Want to know the best Top 100 Westerns movies? How about the worst Top 100 Westerns movies? Curious about Top 50 Westerns box office grosses or which Top 100 Westerns movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Top 100 Westerns movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information…and a lot more.
Over the years we have received many requests to do Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) pages on genres. Besides writing a Sports Movie page many years ago we had pretty much ignored those requests until just a few months ago. Why you wonder? We will tell you….they are very very difficult to put together (we know, get us some tissue). People write entire books on the genres…while we are confined to one web page. Recently we wrote pages on Film Noir and Musical Movies. Both were very popular pages. They were so popular that Wife of Cogerson said….”You know people seem to really like the genre pages…maybe you should do more of them”. So taking her advice we went to our request Hotline and saw that Chris had requested a Western movie page. Very quickly we realized that movie makers have been making hundreds and hundreds of Westerns for over a 100 years. So we came up with some rules for this page.
Rules for this page: (1) No musical westerns were included in the page. So if you are looking for Rose Marie or Rhythm on the Range…you will not find them here. (2) No westerns that take place in modern time of their production were included….that kicked out movies like Brokeback Mountain, Bad Day At Black Rock and The Misfits (all of these movies were listed on lots of Great Western Movie lists). (3) Comedy westerns were included….we went back and forth on this one….but in the end….the comedies made the page. (4) We actually set up two pages for these genre. On this page you will get our Top 100 Westerns based on critic and audience ratings. On the second page you will get every single Western (over 250 movies) in our database…..those movies are ranked by UMR Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
Top 100 Westerns Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Top 100 Westerns movies by the stars of the movies
- Sort Top 100 Westerns movies by adjusted adjusted box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Top 100 Westerns movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Top 100 Westerns movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Top 100 Westerns movie received.
- Sort Top 100 Westerns movies critic audience rating…we start with the 100th place movie and work our way down to the Top Western
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Actual B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | B.O. Rank by Year | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | S |
| 1 | Unforgiven (1992) AA Best Picture Win |
Clint Eastwood & Gene Hackman |
101.20 | 262.8 | 413.40 | 11 | 92 | 09 / 04 | 100.0 | |
| 2 | Dances with Wolves (1990) AA Best Picture Win |
Kevin Costner | 185.00 | 471.5 | 1,083.10 | 3 | 81 | 12 / 07 | 99.8 | |
| 3 | High Noon (1952) AA Best Picture Nom |
Gary Cooper & Grace Kelly |
9.40 | 185.1 | 185.10 | 12 | 92 | 07 / 04 | 99.6 | |
| 3 | Giant (1956) AA Best Picture Nom |
Elizabeth Taylor & Rock Hudson |
27.10 | 532.0 | 795.20 | 3 | 86 | 10 / 01 | 99.5 | |
| 5 | Django Unchained (2012) AA Best Picture Nom |
Jamie Foxx & Leonardo DiCaprio |
162.80 | 220.5 | 572.60 | 15 | 88 | 05 / 02 | 99.5 | |
| 6 | Shane (1953) AA Best Picture Nom |
Alan Ladd | 22.70 | 408.3 | 577.10 | 5 | 87 | 06 / 01 | 99.5 | |
| 7 | The Revenant (2015) AA Best Picture Nom |
Leonardo DiCaprio & Tom Hardy |
183.60 | 234.8 | 681.50 | 13 | 82 | 12 / 03 | 99.4 | |
| 8 | True Grit (2010) AA Best Picture Nom |
Jeff Bridges & Matt Damon |
171.10 | 233.7 | 344.40 | 13 | 85 | 10 / 00 | 99.4 | |
