Stagecoach (1939)
Broken Trail (2006)
Open Range (2003)
Rio Bravo (1959)
3:10 to Yuma(The 1957 original The 2007 version is a tribute to gay-bdsm and is a travisty to the history of western movies!)
A Thunder of Drums (1961) (One of the great and often over looked Western works of author James Warner Bellah.)
John Ford’s Cavalry Trilogy – Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950) ( I know that’s cheating, but these three must be looked at as a whole.James Warner Bellah again I am luck in that I have his that these novies are based on.)
The Big Country (1958) (One of the few very long westerns that keep you engaged through the whole movie.)
The Missing (2003) (A good tell of failure and forgiveness.)
Westward the Women (1951) (A great tribute to western womanhood. Today’s feminist wouldn’t had made it to Rockies much less California.)
I am sure that many will disagree, but those are my choices and I am sticking with them.
I like to add that Broken Trail, Open Range, and 3:10 to Yuma are great movies to show boys how to be a man.
I just watched the 2007 3:10 to Yuma starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. I sure don’t see how you concluded it is a “tribute to gay-bdsm.” Please enlighten us.
Another one in that same genre that was not mentioned anywhere, Hombre, with Paul Newman. That's an existentialist western if there ever was one.
However, the one that I will watch whenever it is shown is The Outlaw Josey Wales. The action and the humor in that film never disappoint. Casting Chief Dan George was a stroke of genius.