Top 10 Westerns of All Time

[GBU]

Recently G4TechTV started a poll on their site for the 10 best westerns of all time. Clint grabs 5. Here is the list.

Top 10 Best Westerns of All Time:

1. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - Sergio Leone's quintessential Western epic made Clint Eastwood the torchbearer in the genre and cemented Lee Van Cleef as one of the greatest movie villains of all time.

2. Shane - The archetypal Western plotline of the stranger who befriends a family and saves them from evil set the tone for all that swam in it’s wake, including The Unforgiven, the most blatant (and best) Shane knockoff.


3. High Noon - A case study in movie making, High Noon is among the first films to take place in real time.


4. The Wild Bunch - Sam Peckinpah's ultra-violent epic still packs quite a punch.


5. High Plains Drifter - The most badass revenge flick ever made. Clint's The Man With No Name could kick Dirty Harry's ass.


6. The Unforgiven - There would be no Unforgiven without Shane.


7. Outlaw Josey Wales - Practically a remake of High Plains Drifter but with more backstory, sub-plots and fully developed characters. You can still feel the sting of that darned whip!


8. Treasure of the Sierra Madre - A later-era Western to be sure, but a terrific character study in greed and trust, and a fine example of why we are still talking about Bogart to this day. The man oozes star power.


9. A Fistful of Dollars - The beginning of Sergio and Clint's Dollars series, this is the best of the bunch.


10. Once Upon a Time in the West - Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson lead this all-star cast. Never in cinematic history has a harmonica been the source of so much tension.

Do ya'll agree or disagree?

See for yourself on the site. They also have a poll on the site of the best western actor. Clint, John Wayne, Lee Van Cleef, Henry Fonda, and Gary Cooper. Clint is ahead with 52% of the vote.

http://www.g4techtv.com/cinematech/features/47889/Top_10_Best_Westerns_of_All_Time.html

[Brendan]

G4TechTV are a bunch of losers.

But seeing Clint having five out of the top ten is alright.  

[GBU]

Thanks buddy. Its just one of my fav. channels to watch.



But back on topic, I believe the Magnificient Seven should have been on there.

[Christopher]

2. Shane - The archetypal Western plotline of the stranger who befriends a family and saves them from evil set the tone for all that swam in it’s wake, including The Unforgiven, the most blatant (and best) Shane knockoff.

Maybe they are talking about that Huston film.

7. Outlaw Josey Wales - Practically a remake of High Plains Drifter but with more backstory, sub-plots and fully developed characters. You can still feel the sting of that darned whip!

I'm starting to wonder if they know what they're talking about.

[KC]

I can't believe that John Huston film placed so high on the list! Or that they missed "the most blatant (and best) Shane knockoff" ... Pale Rider.  

[ScreamingEagle]

9. A Fistful of Dollars - The beginning of Sergio and Clint's Dollars series, this is the best of the bunch.

at number nine, with GBU at no.1 , makes this guy a hypocrite.

Once Upon A Time In The West is the best imo.

And Lee Van Cleef is NOT one of the greatest movie villians of all time. Good but not Great.

[KC]

I really think this is one of the silliest Internet polls/lists ever. Whoever wrote those descriptions can't have seen half the films that are allegedly being described.  

[Brendan]

I really think this is one of the silliest Internet polls/lists ever. Whoever wrote those descriptions can't have seen half the films that are allegedly being described.  

That's G4TechTV for yah.  

[Jed Cooper]

How is it the quintessential western movie star, John Wayne, didn't make this list?  What a load of crapola!  Although Clint is my favorite, I consider The Duke the best "western" movie actor.

[Philo Beddoe Jr]

Where's The Searchers?
Where's Red River?

Sheesh...   what a joke of a poll.

WKC.

[Jed Cooper]

Sheesh...   what a joke of a poll.

WKC.

Ditto  

[Agent]

Actually, Clint only has 4 films in there, not 5, since The Unforgiven (1960), is not Clint's Unforgiven (1992).

[mgk]

That would appear to be true but, if you click on The Unforgiven, it is actually Unforgiven.....they just got the name wrong like so many do.

Were you pulling our leg, Agent, and I fell for it?  

[Agent]

Hi mgk,

No, I went by the literal title The Unforgiven, assuming it was correct, and by the comment "the most blatant (and best) Shane knockoff." I've never seen the 1960 movie, so I assumed they were referring to that, since I've never even compared Clint's Unforgiven to Shane! I don't see any comparison between the two (that's also the first time I've heard it referred as a Shane knockoff), so I wonder if in fact that website was referring to the 1960 version, and the link is incorrect? I may be wrong. It's been so long since I've seen Shane, I can barely remember what it's about.  

[Jed Cooper]

I remember Pale Rider being referred to as a cross between Shane & High Plains Drifter in a newspaper write-up at the time of it's release in '85.