| 7 | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) AA Best Picture Nom |
Paul Newman & Robert Redford |
100.10 | 760.0 | 931.40 | 1 | 79 | 07 / 04 | 99.3 | |
| 11 | Stagecoach (1939) AA Best Picture Nom |
John Wayne & Directed by John Ford |
5.00 | 191.3 | 298.80 | 30 | 83 | 07 / 02 | 99.2 | |
| 12 | The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) | Clint Eastwood | 25.00 | 245.0 | 245.00 | 6 | 94 | 00 / 00 | 99.1 | |
| 12 | How the West Was Won (1962) AA Best Picture Nom |
Gregory Peck & Debbie Reynolds |
36.10 | 518.8 | 1,237.40 | 2 | 76 | 08 / 03 | 99.0 | |
| 13 | The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) AA Best Picture Nom |
Humphrey Bogart & Walter Huston |
6.10 | 163.1 | 290.40 | 45 | 90 | 04 / 03 | 99.0 | |
| 15 | Cimarron (1931) AA Best Picture Win |
Richard Dix & Irene Dunne |
3.60 | 183.5 | 223.10 | 14 | 59 | 07 / 03 | 98.8 | |
| 13 | The Searchers (1956) | John Wayne & Directed by John Ford |
14.00 | 274.4 | 371.40 | 14 | 89 | 00 / 00 | 98.8 | |
| 16 | The Big Country (1958) | Gregory Peck | 10.60 | 191.2 | 191.20 | 11 | 89 | 02 / 01 | 98.8 | |
| 19 | My Darling Clementine (1946) | Henry Fonda & Victor Mature |
7.40 | 228.9 | 228.90 | 43 | 85 | 00 / 00 | 98.3 | |
| 19 | Rio Bravo (1959) | John Wayne & Dean Martin |
16.40 | 295.2 | 517.30 | 11 | 85 | 00 / 00 | 98.3 | |
| 19 | The Professionals (1966) | Burt Lancaster & Lee Marvin |
22.00 | 215.6 | 215.60 | 10 | 83 | 03 / 00 | 98.3 | |
| 20 | Red River (1948) | John Wayne & Montgomery Clift |
11.80 | 317.4 | 317.40 | 1 | 83 | 02 / 00 | 98.3 | |
| 21 | Jeremiah Johnson (1972) | Robert Redford | 57.30 | 363.2 | 363.20 | 6 | 84 | 00 / 00 | 98.1 | |
| 22 | True Grit (1969) | John Wayne & Robert Duvall |
40.70 | 309.1 | 309.10 | 7 | 81 | 02 / 01 | 98.1 | |
| 22 | Blazing Saddles (1974) | Mel Brooks & Gene Wilder |
118.10 | 680.8 | 680.80 | 1 | 81 | 03 / 00 | 98.1 | |
| 24 | Little Big Man (1970) | Dustin Hoffman & Faye Dunaway |
45.50 | 316.1 | 316.10 | 6 | 81 | 01 / 00 | 97.8 | |
| 25 | Cat Ballou (1965) | Lee Marvin & Jane Fonda |
25.10 | 265.6 | 265.60 | 7 | 77 | 05 / 01 | 97.8 | |
| 27 | The Man From Laramie (1955) | James Stewart | 9.40 | 195.5 | 195.50 | 31 | 83 | 00 / 00 | 97.8 | |
| 27 | Fort Apache (1948) | John Wayne & Directed by John Ford |
8.30 | 224.5 | 314.90 | 17 | 81 | 00 / 00 | 97.6 | |
| 26 | Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) | Burt Lancaster & Kirk Douglas |
13.40 | 258.5 | 258.50 | 9 | 77 | 02 / 00 | 97.1 | |
| 30 | The Virginian (1929) | Gary Cooper | 6.20 | 191.9 | 191.90 | 6 | 81 | 00 / 00 | 97.1 | |
| 30 | She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) | John Wayne & Directed by John Ford |
7.60 | 191.5 | 261.10 | 22 | 78 | 01 / 01 | 96.9 | |
| 29 | Pursued (1947) | Robert Mitchum | 7.80 | 228.4 | 228.40 | 31 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 96.9 | |
| 31 | They Died with Their Boots On (1941) | Errol Flynn & Olivia de Havilland |
6.00 | 232.4 | 498.50 | 15 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 96.7 | |
| 32 | Hondo (1953) | John Wayne & Geraldine Page |
11.50 | 207.1 | 296.10 | 12 | 75 | 02 / 00 | 96.7 | |
| 33 | The Alamo (1960) AA Best Picture Nom |
John Wayne & Richard Widmark |
22.60 | 353.1 | 708.40 | 5 | 63 | 07 / 01 | 96.7 | |
| 35 | The Paleface (1948) | Bob Hope & Jane Russell |
9.20 | 248.2 | 248.20 | 11 | 74 | 01 / 01 | 96.6 | |
| 37 | Shenandoah (1965) | James Stewart | 19.20 | 202.8 | 202.80 | 10 | 75 | 01 / 00 | 96.6 | |
| 36 | Dodge City (1939) | Errol Flynn & Olivia de Havilland |
6.80 | 260.0 | 389.90 | 14 | 76 | 00 / 00 | 96.6 | |
| 40 | Johnny Guitar (1954) | Joan Crawford & Ernest Borgnine |
7.10 | 167.4 | 167.40 | 45 | 86 | 00 / 00 | 96.5 | |
| 38 | Vera Cruz (1954) | Gary Cooper & Burt Lancaster |
13.00 | 305.8 | 305.80 | 14 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 96.4 | |
