By Gabriel Sheehan
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Western
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Django Unchained: Django's 14 Greatest Quotes
20 Best Paul Dano Movies, Ranked
10 Old-School Western TV Shows That Still Hold Up Today
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One of cinema's most storied and celebrated brands of film, the Western genre has played host to some of Hollywood's most prominent and lauded A-Listers. From classic genre big hitters in the vein of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood all the way to more modern stars like Jeff Bridges and Samuel L. Jackson, the best Western movies ever made boast some of the most memorable and widely imitated performances in the history of cinema, breathing life into a diverse array of lawmen, gunslingers, and outlaws.
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However, the foundations for the Western genre's success aren't solely built on the backs of its leading men. Some of the finest Westerns owe a great deal to a first-rate supporting character role, whether that be a loyal right-hand man, or a despicable villain who serves as the movie's antagonistic foil. From the best spaghetti Westerns to Westerns where the villain wins, a number of great supporting characters have been brought to life by an A-Lister who can rival the movie's lead, serving to elevate the film's quality through their assured presence and onscreen charisma.
10 Leonardo DiCaprio As Calvin Candie
Django Unchained (2012)
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9.3/10
Django Unchained
R
Adventure
Drama
Western
Comedy
Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained follows Jamie Foxx's Django, a Black slave who is freed before becoming a bounty hunter. After meeting German dentist-turned-bounty-hunter Dr. King Schultz, Django sets off to free his wife from the cruel and charismatic plantation owner Calvin Candie. Christophe Waltz stars alongside Foxx, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, and Kerry Washington rounding out the cast of Tarantino's revisionist Spaghetti Western.
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- Release Date
- December 25, 2012
- Runtime
- 165 Minutes
- Cast
- Leonardo DiCaprio , Jonah Hill , Samuel L. Jackson , Jamie Foxx , Kerry Washington , Christoph Waltz
- Director
- Quentin Tarantino
- Main Genre
- Western
- Writers
- Quentin Tarantino
- Studio(s)
- Sony
- Distributor(s)
- Sony
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A blood-soaked revisionist Western masterpiece from Quentin Tarantino, 2012's Django Unchained boasts an enviable ensemble cast. Led by Jamie Foxx as the eponymous character, the film also features the big names likes of Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, and Kerry Washington. However, despite Waltz earning an Academy Award for his turn as King Schultz, the greatest supporting role played by an A-list actor throughout Django Unchained is undoubtedly Leonardo DiCaprio's Calvin Candie.
Related
Django Unchained: Django's 14 Greatest Quotes
Django Unchained is some of Quentin Tarantino's best work, and it provided a lot of powerful and hilariously memorable quotes.
Effecting a simpering facade of Southern civility that serves as a veil for the sadistic proclivities lurking beneath, Candie is one of Tarantino's most memorable and compelling villains, brought to life through a gleefully unrestrained performance in one of DiCaprio's best movie bows. The six-time Academy Award nominee is gloriously wicked as Candie, a ruthless plantation owner who gets his kicks through delightful pursuits like watching slaves fight to the death or having his dogs tear runaways to shreds.
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9 Val Kilmer As Doc Holliday
Tombstone (1993)
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176 9.5/10
Tombstone
R
Western
Biography
Drama
Tombstone is a Western film loosely based on true events. When a group of outlaws known as the Cowboys ride into a town and slay several police officers for revenge for the death of two of their gang members, word of their misdeeds reaches the ears of a retired lawman. Gathering a group together, the new vigilantes will defend the town and aim to end the terror of the Cowboys.
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- Release Date
- December 25, 1993
- Runtime
- 130 minutes
- Cast
- Bill Paxton , Charlton Heston , Sam Elliott , Powers Boothe , Val Kilmer , Kurt Russell , Michael Biehn , Jason Priestley
- Director
- George P. Cosmatos , Kevin Jarre
- Main Genre
- Western
- Writers
- Kevin Jarre
Loosely based on true events, 1993's Tombstone is a stylish Western from Rambo: First Blood Part II director George P. Cosmatos. Boasting an ensemble cast led by Kurt Russell as lawman Wyatt Earp, the movie received highly positive reviews, with particular praise directed towards a superb performance from Top Gun alum Val Kilmer in the supporting role of Earp's old friend, Doc Holliday.
