There were a lot of Westerns made in the 1950s and 1960s, but this one in particular holds a very special place in the history of the genre. This smashed box office expectations, earned an Oscar at long last for its legendary star, and is probably on the Mount Rushmore of horseback movies. Now, it's streaming once again, so saddle up.
Jon Cassar’s no-frills western drama, Forsaken, follows John Henry Clayton, played by Keifer Sutherland, a former hot-shot gunfighter, who returns home seeking redemption and reconciliation. However, upon his arrival, Clayton quickly realizes things aren’t quite like he left them. An old love lost to time, new ruthless land-grabbing antagonists, and his estranged father force this homeward-bound cowboy to question whether he can truly leave his violent past behind. Ten years later, Prime Video's well-loved western picture is still celebrated by critics and audiences alike.
There is no shortage of Western television shows out there worth binging through again and again. But while programs like Gunsmoke and Yellowstone dominate streaming charts, there are countless other horse operas that deserve to be followed into that masterful Old West sunset. In this case, we've put together different Western shows worth revisiting not just once, but time and again.
Westerns don't need to be complicated to become iconic, and in fact, that might be what makes a Western a true Western. That's especially true of this latest movie, 73 years later, as it hits streaming and prepares to wow audiences for the latest time, the first time, or perhaps even the last time. Even if you’ve never seen it, you’ve almost definitely seen movies influenced by it. Now, one of the most important Westerns ever made is back.
Recently trending at #5 in Paramount+'s Top 10 movies, An Unfinished Life is finally getting its due after all these years. The Robert Redford-led production is the heartwarming neo-Western that your soul has been craving ever since you decided to turn off Yellowstone after one too many Dutton altercations. Instead of murder and mayhem, the picture leans into the good, old-fashioned values that make up the modern American West, with a stunning cast and remarkable screenplay that will likely bring you to tears. No, this isn't your Kevin Costner-sized neo-Western, but it's a powerful film that does everything right.
Seven dangerous fellas, zero interest in subtlety, and pretty horses. That's this particular Western in a nutshell, because it does nothing quietly. It takes the bones of a classic story and then throws it into the body of a louder and bloodier action movie for modern times. It's dusty, yes, and violent as well, but it's the exact kind of movie that you'll be looking for when you need something to stream late at night on the weekend.
John Wayne is the epitome of classic cinema and an icon of Hollywood's Golden Age, who made a name for himself by starring in timeless Westerns and war films such as The Searchers, Sands of Iwo Jima, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Born in Winterset, Iowa, Wayne, also known as Duke, started as a prop and stuntman in Hollywood before taking on bit roles and eventually earning his breakout role in John Ford's 1939 classic Western Stagecoach, leading him to become one of Hollywood's biggest box office draws for three decades.
The epics of Hollywood's Golden Age are unlike anything the industry produces today. The enormous set pieces, colorful costumes, powerful performers, and iconic tales of deeply human drama that transcend the time periods in which they're set — and Ben-Hur sets a high bar. You may not know that Ben-Hur was based on the novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace, which was first published in 1880. According to the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities, it was second to the Bible itself in sales for decades until Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind usurped the title. But while Ben-Hur is set in first-century Roman-occupied Judea, its roots go all the way back to the Wild West era of American expansion.
Tombstone is simply one of the greatest Westerns ever made. There’s no question about it. From the dynamic characters and the witty dialogue to the incredibly well-paced action sequences and historical accuracy (well, some of the time), the picture is just a masterclass in filmmaking, particularly of the Western genre. Whether you love the film for Kurt Russell's ability to drive the narrative forward or the countless one-liners that cannot be beat, there's a clear reason that Tombstone continues to find an audience over 30 years later. But there is one line that the late Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday speaks in the film that is slightly changed from the history books — and believe it or not, the movie does it far better.
Editor's note: The below interview contains spoilers for Dutton Ranch Episode 7.
Godlessis a vicious, searing western set in an unforgiving landscape where good guys and bad guys all look the same in the end, with weapons of death in their hands. Created, written, and directed in its entirety by Scott Frank (better known for The Queen's Gambit), the series introduced the western back into the fold, in all its bloody glory. Debuting on Netflix in 2017, the limited series received critical acclaim for its direction, acting, and cinematography, and won multiple Emmy Awards. With its cowboys, ranches, devilish men, and land wars, Godless was a groundbreaking series prior to Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstoneuniverse.
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