John Maclean brings us this surreal and absurd Western about a man named Jay Cavendish (Smit-McPhee) searching for his lost love Rose (Caren Pistorius), through the wild west. When he runs bounty hunter Silas Selleck (Fassbender) develops a fatherly love for him.
It’s a joyful, funny yet painful film that features an incredible cast.
3:10 to Yuma (James Mangold, 2007)
Another incredible remake, this time by James Mangold. This film, according to Roger Egbert, "restores the wounded heart of the Western." Steering away from senseless violence, the film still sticks to the original story of the infamous outlaw Ben Wade (played by Russell Crowe.)
Mangold succeeds in combing the old-school foundations with contemporary style.
Bone Tomahawk (S. Craig Zahler, 2015)
Combining the slow-burn Western with gritty B-movies, this film turns out a truly horrifying and brutal tale that might be a little hard to stomach. The plot revolves around four townsmen who venture into the wildness to free the prisoners held captive by a group of Troglodytes.
The scares grow stronger, and the cannibalistic tribe is simply terrifying.
Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston, 1948)
One of the common plots found in the Western genre was the character’s search for gold or participation in the “gold rush.” Directed by Jack Huston, the story of the "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" centered on two Americans working in Mexico who enlist the help of a prospector so they can look for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.
Values are tested, and the men, of course, encounter bandits on their way to striking it rich. The film starred Humphrey Bogart and another member of the Huston dynasty, Walter Huston.
Giant (George Stevens, 1956)
"Giant" was a star-studded Western featuring some of Hollywood’s most beautiful faces: James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rock Hudson. Family legacies, old money, generational controversy, and ranching, Giant was a sweeping, epic drama that was more than just a Western.
The story follows Jordan “Bick” Benedict Jr. (Hudson) and Leslie Benedict (Taylor) as they maintain their Texan family wealth and legacy. What makes Giant more unique is that it follows the character’s storylines throughout their lives and even into the next generation of Benedicts.