The Best Western Movies 2024

1. Man in the Wilderness (Full Frame)

VHS, PG, 110 minutes, WARNER

An abandoned fur trapper must fight for survival and revenge in the western wilderness.

2. Frank And Jesse

VHS, R, VIDMARK / TRIMARK

With the Civil War over, "Frank and Jesse" James retreat to the family farm where they witness the murder of their younger brother, while Yankee soldiers turn their backs. The James boys feel they have no choice but to seek their own justice. They join the Younger brothers to form a gang of rebels that wage a bloody war against its corrupt enemies ? robbing their banks, stagecoaches, and trains. In retaliation, their adversaries hire famed detective Allan Pinkerton to stop them. When his nephew is gunned down by the James Gang, Pinkerton vows he will not rest until the day the notorious brothers are brought to justice...at the end of a rope.

3. Arizona

VHS, 125 minutes, COLUMBIA / TRI STAR

Jean Arthur and William Holden star as a hellion and the man who loves her in "Arizona", an epic adventure set in the frontier days of lawless Tucson. Columbia Pictures purchased Clarence Budington Kelland's 1939 novel "Arizona," intending it as a reunion vehicle for Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur, the stars of "Mr. Deeds goes to Town" and "The Plainsman." When Cooper became unavailable, the studio assigned the male lead to their "Golden Boy" sensation, William Holden. Budgeted at 2.3 million, "Arizona" was produced on a grand scale, complete with a full-sized recreation of the 1860's Tucson settlement, majestic location scenery, hundreds of extras, boisterous Apache raids and a spectacular cattle stampede. Opening on Christmas Day 1940, "Arizona" was hailed as a rip-roaring Western from a director, Wesley Ruggles, who knew how to make them (Ruggles directed the 1931 Academy Award winning Best picture "Cimarron").

4. Jeremiah Johnson (Full Frame)

VHS, 110 minutes, WARNER

Robert Redford has one of his best-ever roles as a 19th century mountain man in a wilderness of harsh elements and hostile Indians. Directed by "The Firm's" Sydney Pollack.

5. Hombre (Full Frame)

VHS, 111 minutes, CBS / FOX

John Russell (Paul Newman's), white man raised by a band a Arizona Apaches, is forced to confront the society he despises when he sells the Boarding house his father has left him. While leaving town by stagecoach, several bigtoed passengers insist he ride inside with the driver(Martin Balsam). But when outlaws leave them all stranded in the desert, Russell may be their only hope for survival! Diane Cilento, Frederic March, Richard Boone and Barbara Rush co-star in this action-packed Western classic.

6. Undefeated, The

VHS, 119 minutes, CBS / FOX

John Wayne and Rock Hudson co-star in this rollicking classic set in Mexico during the tumultuous post-Civil War days. As Union Calvary officer John Henry Thomas (John Wayne) and former Confederate Colonel James Langdon (Rock Hudson) lead their men into new territories to begin anew life, their paths cross. Now, caught between Mexican rebels and the Emperor's forces, they find themselves fighting side by side and must forge an uneasy friendship in order to survive. Based on a story by Stanley L. Hough, this entertaining film about unlikely alliances is Western action at its best.

7. Joe Kidd (Full Frame)

VHS, PG, 87 minutes, MCA / UNIVERSAL

"Joe Kidd", which concerns a land war in New Mexico at the turn of the century, marks Clint Eastwood at the top of his form as a western hero. Filmed in 1971, Kidd brings together veteran western director John Sturges, the classic backdrop of the High Sierras, the top-notch acting skills of Robert Duvall and the rugged Eastwood as the ?hired gun? who takes action based on his own particular sense of justice. And like a very classic western, it has gunfights, conflicts, and a slam-bang finale which has a locomotive being driven through a saloon where the bad guys are hiding. ?There have always been westerns and there will always be westerns,? Eastwood said. Joe Kidd is one of the best.

8. Heller In Pink Tights (Full Frame)

VHS, 100 minutes, PARAMOUNT

Based on a Louis L'Amour novel, "Heller In Pink Tights" struts onto the screen with sass and shimmy that shows how the West was fun! Sophia Loren and Anthony Quinn play members of the Healy Dramatic Co., an itinerant theatrical troupe struggling to stay one step ahead of the bill collector as it travels from mining camps to cowtowns. Come sleet, snow or hail of bullets, the Healy show must go on! And go on it does in this witty, colorful romp directed by George Cukor ("My Fair Lady") and scripted by Dudley Nichols ("Bringing Up Baby") and Walter Bernstein ("Semi-Tough").

9. Posse

VHS, PG, 92 minutes, PARAMOUNT

United States Marshal Howard Nightingale is a law and order and publicity man. He doesn't simply capture outlaws. He makes sure a photographer is around to record the arrests and spread his fame. Now Nightingale, who aspires to the Senate, is out to nab his No. 1 prey: cool-witted Jack Strawhorn. "If I don't get him, I don't get elected," he says. Kirk Douglas (who also produced and directed) stars as Nightingale and Bruce Dern is Strawhorn in "Posse", an exciting roundup of action, humor and sly political skepticism. Bo Hopkins, James Stacy and Luke Askew co-star in this crafty western that asks: Just who is the real bad guy?.

10. One Eyed Jacks

One Eyed Jacks

One Eyed Jacks