...the drink-swilling Holliday is one of the most memorable and instantly quotable characters in the entire Western genre.
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Turning in a scene-stealing bow as the smooth-talking, sickly gunslinger that somehow failed to be nominated for an Academy Award, the drink-swilling Holliday is one of the most memorable and instantly quotable characters in the entire Western genre. Batman Forever star Kilmer turns in what is contentiously a career best performance against the backdrop of a seminal offering for the genre, a bow that is further aided by some first-rate chemistry with his onscreen rival in Michael Biehn's Johnny Ringo.
8 Javier Bardem As Anton Chigurh
No Country For Old Men (2007)
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7.9/10
No Country for Old Men
R
Thriller
Drama
Crime
No Country for Old Men is a western crime-thriller based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy and directed by the Cohen Brothers. Following three protagonists, the film centers around a large $2,000,000+ cache of dirty money lost near the Rio Grande. With a veteran who finds it, a hitman who will stop at nothing to get it, and a sheriff trying to investigate the crimes connected to it, all roads lead to death and mayhem as they find themselves in each other's crosshairs.
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- Release Date
- November 21, 2007
- Runtime
- 122 minutes
- Cast
- Kelly Macdonald , Woody Harrelson , Josh Brolin , Javier Bardem , Tommy Lee Jones
- Director
- Joel Coen , Ethan Coen
- Writers
- Ethan Coen , Joel Coen
- Studio(s)
- MiraMax
- Distributor(s)
- Universal Pictures , MiraMax
It speaks volumes to the cultural impact of Javier Bardem's take on Anton Chigurh that the enigmatic hit man is the name most closely associated with 2007's neo-Western standout No Country for Old Men, despite the fact that he is not actually the main focus of the movie. A ruthless killer with a preternatural ability to track his prey based on Cormac McCarthy's character of the same name, Chigurh spends the movie attempting to track down the cartel money stolen by Josh Brolin's Llewelyn Moss.
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Whether he's gambling lives on a literal coin toss or brutally taking them with the help of his cattle gun, there isn't much to say about Bardem's generational turn as Chigurh that hasn't been said already. With the actor earning an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA for his chilling take on the hit man, the live-action version of McCarthy's psychopathic killer is widely regarded as the best Western villain in cinematic history and is arguably long time A-Lister Bardem's most impressive role in a lengthy and storied career.
7 Charles Bronson As Bernardo O'Reilly
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
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The Magnificent Seven
Approved
Western
Action
Adventure
Drama
The Magnificent Seven (1960) is a Western film directed by John Sturges. The story revolves around seven gunslingers, led by Chris Adams (Yul Brynner), who are hired to defend a Mexican village from a group of marauding bandits. The ensemble cast includes Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, and James Coburn, and the film features an iconic score by Elmer Bernstein.
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- Release Date
- October 12, 1960
- Runtime
- 128 Minutes
- Cast
- Yul Brynner , Steve McQueen , Charles Bronson , Eli Wallach
- Director
- John Sturges
- Main Genre
- Western
- Writers
- William Roberts , Akira Kurosawa , Walter Bernstein , Shinobu Hashimoto , Hideo Oguni
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One of the genre's seminal outings, 1960's The Magnificent Seven is an Old Western style remake of the iconic 1954 action epic, Seven Samurai. Chronicling the titular group of gunfighters' attempts to defend a Mexican village from a gang of vicious bandits, the movie features an ensemble cast for the ages, many of whom went on to become superstars in their own right following their success in John Sturges' outing.
The Magnificent Seven was remade again in 2016, starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, and Ethan Hawke.
