30+ Best Western Movies That You Should Watch This Time

There is no better type of escapism than Western movies. Their expansive desert vistas take us from the daily life’s hustle and bustle and inspire a sense of adventure without ever moving from our couches. 

While sci-fi and other modern genres now predominate in the film industry, elegant Western theaters depicted Native Americans’ culture and lives once ruled the market.

The most iconic movie genre was the Western, which featured stars like Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, and James Stewart portraying cowboys in the wild wild west. 

Western movies were extremely popular in the film industry throughout the 1950s and 1960s. We have noted down 30+ western movies that will turn you into a fan of classic cinema-

The Cowboy and the Indians (1949)

Director- John English

Where To Watch- MX Player

Storyline- Gene discovers Indians plundering his ranch but finds they are malnourished. Martin, the store owner, has been scamming them and now wants the Chief’s precious necklace. 

Martin accuses Lakhona, who would take over as the new Chief after the dying Chief is discovered having been attacked and robbed.

When Gene assists Lakhona, they quickly find themselves on the run from the cops.

Django Unchained (2012)

Director- Quentin Tarantino

Where To Watch- Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play Movies, Netflix

Storyline- To locate some men he is seeking, a bounty hunter named King Schultz buys the slave Django in 1858. 

After locating them, Django seeks Broomhilda, his wife, who was also sold separately by his previous owner because she tried to run away.

Schultz promises to assist him if he stays with him and becomes his partner. 

Eventually, they discover that she was given to a Mississippi plantation. Knowing they can’t just walk in and declare they want her, they formulate a plan in which the owner will invite them into his house, and they will be able to find a solution.

Legends of the Fall (1994)

Director- Edward Zwick

Where To Watch- Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV,

Storyline- With his sons Tristan, Alfred, and Samuel, Colonel William Ludlow lives in the wilderness in early 20th-century Montana. Samuel’s death in World War I brings about grief for the unconventional but close-knit family. 

After finishing their military tours of duty, Tristan and Alfred return home. However, soon after, both fall in love with Samuel’s stunning fiancée, Susannah (Julia Ormond), and their violent competition starts tearing the family apart.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Director- George Roy Hill

Where To Watch- Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play Movies, MX Player

Storyline- Butch and Sundance lead the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang. Butch mainly has devoted principles, whereas Sundance focuses on skill and action. The west is becoming civilized, and after Butch and Sundance rob a train one too many times, a special squad stalks them wherever they go.

The group is always right behind them as they traverse rocks, villages, and rivers. By pure chance, they manage to escape, but Butch has another plan to go to Bolivia.

Logan dares Cassidy to a knife battle to choose who will head the group. In spite of tricking him into surrender, Cassidy agrees to Logan’s plan to rob the Union Pacific Overland Flyer train on both its eastbound and westbound trips. 

The Call of the Wild (2020)

Director- Chris Sanders

Where To Watch- Apple TV

Storyline- Buck, a large and loving dog that is a hybrid between a St. Bernard and a Scotch shepherd, is the star of the colorful story The Call of the Wild. 

His easygoing lifestyle was suddenly shattered when he was kidnapped from his house in Santa Clara County, California, and sent up north. He was once again sold in Skagway, Alaska, and transported farther north to Dawson City, Yukon, in the late 1890s, a time when strong sled dogs were in high demand.

Buck, who had been mistreated and had suffered, still managed to enjoy the time of his life. After the endless struggle to fight for his life and eventually being taken by his last owner, John Thornton, to a place close to the Arctic Circle, he gradually starts to fall back on his natural instincts.

The Power of the Dog (2021)

Director- Jane Campion

Where To Watch- Netflix

Storyline- Phil Burbank, who is tough, handsome, and pale-eyed, is irresistibly charming. All of Phil’s romanticism, strength, and weakness are trapped in the past and the countryside: He can castrate a bull calf with two quick strokes of his knife; he dips naked in the river, covering his body with Dirt. He is as gruff as his skin, a true cowboy. The Burbank brothers are well-off ranchers in Montana.

