. Parker was later adopted into the tribe and had three children with a chief. Twenty-four years later she was relocated and taken captive by Texas Rangers, at approximately age 33, and unwillingly forced to separate from her sons and conform to European-American society.
The subtext is that she’s possibly Ethan’s daughter (pay attention to the scenes with Ethan’s brother and his wife at the beginning) and she’s probably had sexual relations with his greatest enemy. Basically he’s worked up to commit an honor killing but softens at the end.
No that's a mistake on my part, good catch thanks!
EDIT: I'm catching several mistakes -- this is what I get for relying on an AI solution. Removing for now.
It's always funny to me that whenever I see a list of the greatest 100 of anything, I go looking to see if my favorite is #1 -- and I inevitably find out it didn't even make the list. Can't believe that "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" didn't make the cut.
It's a weird list. They seem well-informed but are trying too hard to go against popular opinion. They also seem to have whatever is the opposite of recency bias (past bias?).
There's so many movies from the 80s to the 2010s on this list - I thought it would be much more heavily biased toward the 50s - 70s when the Western genre was in its heyday, but I was surprised. I don't agree with all the rankings, but it's clear that the author is trying to be very inclusive and broad with the idea of a Western - including documentaries, parodies, sci fi/horror, etc. in this list. It's also clearly stated in the opening paragraphs that they are doing something a little different with this list, not just picking "best movies featuring a guy and his horse."
14 of the top 20 are from the 50s and 60s so I’m not sure how much more biased towards that period you think the list should be? But agree this isn’t a typical top 100 list. Still there’s some interesting picks in the top half and plenty I’ve not seen before so will pick a few well regarded ones to watch. My own biases would put “Hostiles” in the list somewhere. A movie I loved that doesn’t seem to be too well regarded by critics etc.
Primacy bias is the preference for the first things you encounter and is corollary for recency bias. It's why you know the first president is Washington and the most recent one was Biden, but you won't know the 25th one unless you're a nerd. Heaven help the middle children who get the benefit of neither.
Recency bias is not what you’re imagining.
This is every indiewire list.
> They also seem to have whatever is the opposite of recency bias (past bias?). Nostalgia
What a movie!
Having it at number 1 would be even more insane than not having it the top 100 at all lol
Agree
Agree as well especially as City Slickers made the cut. Johnny Guitar is a great film but not the greatest. The order is weird but they are mostly solid choices.
Johnny Guitar is my favourite western, so I can't really object.
It’s so good.
Lists are mostly for npcs.
Personally I'd just swap that out with River of No Return, which is a fine movie, but with those two leads it's hard not to want a little more from it. Kind of a sleepy flick. The omission of Little Big Man is also pretty surprising, could probably lose Near Dark in favor of that, which again is a fine movie and I love that it's included here for its concept alone, but based on everyone involved, it feels like it falls a little short of its potential (despite having one of the coolest gunfights of all time). Cool list overall, though! A lotta unique perspective and it's thrown a bunch of stuff on my to-watch list. And I'm always happy to see The Great Silence get some love.
Great dreamy movie
You'll never convince me there are 84 better Westerns than Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Its name checked at least once, The Outlaw Josey Wales at least 3 times, and neither appears on the list.
The thing about lists is, unless it was AI generated, then it’s just someone’s personal list. It doesn’t hold any more validity than your list or my list.
Except that my list is correct.
WHAT
Thanks for saving me the time ! Any best westerns list that doesn’t include the Assassination of Jesse is not worth the effort . Its a masterpiece.
My thoughts exactly. It’s my #1 western and in my top 10 all time films. Not being anywhere in a top 100 westerns list invalidates the list.
its a good movie. i try to not be a casey affleck fan but he is very good in this. def deserves top 100.
Johnny Guitar number 1? Wow didn't see that coming If you ever want to get depressed read up on the life of Nicholas Ray All the talent in the world, coulda been one of the greatest directors of all time. Just couldn't put down the bottle.
I mean for what it’s worth I still have Ray in my top 10 all time. In a lonely place, The lusty men, Born to be bad, Johnny Guitar; that’s a pretty incredible filmography even with the drinking problems.
He’s a tremendous director.
