The Best Western Movie Of All Time, According To IMDb

When you've worked as a film journalist for 25 years, you get used to people asking you to name the greatest movie all time. I always inform the inquirer that my default answer is Philip Kaufman's "The Right Stuff." A masterpiece that pretty much destroyed The Ladd Company, it's a soaring, hilarious, uplifting film that celebrates the best parts of the U.S.' cowboy mentality. It's also a brilliant combination of formats, a masterclass in the use of optical visual effects, and the shortest 192 minutes you'll ever spend watching a movie. Once I get this out of the way, I'll add, "But it depends on the day. Catch me walking out of a screening of Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws,' Spike Lee's 'Do the Right Thing,' or Ernst Lubitsch's 'To Be or Not to Be,' and that might be my answer."

Sometimes, the greatest movie ever made is the one you're currently watching — and it doesn't have to be an airtight piece of cinema. If I'm midway through John Woo's "Hard Target," Michael Nankin and David Wechter's "Midnight Madness," or Michael Ritchie's "Diggstown," there's nothing else I'd rather be watching. That's to say, singling out one film as the greatest or even one's favorite is just about impossible for many cinephiles. Nevertheless, when asked, I have participated in critics polls where I've been asked to name my 10 favorite movies, and when I realize I'm going to be leaving off so many films I absolutely adore instantly, I instantly regret accepting the invitation. Also, when you know your list will be made public, you feel duty bound to include "Citizen Kane," "Vertigo," and "Tokyo Story," at which point you've got seven more slots that will likely be filled by consensus favorites.

Still, people love poring over lists (primarily, it seems, to get mad at them when their personal favorites are ranked too low or snubbed altogether), and I am regrettably one of those people. So, when I was asked to look up what IMDb users considered to be the greatest Western ever made, I did so. And, of course, I didn't agree with their pick.

While I am not in sync with the majority of IMDb voters when it comes to naming the all-time greatest Western, I can't argue with the selection. Ranked at #10 all time, just below "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" and one slot ahead of "Forrest Gump," Sergio Leone's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," the three-hour capper to the filmmaker's "Dollars Trilogy," reigns supreme over all other Westerns. Its score of 8.8 out of 10 is higher than the 8.5 assigned to Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," but since that's not technically a Western (it's mostly set in Mississippi), the second best Western film according to IMDb is Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" (which also rates an 8.5, albeit with fewer overall votes).

Obviously, from the moment we see Eli Wallach's Tuco, a bandit with a $2,000 bounty on his head, crashing through the window of a restaurant clutching a bone of half-eaten meat, we know Leone has brought his A-game to "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." He's the standout character in a sprawling tale that finds him hunting down a grave where a load of gold has been stashed. He is in competition and occasionally cahoots with Clint Eastwood's "Blondie," and mostly at odds with Lee Van Cleef's "Angel Eyes."

The film is cleverly scripted and consistently exciting, but its popularity 59 years after its theatrical release is likely attributable to Ennio Morricone's "Ecstasy of Gold" theme being Metallica's live entrance music and, most importantly, a go-to piece of advertising music. Remington rifle to my head, if I had to name the greatest Western of all time, I would probably give Eastwood's "Unforgiven" the slightest of edges over Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West." Just don't ask me this question while I'm watching "Once Upon a Time in the West."