On their way to the market, the brothers stop at the Red Mill restaurant, where they meet Rose and Peter. All of his other cowhands laugh at Phil’s callous behavior, which drives them both to tears. But his brother George consoles Rose and finally proposes to her. Phil’s mocking of Rose takes on a creepy form as he swings between anger and cunning. 

His humiliation of her son becomes more blatant, reinforced by the cheering of Phil’s cowhand admirers. After that, Phil steps forward to pose as the boy’s mentor.

Nomadland (2020)

Director- Chloé Zhao

Where To Watch- Apple Watch

Storyline- A woman in her 60s travels through the American West. She wanders as a modern-day nomad living out of a van after losing everything in the Great Recession.

Fern (Frances McDormand) loads her van. She hits the road to explore life as a modern nomad outside of traditional society after the economic disaster of a small community in rural Nevada. 

In NOMADLAND, the third motion picture from director Chloé Zhao, real nomads Linda May, Swankie, and Bob Wells serves as Fern’s mentors and friends as she wanders through the vast American West.

Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021)

Director- Taylor Sheridan

Where To Watch- Netflix

Storyline- Hannah Faber, a fearless smoke-jumper with a death wish, is stuck in a lone fire lookout tower in the middle of Montana’s lush wilderness. 

She is still coping with the emotional damage of a tragic failure of judgment. Hannah crosses paths with Connor, the young son of forensic accountant Owen Casserly, and becomes the target of a highly skilled pair of assassins. 

Hannah must now put her acute survival instincts to good use and confront the murderers, who will do all they can to cover their footprints, including burning the forest on wildfire.

The Hateful Eight (2015)

Director- Quentin Tarantino

Where To Watch- Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

Storyline- A stagecoach travels across Wyoming’s icy landscape shortly after the Civil War. Bounty hunter John Ruth and his runaway captive Daisy Domergue speed towards Red Rock, where Ruth will take Daisy to justice.

Major Marquis Warren, a renowned bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix, a man claiming to be Red Rock’s new sheriff, are confronted along the way. Lost in a blizzard, the group seeks refuge at Minnie’s Haberdashery. When they arrive, they are welcomed by strangers: Bob, who claims to be looking after the property while Minnie is away; Oswaldo Mobray, the Red Rock executioner; and Joe Gage, a cow boxer.

As the storm reaches the mountainside, the eight passengers realize they may not make it to Red Rock after all.

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019)

Director- Vince Gilligan

Where To Watch- Netflix

Storyline- Jesse must escape his past demons after being released from Mr. White’s slavery and torture and Tod’s uncle Jack. 

He is running from a police manhunt, and Ed Galbraith, Saul Goodman’s hoover man, is his only chance of getting away. A man who can provide him with a new identity and a new beginning in turn of money.

With the help of his crew, Jesse attempts to avoid capture while hustling against the clock to save money for a “new dust filter” and a new life.

The Revenant (2015)

Director- Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Where To Watch- Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

Storyline- Hugh Glass, a famous frontiersman, is wounded by a vicious bear attack in 1823 while traveling across the vast wilderness.

The Glass must use his survival instincts to find a way back home after his hunting team abandons him for dead while chasing their own hunt while escaping natives.

John Fitzgerald, his former friend who betrayed and left him, is the target of Glass’s fury as he makes his way through the freezing terrain.

After being mauled by a bear and neglected for dead by others of his own hunting team, the near-dead fur-trader battles for life. This movie has won 3 Oscars with 91 other awards.

News of the World (2020)

Director- Paul Greengrass

Where To Watch- Netflix

Storyline- Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks), a three-war veteran, now wanders from city to city as a non-fiction narrator, sharing tales of presidents and queens, epic feuds, tragic catastrophes, and exciting adventures from the far corners of the globe.

He meets Johanna (Helena Zengel), a 10-year-old who was adopted by the Kiowa people and brought up as one of their own on the Texas plains. Johanna is being forced back to her biological aunt and uncle despite her hostility against a world she has never known. Kidd agrees to take the kid back to where she wants to be.

The two will face major challenges from both human and natural phenomena as they trek hundreds of miles into the harsh wilderness in search of a spot where either of them can seek refuge.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

Director- Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Where To Watch- Netflix

Storyline- The lives of six different people, linked by death, unfold against the backdrop of nineteenth-century post-Civil War America, where life was brutal and cheap. 

