Ah, Westerns, those action movies and TV shows from a bygone era, or so we thought. With the bold and beautiful The Harder They Fall, Netflix’s Godless, the sci-fi series Wynonna Earp, the quirky Ballad of Buster Scruggs and even the director’s cut of Hateful Eight, the Western is nouveau à nouveau! With that in mind, we’re celebrating just how far the Western has traveled. As the Old West began to wane at the turn of the 20th century, moving pictures — a new art form — tried to recapture all its glory. Below is a brief timeline of the most impactful Westerns. 

First Western

We usually think of The Great Train Robbery (1903) — in which a group of train robbers run across the Old West before eventually being caught — as the first silent Western, but there’s recent evidence that the first may have been an 1899 short produced in England. Either way, early Westerns were silent and, get this, the budget forThe Great Train Robbery was a whopping $150 (about $4,715 in 2021).  

Early Westerns: the 1900s

During the silent era, Westerns were cheap, quick entertainment without a whole lot of flair. Here are a couple of firsts: 

The Covered Wagon (1923) Trouble ensues when a group of would-be settlers travels from Kansas to Oregon in covered wagons. With a cast of more than a 1,000 and clocking in at 1 hour, 38 minutes, The Covered Wagon is one of the first feature-length Westerns.

The Homesteader (1919) and The Symbol of the Unconquered (1920) A homesteader wants to marry a biracial woman he believes is white but decides against it. After many melodramatic twists, he and the biracial woman reunite for a happily ever after. Pioneering director Oscar Micheaux created these silent films, which were some of the first Westerns to feature Black cast members, The Homesteader explores social issues, including passing for white. 

The real cowboy connection to Hollywood Westerns

Former lawman and outlaw Wyatt Earp (played by Kurt Russell in Tombstone) befriended cowboy actors Tom Mix and William S. Hart after he moved to Los Angeles. Earp hung out with the two actors and made classic Hollywood restaurant Musso & Franks their watering hole. He was an advisor for Hart’s 1923 film Wild Bill Hickok and tried desperately to sell a script about his own life story. Since his death, there’s been a slew of movies, TV shows and books about his Wild West adventures.

Mid-20th century redeux: 1950s -1970s

The 1950s and ’60s brought color to Westerns (and movies in general). These were prestige productions with pristine costumes unlike any worn in the Old West.

High Noon (1952) An aging marshal has to protect his town from an outlaw gang by participating in a gunfight at noon. The film stars Gary Cooper, who, interestingly enough, met the real Stagecoach Mary when he was a child.

Shane (1953) Considered a classic by critics, this Western is about a land battle between homesteaders and cattlemen in Wyoming. It’s told from the perspective of a little boy and a jaded, wornout gunfighter. Shane, the first movie projected on a wide screen, won a Best Cinematography Oscar. 

Calamity Jane (1953) Jeymes Samuel reportedly remembers the words to at least one Doris Day song used in this film. Loosely based on the alleged romance between Calamity Jane (Day) and Wild Bill Hickok (Howard Keel), Calamity Jane was nominated for American Film Institute’s (AFI) Top Ten Heros of 2005.

Sergeant Rutledge (1960) After First Sergeant Braxton Rutledge (Woody Strode) is accused of rape and murder, he’s court-martialed to face an all-white military court. Sergeant Rutledge is the first mainstream Western to star a Black man in a leading role. 

The Magnificent Seven (1960) A town hires experienced gunfighters to get rid of an outlaw gang. Currently on Netflix, this critically acclaimed all-star Western is best known for its Oscar-winning musical score that has been used for everything — from cigarette and beer ads in the ’60s to an episode of Miami Vice in the ’80s. The Magnificent Seven was remade in 2016 with Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt and Ethan Hawke.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) Italian director Sergio Leone shot this sordid tale of revenge in Italy, Spain and Mexico. 

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly became an international classic, thanks, in part, to its extremely tight close-ups and widescreen shots showcasing the rugged terrain of the filming locations. The movie also, of course, made TV actor Clint Eastwood a movie star.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) Available on Netflix, this movie loosely retells the lives and times of Western outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker (Paul Newman) and Harry Longabaugh (Robert Redford). It won four Oscars, including one for Best Screenplay.

Blazing Saddles (1974) Mel Brooks’ Western satire follows Bart (Cleavon Little), the first Black sheriff of a Western town, as he experiences a comedy of errors. It was a hit with critics and at the box office.

The 1990s

Westerns released during this time had long-running times, adult themes and lots of A-list stars.

Dances with Wolves (1990) Kevin Costner starred, directed and produced this Oscar-winning film about a white Civil War soldier who becomes emotionally close with leaders of a Lakota Indian tribe. 

The cast includes Native American actors Graham Greene and Tantoo Cardinal. 

Unforgiven (1992) Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman star in this stunning film about retired outlaw William Munny (Eastwood), who’s lured out of retirement for one final job. Unforgiven was awarded the 1993 Oscar for Best Picture. 

El Mariachi (1992) El Mariachi is the first in a Robert Rodriguez–directed trilogy about a lone bandit pursued by outlaws in a small Mexican town in a case of mistaken identities. The second and third films, Desperado (1995) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), stars Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek.

Tombstone (1993) Who’s your huckleberry? Kurt Russell (Wyatt Earp) and Val Kilmer (Doc Holliday) star in this beloved film about the famed shootout at the OK Corral and its aftermath. 

Posse (1993) Set during the Spanish-American war, Posse follows a group of Buffalo Soldiers as they try to grab a shipment of gold before opposing troops can get their hands on it. Directed by and starring Mario van Peebles, the film was a showcase for popular 1990s stars such as Blair Underwood, Stephen Baldwin and Billy Zane.

The 2000s

These films bend tradition and create new ways of looking at the Old West. 

Shanghai Noon (2000) It’s a long way from China to Nevada, but that’s the distance a Beijing guard, Chong Wan (Jackie Chan), travels to rescue Princess Pei Pei (Lucy Liu). Along the way, he meets outlaw Roy O’Bannon (Owen Wilson) in this East-meets-West buddy picture/comedy Western. 

Django Unchained (2012) A bounty hunter, Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), teams up with Django (Jamie Foxx), a man who’s escaped slavery, to hunt down slaveowners throughout the antebellum South. This Quentin Tarantino–directed action Western also centers around a Black love story. 

A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014) This star-studded satire was written by Seth MacFarlane and tells the story of a man who hates the outlaw life but must prove his mettle anyway to avoid death. 

The Hateful Eight (2015)  Set in post-Civil War Wyoming, a white bounty hunter and his prisoner meet a Black bounty hunter and some unscrupulous characters at a ramshackle inn in the dead of winter. It features star turns from Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Walton Goggins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Channing Tatum and Bruce Dern.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) The Coen Brothers wrote this Oscar-nominated Netflix anthology of six tales from the Old West. The twist is that in all six tales, the main theme is dying, whether it is dying through irony, desperation or tragi-comic means. The movie stars Liam Neeson, James Franco, Tim Blake Nelson, Zoe Kazan and Tom Waits. 

The Harder They Fall (2021) In this Netflix original, an all-Black A-list cast renders the tale of a man, Nat Love (Jonathan Majors), who seeks revenge against outlaw Rufus Buck (Idris Elba) for present and past offenses.