CAST
PATRICK SWAYZE, KELLY LYNCH, BEN GAZZARA, KEVIN TIGHE, SAM ELLIOTT

DIRECTED BY
ROWDY HERRINGTON

The late, great Patrick Swayze starred as Dalton, a kung fu dispensing good ol’ boy and cooler, hired to clean up a red neck dive situated in the middle of a town run by Ben Gazzara’s local mobster.

Much brawling, loving and rockin’ ensues, Sam Eliot turns in one of his best turns as Swayze’s grizzled mentor, and mullets battle with tits for the most screen time.

CAST
RYAN KWANTEN, STEVE BISLEY, TOMMY LEWIS, CLARIE VAN DER BOOM, KEVIN HARRINGTON

DIRECTED BY
PATRICK HUGHES

Patrick Hughes’ debut feature Red Hill was dripping with influences, yet luckily for us those influences are of the highest standard.

Ryan Kwanten delivers a subdued turn as a former city cop whose first day on the country beat brings on an unexpected surprise in Tommy Lewis’ escaped convict, out for revenge against the town that wringed him.

Omeo, Victoria provides great scenery, while veteran Aussie actor Steve Bisley chips in with some no BS moralising.

CAST
ANTONIO BANDERAS, SALMA HAYEK, CARLOS GALLARDO, DANNY TREJO, JOHNNY DEPP

DIRECTED BY
ROBERT RODRIGUEZ

The three movies that make up Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi trilogy (El Mariachi, Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico) successfully meshed Spaghetti Western conventions of old, with the hyper kinetic stylised violence of the new.

In Antonio Banderas a new gunslinger was found who was both action star and sex symbol, dispensing villains with an endless armery, while wooing Salma Hayek’s seductive temptress.

Of the three films it was Once Upon a Time in Mexico which shined the brightest, making good use of a cast which included Johnny Depp, Willem Dafoe, and Mickey Rourke.

CAST
ADRIAN PASDAR, JENNY WRIGHT, LANCE HENRIKSEN, BILL PAXTON, JENETTE GOLDSTEIN

DIRECTED BY
KATHRYN BIGELOW

Kathryn Bigelow’s gritty vampire tale was just as much a western as it was a horror movie.

Featuring more cowboy hats then fangs, Near Dark starred Adrian Pasdar as a love struck cowboy who falls for vampire girl Mia (Jenny Wright) and into the clutches of her un-dead brood, played by Aliens trio Lance Henriksen, Jenny Goldstein, and Bill Paxton.  

The slaughter of a red neck bar still stands as one of the most horrific scenes in any vampire movie, and is sure to equal a shootout in a salon.

CAST
SUSAN SARANDNON, GEENA DAVIS, HARVEY KEITEL, MICHAEL MADSEN, BRAD PITT

DIRECTED BY
RIDLEY SCOTT

This feminist answer to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid starred Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis as low trodden women pushed to the edge and on the run, robbing liquor stores and shagging a young Brad Pitt who does his best Jesse James, (some say even better than his other, more official portrayal).

Director Ridley Scott played the obvious western archytypes in Callie Khouri’s Oscar winning script, while Harvey Keitel excels as the law sworn to bring them in.

Yet it is Surandon and Davis who are the movie, packing guns and years of men induced rage for a lethal, and eye catching duo.  

CAST
TOMMY LEE JONES, BARRY PEPPER, DWIGHT YOAKAM, JANUARY JONES, MELISSA LEO

DIRECTED BY
TOMMY LEE JONES

Directed with the upmost sensitivity by Tommy Lee Jones, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is a film about honour and redemption amongst men.

Scripted by Guillermo Arriaga (21 Grams, Babel) the film stared Jones as a rancher who undertakes a pilgrimage to bury his murdered friend in Mexico, taking with him his killer (Barry Pepper).

Politically charged and impeccably acted, Three Burials... was looked over by Academy members despite Oscar worthy turns by Jones and Pepper.

CAST
SYLVESTER STALLONE, ROBERT DE NIRO, HARVEY KEITEL, RAY LIOTTA, ANNABELLA SCIORRA

DIRECTED BY
JAMES MANGOLD

Yes, Cop Land is a gritty cop drama. Yep, it’s based in New Jersey. No, there isn’t any cow dung, horses, or vast scenery.

But what Cop Land fails to contain in the tangible, it makes up for in the symbolic, and with that regard this underrated gem is a western through and through.

Sylvester Stallone as a little respected Sheriff of a small Jersey town, inhabited by corrupt New York cops led by Harvey Keitel.

When a scandal threatens to tear his town a part, Stallone channels High Noon and takes matters into his own hands.

Written and director by James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma), Cop Land is a one of a kind urban western with a killer cast to boot.

CAST
CHRIS COOPER, ELIZABETH PENA,JOE MORTON,  KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY

DIRECTED BY
JOHN SAYLES

Independent filmmaker John Sayles’ crowning achievement, Lone Star is a finely written and acted ensemble piece which looks at legacy and race relations in a small American town bordering Mexico.

Featuring career defining performances by the likes of Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Pena, and Matthew McConaughey (yep, that’s right), Lone Star successfully weaved together crime, mystery, and western conventions, and flawlessly segways between past and present, Mexico and America, and the political and the personal.

CAST
HEATH LEDGER, JAKE GYLLENHAAL, MICHELLE WILLIAMS, ANNE HATHAWAY, RANDY QUAID

DIRECTED BY
ANG LEE

As intimate as it is epic, Brokeback Mountain is a haunting and well acted exploration of forbidden love between two men amongst the backdrop of the conservative western genre.

Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal star and break hearts as ranch hands who find love and solace within each other, yet chaos everywhere else.  

Ledger in particular delivers a performance which can only be described as “once in a generation”, his inner turmoil and heartbreak creating a mess of a man whose longing for connection will not leave a dry eye in the house.

Beautiful photography, an uplifting score, and Ang Lee’s pitch perfect direction makes Brokeback Mountain a one of a kind experience and a western love story with little equal.

CAST
JAVIER BARDEM, JOSH BROLIN, TOMMY LEE JONES, KELLY MACDONALD, WOODY HARRELSON

DIRECTED BY
JOEL COEN, ETHAN COEN

The Coen Brothers’ take on Cormac McCarthy’s acclaimed No Country for Old Men was an exploration into the escalating decline of the moral good, as an increasingly corrupt world is thrust into the hands of a new generation occupied with greed.

It was also an exceptional thriller, told through the pursuit of a greedy cowboy (Josh Brolin) by a tenacious and unflinching hitman (Javier Bardem), while a hopeless Sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) look on in despair.

Shot in Texas, the Coens combine the spirit of the old west with their own unique sensibilities, to make a modern western none are likely to forget.