Beginning with “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” the cheerful Buster Scruggs, a deadly gunslinger with a lightning-fast right hand and a wonderful singing voice, is about to learn that talent alone is enough.

Next, in “Near Algodones,” a resolute bank robber meets his fate on the execution row, and in “Meal Ticket,” an old traveling performer goes above and beyond to capture the audience’s interest.

 In “All Gold Canyon,” which comes after, a failed treasure hunter with silver hair is certain that his luck will turn in the middle of nowhere. 

Beautiful Alice learns in “The Gal Who Got Rattled” that romance and stray gunshots don’t mix. 

Finally, five people crammed on a stagecoach in “The Mortal Remains” share life philosophy before understanding that looks can be misleading.

Rambo: Last Blood (2019)

Director- Adrian Grunberg

Where To Watch- Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play Movies

Storyline- RAMBO: LAST BLOOD, the final chapter in the legendary saga, is a violent vengeance-seeking journey. Sylvester Stallone is returning as one of the finest action superstars of all time. 

John Rambo, over forty years after they first drew blood. To extract justice in his final mission, Rambo must now face his history and rediscover his deadly military prowess. 

The Longest Ride (2015)

Director- George Tillman Jr.

Where To Watch- YouTube, Google Play 

Storyline- THE LONGEST RIDE is based on the bestselling novel by master writer Nicholas Sparks. Its narrative follows the star-crossed love affair of Luke, a former champion bull rider attempting to make a return, and Sophia, a college student set to embark on her dream career in New York City’s world of art.

Sophia and Luke encounter Ira unexpectedly and by chance as different roads and beliefs test their relationship. Ira’s memories of his own long-lasting love story with his beloved wife are a source of great inspiration for the young couple.

THE LONGEST RIDE examines the challenges and limitless rewards of eternal love while spanning generations and two overlapping love stories.

The Last Stand (2013)

Director- Jee-Woon Kim

Where To Watch- Netflix

Storyline- After abandoning his job with the LAPD after a failed mission that left him dejected after his partner was crippled, Sheriff Owens has surrendered himself to a life of battling what little crime there is in the tranquil border town Sommerton Junction.

The most notorious and wanted drug lord in the region is speeding toward the border at 200 mph in an outfitted vehicle with a hostage and a ruthless squad of mob fighters after making a breathtaking escape from an FBI custody van.

He’s on his way to Summerton Junction, where all US law enforcement will have one last opportunity to stop him before he passes the line forever.

Owens eventually takes responsibility for the confrontation after first being reluctant to get involved and then being written off due to the apparent inefficiency of his small-town squad.

Rango (2011)

Director- Gore Verbinski

Where To Watch- Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play Movies, Netflix

Storyline- Rango is a pet chameleon who is always on the quest for action and adventure, except for the fake type, in which he leads and acts. 

He ends up in Dirt, a little town in the American West, as a result of an automobile accident. Water is the most crucial thing this community needs, but they also need a sheriff and a hero. 

Rango undertakes the responsibilities of both right away out of vanity and takes on the investigation of their missing water. 

No Country for Old Men (2007) 

Director- Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Where To Watch-  Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

Storyline-

Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a welder and hunter, finds the bodies of several drug dealers who had all been killed in a violent trade in a rural part of Texas. Moss decides to keep the two million dollar prize for himself rather than reporting it to the police.

The psychotic killer Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is now on his trail as he cold-bloodedly kills practically every rival, onlooker, and even an employer in search of his target and the money. 

As Chigurh draws in, the blood from this hunt starts to flow behind Moss with more intensity. Moss is actively trying to stay one step ahead.

Even as he struggles to understand the sheer scale of the crimes he is trying to stop, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) nonchalantly handles the investigation in the meantime.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Director- Andrew Dominik

Where To Watch- Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play Movies

Storyline-  Jesse James has been Robert Ford’s hero since he was young. Robert Ford makes multiple efforts to join the Missouri outlaw’s reformist gang but eventually grows frustrated with the leader of the bandits.