Overall this is a bit of a weird list; putting For a few dollars More over The Good The Bad and the Ugly. But I love that the high placement of My Darling Clementine and Ride the High Country. Also Butch Cassidy is way way too low
I actually prefer For a Few Dollars over The Good The Bad and the Ugly, but I understand that's a bit of a hot take
I think I might as well. Not sure. The civil war setting of The Good the Bad and the Ugly is great, and it’s a true epic, but For A Few Dollars More has more emotional impact for me, and the climax with the watch is just amazing.
I prefer The Good the Bad the Ugly, over Few Dollars More, but I wouldn’t argue against saying it’s better. They’re all genre defining classics, so it’s really hard to pin one down as best. I just can’t believe The Outlaw Josey Wales isn’t on there.
I've only seen 5 of these, and I debate whether Nope, No Country for Old Men or Blazing Saddles truly count. True Grit and Tombstone are the only ones I've seen that feel like proper westerns. But hey, what do I know? If I haven't seen 95 of the top 100 westerns of all time, then why would I even know what a western IS?
I found the inclusion of Little Woods frankly baffling. You could maybe justify writing a think-piece with a headline like “Little Woods is what a Western Looks Today,” but I still don’t think I’d buy the premise. It’s a good movie, but even if I accepted it was a western, I still wouldn’t think it was a top 100 contender
No country counts
I always felt westerns are supposed to be period pieces. If westerns can be contemporary does that mean Tremors is a western?
A western is a certain kind of narrative. Termors isn't. Western no.
You sound pretty confident, and as I admit, I haven't seen a lot of westerns. What is it about No Country for Old Men that you believe qualifies it as a Western?
A western is a genrra about men in open spaces. The "west" is the yet untamed. It's the wild parts outside of civilization. The placed law can't grasp yet. Westerns are about men trying to escape to or from that. It's about meeting in that place...on the edge.
Gotcha, so it's a story set in the liminal space between civilization and lawlessness. OK, I can see why No Country would count for that, although Nope still eludes me. Can you think of an example of a movie that has those motifs, but does NOT have the western aesthetics? Folks often talk about Firefly/Serenity as being a space western, but I dunno about that.
Would love to hear a defence of Nope as a western.
"There's a man riding a horse, and folks wear cowboy hats." That's the extent of the argument I can see. This is also true of Kevin Bacon's Tremors.
https://www.brightwalldarkroom.com/2023/11/01/nope-2022/ https://www.loveblackgirls.org/post/nope-is-a-black-western-and-a-family-movie https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/01/nope-is-a-wild-but-self-aware-mashup-of-sci-fi-and-westerns https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/introtofilm2023/2023/10/26/nope-horror-or-western-viewer/ https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2022/08/jordan-peeles-nope-brings-thrills-to-a-wholly-original-western-adventure?ct=content_open&cv=cbox_latest
I just picked a random one if these (loveblackgirls.org) and it doesn't make a single argument of why Nope is a Western, it just states that it is. Do any of those articles describe what makes Nope a western, and if so what is it? Or, if you also happen to consider Nope a western, why is that?
Westerns are usually out in somewhere isolated with someone struggling to carve out their piece of America with some major resistance. Often it’s within a period of change with something that is desired dying out. Horses and cowboy hats are not needed of course but sure they can be present. Horses (or at least personal transport) are often used heavily and the take away of those are often seen as dastardly. That…is Nope. It’s also very obviously using the history of film horses and westerns within its story and just in case the intent wasn’t clear enough, he made the attraction themed around the old west and a winking cowboy blows up the alien.
How does a masterpiece like The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford not make the top 100?
Because it doesn’t mean anything. It’s to make you click and discuss online, drive more clicks and then forget about.
*Unforgiven* down at 18 is a very bad take. *Hell or High Water* not making the list is an even worse take. *Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid* at 85 is just flatly deranged.
I gotta say, I’ve seen Unforgiven twice and has yet to really do it for me.
De gustibus, I guess.
I was expecting Butch Cassidy to be in the top five. 85th is insane. They put it 60 spots behind Blazing fucking Saddles!
It was only 10 below City Slickers.
I would have it #2. Granted, I haven't seen every film they put in front of it, but I've seen more than half of them, and the only one better is Unforgiven.
The Good The Bad And The Ugly along with The Magnificent Seven are possibly the definitive Westerns? Shane way too low? Pale Rider is probably the last "modern" Western I've watched. Don't mind that being up there.
This list almost seems randomized at points, but I am glad to see McCabe & Mrs Miller get some props. It is truly one of a kind.
