10 Great Western Movies With One Awful Scene

Dating back to the Silent Era, the Western genre has been a favorite among movie fans, and today, the genre has expanded into new territory that has kept it alive and well. Like most films, some check every box of what makes a solid film, but there are a few exceptions that tend to fall short in some areas. While some of these errors don’t ruin the entirety of the film, it is hard for fans not to take notice of a bad performance, lack of chemistry, or a misplaced scene that just doesn’t flow with the rest of the picture.

Some films even include extremely graphic or over-the-top special effects that are just an eyesore for audiences, such as in Bone Tomahawk and Sam Raimi‘s The Quick and the Dead. Even though some of the best Western films have a few flaws, that doesn’t take away from its overall product and can still be enjoyable for audiences. Either way, some can’t escape some criticism, like the 2016 remake of The Magnificent Seven or Quentin Tarantino‘s Django Unchained, which are top-notch Westerns with at least one undeniably awful scene.

10 ‘Rio Bravo’ (1959)

Directed by Howard Hawks

Howard Hawks‘ hang-out Western, Rio Bravo, is one of the best Western films that follows a sheriff who is threatened by the brother of a gunslinger he has locked up for murder and, with the help of a few unlikely heroes, must stand their ground until backup authorities can arrive. The film features an all-star cast including John Wayne, Dean Martin, and Walter Brennan, but the love interest, played by Angie Dickinson, just doesn’t fit well into this classic.

Wayne and Dickinson are the romantic focus in the film and, while both are solid actors, they lack a certain spark and chemistry that makes them an unconvincing pair. Compared to Wayne’s other female co-stars, Dickinson has a much more forward style of flirting and teasing that doesn’t blend well with Wayne’s, who is much more of an old-fashioned kind of man. Rio Bravo is still a great Western film and even though Wayne and Dickinson don’t click well, it doesn’t become too much of a distraction that takes away from the film as a whole.

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9 ‘The Fastest Gun Alive’ (1956)

Directed by Russell Rouse

Glenn Ford stars in the classic Western, The Fastest Gun Alive, as a former gunslinger, George Temple, who, as the title implies, is the fastest gun in the West, but his status leads to him being challenged by many who foolishly think they can outshoot him. To avoid further bloodshed, Temple and his wife move away where no one knows about him, but when word gets around about an outlaw who claims to have the fastest hand, the frustration of no one knowing his secret starts to eat away at Temple.

The Fastest Gun Alive is one of the most underrated Western classics and features one of Ford’s finest performances, but there is one scene in particular that sticks out like a sore thumb. When one of the residents returns claiming to have witnessed the supposed fastest hand in the West, he and several others gather in Temple’s store, where they discuss the incident right in front of him. Before the scene, it was clear to audiences that Temple was already missing his glory days, and, while it’s understandable that the conversation is meant to push Temple over the edge to reveal his secret, the length and amount of times the group discusses the incident gets to the point of being annoying and overdone.

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8 ‘The Hateful Eight’ (2015)

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino‘s neo-Western, The Hateful Eight, is set during the post-Civil War and centers around a bounty hunter (Kurt Russell) who, while transporting his prisoner (Jennifer Jason Leigh) gets caught in a severe snowstorm and, along with another bounty hunter (Samuel L. Jackson) and a man who claims to be a sheriff (Walter Goggins), they manage to find shelter in a mountain side cabin. Tarantino has a knack for making his audiences uncomfortable with excessive violence and graphic sexual content, but one scene in particular involving Jackson’s character and a racist former general, played by Bruce Dern, just goes way too far.

Jackson tells the general that he’s responsible for the murder of his son and, to add insult to injury, he describes how he tortured him by making him walk naked in freezing temperatures and perform a sexual act on Jackson’s character. While Jackson’s character is justified in torturing and killing the man (who was there to kill him), Tarantino’s choice of what transpires just takes away from the entire point he is trying to convey. Not only does the scene drag, but it also doesn’t align with the tropes of the genre and feels like something reincarnated from Pulp Fiction that just doesn’t fit.

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7 ‘The Magnificent Seven’ (2016)

Directed by Antoine Fuqua

The Magnificent Seven is easily one of the best Western remakes and features a star-studded cast including Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, and Ethan Hawke. Compared to the original, the remake does make a few adjustments, such as the antagonist, played by Peter Sarsgaard, is a greedy industrialist instead of a vicious outlaw like Eli Wallach‘s Calvera. While the changes are acceptable, there is one final scene involving Washington’s character revealing a personal vendetta against Sarsgaard’s character, Bartholomew Bouge, that is ruined in one single shot.

Washington’s character, Sam Chisholm, has waited years to come face to face with Bouge and exact his revenge for the murder of his family. As Bouge begs for his life and tries to repent, Chisholm begins to strangle him, and at some point, Bouge gets a pistol, but before he can pull the trigger, he is shot and killed by a female character, Emma. The scene was built up so well and executed beautifully, then ultimately destroyed by having Emma kill Bouge. It would have been much more effective if Chisholm had been the one to kill him instead of forcing a place for a female character in a male-dominated film.

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6 ‘Bone Tomahawk’ (2015)

Directed by S. Craig Zahler

Bone Tomahawk is a Western horror film starring Kurt Russell as Sheriff Franklin Hunt, who leads a small posse on a mission to rescue three people who have been kidnapped by a group of cannibalistic cave dwellers known as Troglodytes. For those who have had the stomach to watch this film, we applaud you and while we can usually handle intense violence, there is one scene in Bone Tomahawk that is something out of an insufferable nightmare.