The movie, which is set in Missouri in the early 1880s, depicts the final seven months of the life of legendary outlaw Jesse James, starting with the Blue Cut train robbery in 1881 and finishing with Robert Ford’s killing of him in April of that year. 

Between these two tragic events, the ambitious and egotistical Ford meets the wary criminal even as he plots his murder.

The Beguiled (2017)

Director- Sofia Coppola

Where To Watch- Amazon Prime Video

Storyline- In 1864, three years into the American Civil War, the matriarch, a teacher, and five pupils continue to live in the run-down home of Miss Martha Farnsworth’s Seminary for Young Ladies in Spanish moss-covered Virginia. 

The delicate balance of things will be disturbed when a young student discovers Corporal John McBurney, an injured Union deserter who is close to death. The reluctant headmistress agrees to take him in to recover from his wounds. 

Slowly, as the unwanted guest stirs up awkward sexual arousal among the boarding school’s women, it won’t be long before they compete for the attractive man’s win.

Hidalgo (2004) 

Director- Joe Johnston

Where To Watch- Apple TV,

Storyline- Frank T. Hopkins, a cowboy with an Indian mother, joined Buffalo Bill’s famous Wild West show (Ringling Circus) as a horse stuntman.

He receives a challenge from an Arabian sheik to defend his reputation as the finest endurance rider in the world by competing in the millennium epic “ocean of fire” race over the merciless Arab desserts, which usually wipes out the majority of participants, sometimes tragically.

Hopkins enters with his faithful mustang Hidalgo, the first non-Thoroughbred ever. 

Forsaken (2015)

Director- Jon Cassar

Where To Watch- Amazon Prime Video

Storyline- Because Samuel is embarrassed by his son’s purported achievements after the War, John Henry and Samuel don’t get along. To patch his damaged relationship with his father, John Henry returns to his hometown.

When John Henry Clayton (Kiefer Sutherland) gets home, his father tells him that his mother passed away some time ago. Since John Henry had been wandering aimlessly for ten years after serving in the Civil War, he was unaware. 

However, the community is being terrorized by a local gang. The only person who can stop them is John Henry, who has given up his gun and his reputation as a daring quick-draw assassin. The movie begins with an image from the past that depicts a young boy who has just passed away and his grieving mother. 

The Salvation (2014)

Director- Kristian Levring

Where To Watch- Amazon Prime Video

Storyline- A European settler named Jon Jensen (Mads Mikkelsen) had just moved his wife and son to the American West in the 1870s, where they were abducted and killed. 

He exacts revenge on the killers only to learn that one of them was Henry Delarue, a local land baron brother. Delarue rules the town with an iron fist. Now he seeks payback on the man who murdered his brother, and the locals are too afraid of him to oppose him. Jon is against more than just the local goons; he is against the entire community.

Hell or High Water (2016)

Director- David Mackenzie

Where To Watch-  YouTube, Google Play Movies, Amazon Prime Video

Storyline- After his mother passed away, jobless oil and gas laborer Toby Howard lost his ranch in Texas to the Texas Midlands Bank. 

Toby and his wife, who shares a home with their two sons, are divorced. When his brother Tanner Howard is out of prison, they team together to rob Texas Midlands Branch offices in order to pay off the loan and let Toby leave the property to his sons. 

Meanwhile, near-retired Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton and his Native American-descendant sidekick Alberto Parker attempt to foresee the robbers’ next step.

Once Upon a Time in the West (1969)

Director- Sergio Leone

Where To Watch- Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV,

Storyline- The tale revolves around two plot lines in the Old West town of “Flagstone.” First, a man named “Harmonica” plans to exact justice on the bandit Frank. 

Second, Frank is a hired gun for railroad magnate Morton, who is attempting to buy some property owned by the Brett McBain family. Cheyenne, a second outlaw, also plays a part in the narrative.

At the train station, Harmonica ambushes three men and murders them. He believes they are Cheyenne’s men because of the dusters they wear. 

At Brett McBain and his family’s property, which they refer to as “Sweetwater,” Frank and his goons murder Brett and his three children. Frank leaves evidence behind in order to implicate Cheyenne in the killings.