However, the gold standard for the supporting roles among said ensemble cast is undoubtedly Bernardo O'Reilly, brought to life in an unforgettable role from the late Western movie icon Charles Bronson. An A-List name across the action, war, and Western genres, Bronson's take on the Irish-Mexican gunslinger fallen upon hard times is one of his most celebrated roles. A self-assured and stoic presence, the actor's role as O'Reilly arguably helped solidify Bronson's reputation as the strong and silent type in future genre outings.
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6 Jennifer Jason Leigh As Daisy Domergue
The Hateful Eight (2015)
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6.5/10
The Hateful Eight
R
Mystery
Thriller
Drama
Quentin Tarantino's 2015 Western incorporates elements of the mystery and thriller genres. Set in 1877, The Hateful Eight follows eight strangers who seek refuge from a blizzard in an isolated stagecoach stopover. Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, and Channing Tatum, The Hateful Eight was inspired by the Western TV shows of 1960s.
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- Release Date
- December 25, 2015
- Runtime
- 188 Minutes
- Cast
- Zoe Bell , Jennifer Jason Leigh , Michael Madsen , Tim Roth , Channing Tatum , Bruce Dern , Kurt Russell , Samuel L. Jackson , Walton Goggins , James Parks
- Director
- Quentin Tarantino
- Writers
- Quentin Tarantino
- Studio(s)
- The Weinstein Company , Shiny Penny , Film Colony , Double Feature Films , Visiona Romantica
- Distributor(s)
- The Weinstein Company
The second genre offering in the storied career of illustrious filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, 2015's revisionist Western The Hateful Eight follows eight strangers taking refuge from a blizzard, who soon become caught up in a web of murder and deceit. Set in the aftermath of the American Civil War, the film's titular eight characters feature a number of prominent A-listers, including Kurt Russell and Walton Goggins.
Quentin Tarantino's Western Filmography by Year | |
|---|---|
Movie | Year of Release |
Django Unchained | 2012 |
The Hateful Eight | 2015 |
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However, the highlight of the movie's sterling supporting performances is that of Jennifer Jason Leigh as Daisy Domergue. A merciless killer and lethally cunning outlaw with a ten thousand dollar bounty on her head, Domergue serves as The Hateful Eight's main antagonist. Leigh demonstrates her remarkable range through an intense performance for the ages that earned her an Academy Award nomination, effortlessly capturing the pathos of a chained woman in many instances before shifting to an unhinged banshee without a second's warning in others.
5 Josh Brolin As Tom Chaney
True Grit (2010)
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9/10
10/10
True Grit
PG-13
Western
Drama
An adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968 novel of the same name, True Grit tells the story of 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), who enlists the help of morally-questionable lawman Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) in order to avenge the death of her father by apprehending the criminal Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). They are joined by a cocksure Texas Ranger named Labeouf (Matt Damon), who insists upon collecting the bounty on Chaney's head. The three travel across the Arkansas plains in pursuit of Chaney, risking life and limb against outlaws and wild animals in pursuit of justice.
- Release Date
- December 22, 2010
- Runtime
- 110 minutes
- Cast
- Jeff Bridges , Barry Pepper , Josh Brolin , Matt Damon , Hailee Steinfeld
- Director
- Ethan Coen , Joel Coen
- Main Genre
- Western
- Writers
- Joel Coen , Ethan Coen
- Studio(s)
- Paramount Pictures
- Distributor(s)
- Paramount Pictures
A remake of the 1969 film of the same name led by John Wayne, 2010's True Grit is one of the most critically acclaimed Western movies in modern cinema. Earning 10 Academy Award nominations and boasting a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the Coen Brothers' offering features an enviable cast of Hollywood big-hitters in supporting roles, with Josh Brolin's Tom Chaney serving as the pick of an impressive bunch.
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Chaney is no Machiavellian schemer, but the deeply human nature of his brutish tendencies and his subsequent lack of remorse means that he simultaneously comes across as an extremely pathetic and deeply frightening character...
