More, of course, than could possibly fit on a top-50 list interested in capturing the full scope of the genre. That, of course, still leaves a lot of great Westerns. (We did, however, make an exception for a certain comedy that concludes with its stars attending its own premiere.) That means no modern Westerns, no stealth Westerns starring aged X-Men, and no space Westerns with blasters instead of pistols. It’s been assembled, however, working from a fairly traditional definition of the Western: films set along the America frontier of the 19th and the first years of the 20th century. This list of the 50 greatest Westerns reflects that wide legacy from the very first entry, a film directed by a Hungarian and starring a Tasmanian. In Paul Greengrass’s recent film News of the World, for instance, Tom Hanks plays a traveling newsreader whose attempt to return a girl to her family doubles as a tour of a country whose divisions look like clear roots to some of our current national troubles. And while there are certain themes and elements that define the genre, it’s also proven to be flexible, capable of playing host to many different stories and an infinite variety of characters. A strand of violent, psychologically complex Westerns that appeared in the 1950s, for example, captures both changing attitudes toward the settlement of the West and the treatment of Native Americans while channeling the spirit of a country still recovering from a devastating World War. The Western is a vital genre with the habit of reinventing itself every few years that doubles as a way to talk about America’s history while reflecting on its present.
Westerns thrived in the silent era, and though the genre’s popularity has ebbed and flowed ever since - largely fading from view in the ’80s but enjoy several resurgences in succeeding decades - it’s never threatened to fade away. The history of movie Westerns more or less begins with the end of the Old West itself. It’s probably safe to add the Western to that list, too, even if - like jazz and comics - the Western has roots around the globe and has since been adopted in many lands. Īmerica can only claim a few art forms as its own. This article was originally published in 2021 and has been updated to include The Power of the Dog. Photo-Illustration: Maya Robinson/Vulture and Photos Courtesy of Studios, Getty Images and Shutterstock
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