Dirty Harry

It ’s a hotly debated topic , that of the great cinematic gunfighters and their respective vehicles . Over atIMDb , the pollster are little different . With over   500 respondents in their late poll , the top pick were both surprising and expected .

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Movie ranking tend to run immanent , at the best of times , and it ’s grueling to get a group of cinephiles to jibe on much , but in the gunslinger musical genre , which hold most weight within the westerly musical genre , there incline to be general rules of thumb which are often - but not always - followed by those in the know .

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Tombstone (1993) - 7.8

This germinal classic in the pocket-sized religious order of innovative Westerns was a veritable shoo - in on any ranked gunslinger lean in democratic culture . The shootout is libertine and fierce betweenTombstone ’s iconic characters , including Wyatt Earp , toy by Kurt Russell , his stria of buddy including Virgil ( Sam Elliot ) and Morgan ( Bill Paxton ) , and the Cowboys led by Curly Bill ( Powers Boothe ) , loosely base on chronicle ’s gunfight at the O.K. Corral .

The movie ’s most vaunted and often - quoted character is Val Kilmer ’s Doc Holliday , who faces down feared gunfighter Johnny Ringo , played by Michael Biehn . Few conversations of movie house and television gunslingers are complete without someone refer at least one of Holliday ’s many catch phrase .

Desperado (1995) - 7.1

mostly considered one of Robert Rodriguez ’s best pic and the second in his neo - Western Mexico trilogy , Desperadotells the story of El Mariachi ( Antonio Banderas ) , who seeks revenge on a drug lord who killed his former lover . The drug lord Bucho turns out to be El Mariachi ’s older buddy , Cesar .

In typical Rodriguez style , the pic showcases a constant onslaught of blood and blazing fastball , use a number of Hollywood ’s finest Latino actors , let in Salma Hayek , Danny Trejo , and Cheech Marin , and includes support from Steve Buscemi and Quentin Tarantino . Desperado ’s court to b cinema revenge porn is obvious but the gunfighting choreography is a mickle to behold .

Dirty Harry (1971) - 7.7

A gunslinger ranking list from any legitimate poll would be derelict without at least two or three debut from the like ofClint Eastwood , and his first field day as Inspector Harry Callahan managed to supersede all but two of his other films . Don Siegel’sDirty Harryis of course of study a truthful blue classic , render one of the most renowned take - no - prisoner cops of movie history and cave in Clint Eastwood what would become his most identifiable role .

It ’s surprising this first film in the series managed to outflank Eastwood staples likeThe Outlaw Josey WalesorHigh Plains Drifter , but then again , it wasDirty Harrythat reach fans his most iconic ancestry .

Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969) - 8.0

There are too many films that herald the epical talents of Paul Newman and Robert Redford , but few do it so seamlessly and symbiotically as this pal Western romp penned by William Goldman and directed by George Hill . Telling the tales of two wagon train robbers who flee to Bolivia to bunk an ever - trench U.S. Marshal posse comitatus , it ’s the quip and the easy rapport between Newman and Redford that hold the moving picture ’s lawful place in such eminent respect .

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The American Film Institute rank it as the 7th greatest Western of all clock time , and its termination , normally cited throughout reality culture when considering last base , is one of the beneficial ever gestate .

Split image showing Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Dhango in Django Unchained.

Unforgiven (1992) - 8.2

This Academy Award - deliver the goods film at long last gave Clint Eastwood his long - awaited Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director . While Eastwood ’s films are often seen in hindsight as testaments to American maleness , it ’s the cinematic workmanship and storytelling which impart the film to heroic hitman status .

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Eastwood ’s William Munny , having withdraw to a farming life , look at on one last job as a former outlaw and killer . Also starring Gene Hackman , Richard Harris , and Morgan Freeman , this entry in a farseeing line of revenge revisionist Westerns on Eastwood ’s resume shines a case study public eye on the gunslingers themselves rather than the gunslinging .

The main characters of the movie Tombstone

The Hateful Eight (2015) - 7.8

Quentin Tarantino ’s second foray into revenge Westerns was , of course , a dialogue - get rendition of received genre structures including ambition , treason , and the ubiquitous down - to - the - last - man formatting .

With stellar performances from Kurt Russell , Samuel L. Jackson , Walton Goggins , Bruce Dern , Demian Bechir , Tim Roth , Michael Madsen , and Jennifer Jason Leigh , this group of contrary travelers caught in a storm at a distant stagecoach full stop was as fascinating as it was bloody .

Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) - 8.5

A gunslinger ranking leaning without a Sergio Leone Spaghetti Westernwould be a inadequate list indeed , and this one has two of them . Leone ’s go - to partner Eastwood passed on this one , figuring he was risk typecasting after doingThe piece With No Nametrilogy with the legendary director .

Instead , the starring function went to Charles Bronson , his character , Harmonica , squaring off against a rare villainous turn of events from Henry Fonda as Frank . As per usual with Leone projects , dash and tone provide substance over military action or even character , as the picture begin off with a near dialog - less railroad train station sequence and proceeds to tell much of the movie with sound and cinematography over script , a dead on target masterpiece .

Hostiles (2017) - 7.2

Hostilesseems to be the most interesting entry in these IMDb grade , as it ’s a comparatively New offering not commonly cite as one of film ’s big Westerns . Still , the tale of two longtime enemies in the Indigenous American Wars who are squeeze to meet with each other one last metre is a compelling one .

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Captain Joseph Blocker , playact by Christian Bale , is ordered to chaperone his one-time , cancer - stricken opposer , a Cheyenne warfare chief named Yellow Eagle , back to his original lands in Montana . Blood and perfidy ensue until Blocker and Yellow Eagle ultimately make peace of mind with one another after acknowledging the viciousness they ’ve reciprocally shared , another cautionary tarradiddle of payback parables .

El Mariachi and Carolina walking away from an explosion in Desperado.

Django Unchained (2012) - 8.4

Quentin Tarantino is all about trademark revisionism in his fictionsandDjangocertainly qualifies as one of his most prominent vehicles where his most generous indecorum are have , save up perhaps for the ending ofInglorious Basterds .

The barbarous depictions of slavery experimental condition are tough to take in and were controversial to many persons of people of colour , include Spike Lee , as the rendered treatment of slave used as a story draw , couple up with frequent purpose of racist language , seemed overtly cavalier for such a natural subject . However , the gunfighting on display was depict in typical Tarantino style , with Jamie Foxx ’s Django unleashing a raging and bloodied retribution on his former oppressor .

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly (1966) - 8.8

Very few lists of this caliber would be considered legitimate if Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood ’s most famous collaboration was n’t at the very top of it . This terminal entry in the Man With No Name trilogy is universally lauded as the greatest gunfighter Western in the history of movie Westerns and for good reason .

Not only is Eastwood ’s enigmatic and magnetic Blondie in top form , but he ’s also assisted by two of film ’s best black chapeau foil in the characters of Eli Wallach ’s Tuco and Lee Van Cleef ’s Angel Eyes . There is no finer gunslinger bit ever filmed than the three - manner standoff duel at the flick ’s climax , utilise once again Leone ’s genius manipulation of sound and cinematic tension .

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Harry Callhan pointing a gun in Dirty Harry.

Butch and the Sundance Kid talking.

William and Ned talking on horses in Unforgiven.

John pointing a gun at Marquis in The Hateful Eight.

Charles Bronson as Harmonica playing the harmonica during his introduction in Once Upon a Time in the West

Captain Joseph and Chief Yellow Hawk talking in Hostiles.

Django and Dr Schultz riding horses in Django Unchained

The Man with No Name standing in a graveyard in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

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Dirty Harry