| 39 | Honky Tonk (1941) | Clark Gable & Lana Turner |
8.50 | 329.1 | 464.10 | 6 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 96.3 | |
| 42 | Yellow Sky (1948) | Richard Widmark & Gregory Peck |
7.40 | 198.6 | 198.60 | 28 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 96.2 | |
| 43 | The Horse Soldiers (1959) | John Wayne & William Holden |
10.90 | 195.1 | 195.10 | 21 | 76 | 00 / 00 | 96.1 | |
| 41 | Broken Arrow (1950) | James Stewart & Jeff Chandler |
10.10 | 227.8 | 227.80 | 7 | 71 | 03 / 00 | 96.0 | |
| 44 | Son of Paleface (1952) | Bob Hope | 9.40 | 185.1 | 185.10 | 13 | 77 | 01 / 00 | 96.0 | |
| 45 | The Misfits (1961) | Clark Gable & Marilyn Monroe |
11.40 | 166.5 | 218.50 | 18 | 84 | 00 / 00 | 96.0 | |
| 48 | My Little Chickadee (1940) | Mae West & W.C. Fields |
4.60 | 176.0 | 176.00 | 22 | 80 | 00 / 00 | 95.8 | |
| 45 | Maverick (1994) | Mel Gibson & James Garner |
101.60 | 268.5 | 483.60 | 12 | 71 | 01 / 00 | 95.6 | |
| 47 | Duel in the Sun (1946) | Gregory Peck & Jennifer Jones |
17.80 | 548.6 | 548.60 | 2 | 70 | 02 / 00 | 95.5 | |
| 49 | The Far Country (1954) | James Stewart | 7.10 | 167.4 | 167.40 | 43 | 81 | 00 / 00 | 95.4 | |
| 51 | Bend of the River (1952) | James Stewart & Rock Hudson |
8.30 | 163.3 | 163.30 | 16 | 82 | 00 / 00 | 95.2 | |
| 53 | Winchester '73 (1950) | James Stewart & Rock Hudson |
6.40 | 144.4 | 144.40 | 32 | 87 | 00 / 00 | 95.0 | |
| 50 | Apache (1954) | Burt Lancaster & Charles Bronson |
10.00 | 234.3 | 234.30 | 27 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 95.0 | |
| 53 | Tall in the Saddle (1944) | John Wayne & Ward Bond |
5.90 | 200.0 | 263.50 | 54 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 94.9 | |
| 54 | The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) | John Wayne & Dean Martin |
16.20 | 171.4 | 171.40 | 15 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 94.8 | |
| 55 | Canyon Passage (1946) | Dana Andrews & Susan Hayward |
7.80 | 241.4 | 341.30 | 36 | 68 | 01 / 00 | 94.8 | |
| 54 | Garden of Evil (1954) | Gary Cooper & Richard Widmark |
8.90 | 207.6 | 207.60 | 30 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 94.8 | |
| 55 | Back to the Future Part III (1990) | Michael J. Fox & Christopher Lloyd |
108.00 | 275.1 | 674.70 | 9 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 94.7 | |
| 58 | The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) | John Wayne & James Stewart |
10.10 | 145.8 | 287.50 | 22 | 84 | 01 / 00 | 94.6 | |
| 59 | Jesse James (1939) | Tyrone Power & Henry Fonda |
9.50 | 364.2 | 364.20 | 4 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 94.6 | |
| 60 | The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) | Ronald Colman & Gary Cooper |
6.20 | 222.1 | 222.10 | 2 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 94.6 | |
| 60 | Union Pacific (1939) | Barbara Stanwyck & Joel McCrea |
5.50 | 211.8 | 211.80 | 25 | 66 | 01 / 00 | 94.4 | |
| 62 | The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) | Clint Eastwood | 29.70 | 150.3 | 150.30 | 21 | 82 | 01 / 00 | 94.4 | |
| 63 | Cheyenne (1947) | Jane Wyman | 6.80 | 197.3 | 260.10 | 39 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 94.3 | |
| 64 | Urban Cowboy (1980) | 46.90 | 194.5 | 194.50 | 16 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 94.2 | ||
| 67 | McLintock! (1963) | John Wayne & Maureen O'Hara |
12.90 | 162.1 | 162.10 | 22 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 93.8 | |
| 65 | The Electric Horseman (1979) | Robert Redford & Jane Fonda |
81.90 | 351.7 | 351.70 | 7 | 64 | 01 / 00 | 93.7 | |
| 68 | The Iron Horse (1924) | George O'Brien | 4.00 | 172.5 | 172.50 | 5 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 93.6 | |
| 68 | Westward the Women (1951) | Robert Taylor | 7.50 | 162.6 | 246.20 | 21 | 76 | 00 / 00 | 93.5 | |
