The Western film genre is one of the oldest and most celebrated genres in cinematic history. Although it has fallen in and out of popularity many times over the decades, the wellspring of cowboys, chases on horseback, and legendary gun battles has never dried up. What’s more, many of the greatest films ever made have been Westerns – such as The Searchers and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly – and though typically set in the American West, westerns have been made all over the world, proving the genre’s indelible impact on the greater world cinematic canon.
With so many Westerns being made every year, naturally some great ones are going to slip through the cracks into obscurity. This is especially true of many Westerns of the 1970s, which were made during a time when the genre was exceedingly popular. Throughout that decade, Westerns were blowing up in the United States, as well as in European countries like Italy.
Many well-known classics emerged from this Western boom, but a lot of good ones were covered up by the successes of the bigger-name players, and, as a result, were reviewed unfavorably or quickly forgotten about. In the list below, we’ve collected 12 of the most underrated Westerns to come out of the ‘70s that deserve far more recognition than they get!
12 Monte Walsh (1970)
One of three films directed by the prolific cinematographer William A. Fraker, Monte Walsh is an understated Western starring Lee Marvin as a cowboy trying to settle into sedentary life as the outlaw hijinks of the Wild West period are coming to a close. At first, his efforts to settle down work out nicely, but soon he’s drawn back into the violent lifestyle he once knew. It’s a tragic and thought-provoking breakdown of the western genre that deserves to be better known than it is.
11 They Call Me Trinity (1970)
Inexplicably missing from many lists of the greatest Western comedies ever made, They Call Me Trinity is nevertheless one of the funniest, right up there with the great Blazing Saddles.
It’s a goofy spaghetti western about a loafing gunfighter named Trinity who, along with his horse-thief of a brother who masquerades as a sheriff, takes up arms to protect a settlement of Mormons from a band of vicious outlaws. Starring beloved action-comedy duo Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, They Call Me Trinity is a rollicking western adventure that never quite received its due in markets outside of Europe.
10 Rio Lobo (1970)
Rio Lobois a should-be classic John Wayne Western about a Union soldier during the American Civil War who loses a shipment of gold during an attack by the Confederates. Some time later, the ex-soldier learns that the men responsible for the attack were men from his platoon, and he swears revenge on them.
Directed by the legendary Howard Hawks, who had previously directed Wayne in Rio Bravo and El Dorado – two of the greatest westerns from their respective decades – Rio Lobo closes out the Wayne-Hawks trilogy of loosely-related westerns with a bang. The movie didn’t receive much praise upon its initial release, but that shouldn’t stop you from checking it out – it’s an action-packed extravaganza from start-to-finish, and one of Wayne’s best late-era films.
9 Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973)
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is a brilliant (though quite depressing) western from Hollywood iconoclast Sam Peckinpah. Notorious for his outrageously violent and dour westerns, Peckinpah’s retelling of the legendarily unlikely friendship between a lawman and an outlaw is no exception to the director’s typically gloomy output. In fact, the film is considered by some to be a quintessential revisionist Western.
As Screen Rant describes it, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid “left behind the black-and-white morals of classic westerns and instead focused on ethically gray antiheroes.” The movie’s complex themes and characters are complemented by some incredible performances from the likes of James Coburn, Jason Robards, Kris Kristofferson, and Bob Dylan, who also supplies the iconic soundtrack.
8 Four of the Apocalypse (1975)
One of the bloodiest Westerns ever made, Four of the Apocalypse is a great spaghetti Western from Italian director Lucio Fulci, who is best-remembered today for his shocking, gory horror films. With this film Fulci proved his ability to tackle any genre with style and finesse, as this atypical Western is full of intense action, solid performances, and a rip-roaring sense of adventure.
It is also, as previously mentioned, ultra-violent, which may be part of the reason why it wasn’t very well received upon its initial release. Now unjustly relegated to relative obscurity, Four of the Apocalypse deserves a comeback.