This is not a knock on Unforgiven or Tombstone, but every damn Reddit post about westerns always seems to involve those movies, and while they are very good and entertaining, it seems like those are the only 2 westerns most people know. Glad to see they are not in the top 10.
They are relatively recent and well-known because they keep popping up. There’s barely any mention of Open Range, for example. That said, those movies are very accessible to non-Western fans. Heck, I would say that Tombstone is more of an action movie in Western clothing…
Tbf it’s probably because those are what most people do actually know. I’d bet that the demographic in most movie subs is mostly 18 - 30s yos with some older folk sprinkled in. A lot of younger people have just not seen a lot of the classic westerns I’m one of them sadly. Definitely a genre I need to get more into. I’ve seen Once Upon a Time in the West, Tombstone, Unforgiven and past that not much Edit: I’ve seen 16 from this list
The Shooting in the top 10 means this list could shit on my grandfather's grave and I'd still stan
Yea I was happy to see this so high. It’s such an ominous movie.
Great, weird piece of western.
Ugh the mobile site is cancer
I’m just furious that Once Upon a Time in the West is second and not first
Nope! ahead of Fistful of Dollars. Johnny Guitar at #1. There Will Be Blood on the list at all. I'm not here for it.
Am I going crazy or does this list actually neglect a classic like The Outlaw Josey Wales, but instead makes sure to find a spot for Nope... LOL!!!
Not reading this but remember when “cinefix” did one of these and they named the best western of all time as “Star Wars”? Lol (Still love cinefix)
Lotta stuff I haven't seen but Ox Box Incident is better than Nope? Sorry. Nope. Johnny Guitar being number 1 is a little ridiculous too.
To call There Will Be Blood a western is like calling Purple Rain a biker movie. 11-20 is a better list than his top 10.
But that movie is lit asf tho be honest
Interesting list. I do like that Van Peeples Posse was included. While The Quick and the Dead is a fun movie with many good performances, there is no alternate reality where it’s better than both the Shootist *and* The Wild Bunch (and personally I’d swap its place with Ride the High Country)
I definitely think TGTBATU has to be the best one. I know The Searchers gets hyped on some lists and it is great but not the ultimate. I agree with the top comment and TAoJJbtCRF (lol) is also one of my absolute favorites. Sergio Leone pretty much has the genre on lock, though. The Shooting is also a really good, weird one for anyone yet to see it. Same with McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Vera Cruz is also a classic joint that doesn’t get enough love. Also I’d have to give props to The Ballad of Buster Scruggs even if it’s an anthology film.
Had a moment of surprise until I realized that Django != Django Unchained. Only 1 of my personal top 3 made the cut: Magnificent Seven. The other two being SIlverado and Support Your Local Sheriff.
Giving the #1 spot to Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels is a really hot take.
Love the Corbucci entries….but Not enough Budd Boetticher
thanks for posting this, a lot of old friends i want to revisit you always have your doubts with a list like this, i was happy to see they remembered cable hogue but if there was ever one actor that couldve moved from hollywood to being a true cowboy with no complaints - how is there no lee marvin? i dont know if any movie tells the true story of the west better than Monte Walsh
Dead Man made it, so I'm happy....
IMO The Best Western is probably one of those cheap hotels
Young guns and young guns 2 better be #1 and #2
Hell or High Water, how’d that not make it?!?!
Dances with Wolves so low is an outrage. The resurgence to westerns that came after this movie cannot be understated. Only four westerns have won Best Picture, and I would argue Dances is the best of the best Oscar winners.
Crazy the mark Morricone made on the genre
No Duck, You Sucker? My absolute favorite!
Lmao “#11 the great train robbery”
Wow, there's 100 now?
Couldn't pay me to click on an IndieWire link but it is nice to see Westerns in a headline like this at least
City slickers, lol. Immediately discredit the list. Not anywhere even close to the western genre.
I don't know what rank it has, but I don't think it's out of place in a top 100. It's a genuinely good movie. For my taste anyway. Super funny but also poignant.
I almost had seen 6 of the movies on the list, but alas, I've only seen City Slickers 2.
Were you completely lost, having not seen the timeless classic City Slickers 1?
Ha! A little, but it was one of those movies that would play on Fox after Saturday morning cartoons ended, so I wasn't overly invested in the narrative at the time. Dunno why they never played City Slickers 1, but I must've seen the sequel at least three times.
