The Best Western Movies Of The '70s

Voting Rules
Vote up the best Western films that were released in the 1970s.

The Western is one of the most important genres in cinema history. It redefined what it meant to be a hero, and it redefined how stories were told on camera. Though the great Western heroes were on their way out in the '70s, it was still a tremendous decade for the genre. These are the best '70s Western movies, ranked from best to worst by fan votes. Some of these great 1970s Westerns fall in the line with the classic Western storyline of a lone gunman saving the day, while others on this list are uproarious comedies that almost flip the genre on its head.

What are some of the movies one can expect to find on this list? Throughout the 1970s, Clint Eastwood served as a cowboy for a new generation. Some of his best films, including The Outlaw Josey Wales, High Plains Drifter, and Two Mules for Sister Sara, all came out during the decade. The Frisco Kid is another good Western movie that was released in the 1970s.

Blazing Saddles is not only one of the best Westerns of the 70s, but it is still considered one of the funniest films of all time. Other great movies featured here include Westworld, The Shootist, and Jeremiah Johnson.

What is the best Western from the 70s?? Give the best movies a thumbs up and please add any great cowboy films you think might be missing from this list!

Photo: Public Domain / Via Wikimedia Commons
Ranked by
  • The Outlaw Josey Wales
    1
    Clint Eastwood, Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke
    590 votes
    • Released: 1976
    • Directed by: Clint Eastwood
    Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood) watches helplessly as his wife and child are murdered, by Union men led by Capt. Terrill (Bill McKinney). Seeking revenge, Wales joins the Confederate Army. He refuses to ...more

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  • Jeremiah Johnson
    2
    Robert Redford, Will Geer, Stefan Gierasch
    548 votes
    • Released: 1972
    • Directed by: Sydney Pollack
    A Mexican-American War veteran, Jeremiah Johnson (Robert Redford), heads to the mountains to live in isolation. Woefully unequipped for the task at hand, Johnson is fortunate to come across a ...more

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  • High Plains Drifter
    3
    Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill
    524 votes
    • Released: 1973
    • Directed by: Clint Eastwood
    In this Western, a drifter with no name (Clint Eastwood) wanders into a small town, where his gun-slinging abilities are in high demand. When the drifter rides into Lago, he is met with incredulity ...more

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  • The Shootist
    4
    John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, James Stewart
    537 votes
    • Released: 1976
    • Directed by: Don Siegel
    J.B. Books (John Wayne, in his final film role) is an aging gunfighter diagnosed with cancer who comes to Nevada at the turn of the 20th century. Renting a room from widowed Bond Rogers (Lauren ...more

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  • Two Mules for Sister Sara
    5
    Clint Eastwood, Shirley MacLaine, Armando Silvestre
    453 votes
    • Released: 1970
    • Directed by: Don Siegel
    Two Mules for Sister Sara is an American-Mexican western film starring Shirley MacLaine set during the French intervention in Mexico. The film was released in 1970 and directed by Don Siegel. It was ...more
  • Cahill U.S. Marshal
    6
    John Wayne, George Kennedy, Scott Walker
    253 votes
    • Released: 1973
    • Directed by: Andrew V. McLaglen
    Cahill U.S. Marshal is a 1973 American Western film in Technicolor starring John Wayne as a driven lawman in a black hat. The film was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and filmed on location in ...more