6 Westerns From The Last 30 Years That Rival The Genre's Golden Age
Though the heyday of the western genre is long gone, these six modern movies rival anything that came out during the Golden Age. As a major pillar of American cinema, the western genre perhaps best illustrates the Hollywood approach to filmmaking. From the beginning of the art form, the western has been one of the most consistent and popular entertainments.
Over several decades, the western genre was honed and refined until it peaked in the 1940s and '50s. Just as Hollywood entered its Golden Age, so too did the western. With stars like John Wayne in front of the camera and auteurs like John Ford in the director's chair, westerns not only hit their height in popularity, but also their full potential as a storytelling medium.
When Hollywood's Golden Age came crashing down, the western genre had a similar decline. Since the 1960s, westerns have never been able to reclaim their former glory, though there are always small flashes of brilliance here and there. In the last 30 years, the genre has evolved once again, incorporating elements from all the eras that came before. Modern westerns are often irreverent, thought-provoking, and sometimes nostalgic.
That's the true power of the modern western, it is totally free to be anything that it wants. Many films from the previous three decades embrace tradition while eschewing the idealism of older films. These movies have all the grandeur and spectacle of the classics, while telling richer stories that are true to life. Furthermore, the neo-western has given storytellers more canvas to paint on. These modern westerns aren't just good, they rival the genre's very best.
6 Open Range (2003)
If there's one filmmaker who has been trying to keep the western alive for decades, it's Kevin Costner. Though movies like Dances with Wolves are considered bona fide classics today, 2003's Open Range is sadly overlooked. The Costner and Robert Duvall vehicle came at a time when westerns were fading once again, but it still made a pretty penny at the box office. The movie doesn't reinvent the wheel, and therein lies its greatest strength.
The plot concerns a rancher who engages in a bitter land war over a wealthy baron who lives nearby. It intentionally hearkens back to the days of old, invoking movies like Shane that call on similar themes. Despite that familiarity, it's how the movie uses those themes that's so effective. Open Range is a well-paced and exciting western that boils the genre down to its best elements for maximum entertainment.
Costner is his usual self, and perfectly suited for an Old West flick. Similarly, Robert Duvall brings naturalistic charm to his role that is sorely lacking in a lot of modern westerns. The genre is sometimes derided for being too repetitive, but Open Range is a prime example of how a modern western can take all the recognizable elements from the old days and make them feel fresh again.
5 The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007)
One of the biggest driving forces in the western genre is myth, and few western icons are as mythological as the outlaw Jesse James. Countless movies have been made about the man, specifically about his sudden and violent end. However, only The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford tackles the myth of the title character as it grows in real time. The sprawling epic concerns James' killing, and the immediate aftermath of the act.
Cinematographer Roger Deakins appears a few times on this list, and it's his beautiful camera work that makes the film one of the most stunning westerns of the last 30 years. Every frame is exquisitely composed, and it works on both the micro and macro levels. There is a grandness to the film and a smallness all at once, so the characters aren't lost in the sweeping scale of the Old West.
Unlike a lot of other modern westerns, The Assassination of Jesse James doesn't try to be like its predecessors. It is a more down-to-earth portrayal of the story without the idealism of Golden Age cinema. Though it moves at a glacial pace, it is well worth the time. The lyrical storytelling is almost hypnotic, and it draws the viewer into its world. Few movies of any kind have been able to achieve that effect in the last 30 years.
4 Hell Or High Water (2016)
The greatest development in modern western storytelling is that movies no longer have to be so literal. Over the last 30 years, tons of neo-westerns have hit the scene that recontextualize what being a western even means. One such film is 2016's Hell or High Water, which was penned by Taylor Sheridan. Even if it isn't about cowboys and gunslingers, it has the grit and thematic richness of classic westerns.
Two brothers are down on their luck, and plan a series of robberies from the bank that is foreclosing on their family farm. Meanwhile, a savvy lawman plans to make an example of them and dole out his own form of frontier justice. Hell or High Water has thrills, machismo, and plenty of excitement, but it's what's between the lines that matters most. The morally complex storytelling forces the viewer to assess their own beliefs.
Because the tale takes place in the modern day, it makes the themes even more complicated. Old West stories feel so distant, that it's easy to analyze them abstractly, but Hell or High Water has an uncomfortable closeness that rings true in a 21st century context. The larger ideas of the movie could easily fit during the Golden Age of westerns, but the execution is decidedly modern.
3 3:10 To Yuma (2007)
Remakes are almost always bad news, especially when they tackle one of the greatest movies from a bygone era. However, the 2007 version of 3:10 to Yuma breaks that trend by delivering a solid update to a classic. The psychological aspects from the original are all preserved, but the film is pumped up to a larger scale befitting a movie made in 2007 instead of 1957. It's a bona fide action film on top of everything else.
As in the older movie, the plot concerns a downtrodden farmer who agrees to escort a notorious criminal to the train that will deliver him into the hands of justice. Along the way, the two come to respect one another and sympathize with their respective plights. What the remake changes is neither better nor worse than the original, so the modern 3:10 to Yuma can safely exist as its own thing without being compared too much.
Naturally, Christian Bale and Russell Crowe are a match made in heaven, and they work off each other perfectly. Given more time to breath, the bond between the characters feels natural, and it stings even more when the ending happens. Several of the best modern westerns came out in 2007, and 3:10 to Yuma has a legitimate argument for being the best traditional western from that year.
2 True Grit (2010)
The Coen brothers clearly have a fascination with the western genre, and it showed in their 2010 remake of True Grit. Opting for an experience closer to the original novel and not the 1969 John Wayne movie, the Coen's version of True Grit is a bit rougher around the edges. Nevertheless, it has a little bit of the magic that makes the best Coen brothers movies so memorable. Every detail feels heightened.
In the film, a precocious young girl hires a past-his-prime lawman to track down and kill the man that murdered her father. They're joined by a Texas Ranger who is also on the hunt for the fugitive. It might be a bit sacrilegious to say so, but the 2010 version of True Grit is superior to the original in nearly every way, not the least of which is because of its stellar casting. Jeff Bridges' take on Rooster Cogburn is arguably his best performance in decades.
While the original felt like a movie desperate to keep up with the times, the 2010 edition is effortlessly cool and has its own tone. The western elements are top-notch, and it doesn't abandon any of the things that make the genre so appealing to casual viewers. When we look back on this period of film history many decades from now, True Grit will define contemporary western cinema.
1 No Country For Old Men (2007)
No Country for Old Men isn't just on par with the classic westerns from the Golden Age, it blows them out of the water. The neo-western (also directed by the Coens) springs from the mind of author Cormac McCarthy, so it's appropriately spare but also incredibly rich at the same time. While many of the beloved westerns of the old days could be made today, there's no way a movie like No Country for Old Men could have come out back then.
A hunter discovers the aftermath of a drug deal gone bad, and he absconds with a case full of blood money. This puts a ruthless assassin on his trail as well as an aging cop who feels out of touch with the modern world. The psychological musings of the film never stop its unrelenting pace, and No Country for Old Men rivals any thriller with its shear tension. It's a western, not just because of its setting, but because it examines the notion of justice and truth.
The Best Picture Oscar winner set a new standard for modern westerns that hasn't been matched in the two decades since its release. It has a somewhat post-modern approach to storytelling that leaves the audience searching for a character to connect with. That isolation is the entire point, and it has a much larger psychological impact on the viewer than any of the bombastic idealism of older western cinema.