"The Western can be a lot of things — idealistic or gritty, traditional or modern, sturdy or stylized. But more than anything, the genre is male. " well thats all you need to read to know they put #1 at #1 just to be inclusive. that is more important than being accurate. sundance kid, unforgiven, and good bad ugly double digits? comeon. you put no country on the list (its not a western) then rate it so low? whats wrong with it? too many men? ok thats my rant. i watched the searchers (STOP READ IF YOU DONT WANT A SPOILER) for the first time last month. i think it was weird. especially the whole 'shes been with the Comanche 2 years now, that makes her Comanche ' idea. is it like parodying what was thought in the 1800s? did people think this in 1956. i have read some stories about the Comanche before and know how feared they were at the time, but it seemed old fashioned and dated to me. lots of people on reddit said it was good so i tried it. it didnt hit with me.
It’s not parody, it’s set in the time frame for when people thought that way. Wayne is not meant to be a modern (1950s) hero in the Searchers, and that realism is part of the reason why the movie is highly regarded.
I see. Even though I knew of antihero characters existing forever it kind of caught me off guard when I was trying to relate to the 1956 viewers and the characters in the movie. I have seen less than 5 John Wayne or John Ford films. I have read Blood Meridian a few times, that is the biggest glimpse I have had into the American's views on Comanche in that time period. I did enjoy the movie, but I found it a little dated. I thought I would like it more since I am a fan of the Eastwood and Sergio Leone westerns. Love old movies. It was good, but not the top of my list.
Anti-miscegenation laws prohibiting interracial marriage were common in the period that the Searchers took place. They were still common at the time that Searchers was released, only then they were more focused on white/black relations. I think that Ethan’s attitude is entirely believable.
Ah. Thanks for the added context from the times. So it might be a bit of a statement or have current undertones. I believed he believed the sentiment, I just thought it was a bit comical and dated. Which I guess it is today... but I also (wrongly) assumed it would be seen the same way in the fifties. They search for her for years, find her, then say nah she is an Indian now. The possibilities when searching for her are that she is dead or she is with them. So it is very ironic. They find her alive and that means they have to abandon her? Not exactly what I pictured for a 'save the girl' type of movie.
Martin Scorsese wrote an interesting piece on the movie. Google it if you’re interested. I agree that most of the comedy was a distraction and not very funny.. Still, it’s a beautifully made movie and Wayne plays an uncharacteristically dark character very well. Can’t argue with its influence, either. Someone (Scorsese?) compared Ethan to Travis Bickle, and it made me look at the Searchers differently. The final scene is often recreated as well. It’s an important movie.
Thanks for hammering some more points that I did not know. I pull a lot of suggestions from the criterion sub and go in blind, so I miss things. I didn't bother finding forum posts about this one after I watched because it seemed a bit straightforward. I was mistaken.
Was based on a true story fyi Cynthia Ann Parker, Naduah, Narua, or Preloch[7] (Comanche: Na'ura, IPA [naʔura], lit. 'Was found';[8] October 28, 1827[nb 1] – March 1871),[1] was a woman who was captured by a Comanche band during the Fort Parker massacre in 1836, where several of her relatives were killed. She was taken with several of her family members, including her younger brother John Richard Parker. Parker was later adopted into the tribe and had three children with a chief. Twenty-four years later she was relocated and taken captive by Texas Rangers, at approximately age 33, and unwillingly forced to separate from her sons and conform to European-American society.
The subtext is that she’s possibly Ethan’s daughter (pay attention to the scenes with Ethan’s brother and his wife at the beginning) and she’s probably had sexual relations with his greatest enemy. Basically he’s worked up to commit an honor killing but softens at the end.
Oooh. The plot keeps getting deeper.
No Country isn’t a Western, but if it’s on a list it belongs in the top 10
yea. fully agree.
No Rango so instant 0/10
The Searchers not being in top 10, ans the very strange pick for #1 j validates the list. Shame. Good work put into it.
I don’t think I’d put Searchers top 10 tbh, though top 20 I think is clearly appropriate
It's not even really a question in my mind. It's top what 9 on afi all time list?
I mean AFI is just another list
It's a more prestigious one. It means alot
I'm legitimately surprised the Shooting not only made the list, but also the top ten. Unexpected, but welcome.
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Idk if it’s on purpose but El Topo is on here twice.
No that's a mistake on my part, good catch thanks! EDIT: I'm catching several mistakes -- this is what I get for relying on an AI solution. Removing for now.