Known for his roles in blockbuster franchises like The Avengers, Dune, and Deadpool, the man who brought Thanos to life is one of Hollywood's most instantly recognizable faces, but does some of his most underrated work as True Grit's overarching antagonist. Chaney is no Machiavellian schemer, but the deeply human nature of his brutish tendencies and his subsequent lack of remorse means that he simultaneously comes across as an extremely pathetic and deeply frightening character in one of Brolin's finest Western movies.
4 Tom Hardy As John Fitzgerald
The Revenant (2015)
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8.6/10
The Revenant
R
Adventure
Drama
Inspired by the true events in the life of Hugh Glass, The Revenant is an action-drama movie that sees Leonardo DiCaprio in the starring role. Betrayed and left for dead by one of the members of his hunting group, Glass finds himself contending with some of the harshest elements imaginable while tending to his deadly wounds, as his will to carry on and need for revenge push him to carry on in this gripping tale of survival.
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- Release Date
- December 25, 2015
- Runtime
- 156 minutes
- Cast
- Will Poulter , Leonardo DiCaprio , Paul Anderson , Tom Hardy , Domhnall Gleeson
- Director
- Alejandro González Iñárritu
- Writers
- Alejandro González Iñárritu , Mark L. Smith
- Studio(s)
- 20th Century
- Distributor(s)
- 20th Century
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The revenge story to end all revenge stories from Birdman director Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2015's The Revenant is undoubtedly the Leonardo DiCaprio show. The movie that finally earned The Wolf of Wall Street star his long awaited Academy Award, the film chronicles a near-literal return from the dead for DiCaprio's charge Hugh Glass, a fur trapper during the 1800s who is left for dead by his companions after being savagely mauled by a gargantuan grizzly bear.
Leonardo DiCaprio's Academy Award Nominations and Wins | ||
|---|---|---|
Movie | Category | Result |
What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (1993) | Best Supporting Actor | Lost |
The Aviator (2004) | Best Actor | Lost |
Blood Diamond (2006) | Best Actor | Lost |
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) | Best Actor | Lost |
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) | Best Picture | Lost |
The Revenant (2015) | Best Actor | Won |
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019) | Best Actor | Lost |
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Fellow A-lister Tom Hardy takes on the supporting role of Hugh's primary tormentor in John Fitzgerald. The actor produces an Academy Award-nominated bow as the brutal Fitzgerald, a morally devoid villain who rubs salt in the wounds by murdering Glass' son and burying the stricken trapper alive in a shallow grave before abandoning him. Fitzgerald's dastardly actions prove to be the driving force of the movie, prompting a vengeful Glass to defy all the odds just to get his revenge on him during The Revenant's visceral ending.
3 Jeremy Irons As Randall Bragg
Appaloosa (2008)
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9/10
Appaloosa
R
Crime
Documentary
Drama
Western
Appaloosa is a Western film directed by Ed Harris, who also stars as lawman Virgil Cole. Set in the New Mexico Territory during the 1880s, Cole and his deputy, Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen), are hired to protect a town from the ruthless rancher Randall Bragg, portrayed by Jeremy Irons. Renée Zellweger co-stars as Allison French, a piano player caught in the moral complexities of the escalating conflict.
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- Release Date
- September 19, 2008
- Runtime
- 114 minutes
- Cast
- Robert Jauregui , Jeremy Irons , Timothy V. Murphy , Luce Rains , James Tarwater , Boyd Kestner
- Director
- Ed Harris
- Main Genre
- Crime
- Writers
- Robert Knott , Ed Harris , Robert B. Parker
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Directed by Ed Harris and boasting some of the best performances in modern Western movie history, Appaloosa is an underrated picture from the 2000s. Featuring Harris and The Lord of the Rings megastar Viggo Mortensen in the leading roles, the 2008 movie follows two prolific peacekeepers hired to restore law and order to the movie's titular town. The leading duo's primary antagonistic foil takes the form of murderous rancher, Randall Bragg, played by fellow A-Lister, Die Hard with Vengeance star Jeremy Irons.
