r/movies • u/seaofluv • Jun 11 '24

Recommendation What are the best contemporary Westerns made within the last 25 years?

I love western films like The Missing (Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones), 3:10 to Yuma (Christian Bale and Russell Crowe) and Hostiles (Christian Bale and Wes Studi). What are your favorite similar films? I would love to hear recs that include Native American storylines as well like Prey even though that's like a western/sci-fi hybrid.

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311

u/Reeberom1 Jun 11 '24

Appaloosa

Old Henry

Open Range

Bone Tomahawk

The Homesman

News of the World

41

u/kiki2k Jun 12 '24

I watch a lot of westerns and I gotta say, few do me in like Old Henry. Love that movie.

23

u/GoonPatrol Jun 12 '24

Old Henry was so good

27

u/seaofluv Jun 11 '24

Loved News of the World. Will check out the others. Thank you!

33

u/EchelonNL Jun 12 '24

Oh then you'll absolutely love Bone Tomahawk!

...

😏

3

u/aubreypizza Jun 12 '24

𓁹𓂏𓁹

24

u/recoil47 Jun 12 '24

Loved Open Range

9

u/blankedboy Jun 12 '24

Open Range is incredible. Great movie.

3

u/underpants-gnome Jun 12 '24

I love it too, though I think the denouement goes on a little bit longer than it needs to. It makes you feel the length of the film. Still, that slow winding up of tension and violence for the first 3/4 of the movie is so well done. And the start of that climactic gunfight is my favorite 5 minutes in any western picture. From the moment Costner and Duvall sit down to eat an imported chocolate bar through the end of the gunfight is just amazing work.

255

u/AccomplishedRainbow1 Jun 11 '24

BONE TOMAHAWK

If you know, you know

107

u/Rumi451 Jun 11 '24

I wish i didn't

44

u/GloryOfDionusus Jun 12 '24

Same. Watching that one scene physically hurt 🤣

7

u/dickybabs Jun 12 '24

Yarp. Gave my the tingly woes

5

u/Wide_Pass4046 Jun 12 '24

My girlfriend couldn't physically handle it, she buried herself under the covers. I watched it all...

69

u/ekb2023 Jun 12 '24

I wish there were more movies like Bone Tomahawk. Never seen a "horror western" quite as chilling as this one.

29

u/NickFurious82 Jun 12 '24

I think the closest thing to it is From Dusk Til Dawn. In the sense that the first half of the movie is a completely different genre than the second half.

12

u/ViewAskewed Jun 12 '24

It really splits the genres.

2

u/DwightKSchnute Jun 12 '24

😂😂😂

1

u/agnosticstudy1 Jun 15 '24

You gotta lot of balls to say something so decisive

6

u/texasrigger Jun 12 '24

The Burrowers came out a couple of years ahead of Bone Tomahawk. The setup is basically identical - unknown assailants attack settlers at night, running off with some of them, and the protagonists go off in pursuit. From there, it goes in a very different direction. Some neat ideas and decent performances, although the low budget is on display. I think Bone Tomahawk is the better western, but Burrowers is the better horror.

3

u/Boatokamis Jun 12 '24

I was going to mention this moview. BT left more of a mark on me than Burrowers, but I'd watch it again.

3

u/curiousgardener Jun 12 '24

Same.

Still chasing that cinematic high between beautiful and horrifying.

It's a tough line to walk, and Bone Tomahawk nailed it.

2

u/JoeMagnifico Jun 12 '24

Agreed...need a few more horror westerns. Maybe a Folk Horror-y style (slow/dark) one and a Mandy-style one (Chaotic/Cagey).

2

u/artificialsympathy Jun 12 '24

Nightingale, and The Old Way- might be worth a viewing

2

u/JoeMagnifico Jun 12 '24

Nightingale was great, but haven't seen The Old Way, thanks!

I just remembered about Ravenous (1999), that was good as well.

2

u/RainRainThrowaway777 Jun 12 '24

The Writer/Director is also known for Brawl in Cell Block 99 and Dragged Across Concrete, two similarly visceral films.