The Unforgiven (1960)

Director- John Huston

Where To Watch- Apple TV

Storyline- The Rawlins and Zachary families are interconnected in post-Civil War Texas. Ben Zachary, the oldest son and now the head of the family when Will Zachary passed away, works alongside Zeb Rawlins to run a cattle ranch.

Zeb’s humble son Charlie Rawlins wants to date Ben’s younger sister, adopted Rachel Zachary – something that irritates Ben because he believes Charlie is unworthy of Rachel – while Georgia Rawlins would be content with any of the Zachary brothers, though she has her heart set on Cash Zachary.

 The advent of an elderly guy brandishing a lightsaber changes their world. The myth he is spreading—that Rachel is descended from Indians, notably Kiowa—is more dangerous than the saber itself.

Mackenna’s Gold (1969)

Director- J. Lee Thompson

Where To Watch- Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play Movies,

Storyline- To get the map, the Mexican criminal John Colorado and his squad have been hunting Prairie Dog while trailed by the US Cavalry. 

In Hadleyburg, they hide out in the home of an old judge, murder him, and capture his daughter Inga. In an effort to force MacKenna to guide them to the gold, Colorado captures him. Colorado’s right-hand man Sanchez is among the gang, as are other Native Americans. 

Hesh-ke and MacKenna were once in love, but she dumped him after he prosecuted her brother, who was convicted and executed.

Marshal McKenna is taken hostage by the thug Colorado. He forces him to lead McKenna because he thinks she has seen a map that points to a gold mine that runs deep through the mountains. But they aren’t the only ones looking for gold; they quickly find a group of “honorable” people and the army, and that’s before they reach Indian territory.

Tombstone (1993)

Director- Kevin Jarre

Where To Watch- Apple TV

Storyline- Reunited with his brothers Virgil and Morgan, a renowned former peace officer, travel on to Tombstone to settle down. 

They run upon Doc Holliday, a longtime friend of Wyatt’s, seeking refuge from his deteriorating tuberculosis in the dry climate. Mattie Blaylock, Wyatt’s common-law spouse, is also growing addicted to laudanum. 

When Wyatt and his brothers have their first experience with the Cowboys, they begin to gain from a stake in a gambling parlor and bar.

Australia (2008)

Director- 

Where To Watch- Amazon Prime Video

Storyline- Weeks before World War II, in 1939, Lady Sarah Ashley of England leaves for Australia to push her philandering husband into selling their struggling cattle ranch, Faraway Downs. 

The vast station spans Western Australia and the Northern Territory, going all the way north to the Timor Sea. Her husband hires “The Drover,” an independent livestock drover, to transfer her to Faraway Downs.

Before she arrives, Lady Sarah’s husband is killed; the police tell her that “King George” is an older Aboriginal man. Neil Fletcher, the station’s manager, works secretly to take over Faraway Downs so he can sell it to butcher millionaire Lesley “King” Carney and create a total monopoly on the cattle trade. 

Meanwhile, in Darwin, Australian Army supply officer Captain Dutton negotiates cattle pricing on behalf of the Allies with Carney.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)

Director- 

Where To Watch-  Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Netflix

Storyline- CIA agent Sheldon Jeffrey Sands hires El Mariachi to kill General Emiliano Marquez, a dishonest Mexican Army officer who Mexican drug dealer Armando Barillo has bribed to kill the President of Mexico and topple the administration during a time of turmoil in Culiacán. 

Sands also convinces ex-FBI agent Jorge Ramrez to rejoin active duty and assassinate Barillo, who had already killed Archuleta’s partner and El Mariachi. Sands also assigns AFN operative Ajedrez to track down Barillo.

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Director- Ang Lee

Where To Watch-  Amazon Prime Video

Storyline- In Wyoming’s Brokeback Mountain, Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, two cowboys, ended up on Joe Aguirre’s sheep farm during the hot summer of 1963, where they first met. 

They were trying to find work. Jack approaches Ennis after a night of binge drinking. Ennis, originally resistant, eventually warmed up and engaged in sexual activity with Jack in their tent. Despite Ennis’ promise that it was a one-time affair, Jack and they become closer sexually and emotionally.

And, against the odds, the two men built an intimate relationship that grew into a profound but secret bond right in front of their families. 

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