| 69 | Broken Lance (1954) | Spencer Tracy & Richard Widmark |
10.90 | 254.4 | 254.40 | 26 | 61 | 02 / 01 | 93.4 | |
| 72 | Ruggles of Red Gap (1935) AA Best Picture Nom |
Charles Laughton | 2.90 | 128.3 | 128.30 | 34 | 79 | 01 / 00 | 93.4 | |
| 70 | The Wild Bunch (1969) | William Holden & Warren Oates |
15.10 | 115.0 | 115.00 | 21 | 89 | 02 / 00 | 93.4 | |
| 73 | Bad Bascomb (1946) | Wallace Beery | 6.40 | 198.5 | 198.50 | 55 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 93.4 | |
| 73 | The Covered Wagon (1923) | Ernest Torrence | 9.90 | 443.5 | 443.50 | 2 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 93.2 | |
| 74 | Tombstone (1993) | Kurt Russell & Val Kilmer |
56.50 | 147.1 | 190.60 | 20 | 80 | 00 / 00 | 93.1 | |
| 76 | The Westerner (1940) | Gary Cooper & Walter Brennan |
3.50 | 134.2 | 134.20 | 41 | 79 | 03 / 01 | 92.9 | |
| 76 | The Horse Whisperer (1998) | Robert Redford & Kristin Scott Thomas |
75.40 | 173.3 | 429.60 | 25 | 70 | 01 / 00 | 92.8 | |
| 78 | The Big Trail (1930) | John Wayne | 2.90 | 156.7 | 196.90 | 24 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 92.8 | |
| 77 | The Gunfighter (1950) | Gregory Peck & Helen Westcott |
5.60 | 125.1 | 125.10 | 48 | 84 | 01 / 00 | 92.8 | |
| 79 | The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) | Bill Bixby & Susan Clark |
50.20 | 264.2 | 264.20 | 7 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 92.7 | |
| 81 | A Fistful of Dollars (1964) | Clint Eastwood & Directed by Sergio Leone |
12.00 | 137.6 | 137.60 | 21 | 81 | 00 / 00 | 92.7 | |
| 82 | El Dorado (1967) | John Wayne & Robert Mitchum |
15.00 | 133.6 | 133.60 | 19 | 82 | 00 / 00 | 92.6 | |
| 82 | One-Eyed Jacks (1961) | Marlon Brando & Karl Malden |
12.30 | 179.0 | 179.00 | 14 | 66 | 01 / 00 | 92.5 | |
| 83 | Love Me Tender (1956) | Elvis & Richard Egan |
12.00 | 235.2 | 235.20 | 20 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 92.4 | |
| 86 | The Naked Spur (1953) | James Stewart & Janet Leigh |
6.80 | 122.5 | 122.50 | 38 | 84 | 01 / 00 | 92.4 | |
| 83 | North to Alaska (1960) | John Wayne & Stewart Granger |
13.40 | 209.8 | 209.80 | 14 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 92.3 | |
| 84 | In Old Arizona (1928) AA Best Picture Nom |
Warner Baxter | 7.80 | 247.3 | 247.30 | 3 | 48 | 05 / 01 | 92.3 | |
| 88 | Fancy Pants (1950) | Bob Hope & Lucille Ball |
7.40 | 166.8 | 166.80 | 18 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 92.2 | |
| 90 | Hombre (1967) | Paul Newman & Fredric March |
14.00 | 124.9 | 124.90 | 20 | 83 | 00 / 00 | 92.1 | |
| 90 | The Cowboys (1972) | John Wayne & Bruce Dern |
22.70 | 144.1 | 144.10 | 16 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 92.0 | |
| 90 | North West Mounted Police (1940) | Gary Cooper & Directed by Cecil B. DeMille |
4.30 | 165.0 | 165.00 | 28 | 65 | 05 / 01 | 92.0 | |
| 91 | 3 Godfathers (1948) | John Wayne & Directed by John Ford |
5.50 | 147.4 | 201.50 | 62 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 92.0 | |
| 92 | The Outlaw (1943) | Jane Russell & Directed by Howard Hawks |
14.50 | 521.0 | 521.00 | 3 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 92.0 | |
| 93 | For a Few Dollars More (1965) | Clint Eastwood & Directed by Sergio Leone |
10.80 | 113.6 | 113.60 | 20 | 85 | 00 / 00 | 91.7 | |
| 92 | The Oklahoma Kid (1939) | James Cagney & Humphrey Bogart |
6.10 | 236.1 | 462.60 | 17 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 91.6 | |
| 95 | Pale Rider (1985) | Clint Eastwood & Carrie Snodgress |
41.40 | 125.7 | 125.70 | 18 | 80 | 00 / 00 | 91.6 | |
| 98 | Santa Fe Trail (1940) | Errol Flynn & Olivia de Havilland |
5.00 | 192.3 | 278.60 | 16 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 91.5 | |
| 96 | Pardners (1956) | Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis |
