Western drama has been an integral aspect of cinematic storytelling since the dawn of the medium, an evergreen exploration of American history that uses sweeping visuals, striking scores, and powerful themes to tell its tales with tremendous gravitas. While this is a constant truism of the genre, Western cinema has also had to evolve dramatically over time to remain relevant. One of the best developments to come from this progression has been the advent of neo-Western cinema.
Not only an examination of traditional Western tropes in more modern settings (though that is a huge aspect of it), neo-Westerns also endeavor to revisit popular genre settings with a renewed thematic lens. While the subgenre is relatively new in the wheelhouse of Western cinema at large, it has presented many of the best movies the genre has seen, not only in recent decades, but in the history of its exploits on the big screen. This list will rank the best neo-Westerns of the last century based on their overall quality, legacy, and impact on the genre as a whole.
10
‘Hell or High Water’ (2016)
A thought-provoking neo-Western gem disguised as a compelling heist drama, Hell or High Water is a fascinating foray into Western storytelling, given how it places its central characters and how it uses their plights to examine the essential Western themes of justice and morality in a new light. When brothers Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster) are informed that the Texas Midland Bank intends to foreclose on their family property following their mother’s death, they set out to make the money needed by robbing different branches of the bank. Their crime spree attracts the attention of two aging Texas Rangers.
Bank-robbing gunslingers have always been a staple of Western stories, but they usually stand as an obstacle that the just and stoic lawman has to overcome to restore balance. Hell or High Water addresses that such a sentiment is outdated in a world where so many ordinary people are struggling financially, and banks are seemingly becoming increasingly duplicitous and conniving in their practices. It is a confident update on the Western myth of law and order that directly applies to modern America and the lost value of financial security. This quality is complemented by strong performances and a bold and energized script to make for a modern gem of the genre that has steadily grown in popularity in the years since its release.
9
‘The Proposition’ (2005)
As the Western genre has grown beyond cowboys and Indians, so too has it grown beyond tales of the American frontier. With stories of colonization and conflict between settlers and natives becoming an increasingly prolific focus as the genre expands its horizons, Australia has established itself as a fascinating setting for such narratives, with The Proposition standing among the nation’s best. It stars Guy Pearce as Charlie Burns, an outlaw in 1880s Australia who is captured by police and given a grim ultimatum: if he can find and apprehend his sadistic older brother, his petty criminal younger brother won’t hang.
A coarse and hostile depiction of life in the outback, The Proposition removes all notions of sentimentality and romanticism from its story. Instead, it deconstructs the idea of the “taming of the West” as a fable spun from a truth of brutality, compromised justice, and fractured morality. It showcases the violence, trauma, and anguish of British imperialism, examining the punishment it exacts on the colonized and the colonizers alike. It is sobering, ruthless, confronting, and yet enlightening and engaging, making for a brilliant Western drama defined by its new-age approach to the genre.
8
‘Sicario’ (2015)
One of the sharpest and most brilliantly confronting modernizations of Western tropes, Sicario takes the vast lawlessness that once defined the frontier and applies it to the border region, with the gunslinging bandits and outlaws taking the form of the Mexican cartels. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, it follows FBI special agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) as she is recruited by a mysterious government task force conducting missions on Mexican soil as they wage war with the cartels.
Just as the settings and villains are recalibrated, so too is the idea of justice, righteousness, and morality among law enforcement. Villeneuve and writer Taylor Sheridan emphasize the ambiguity of Josh Brolin’s and Benicio del Toro’s characters with captivating brilliance, presenting them as men driven by a goal in contrast to Macer, who holds on to her idealistic faith in due process. Viscerally intense and fiercely intelligent, Sicario sees Villeneuve employ his razor-sharp filmmaking instincts to deliver a powerful examination of the war on drugs and one of the most impressive neo-Westerns of the past decade.
7
‘The Hateful Eight’ (2015)
Quentin Tarantino’s two forays into Western cinema have been defined by their similarities, many of them owing to the director’s distinct style and storytelling sensitivities. Interestingly, however, it is only The Hateful Eight that qualifies as a neo-Western. Django Unchained excels as a vivaciously entertaining return to the glory of spaghetti Western cinema’s heyday. On the other hand, The Hateful Eight finds a decisive new-age flourish in its claustrophobic setting, grizzled characters, and its thematic eye for racism and cultural suffering in the wake of the American Civil War.
The contained epic sees bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) seek shelter from a blizzard in Minnie’s Haberdashery as he escorts outlaw Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason-Leigh) to be hanged. Featuring a litany of volatile characters and a healthy appetite for abrupt twists and outbursts of extreme violence, The Hateful Eight soon becomes a nerve-shattering cascade of hidden motives and unbearable suspense. It stands as one of Tarantino’s more underappreciated movies and an engrossing subversion of the sweeping scope and vast ranges that typically serve as the backdrop of Western cinema.