7 Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)
One of Clint Eastwood’s best Westerns, despite its nonrecognition, Two Mules for Sister Sara follows a loner gunslinger who stumbles upon a gang of thugs assaulting a nun. He saves her, and, assuming she needs protection, lets her tag along with him. As it turns out, however, this nun is tough and doesn’t need protecting. Functioning somewhat like the “buddy” action movies of the early ‘80s, this explosive and occasionally hilarious western is a forgotten gem.
6 Duck, You Sucker! AKA A Fistful of Dynamite (1971)
Sergio Leone’s last directed spaghetti Western, Duck, You Sucker! (also released as A Fistful of Dynamite in some regions) may not reach the heights of his earlier The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly or Once Upon a Time in the West, but it’s still a masterfully directed and action-packed adventure worthy of anyone’s time. It takes place during the Mexican Revolution, and sees an Irish explosives expert pairing up with a selfish bandit to rob a national bank. According to Collider, “It is Leone's most underrated film and deserves just as much love as his more well-known classics.”
5 And God Said to Cain (1970)
And God Said to Cainis a spaghetti Western about an ex-con on the hunt for the men who framed him. Coincidentally, he arrives in the town where his targets reside on the same night that a terrible storm rolls in. Revered for his gothic horror films, Antonio Margheriti directs this Western with a dark and off-kilter approach reminiscent of his scary movies.
Klaus Kinski’s vengeful gunman stalks his targets like a slasher villain, and the piercing score is full of shrill horror stings guaranteed to raise the hairs on your neck. It all comes together as one of the most unique films in the Western genre.
4 A Reason to Live, A Reason to Die (1972)
A Reason to Live, A Reason to Die is an explosive spaghetti Western about a Union colonel tasked with reclaiming a fort captured by the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Due to the higher-ups declaring it a suicide mission, the only men the colonel can find willing to help him with the job are war criminals.
Essentially a Western spin on The Dirty Dozen, the film doesn’t have a whole lot of depth, but it more than makes up for it with loads of exhilarating action – some of the best featured on this list – and James Coburn turns in a typically badass performance as the leader of the ragtag mercenary group.
3 Ulzana’s Raid (1972)
Speaking of The Dirty Dozen, this next western was directed by that classic war film’s director, Robert Aldrich. Ulzana’s Raid is a rugged revisionist western about an aging tracker tasked with leading a young and gung-ho cavalry platoon through the desert to stop an Apache war party. Seen as a metaphor for the Vietnam War, this nihilistic Western has a lot going on under the surface, and, as such, deserves reappraisal as one of the greatest Westerns of all time.
2 Silver Saddle (1978)
Jupiter-Film
Another spaghetti Western from Italian horror maestro Lucio Fulci, Silver Saddle follows a bounty hunter on the vengeance trail for the man who killed his father before his eyes when he was a youth. Released at the end of the ‘70s – a time when the spaghetti western had more or less fallen out of favor with the general public – this movie was one of the last westerns produced in Europe. It was also the last western starring Giuliano Gemma, who was a staple in spaghetti Westerns for years prior. As a result, not many saw this western, and those that did didn’t love it. Looking back at it now, however, Silver Saddle has lots to offer western fans.
1 California (1977)
Like the aforementioned Silver Saddle, California is another little-known gem from the tail-end of the spaghetti Western cycle. The film is somewhat like a western-tinged precursor to Sylvester Stallone’s First Blood, as it deals with a war veteran traveling to the home of a deceased friend and getting in trouble with hateful townspeople, vicious outlaws, and crooked lawmen along the way. The hero reluctantly slips back into his role as crack shot gunman in order to deal with his enemies.
All in all, California is a fantastic spaghetti Western. Perpetually gloomy with sets caked in mud, it’s certainly not a cheerful film, but it is undeniably well-crafted and thus ripe for rediscovery.
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