[mgk]

I remember seeing The Unforgiven years ago but, at the time, would not have compared it to Shane.  Here is what the synopsis for The Unforgiven says over on www.imdb.com :

Odd Western about racial intolerance focuses around Kiawa claim that the Zachary daughter is one of their own, stolen in a raid. The disupute results in other whites' turning their backs on the Zacharys when the truth is revealed by Mother. Murphy plays Cash, the hotheaded brother who reacts violently to learning his "sister" is a "red-hide Indian." He leaves the family but returns to help them fight off an Indian raid during which Hepburn kills her Kiawa brother, thus choosing sides once and for all.

In my opinion The Unforgiven is more like John Wayne's The Searchers than it is to Shane.  And, in my humble opinion, Eastwood's Unforgiven isn't Shane either.  (Unforgiven is better. )

Shane is a really nice, heart-warming (and sad) movie but the plot line doesn't seem to follow either of these movies that they are  comparing it to on the G4TechTV site.  Shane was well-received when it came out in 1953 and I think some critics and some non-critics have been comparing all westerns to it ever since.

The synopsis for Shane over on www.imdb.com is:

Plot Summary for
Shane (1953)

Shane rides into a conflict between cattleman Ryker and a bunch of settlers, like the Starretts, whose land Ryker wants. When Shane beats up Ryker's man Chris, Ryker tries to buy him. Then Shane and Joe take on the whole Ryker crew. Ryker sends to Cheyenne for truly evil gunslinger Wilson. We wonder about Shane's relation to Joe's wife Marian. Shane must clear out all the guns from the valley before he can ride off with Joey hollering "Shane ... Shane ... Come Back!"

Based on that, about the only thing that is similar is this line:

Ryker sends to Cheyenne for truly evil gunslinger Wilson.

Munny is a much more complex character than is Wilson from Shane.  I think they're really reaching to compare these three movies to each other.

But, then, again, maybe I just don't see it.  

[Agent]

Yeah, same here. The only resemblence I can see between the main bad-guy characters in the 2 movies, is between the Jack Palance character and the Gene Hackman (Little Bill) character, in which there isn't much resemblence at all. One is a gunfigher and the other is a sheriff. Again, Shane is still fuzzy in my mind as it's been so long.

Well, whether Unforgiven or The Unforgiven, I guess we can all pretty much agree there isn't much resemblence to the movie Shane.  

That really is a strange poll.

[Kiwi Cowboy]

Hard to take that poll seriously.
I thought Pale Rider was a remake of Shane?

[KC]

Here's my summary of the most blatant examples of nonsense in this list:

1. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - Sergio Leone's quintessential Western epic made Clint Eastwood the torchbearer in the genre and cemented Lee Van Cleef as one of the greatest movie villains of all time.

This contradicts no. 9 on the list ... "A Fistful of Dollars - The beginning of Sergio and Clint's Dollars series, this is the best of the bunch."

2. Shane - The archetypal Western plotline of the stranger who befriends a family and saves them from evil set the tone for all that swam in it’s wake, including The Unforgiven, the most blatant (and best) Shane knockoff.

As mgk pointed out, NEITHER Huston's The Unforgiven NOR Eastwood's Unforgiven has anything whatsoever to do with Shane. Perhaps the writer is thinking of Pale Rider, which is, in some respects, a Shane knockoff, or as I prefer to call it, a homage.

3. High Noon - A case study in movie making, High Noon is among the first films to take place in real time.

That's a ridiculous assertion ... probably thousands of films had been made by then that took place more or less in real time.

5. High Plains Drifter - The most badass revenge flick ever made. Clint's The Man With No Name could kick Dirty Harry's ass.

Except that it's not "The Man With No Name" in High Plains Drifter; it's "The Stranger."

6. The Unforgiven - There would be no Unforgiven without Shane.

As already stated, this makes no sense with regard to Clint's Unforgiven, and I'm sure NO ONE considers that Huston's film deserves a place on any Top Ten Westerns list.

7. Outlaw Josey Wales - Practically a remake of High Plains Drifter but with more backstory, sub-plots and fully developed characters. You can still feel the sting of that darned whip!

It's THE Outlaw Josey Wales. It is NOT a remake of High Plains Drifter in any way, shape, or form. And there is NO WHIP.

9. A Fistful of Dollars - The beginning of Sergio and Clint's Dollars series, this is the best of the bunch.

As already stated ... so, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is chopped liver after all?

[Brendan]

Well like I said, that's G4TechTV for yah.

G4TechTV airs nothing but gaming shows. Pretty much they're whole roster of shows is somehow gaming related, there's even one where people watch other people play games   , so I'm not sure how this "list" (or lack there of) can actually be considered note worthy and should evened be looked upon by us.

If the poll/list was done by "Lonestar" (Canada's all western channel) or the American all western channel (forgot it's name) then it would hold some sort of merit. But a channel that airs nothing but gaming shows and maybe two shows about technology... well... it just doesn't seem to fit the mold.

Or perhaps if a channel devoted to just films did the list, again, it would hold some merit, but as is, it holds nothing and I can agree completely with most everyone here when they say it's a bad list and doesn't make any sense.  

I like Clint (obviously so, or I wouldn't be here) but five of his films in the top ten?   I'm sorry to say but there has to be some other more deserving westerns out there.