6
‘Logan’ (2017)
A rare exploration of Western drama in a futuristic setting—and an even rarer example of the genre marrying with superhero action—Logan is an enrapturing and thematically rich examination of power, morality, and responsibility. Following an aging and world-weary Logan (Hugh Jackman) as he reluctantly agrees to protect a young mutant being pursued by a shady government organization, the superhero blockbuster leans heavily on traditional Western tropes and contemporary blockbuster themes while imbuing both with a thematic complexity that works to its benefit.
Director James Mangold was inspired by Shane, even going so far as to incorporate it into a sequence of the film to illustrate the themes of heroism, sacrifice, and the battle between good and evil, calling attention to the ideas and values it explores in a new light. It was a daring move to end Wolverine’s story in the X-Men cinematic saga in such a dramatic and contemplative fashion, but it proved successful, standing as one of the best superhero movies of all time and a bold neo-Western drama that uses contemporary audience interests and trends to its advantage.
5
‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’ (2007)
Measured, methodical, and melancholic, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is an enchanting and psychologically complex character study that exudes a neo-Western edge through its commentary on celebrity and its subversion of genre heroes. It focuses on the relationship between notorious outlaw Jesse James (Brad Pitt) and Robert Ford (Casey Affleck), a young criminal whose idolization of James gradually turns to disdain as he joins his gang.
While its slow pacing can be seen by some as being demanding, the film mesmerizes with its analysis of real historical figures. Furthermore, its ability to blend internal, character-centric depth and a strikingly beautiful visual display with a sweeping examination of themes like obsession, publicity, and the clash between legend and reality is impressive. Unlike any other movie in the genre, the 2007 cult classic is defined by its self-conscious narrative style and its unusual yet enthralling narration and score as it tells a story of crime, greed, violence, and mythic reverence in the Old West.
4
‘The Wild Bunch’ (1969)
The very first examples of neo-Western cinema are films like Lonely Are the Brave and Hud from the early 1960s, but the film that truly established the new-age subgenre was Sam Peckinpah’s grueling 1969 drama, The Wild Bunch. Following a group of aging outlaws forced to hide out in a violent border town after a job goes horribly wrong, the film was initially divisive because of how it challenged the romanticism of the Western with an onslaught of graphic violence.
In addition to this unrelenting and confronting brutality, The Wild Bunch also features morally complex characters that subvert traditional notions of Western heroism and, with its setting in 1913, a focus on the end of the Old West rather than a celebration of the expanding frontier. In time, this 1969 masterpiece has come to be celebrated as a bold new dawn for the genre that helped pioneer revisionist and neo-Western spins on the traditional form while deconstructing the glorification of violence those stories were prone to.
3
‘Brokeback Mountain’ (2005)
Blending the age-old Western theme of masculinity with a tender and tragic story of romance and sexuality, Brokeback Mountain is one of the more emotionally devastating movies, not only in the neo-Western subgenre, but in Western cinema as a whole. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, it follows two shepherds who develop a sexual relationship while working together in Wyoming. Their bond complicates both their lives going forward as they get married to their respective girlfriends.
It features all the traditional Western tropes, such as enormous scope, sweeping visuals, and a focus on the lives of cowboys and ranchers. However, it is confident in underlining them with a powerful exploration of isolation, social repression, and forbidden love in a world rife with prejudice and persecution. Brokeback Mountain is enshrined as one of the boldest and most revolutionary Western movies of all time, a bleak yet beautiful story of gay love in mid-20th-century America that finds somber truths and heartbreaking drama in abundance.
2
‘Unforgiven’ (1992)
Not only a masterful neo-Western classic, but the film that sparked Western cinema’s revisionist resurgence as well, Unforgiven challenges every aspect of traditional Western storytelling by deconstructing the genre’s mythic properties in great detail. A tale of violence and legend, it unfolds as an aging, once-notorious gunslinger joins an old accomplice and a hot-headed young bounty hunter in hopes of claiming the reward on a cowboy who disfigured a prostitute.
Realism is its greatest quality, with director and star Clint Eastwood doing away with romanticized notions of the Old West to deliver a grim, brutal, and shockingly violent picture that dismantles the air of gun-fighting glory and heroism associated with the genre. Every major character is a subversion of an archetype, be it Eastwood’s vicious bounty hunter hero or Gene Hackman’s unsympathetic small-town sheriff. Unforgiven leans on complex morality and tired masculinity to challenge preconceived ideas that have become common in Western narratives.
1
‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007)
Based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name, No Country for Old Men uses the life-and-death stakes of Western storytelling to examine themes of mortality, fate, and the brutality of the modern world through a relentlessly thrilling story of crime and money. It transpires as Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a hunter who stole a case of cartel money from the aftermath of a shootout, finds himself being pursued by Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a sadistic and relentless hitman tasked with retrieving the money.
In true Coen Brothers fashion, the film thrives at subverting genre tropes with intelligence and emphatic impact. Everything from the 1980s setting to the amorality of the central characters, the thematic focus, and even surprising storytelling beats like Moss’s off-screen death transcends traditional Western storytelling, while the familiar aspects like Tommy Lee Jones’s weary, aging sheriff and the Texan locale are updated to reflect the modern world of chaos the film explores. It all culminates in a heart-racing and unpredictable Western thriller and the defining masterpiece of neo-Western cinema.