Cowboy movies have been a staple in the film industry for years as fans love to see the hardened characters who have made a life for themselves in the West. These films range in genre, but their goal is all the same as they seek to identify the various types of cowboys that used to exist. Some people are still living in the past as they continue to fantasize about this lifestyle and there are some films these viewers have to see.
There are so many cowboy films in existence, but some are better than others in terms of their stories. These are the best there is so every fan of these types of films can have their fill.
Django Unchained (2012)
This film features a lot of different characters who many would consider being cowboys. It has a fugitive hunter named Dr. Schultz who has come to the states to capture the infamous Brittle brothers, as well as a skilled freed slave who seeks to rescue his wife from imprisonment. The men might not be labeled as cowboys, but they hold the same qualities that people would associate with this brand of Westerner.
True Grit (2010)
A girl's father was murdered which led to her going on an adventure to seek revenge and she does so by seeking out a well-known U.S. marshall. They travel into Indian territory and team up with a Texas Ranger who wants the same man after he was suspected of killing a senator. The film is full of action-packed scenes as well as plenty of western vibes that cowboy fans will love.
Unforgiven (1992)
Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman star in this older film that focuses on a bounty that is put on some cowboys who thought it would be fun to disfigure a prostitute. It follows the journey of a man named William Munny as he decides to go after the bounty on these men's heads with his old partner as the farm life isn't able to support him and his children. They blur the lines as cowboys often do in an effort to bring the true criminals to justice.
The Magnificent Seven (2016)
This film has a phenomenal cast with actors such as Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Haley Bennett, and Matt Bomer. It tells the story of a town that is under duress when a businessman wants the people to sell him their land for an insanely low price.
Things turn violent when they refuse, and it leads to the recruitment of seven men who come to save the town. They take out the businessman's men but then are forced to wait for the real gun battle to begin.
The Quick And The Dead (1995)
Most people think of cowboys as being men, but viewers love this film as it features a female gunslinger. It follows a woman as she rides into town right as a gun competition is about to start which is run by a man named Herod. He created it in order to make a preacher named Cort, a former outlaw, kill again but no one expected this mysterious woman to throw things for a loop.
Cowboys & Aliens (2011)
The wild West meets science fiction in this film where a cowboy takes on an unknown civilization of aliens. It is a unique blend of these two genres that will have viewers guessing the outcome until the very end. The various people of the area unite against this strange force as they use the skills they have learned from living on the frontier to defeat this new threat.
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal are the cowboys in this hit film where they work side-by-side as sheepherders. They become friends, but over time it turns into something more as they form a romantic bond that lasts for the entire summer they work together.
They part ways after their job ends and they each marry and have children, but their feelings for one another never fade away. It follows their struggles as they deal with their sexuality as it ends in a tragic way that no viewers saw coming.
A Million Ways To Die In The West (2014)
This is a comedy that follows a lowly sheep farmer who falls for a woman that shows up in town. He doesn't realize her husband is a deadly gunslinger and it is up to him to become a real man and the cowboy he was always meant to be. People die all the time around him as the West is a dangerous place, but this is one fight he doesn't plan to lose.
Rango (2011)
This animated film follows the journey of a pet chameleon as he is lost in the desert after his aquarium falls off his owner's car. He is proclaimed to be the infamous gunslinger named Rango and he is offered a position as sheriff. He jumps into his role and attempts to stop crimes around the town, but soon he is faced with the fact that he might not be the hero everyone thinks he is after all.
The Lone Ranger (2013)
The story of John Reid is told in this film as he pursues the legendary Butch Cavendish with his fellow Texas Rangers. Unfortunately, he is ambushed, but he is saved by a Comanche named Tonto, and the two become partners as they pursue this dangerous man. The pair find out it is much bigger than this one man and it is up to them to put a stop to the injustice happening in the West.