The Revenant 2015
Cited as the genre's colonial-guilt detour.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Top Five
The Top Five Westerns Since 1993 | Discussion (Ep. 93)
November 2, 2018/ 40 min/ Sean Fennessey · Chris Ryan
Red Dead Redemption 2's opening-weekend haul gets Sean and Chris arguing over the best Westerns since Unforgiven, and somehow Rango wins.
27 films across 5 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
Setting Up: Why Westerns Never Go Awaythe classics, before the modern stuff
Rio Bravo 1959
Chris's classic-era pick: the Hawks side of the Hawks/Ford split.
The Searchers 1956
The Ford side of that split.
Red River 1948
Chris takes this and Rio Bravo over The Searchers.
Chris Ryan's Top Five Westerns Since 1993best to worst
No. 1
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford 2007
No. 1: Chris's favorite thing he's maybe ever seen. Deakins, the Nick Cave/Warren Ellis score, Casey Affleck's fandom-as-obsession performance.
No. 2
Tombstone 1993
No. 2: Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday, an all-timer; the set was, by legend, actually run by Kurt Russell.
No. 3
No Country for Old Men 2007
No. 3: also Sean's No. 5, ranked higher here. Chris: could be No. 1 tomorrow.
No. 4
Unforgiven 1992
No. 4: Chris admits it's a year early. Eastwood and Gene Hackman take apart Eastwood's own violent-man mythology.
No. 5
Lone Star 1996
No. 5: John Sayles' border-town mystery, prime-era McConaughey used sparingly, as myth rather than star.
Sean Fennessey's Top Five Westerns Since 1993best to worst
No. 1
Rango 2011
No. 1: Sean's self-described unhealthy obsession. A Gore Verbinski/Johnny Depp animated Western that knows every trope it's using.
No. 3
Brokeback Mountain 2005
No. 3: Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana's script, from Annie Proulx's story.
Honorable Mentionsshout-outs that didn't make the cut
Mad Max: Fury Road 2015
Pitched, and allowed, as an Australian post-apocalyptic Western.
The Rover 2014
Same Australian-Western argument.
Meek's Cutoff 2010
Kelly Reichardt's wagon-trail counter-programming to the lone-gunman Western.
The Proposition 2005
Another Nick Cave/Warren Ellis Australian Western.
El Mariachi 1992
Early Robert Rodriguez DIY, pre-Desperado.
Desperado 1995
Once Upon a Time in Mexico 2003
Called "more of a stunt than a movie."
Taylor Sheridan, Poet of the West
Sicario 2015
Hell or High Water 2016
Wind River 2017
Sicario: Day of the Soldado 2018
Its back half, they argue, plays as a straight Western.
Slow West 2015
John Maclean directs; Michael Fassbender as, per Chris, "the least Westerny guy of all time."
The Searchers 1956
Their guess for Sheridan's own favorite Western.
Also mentioned raised along the way
John Sayles filmography Eight Men OutMatewanReturn of the Secaucus SevenThe Secret of Roan InishPassion FishGo for Sisters
Clint Eastwood The Outlaw Josey WalesHigh Plains DrifterIn the Line of FireMillion Dollar BabyGran TorinoAmerican Sniper
Quentin Tarantino Django UnchainedReservoir DogsKill Bill: Vol. 1
Coen Brothers True GritThe Ballad of Buster ScruggsBlood Simple
Larry McMurtry & Ang Lee The Last Picture ShowThe Ice StormHulkRide with the Devil
Great failed Westerns Cold MountainHeaven's Gate
In passing The Hand That Rocks the CradleThe Silence of the LambsThe Evil DeadWyatt EarpKilling Them SoftlyYoung Guns
Gore Verbinski Mouse HuntThe Lone Ranger
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV YellowstoneDeadwoodMindhunterLonesome Dove
Video Games Red Dead Redemption 2