Hollywood used to pump out western movies one right after another, but in the last 20 years they give the masses maybe 1 or 2 good western movies a year, if we're lucky.  If you are looking for a great modern western, check out this list.

Tombstone

A sizzling, star-studded cast brings to life the legendary battle to deliver justice to TOMBSTONE! Kurt Russell (MIRACLE, VANILLA SKY) turns in a gripping performance as U.S. Marshall Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer (THE MISSING, BATMAN FOREVER) ignites the screen as the outrageous Doc Holliday. Together, they team up to bring law to the lawless in a notorious showdown with the ruthless outlaws at the O.K. Corral! The all-star ensemble also includes Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Dana Delany, Jason Priestley, Michael Biehn, and long-time Hollywood favorite Charlton Heston. Get ready for an explosive, action-packed adventure the Wild West would never forget!


Young Guns 1 & 2

Young Guns
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Young Guns

A group of young gunmen, led by Billy the Kid, become deputies to avenge the murder of the rancher who became their benefactor. But when Billy takes their authority too far, they become the hunted.

Young Guns II

Billy "The Kid" and his gang is wanted by the law, and when "Doc" Scurlock and Chavez are captured, Billy has to save them. They escape and set south for Mexico. "Let's hire a thief to catch one", John S. Chisum said, so he paid Pat Barrett, one of Billy's former partners, $1000 for the killing of William H. Bonney aka Billy "The Kid".


Unforgiven

Unforgiven
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Unforgiven is a 1992 Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood with a screenplay written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after he had hung up his guns and turned to farming. A dark Western that deals frankly with the uglier aspects of violence and the myth of the Old West, it stars Eastwood in the lead role, with Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, and Richard Harris.

Eastwood dedicated the movie to deceased directors and mentors Don Siegel and Sergio Leone. The film won four Academy Awards including Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Hackman), Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Picture. Eastwood himself was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, but he lost to Al Pacino for Scent of a Woman. Unforgiven was inducted into the United States National Film Registry in 2004.

The film was only the third western to win the Oscar for Best Picture following Cimarron (1931) and Dances With Wolves (1990).


3:10 To Yuma

3:10 to Yuma is the 2007 remake of the 1957 film of the same name, making it the second adaptation of Elmore Leonard's short story Three-Ten to Yuma. It is directed by James Mangold and produced by Cathy Konrad, and stars Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. Filming took place in various locations in New Mexico.
A small-time rancher agrees to hold a captured outlaw who's awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. A battle of wills ensues as the outlaw tries to psych out the rancher.


Open Range

Open Range
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Open Range is a 2003 Western movie based on the novel The Open Range Men by Lauran Paine. The film was directed and co-produced by Kevin Costner, who stars with Robert Duvall and Annette Bening.
The movie properly belongs to the Western genre and is set in Montana in 1882 (the year is seen on a new grave marker) though the movie was filmed entirely on location in Alberta.

The background of the movie concerns the "range wars" that occurred in the American West in the late 19th century. The "wars" pitted those that believed in the "Law of the Open Range" - free access to water and grass for everyone, against the "barbed wire" men – land barons, who used the new fencing to define their empire and block the free-range cattlemen from moving their herds.

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