Appaloosa is based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Robert B. Parker.
A dastardly criminal who murdered the former marshal and now frequently terrorizes the town, Irons' charge rounds out an all-star cast that also features Renée Zellweger. A polished villain from an actor who is renowned for producing them, the nefarious Bragg serves as a worthy antagonist against the backdrop of one of the more underrated Western movies that the 2000s have to offer.
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2 Morgan Freeman As Ned Logan
Unforgiven (1992)
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9.8/10
Unforgiven
R
Western
Drama
Unforgiven follows retired gunslinger Will Munny as he is drawn back into his former life for a final mission, seeking justice with his old partner and a young outlaw called The Schofield Kid.
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- Release Date
- August 7, 1992
- Runtime
- 130 Mins
- Cast
- Clint Eastwood , Gene Hackman , Morgan Freeman , Richard Harris , Jaimz Woolvett , Saul Rubinek , Frances Fisher , Anna Thomson , David Mucci , Rob Campbell , Anthony James , Tara Frederick , Beverley Elliott , Liisa Repo-Martell , Josie Smith , Shane Thomas Meier , Aline Levasseur , Cherrilene Cardinal , Robert Koons , Ron White , Mina E. Mina , Henry Kope , Jeremy Ratchford , John Pyper-Ferguson
- Director
- Clint Eastwood
- Main Genre
- Western
- Writers
- David Webb Peoples
Widely regarded as Clint Eastwood's best Western movie since 1966's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, 1992's Unforgiven sees the Dirty Harry star take on the role of William Munny, an aging gunslinger who finds himself tempted out of retirement for one last score. In addition to Eastwood and Gene Hackman in an Academy Award-winning performance as Sheriff Bill Daggett, Unforgiven also features a supporting bow from cinema icon Morgan Freeman.
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The Oscar winning star of seminal outings in the vein of Million Dollar Baby, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Dark Knight trilogy, Freeman plays Munny's old friend and retired outlaw, Ned Logan, in the 1992 Western. It's not one of Freeman's biggest roles, but it's decidedly one of his most memorable, with his character's death serving as the catalyst for a murderous rampage from Munny that stands as one of cinema's finest revenge sequences.
1 Paul Dano As Paul And Eli Sunday
There Will Be Blood (2007)
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7/10
There Will Be Blood
R
Epic
Drama
Loosely based on an Upton Sinclair novel, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood follows Daniel Plainview, a ruthless entrepreneur and oil man who, in his quest to run a successful oil business, slowly descends into crime and corruption and alienates everyone around him. Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Plainview, alongside co-stars Paul Dano, Kevin J. O'Connor, and Ciarán Hinds.
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- Release Date
- December 26, 2007
- Runtime
- 158 minutes
- Cast
- Daniel Day-Lewis , Russell Harvard , Ciarán Hinds , Dillon Freasier , Paul Dano , Kevin J. O'Connor
- Director
- Paul Thomas Anderson
- Writers
- Paul Thomas Anderson
- Studio(s)
- MiraMax
- Distributor(s)
- MiraMax
Standout roles in the acclaimed likes of Prisoners, 12 Years a Slave, and The Batman have left Paul Dano with a reputation as one of Hollywood's more prominent faces in recent years. However, in spite of his more recent success, the performance that the American finds his name most inextricably linked with is that of his dual supporting role as twin brothers Eli and Paul Sunday in 2007's There Will Be Blood.
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Related
20 Best Paul Dano Movies, Ranked
He turned heads as The Riddler, but Paul Dano is so much more. From Ruby Sparks to The Fabelmans, these are the best Paul Dano movies.
One of the best neo-Western movies ever made, Paul Thomas Anderson's picture received universal acclaim upon release and is widely regarded as one of the most influential films in the history of cinema. In addition to the exemplary cinematography, Jonny Greenwood's score, and an Academy Award-winning turn from Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview, particular praise must be singled out for A-Lister Dano's compelling supporting performance and his impressive ability to play off his famously mercurial co-star.
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