It's a hotly debated topic, that of the greatest cinematic gunfighters and their respective vehicles. Over at IMDb, the pollsters are little different. With over 500 respondents in their latest poll, the top choices were both surprising and expected.
Movie rankings tend to run subjective, at the best of times, and it's hard to get a group of cinephiles to agree on much, but in the gunslinger genre, which carries most weight within the Western genre, there tend to be general rules of thumb which are often - but not always - followed by those in the know.
Tombstone (1993) - 7.8
This seminal classic in the small sect of modern Westerns was a veritable shoo-in on any ranked gunslinger list in popular culture. The gunplay is fast and fierce between Tombstone's iconic characters, including Wyatt Earp, played by Kurt Russell, his band of brothers including Virgil (Sam Elliot) and Morgan (Bill Paxton), and the Cowboys led by Curly Bill (Powers Boothe), loosely based on history's gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
The movie's most vaunted and oft-quoted character is Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday, who faces down feared gunfighter Johnny Ringo, played by Michael Biehn. Few conversations of cinema and television gunslingers are complete without someone citing at least one of Holliday's many catchphrases.
Desperado (1995) - 7.1
Generally considered one of Robert Rodriguez's best films and the second in his neo-Western Mexico trilogy, Desperado tells 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 brother, Cesar.
In typical Rodriguez style, the movie showcases a constant barrage of blood and blazing bullets, utilizing a number of Hollywood's finest Latino actors, including Salma Hayek, Danny Trejo, and Cheech Marin, and includes support from Steve Buscemi and Quentin Tarantino. Desperado's homage to b cinema revenge porn is obvious but the gunfighting choreography is a sight to behold.
Dirty Harry (1971) - 7.7
A gunslinger ranking list from any legitimate poll would be remiss without at least two or three entries from the likes of Clint Eastwood, and his first outing as Inspector Harry Callahan managed to supersede all but two of his other films. Don Siegel's Dirty Harry is of course a true blue classic, rendering one of the most famous take-no-prisoners cops of movie history and giving Clint Eastwood what would become his most identifiable role.
It's surprising this first film in the series managed to trump Eastwood staples like The Outlaw Josey Wales or High Plains Drifter, but then again, it was Dirty Harry that gave fans his most iconic line.
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969) - 8.0
There are too many films that herald the epic talents of Paul Newman and Robert Redford, but few do it so seamlessly and symbiotically as this buddy Western caper penned by William Goldman and directed by George Hill. Telling the tales of two train robbers who flee to Bolivia to escape an ever-encroaching U.S. Marshal posse, it's the quips and the easy rapport between Newman and Redford that hold the movie's rightful place in such high regard.
The American Film Institute ranked it as the seventh greatest Western of all time, and its ending, commonly cited throughout world culture when considering last stands, is one of the best ever conceived.
Unforgiven (1992) - 8.2
This Academy Award-winning film finally gave Clint Eastwood his long-awaited Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. While Eastwood's films are often seen in hindsight as testaments to American masculinity, it's the cinematic craft and storytelling which carry the film to epic gunslinger status.
Eastwood's William Munny, having retired to a farming life, takes on one last job as a former outlaw and killer. Also starring Gene Hackman, Richard Harris, and Morgan Freeman, this entry in a long line of revenge revisionist Westerns on Eastwood's resume shines a character study spotlight on the gunslingers themselves rather than the gunslinging.
The Hateful Eight (2015) - 7.8
Quentin Tarantino's second foray into revenge Westerns was, of course, a dialogue-driven rendering of standard genre structures including ambition, betrayal, and the ubiquitous down-to-the-last-man format.
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 wayward travelers caught in a storm at a remote stagecoach stop was as riveting as it was bloody.
Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) - 8.5
A gunslinger ranking list without a Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western would be a poor list indeed, and this one has two of them. Leone's go-to partner Eastwood passed on this one, figuring he was risking typecasting after doing The Man With No Name trilogy with the legendary director.
Instead, the starring role went to Charles Bronson, his character, Harmonica, squaring off against a rare villainous turn from Henry Fonda as Frank. As per usual with Leone projects, style and tone provide substance over action or even character, as the movie starts off with a near dialogue-less train station sequence and proceeds to tell much of the movie with sounds and cinematography over script, a true masterpiece.
Hostiles (2017) - 7.2
Hostiles seems to be the most interesting entry in these IMDb ranks, as it's a relatively newer offering not commonly cited as one of cinema's greatest Westerns. Still, the story of two longtime enemies in the Indigenous American Wars who are forced to meet with each other one last time is a compelling one.
Captain Joseph Blocker, played by Christian Bale, is ordered to chaperone his old, cancer-stricken opponent, a Cheyenne war chief named Yellow Eagle, back to his original lands in Montana. Blood and betrayal ensue until Blocker and Yellow Eagle finally make peace with one another after acknowledging the brutalities they've mutually shared, another cautionary tale of vengeance parables.
Django Unchained (2012) - 8.4
Quentin Tarantino is all about trademark revisionism in his fictions and Django certainly qualifies as one of his most prominent vehicles where his most generous liberties are taken, save perhaps for the ending of Inglorious Basterds.
The brutal depictions of slavery conditions are tough to take in and were controversial to many persons of color, including Spike Lee, as the rendered treatment of slaves used as a story hook, coupled with frequent use of racist language, seemed overtly cavalier for such a raw topic. However, the gunfighting on display was portrayed in typical Tarantino style, with Jamie Foxx's Django unleashing a furious and bloodied vengeance on his former oppressors.
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 wasn't at the very top of it. This final 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 charismatic Blondie in top form, but he's also assisted by two of cinema's best black hat foils in the characters of Eli Wallach's Tuco and Lee Van Cleef's Angel Eyes. There is no finer gunslinger moment ever filmed than the three-way standoff duel at the film's climax, utilizing once again Leone's genius use of sound and cinematic tension.