They say that the western genre is a dying breed, but on film, that feeling of saddling up will never be duplicated by any new trends in Hollywood. Here is a top ten list of westerns you need to see. The following films are listed in no particular order.

True Grit (2010) – The Coen Brothers bring their eclectic of vision of the western to the screen in this re-make of the John Wayne film of the same name. When 14 year old Hailee Steinfeld’s father is killed, she seeks out a man of “true grit” in Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), who she hires to find the killer.I was looking for more information and found it here.

Open Range – Kevin Costner returns to the genre that propelled his career in this film about a group of free-grazers who are not wanted on a particular plot of land. The land owner played by Michael Gambon will do anything to rid himself of Costner and company. Costner is great in Open Range. When he lets loose, the violence follows.

Tombstone – Tombstone stars Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell in what can now be considered the modern of its time. Russell plays the legendary lawman Wyatt Earp and Kilmer plays the legendary gunman Doc Holiday. It remains one of Val Kilmer’s greatest performance of all time.

A Fistful of Dollars – The Spaghetti Western that started it all. Directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood; two more films would be followed featuring “The Man With No Name.”

For A Few Dollars More – The Man With No Name returns to settle the score and this time is met by Lee Van Cleef who may or may not be his rival.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly – Sergio Leone’s grand opus features Clint Eastwood as “Good,” Lee Van Cleef, as “Bad,” and Eli Wallach as “Ugly” in what some call the greatest western of all time. All the men have a score to settle, but the score is really the search for 200,000 in buried gold.

Unforgiven – Clint Eastwood serves up a great performance as he goes of on what is supposed to be a bounty to avenge the vicious beating of a prostitute. Unforgiven won four Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Editing.

The Quick and the Dead – Sharon Stone stars as a gunslinger who enters a shooting contest. Sam Raimi directs this hyper kinetic film that features an impressive cast like Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Appaloosa – Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen star in one of the most well written westerns ever made. Well written in the sense of how the structured dialogue leaves the actor’s mouths. Ed Harris shines as writer-director and Viggo compliments his character very nicely.

3:10 to Yuma – Russell Crowe and Christian Bale star in the remake in which Russell plays one of the most wanted outlaws of the land. Bale is hired to escort him down to the 3:10 to Yuma. It’s not going to be easy.