The Best Ben Johnson Movies

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Updated June 23, 2023 805 votes 173 voters
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List of the best Ben Johnson movies, ranked best to worst with movie trailers when available. Ben Johnson's highest grossing movies have received a lot of accolades over the years, earning millions upon millions around the world. The order of these top Ben Johnson movies is decided by how many votes they receive, so only highly rated Ben Johnson movies will be at the top of the list. Ben Johnson has been in a lot of films, so people often debate each other over what the greatest Ben Johnson movie of all time is. If you and a friend are arguing about this then use this list of the most entertaining Ben Johnson films to end the squabble once and for all.

If you think the best Ben Johnson role isn't at the top, then upvote it so it has the chance to become number one. The greatest Ben Johnson performances didn't necessarily come from the best movies, but in most cases they go hand in hand.

The list you're viewing is made up of many different films, including The Shadow Riders and Grayeagle.

"This list answers the questions, "What are the best Ben Johnson movies?" and "What are the greatest Ben Johnson roles of all time?"
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  • Bite the Bullet
    1

    Bite the Bullet

    Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen, James Coburn
    10 votes
    • Released: 1975
    • Directed by: Richard Brooks
    A disparate group of individuals enter a horse race through 700 miles of the Wild West to win a large cash prize. The contestants include two ex-Rough Riders (Gene Hackman, James Coburn), an aging cowboy who refuses to slow down (Ben Johnson), an inexperienced youth (Jan-Michael Vincent), a Mexican (Mario Arteaga), an Englishman (Ian Bannen) and a woman (Candice Bergen). Over the course of the trek, the riders begin to shed their biases toward gender, race and age, and appreciate one another.

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  • She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
    2

    She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

    John Wayne, Joanne Dru, John Agar
    34 votes
    • Released: 1949
    • Directed by: John Ford
    The last job of Calvary Captain Nathan Brittles (John Wayne) before retirement is to soothe relations with the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians after Custer's last stand. At the same time, he must transport the wife (Mildred Natwick) and niece (Joanne Dru) of his commanding officer to a safe destination. After both his missions stall, Brittles attempts a face-to-face meeting with an important Native American chief in order to stave off an impending war.

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  • Ten Who Dared
    3

    Ten Who Dared

    Brian Keith, Ben Johnson, R. G. Armstrong
    6 votes
    • Released: 1960
    • Directed by: William Beaudine
    Ten Who Dared is a 1960 film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution in 1960. It tells the story of United States Army officer John Wesley Powell, who was the first to travel down the Colorado River, and the dangers that he and nine other men had to face while making a map of the region during their 1869 expedition. Hired by Walt Disney Studios in 1959 as a technical adviser, Otis R. Marston lead a film crew through the Grand Canyon to film river running and background scenes for the film. According to Allmovie, critics consistently rate this as one of the worst movies made by Disney. The staff of Halliwell's Film Guide called it "tedious and unconvincing". One of the replica boats used on the film, the Emma Dean, was recovered by local raconteur, Stan A. Jones, in 1969 from the Golden Oak Ranch, a Disney movie lot in Placerita Canyon, Newhall, Santa Clarita, California. The boat is on display at the Powell Museum in Page, Arizona.

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  • The Train Robbers
    4

    The Train Robbers

    John Wayne, Ann-Margret, Rod Taylor
    24 votes
    • Released: 1973
    • Directed by: Burt Kennedy
    After the death of her husband, Mrs. Lowe (Ann-Margret) posts a $50,000 reward in return for help recovering her train-robber beau's hidden fortune, under the pretense of returning it. Lane (John Wayne) assembles a group of cowboys to head to Mexico with Mrs. Lowe, enticed by the reward money. As they cross into Mexico, however, they realize they're being followed, by both a posse of bandits and a single mysterious rider (Ricardo Montalban) with his own agenda.

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  • The Wild Bunch
    5

    The Wild Bunch

    William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan
    32 votes
    • Released: 1969
    • Directed by: Sam Peckinpah
    The Wild Bunch, a seminal Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah, is a tale of an aging outlaw gang on the Mexico-US border. The gang's leader, Pike Bishop (William Holden), along with his second-in-command, Dutch Engstrom (Ernest Borgnine), navigates their crew through changing times and relentless law enforcement. As they attempt one last score, their loyalty and survival instincts are put to the ultimate test. This gritty and violent depiction of the Old West earned two Oscar nominations for its original screenplay and musical score in 1970.

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  • The Shadow Riders
    6

    The Shadow Riders

    Tom Selleck, Sam Elliott, Katharine Ross
    23 votes
    • Released: 1982
    • Directed by: Andrew V. McLaglen
    Mac Traven (Tom Selleck) is a Civil War veteran who fought for the North, while his brother, Dal (Sam Elliott), was allied with the South. In spite of this considerable point of contention, the siblings must work together when they find that other family members have been abducted, along with Dal's girlfriend, Kate (Katharine Ross). Joined by their trouble-making uncle "Black Jack" (Ben Johnson), Mac and Dal relentlessly pursue the criminals to rescue their relatives.