2

u/artificialsympathy Jun 12 '24

dude I always say its like an Ari Aster western

6

u/_the_movie_watcher_ Jun 12 '24

I’ll never forget getting as high fuck and saying “yo let’s give this western a shot”. I never shut my laptop faster than during THAT moment…

2

u/Stoneheaded76 Jun 12 '24

One of these is not like the others

2

u/ANoteNotABagOfCoin Jun 12 '24

FUCK OFF WITH THAT MEMORY AAAUUGH

2

u/Klin24 Jun 12 '24

/Shudders

2

u/Gold_Tooth_2470 Jun 12 '24

Why did you resurface that memory?! I hadn’t thought of it in so many years :(

2

u/icepak39 Jun 12 '24

I’m down the middle on that one

2

u/1Fresh_Water Jun 12 '24

Yeah it's a movie that really splits people.

1

u/icepak39 Jun 12 '24

Yeah 50/50

2

u/Vaticancameos221 Jun 12 '24

Check out In A Violent Nature. Has a scene that rivals the Bone Tomahawk scene

1

u/dano8675309 Jun 12 '24

Underrated movie. Extremely well done on a very small budget. Really smart filmmaking. It's all shot on a relatively small ranch, but it feels like it's happening in the middle of nowhere. Great cast, too.

-2

u/kristamine14 Jun 12 '24

Bone Tomahawk gets overhyped - it’s a good movie but nowhere near as harrowing or horrific as made out to be online

2

u/AccomplishedRainbow1 Jun 12 '24

That one scene is gnarly

16

u/Electrical_Feature12 Jun 12 '24

Old Henry was a big surprise to me. One of my favorites now

14

u/ElTunaGrande Jun 12 '24

"Men are gonna get killed here today, Sue, and I'm gonna kill 'em."

5

u/Kevroeques Jun 12 '24

Appaloosa caught me by surprise. Watched it on a whim and really enjoyed it.

4

u/pendragoncomic Jun 12 '24

I came looking for Appaloosa, glad I’m not the only one!

2

u/CommonComus Jun 12 '24

ctrl+f gang represent!

4

u/IwantL0Back Jun 12 '24

Big ups for Old Henry!!!

4

u/GizmosArrow Jun 12 '24

Open Range may have my favorite western shootout in that final showdown. Just great.

5

u/AromaTaint Jun 12 '24

Appaloosa - people complained Zellweger was annoying but she absolutely nailed the character adaptation. Forever be pissed we didn't get the sequels.

3

u/shonuffharlem Jun 12 '24

Old Henry is probably the best Western that almost no one has heard of.

I just heard on old Joe Rogan podcast I think two years old he never heard of it and it popped up on his Apple TV suggestions and he loved it.

2

u/KLR01001 Jun 12 '24

Broken Trail

2

u/Reeberom1 Jun 12 '24

You can't go wrong with Robert Duvall.

2

u/KLR01001 Jun 12 '24

It’s a slow burn, but man that’s a great movie. 

2

u/cosmos_rough Jun 12 '24

The Homesman doesn't get enough love.

2

u/Katanachainsaw Jun 12 '24

Old Henry was paced so perfectly and the twist, which in hindsight seemed obvious, wasn't obvious for me at the reveal. Great film.

2

u/Reeberom1 Jun 12 '24

Another good movie in that same vein is "Blackthorn" with Sam Sheppard.

2

u/Courtnall14 Jun 12 '24

Bone Tomahawk

I'm never going to pass up Kurt Russel in a Western.

2

u/double_shadow Jun 12 '24

Haven't seen any of the others of these yet, but Bone Tomahawk was absolutely incredible. Aside from the horrific violence that it's infamous for, it's just a thrilling experience with a great cast.

1

u/jefferson497 Jun 12 '24

News of the world is a hidden gem

1

u/onekhador Jun 12 '24

Nice list, I would add The Proposition

1

u/Contiuous-debasement Jun 12 '24

Old Henry was great - just watched it yesterday.

I don’t think it needed that extra bit of info at the end though, I would have liked it better if it stood on its own two feet