10.30 | 201.6 | 201.60 | 25 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 91.5 | |
| 100 | The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) | Paul Newman & Ava Gardner |
24.50 | 155.6 | 155.60 | 14 | 70 | 01 / 00 | 91.2 | |
| 99 | Destry Rides Again (1939) | James Stewart & Marlene Dietrich |
2.90 | 111.6 | 111.60 | 82 | 84 | 00 / 00 | 91.2 | |
| 102 | Rio Grande (1950) | John Wayne & Directed by John Ford |
6.40 | 144.4 | 144.40 | 31 | 74 | 00 / 00 | 91.1 |
Want more western movie information….then check out our even bigger movie page which has almost ever Western movie in our database. Ranking 252 Westerns.
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Hi, Cogerson. I am answering this page first because it is shorter.
I have seen 76 of these movies. How is that for a woman who does not consider herself a fan of westerns but is a fan of many western stars?
I won’t list which ones I’ve seen and which are on my to-see list.
I love Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark (Yellow Sky has a great ranking!),
James Stewart
Henry Fonda
Dana Andrews
Gary Cooper
Lee Marvin
James Coburn
Charles Bronson
Steve McQueen…..
…..I’ll stop listing names only, but you can see why I have seen so many westerns.
Now I watch westerns because I know that hey are set in an era when you will not see cell phones in the movies.
Hey Flora.
1. Unlike the Musical page….I figured it would be better to have two pages….so far nobody has suggested a movie that was good enough to bump The Long Riders from this page to the bigger page.
2. Tally count…Steve 88…you 76….me….80…..probably one of the closet tally counts ever.
3. You favorite actors represent a good % of the movie on the page…glad you like Yellow Sky’s ranking…Peck’s The Gunfighter did very well too.
4. I agree there are not too many cell phones in westerns….lol.
Wouldn’t Treasure of the Sierra Madre be considered modern? Refresh my memory, but I thought it was contemporary to when it was made.
I originally did not include it…..but every Best Western List I saw had it ranked and ranked very high…..It was made in 1948 but set in 1925…..so I went ahead and included it. Pretty much gave into peer pressure…lol. I did leave out Bad Day At Black Rock….which ever other list has it as a Western….so I did not completely wimp out…lol.
I’ll buy that. I love well-researched lists like this because of the debate they can generate.
Hey Scott B. Our genre pages cause lots of debate….our film noir page caused some serious stress for people….a few even unfriended me on Facebook….so far the western page has been stress free.
As Hitchcock would say, “It’s only a movie.” I’ll have to check those out.
Oooh, they unfriended you on Facebook. What a loss. 😉
Somehow I got over it…lol.
I have all JW movies you had listed in the top 100
I did a musical Top 100….and Fred Astaire owned that one…..so I glad John Wayne owned this one. I think Stewart had the second most movies….but he only had half of the number Wayne had. All 17 are very good movies.
Missed a few but great list
We did a even longer list….but it is for serious western fans only…lol. https://www.ultimatemovierankings.com/western-movies/ This has 152 more westerns.
dam I think I am in aw lol
Another amazing page from, or should I say pages from UMR. Thanks the link on Facebook. I like how you work your way down to the classics. When I first saw The Long Riders at the top I thought you had lost it. I like the Top 5. Though I must admit I am surprised Leone got the first two spots. John Ford is rolling in his grave in disgust. About to check out the even longer western page. Job well done.
Thank you Helakoski. Ford got third place…..plus he has the most movies for a director on the page. I hope Ford understands……lol. Thanks for stopping by.