 | The Sergio Leone Anthology (A Fistful Of Dollars / For A Few Dollars More / The Good, The Bad And The Ugly / Duck, You Sucker)
Buy new: $49.99 / Used from: $35.45 Okay, so these movies revitalized the genre. They are very deliberately paced (as in sometimes very slow) and they are morally ambiguous and cold blooded. Not as entertaining a time as I always appreciate, but still very good. I especially like 'Duck, You Sucker', but I'm a sucker for James Coburn.
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 | Clint Eastwood - Westerner (The Outlaw Josey Wales / Pale Rider / Unforgiven / 3 DVD Set
Buy used from: $39.97 Later Clint gives more thoughtful character studies and I like these more than the early Sergio Leone stuff. Still morally ambiguous, but leaning toward the mythic good guy. Josey Wales just throws everything in the pot and lets it stew. If unrelenting revenge is your thing then Wales is your film. 'Whooped 'em again, Josie...'
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 | Rio Bravo (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Buy new: $9.99 / Used from: $4.35 This is a really fun one. Fairly unbelievable and yet you get wrapped up in the characters anyway. Dean Martin was a much stronger actor than he gets credit for and he shows it here.
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 | The Sons of Katie Elder
Buy new: $8.49 / Used from: $3.98 I really like the Duke and Dino pairings. This, like many of John Wayne's films can be a little light on logic, but is straight forward entertainment.
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 | The John Wayne Western Collection (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance / True Grit / Hondo / McLintock! / Big Jake / The Shootist / Rio Lobo / The Sons of Katie Elder / El Dorado)
Buy used from: $44.99 I'm including this box set because it covers so many of John Wayne's best films, including his western masterpiece 'The Shootist'. Absolutely great and you will find that listed on the 'Best Western' site.
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 | The Long Riders
Buy new: $13.49 / Used from: $2.25 A really interesting gimmick that works quite well. Real brothers play historical brothers as the James-Younger gang comes to a bloody, bloody end. This was a close call and nearly made it into the best list. Why not? Bloody, real bloody.
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 | The Man From Snowy River
Buy new: $9.49 / Used from: $5.82 While technically not a western, thers is plenty of cowboy stuff happening in this wonderful movie. The Australian scenery is amazing and the horsemanship is stunning. As an added bonus the soundtrack is one of the best ever.
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 | Return to Snowy River
Buy new: $11.49 / Used from: $5.02 A decent sequel and more of the same. But the same is really good. These two films are family fare in the best way. They are not dumbed down and do not shy away from mature themes. They do avoid unnecessary violence or sexuality. What is left is a powerful story and some real cinematic fun.
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 | The Wild Bunch - The Original Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Buy new: $5.79 / Used from: $4.89 The legendary violent movie may seem tame to 21st century audiences. The story telling is intact and excellent.
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 | Wild Bill
Buy new: $9.98 / Used from: $3.98 This is a likable film and fairly accurate in its approach to Wild Bill. It too nearly made the grade as a best wetern. The acting seems to be a little strecthed however and the structure of the movie tends to be a little odd. Overall I really like this movie in a quirky kind of way, just not as quirky as 'Judge Roy Bean'.
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 | The Professionals (Special Edition)
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $3.97 Claudia Cardinale, Lee Marvin, Claudia Cardinale, Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and some others, run around the west and Mexico and do things people do in westerns. Claudia Cardinale.
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 | Return of the Magnificent Seven
Buy new: $13.49 / Used from: $2.20 All in all they made four movies titled Magnificent Seven something or another. The first far surpasses anything that follows. This effort at least has Yul Brunner reprising his role as Chris. The rest...
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 | The Magnificent Seven Ride
Buy new: $13.49 / Used from: $1.93 An attempt to give Chris some depth and send him off on a personal vendetta. He gets over his tragedy pretty quickly and scores with a new babe by the end of the film. Don't worry, I didn't spoil anything. You would have seen it coming while reading the back of the DVD case.
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 | Guns of the Magnificent Seven
Buy used from: $2.20 Another Mag 7 movie. The thing is these could have been much better if we had any real character development or any attempt to follow the original seven (those that survived) into the 20th century. Not bad movies on their own, but you are forced to compare them to the original.
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 | The Magnificent Seven - The Complete First Season
Buy new: $21.99 / Used from: $7.74 This is a nice try and a mild way to spend some time. The themes of the original movie are watered down a little here as they are squished onto the small screen. The good part is that we get more character development as the series goes along. Nothing really new here, just a nice way of telling the stories. Robt. Vaughan shows up and adds a nice accent to the show.
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 | The Magnificent Seven - The Complete Second Season
Buy new: $24.99 / Used from: $15.97 A nice way to spend some time. The show really started to hit its stride here and had the makings of something special. It is true that there is a fair amount of cliche and predictable action sequences, but the characters grow and evolve. They have lives and loves. They are distinct from each other without being stereotypes. Lots to enjoy, just not a lot to think about.
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 | How the West Was Won
Buy used from: $3.58 Alright, this one is pure potboiler city. If you like this sort of artificial history you will love this movie. I am not a big fan of this kind of film, but there is something almost grand about the title. Having said that, read the reviews about the product itself. I viewed the 'newest' release. Even at a low price point, this product is sad. So movie good, DVD release bad.
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