2010s: A Decade at the MoviesLists that rank the best, worst, and most underrated movies, actors, and filmmakers of the 2010s. Get votin' to make your opinion heard.
Over 100 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best Westerns Of The 2010s
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Vote up the best Westerns from 2010-2019 that breathed new life into the genre.
From the early part of the 20th century through the 1960s, Westerns were one of the most popular genres of Hollywood movies. With bankable actors such as John Wayne, Gary Cooper, and Alan Ladd starring in films such as Stagecoach, Red River, High Noon, and Shane - documentarianDavid Gregoryestimates that nearly 40% of all films made before 1960 were a Western.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, 182 Westerns were made in the United States between 1960-69, helping establish the careers of Hollywood icons Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Clint Eastwood.
However, over the next few decades, Westerns slowly began to decline in popularity, despite films such as Dances with Wolves and Unforgiven winning the Oscar for Best Picture in the 1990s. But while the 2010s have seen a decrease in quantity, the quality of the tales of the Old West remained high. Here is a look at a few of the better Westerns to determine if they will remain a worthy watch for future decades.
Starring Hailee Steinfeld, Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin, the 2010 Coen brothers remake of the John Wayne classic follows the story of 14-year-old Mattie Ross as she hires a US Marshall to track down the man who slew her father.
Although slightly different from the original, the story creates a heartwarming connection between Bridges's and Steinfeld's characters through witty banter that keeps the audience engaged for the fill 110 minutes. True Grit was rightfully nominated for a total of 10 Academy Awards, including nods for Steinfeld and Bridges.
This modern Western is a hard-hitting feature that leaves audiences as scarred as its lead characters, Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen.
FBI Agent Jane Banner (Olsen) gets little help from veteran hunter (Renner) to unravel the mystery surrounding a Native American reservation in Wyoming. Rooted in traditional Western themes of revenge and heroism, Wind River is a smart movie that will leave some both uncomfortable and satisfied, especially with the film's conclusion.
Set in In 1850s Oregon and starring Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reily, French director Jacques Audiard made his English-language debut with this whimsical and witty Western about a pair of hitmen.
Both droll and dramatic, Reily brings a slapstick humor to the feature that quickly turns contemplative and ruthless, without skipping a beat. Twists and turns abound, the film follows the two men as they hunt down Hermann Kermit Warm (Riz Ahmed) and John Morris (Jake Gyllenhall) in a tale of chock full of twists and turns that inevitably leaves the audience breathless.
Set in the antebellum South, Quentin Tarantino's Western features monumental performances from each of the film's leads. Jamie Foxx stars as the justice-seeking former enslaved man Django, while Leonardo DiCaprio plays plantation owner Calvin Candie and Christoph Waltz takes a turn as Dr. King Schultz, the comedic relief and mentor to Foxx's Django.
As a Tarantino film, the Western includes incessant profanity, memorable dialogue, and enough bloodshed to make even the most ironclad stomach pulse with queasiness, but the film still stands as a modern classic.
In the role of Hugh Glass, Leonardo DiCaprio's punishing performance finally earned him a long-awaited Academy Award for best actor. Based on true events, the story follows Glass as he fights for survival when he's seemingly slain by a bear. From fighting Indigenous people to going after his own men, DiCaprio's captures Glass's will to survive and his need for vengeance against those who abandoned him.
Director Alejandro González Iñárritu won the Oscar for best director for a second consecutive year. Repeated viewings of The Revenant allows the viewer to fully immerse themselves in a lush environment and appreciate the performance not only by DiCaprio, but of Tom Hardy as the villain.
David Mackenzie’s Hell or High Water is modern-day cops-and-robbers story meets Texas-style cowboys. The story follows a pair of brothers (Chris Pine and Ben McKenzie) as they prey upon easy target banks in hopes of saving their family's ranch. As a veteran Texas Ranger (Jeff Bridges) gives chase to the brothers, the tale evokes a classic Western themes, such as the struggle with morality and eventual redemption.
The volatile nature of the film and performances by the cast led to Hell or High Water earning an Oscar nomination for best picture.