When Hunt and his deputy, Chicory (Richard Jenkins), are captured by the Troglodytes, they’re imprisoned along with two of the three people who they were searching for. The group is then forced to witness one of the male prisoners brutally scalped alive, dismembered, and eaten by their captors. The scene is extremely brutal and easily one of the most violent scenes in any Western film. It’s not one of those scenes that are bad, as in terrible acting or cheap special effects, but bad, as in it is beyond horrific to watch without feeling squeamish or ill.

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5 ‘The Quick and the Dead’ (1995)

Directed by Sam Raimi

The Quick and the Dead centers around a female gunfighter, Ellen or The Lady, played by Sharon Stone, who arrives in the town of Redemption to enter a sharpshooting contest. Ellen is one of several competitors who enter the infamous contest, but her sights are set on the town’s sadistic and corrupt mayor, John Herod (Gene Hackman). As the contestants are picked off one by one in each round, there is one particular duel involving Herod and another contestant, Sergeant Cantell (Keith David), which is a prime example of how over-the-top special effects can ruin a perfectly good scene.

When Herod faces off with Cantell, he hits the gunfighter square in the head, leaving a massive hole through his skull that is just exaggerated and unnecessary. It’s at this moment that fans are reminded that they’re watching a Sam Raimi film not only because of the out-of-place special effects but also the highly unlikely size of the shot, which is more humorous than shocking. The Quick and the Dead features some exhilarating gunfights that ring true to the Western genre, but Cantell’s death is one scene that takes away from the film’s overall tone and seriousness.

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4 ‘The Magnificent Seven’ (1960)

Directed by John Sturges

The Magnificent Seven is a Western remake of Akira Kurosawa‘s Seven Samurai starring an ensemble cast of notable names such as Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, and Charles Bronson. The film tells the story of seven gunmen who are recruited to help a small village fight against a ruthless gang of outlaws led by a fearsome bandit, Calvera. The Magnificent Seven is regarded as one of the greatest classic Westerns of all time, but there’s one scene early on that is the definition of cringe.

When Brynner and McQueen are looking for men, a young aspiring gunslinger, Chico (Horst Buchholz), arrives but is quickly embarrassed by Brynner’s character, Chris Adams, and storms off. Later, Chico returns in a huff to confront Adams and what transpires is easily the worst dramatic acting in the entire film. To be clear, Buchholz isn’t terrible throughout the entire film, but in this particular scene, he just overplays it a bit too much and gets to the point where some audiences are uncomfortable at his animated whining and dramatic antics that feel like something out of a daytime soap opera.

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3 ‘Django Unchained’ (2012)

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Jamie Foxx stars in Quentin Tarantino’s epic Western, Django Unchained, as a slave, Django, who is given his freedom by a German bounty hunter, Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). When Django helps Schultz bring in some of the most wanted fugitives in the West, Schultz agrees to help Django find his wife (Kerry Washington), who was sold to a plantation owner, Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio).

DiCaprio’s portrayal of the twisted Calvin Candie is phenomenal and is considered to be one of the best Western villains of all time, but Candy’s brutality is his favorite form of entertainment that has no limits. There are a few scenes in the film that highlight Candy’s sadistic nature, but when Django and Schultz arrive at his home, Candyland, they encounter one of Candie’s slaves who had tried to run away. Instead of punishing or giving the man a quick death, Candie resorts to sicking his dogs on the man, forcing Schultz and Django to watch him be ripped to shreds. The scene is the definition of barbaric and undoubtedly awful, but that being said, it’s still a powerful scene that doesn’t sugarcoat the reality of one of the worst times in American history.

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2 ‘High Noon’ (1952)

Directed by Fred Zinnemann

High Noon is an essential classic Western film starring Gary Cooper as a town marshal, Will Kane, who must face a group of killers alone. While the film is a fabulous Western and features incredible performances by Cooper and Grace Kelly, the final showdown between the marshal and the outlaws is a bit unrealistic, especially when it comes to Kelly’s character miraculously coming to the rescue at the perfect moment.

Kelly’s character, Amy Kane, is a devout Quaker and doesn’t believe in violence, so when the problem presents itself to the marshal, she tries to convince her husband to leave town with her before the outlaws arrive in town. The marshal opts to stay behind while Amy heads for the train station, but when she hears gunfire, she rushes back to town. Now, it’s understandable that this is a movie and there are bound to be unrealistic elements, but for Amy to not only slip back into town without being noticed but also manage to carefully place herself behind one of the outlaws is just a bit too convenient. High Noon is a fantastic Western, but when it comes to Amy’s actions at the end, it just ties things up too neatly for a gunslinger Western.

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1 ‘The Gunfighter’ (1950)

Directed by Henry King

Gregory Peck stars in the 1950 Western classic, The Gunfighter, as Jimmy Ringo, who has a reputation for being the fastest gun in the West, but his talent has cost him everything, including the woman he loves who he tries to win back when he returns to his hometown. The movie features a stellar performance by Peck and is, all in all, a great Western film, but in one of the first scenes, Ringo encounters a young, brash gunman who is so irritating that audiences don’t mind when Ringo shoots him dead on the spot.

Ringo doesn’t look for trouble, but trouble always manages to find him and when he enters a saloon for a drink, a young man, Eddie (Richard Jaeckel), takes notice of him and decides to confront him. Eddie is obnoxious and sounds like he belongs in a gangster film rather than a Western. Initially, he purposely calls Ringo by the wrong last name and repeats it over and over until he replaces it with Mr. Ringo. While the character is meant to be annoying and arrogant, Jaeckel does it a tad too well and when Eddie stupidly reaches for his gun, audiences aren’t upset when Ringo finally shuts him up.

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