Director: Sergio Leone (1968, English, 175 mins)

Reviews: RottenTomatoes (98%), IMDB (8.7), Wikipedia, Amazon, Roger Ebert.

Watch online: NetFlix.

Similar movies: suspense, western.

Summary: Yet to write.

Director: John Ford (1962, English, 123 mins)

Reviews: RottenTomatoes (93%), IMDB (8.1), Wikipedia, Amazon, Roger Ebert.

Similar movies: western.

Summary: Yet to write. The review by Roger Ebert is very insightful for the historical aspects of the movie.

Director: Clint Eastwood (1976, English, 135 mins)

Reviews: RottenTomatoes (94%), IMDB (7.9), Wikipedia, Amazon, Roger Ebert.

Watch online: YouTube.

Similar movies: western.

Summary: Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood) is a stoic man of few words who lets his pistols do the talking. He is aggrieved because his home was burnt down and his family was killed by soldiers of the Union during the American Civil War. To seek revenge, he joins a band of outlaws who continue guerrilla style warfare against the Union. A price is placed on his head. Soon, soldiers of the Union (the victorious party in the Civil War) and bounty hunters are chasing him. So Josey Wales moves from town to town, riding his horse. In between such towns, there are vast plains inhabited by Native Indians who don't welcome white men because their lands have been taken away by the Union.

As the movie progresses, a small community builds around Josey Wales: a native Indian chief, an Indian girl, and a mother and a daughter from the North. Eventually, they settle down near the Comanche Indians. But the Comanches, whose lands have already been taken away by the Union, don't want such a settlement.

The high point of the movie is a powerful scene between Josey Wales and a Comanche chief called Ten Bears. In this scene, the two warriors strike a peace accord. Most of the movie is about fighting and killing. But this one scene changed the complexion of the whole movie for me. It has great dialogues, especially by Ten Bears. On YouTube.

This movie is classic Eastwood: in faceoffs with bad guys, Eastwood has the superhuman ability to fire four to six shots in quick succession before any bad guy gets a chance to even pull the trigger. But I like this movie for its storyline: Josey Wales changes from an outlaw who simply seeks revenge to a protector of people around him.

Director: George Roy Hill (1969, English, 110 mins)

Reviews: RottenTomatoes (89%), IMDB (8.2), Wikipedia, Amazon, Roger Ebert.

Watch online: NetFlix.

Similar movies: crime, true story, western.

Summary: What's friendship? A good caricature is in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The main characters are two outlaws who make joint decisions on all matters, big and small, so smoothly! They do have differences of opinion but they quickly align themselves and don't look back. I found that quite amazing.

Director: Fred Zinnemann (1952, English, 85 mins)

Reviews: RottenTomatoes (96%), IMDB (8.2), Wikipedia, Amazon.

Similar movies: suspense, western.

Summary: Simple plot. Great acting. A psychological thriller that slowly builds up. The clock is ticking. Miller and his gang are arriving in a town at noon. They seek revenge. Cain is a proud sheriff who retired and got married only a few hours ago. When Cain learns of Miller's impending arrival, he decides to defend the town. At any cost. He starts seeking help from friends and townsfolk but nobody seems to have courage. What happens finally?

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson (2007, English, 158 mins)

Reviews: RottenTomatoes (91%), IMDB (8.1), Wikipedia, Amazon.

Similar movies: loneliness, western.

Summary: A slow, intense movie: character study of an oil baron. Not a positive movie. Not a movie that I could connect with. But it is artistic, well made. Acting is superb.