Westerns: Classic vs Revisionist vs Spaghetti vs Modern

Classic Westerns: These are films devoted to telling stories set primarily in the later half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Edwin S. Porter's film The Great Train Robbery (1903) (1903) is though to be the first Western. It "set the pattern—of crime, pursuit, and retribution—for the Western film as a genre." The Golden Age of the Western is epitomized by the work of several directors, most prominent among them John Ford, his first Western being Stagecoach (1939).

Notable Classic Westerns: Rio Bravo (1959) The Big Country (1958) My Darling Clementine (1946) Fort Apache (1948) The Searchers (1956) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

Revisionist: : These were a branch of American Western movies that coincided with the 'New Hollywood' era, acting as the swan song of the Western Old Myth where cars started to make odd appearances, marking the way technology and capitalism would put a deathblow on the frontier or pioneer spirit. Elements include a darker, more cynical tone, with focus on the lawlessness of the time period, favoring realism over romanticism. Anti-heroes are still common, but with stronger roles for women and more-sympathetic portrayal of Native Americans and Mexicans. Regarding power and authority, these depictions favor critical views of big business, the American government, masculine figures (including the military and their policies), and a turn to greater historical authenticity.

Notable Revisionist Westerns:

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) The Wild Bunch (1969) Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973) Little Big Man (1970) McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)

Spaghetti Westerns: These are a broad subgenre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by American critics and other countries because most of these Westerns were produced and directed by Italians. The typical Spaghetti Western team was made up of an Italian director, Italo-Spanish technical staff, and a cast of Italian, Spanish, German and American actors, sometimes a fading Hollywood star and sometimes a rising one.

Notable Spaghetti Westerns:

Django (1966) Death Rides a Horse (1967) For a Few Dollars More (1965) A Fistful of Dollars (1964) The Great Silence (1968) The Big Gundown (1967)

Modern Westerns: Or perhaps you prefer the more recent westerns? The genre has undergone something of a minor revival in the last decade or two, with a number of notable entries in the genre receiving critical and commercial success. This has lead to a number of announced and upcoming westerns such as Bone Tomahawk (2015), The Hateful Eight (2015) and The Revenant (2015)

Notable Modern Westerns:

Open Range (2003) Dances with Wolves (1990) Tombstone (1993) Slow West (2015) 3:10 to Yuma (2007) True Grit (2010)