Best Westerns on DVD.,.... (1 Viewer)

[Brent_H]

I'm not really into Westerns, but dvdfile mentioned a bunch of them coming out soon......I was just wondering what people could recommend as far as story AND transfer/sound go....I would like to start getting into the genre and don't know where to start

thanks,
Brent

 

[Randy B A]

toombstone vista series
unforgiven S.E.
the outlaw josey whales
silverado
young guns
the long riders
the quick and the dead
butch casidy and the sundance kid

 

[Jeff_A]

Start with the best one ever made. Starring Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, and Lee Marvin, it just doesn't get any better! Great quality on the DVD, as well.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

 

[Joe Bernardi]

Shane
High Noon

 

[Joseph Bolus]

I'm surprised that nobody has yet mentioned my personal fav:

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Perhaps it hasn't been mentioned due to the persistent rumors of a CE edition coming soon?

In any rate, most Wal-Mart stores have the current edition of the title available for $9.95. The 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer is "better than average", although the audio is only DD 1.0 (boo!).

Also, The Outlaw Josey Wells is an outstanding representation of the genre; and it features a really remarkable DD 5.1 audio track as well.

 

[Tim Glover]

Joe beat me to it but Shane is considered by many as the greatest western ever made.

Other greats:

Tombstone:Vista Series
Outlaw Josey Wales
The Cowboys (John Wayne)
Silverado
The Magnificent Seven

Good Luck!

 

[Garry Cowell]

As above plus...

Django; Big Silence; A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More (Both non-anamorphic tho' :frowning; Pale Rider; The Wild Bunch.

 

[BrettB]

The Searchers & The Shootist

 

[oscar_merkx]

John Ford's silent epic The Iron Horse, yet only available on R2 from www.bfi.org.uk, which is imo a blueprint for Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time in the West

 

[Terry St]

There seems to be several sub-genres of westerns...

• Serious drama: "High Noon" is simply spell-binding. Required viewing. Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" and Costners's "Dances with Wolves" also qualify in this category. They're both worth a watch, but "High Noon" is the film to see first. Not that you'll have a choice when it comes to "Dances with Wolves". It is currently OOP. You could pick up an old copy off of ebay or just wait for the special edition which is supposed to come out this year.
• Cowboys vs. Indians/Bandits: "The Searchers" is an excellent choice here, with John Wayne in one of his best roles. "The Magnificent Seven" is another good choice. These are old-style westerns, where the cowboys all look better dressed than todays Country stars and die bloodless deaths from invisible gunshot wounds. The indians/bandits are one-dimensional baddies who are there mostly to give the cowboys something to shoot at.
• Spaghetti Westerns: Sergio Leone's, "Fistfull of Dollars", "For a Few Dollars More", and "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" are excellent choices. "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly" in particular is a spectacle not to be missed. All three films showcase Sergio Leone's innovative style as well as unforgettable scores by Ennio Morricone. There are no singing cowboys in these films. The west is brutal, lawless, gritty, and full of hard and wicked men. Clint Eastwood's various "Man with no name" films sprouted here.
• Samurai Westerns: Kurosawa was inspired by early westerns to create such masterpieces as "Yojimbo" and "Seven Samurai"; films which in turn inspired westerns to follow. While not set in the Wild West, these films are true to the spirit of the genre. "Fistfull of Dollars" was a remake of "Yojimbo" while "The Magnificent Seven" was a remake of "Seven Samurai". While the remakes are some of the best westerns made, the origional's are even better. Both of these Kurosawa classics showcase the inimitable Toshiro Mifune in top form. Highly recommended. (Note: Criterion's release of Yojimbo is probably about as good as you'll find, but it does have a lot of film scratches.)

As for transfers... Westerns have definately fallen out of style in the last few decades. Very few truly good westerns have been made recently. Many of the best westerns ever filmed are either in B&W or are early color films which will look a little odd. Some have been sorely neglected, so even a good transfer may still have a lot of scratches. You are going to limit yourself to a very small subset of the genre if you insist on reference quality video.

 

[Marty M]

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and The Searchers would be my recommendations to start your Western collection. Both of these movies are considered classics and should be part of every DVD library.

 

[John Macri]

Will Penny. One of the best and probably least known westerns made...

 

[Matthew Kiernan]

THE GREAT SILENCE, available from Fantoma, is a must-buy. Beyond just being a great Eurowestern, it's a great Western, period, although be warned it is rather bleak. I also recommend COMPANEROS! from Anchor Bay (made by the same director, Sergio Corbucci) and the recent Blue Underground Spaghetti Western box set, which features excellent transfers of four quality Eurowesterns.

There's also DAY OF ANGER from Wild East and their excellent A FISTFUL OF TRAILERS Eurowestern trailer DVD.

 

[DennisP]

I thought the "Wild Bunch" was a pretty good western.

Just my opinion..I could be wrong

 

[Burt Vanlandingham]

Nobody's mentioned "Red River" yet? Shocking!!!!!!

 

[Garrett Adams]

Nobody's mentioned "Red River" yet? Shocking!!!!!!

I know it's one of my favorites. It's also the first memorable western I recall seeing. Even as a 10 year old in 1948 it bowled me over.

 

[Brent_H]

wow! thanks for all the input guys.....I am making a list right now!!!! Keep em comin...

~Brent

 

[Doug Bull]

Some of my favorite Westerns on DVD are,
"The Alamo"
"Bite the Bullet"
"Duel in the Sun"
"The Man from Laramie"
"Quigley Down Under"
"She Wore a Yellow Ribbon"
"The River of no Return"
"Shane"
"Blazing Saddles"
"3.10 to Yuma"
"Cowboy"

and a few that most desperately need new transfers,

"How The West Was Won"
"The Searchers"
and "The Big Country"

 

[Scott Merryfield]

If you like Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns -- A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly -- you may want to check out some non-Leone films from this genre. A good introduction is the recently released Spaghetti Western Collection, which contains Django, Django Kill!, Run, Man, Run and Mannaja: A Man Called Blade.

As for "regular" westerns, there are lots of great recommendations already in this thread.

 

[SteveGon]

Since we're on the subject of westerns, is there any word on The Gunfighter?