The decade of the 1980s was perhaps, the low point of the Western movie. Relatively few westerns were made during that time. Also, the quality of those movies was not quite the same as in prior decades. However, there were some good westerns made during that time. Below is a list of the top 6 Westerns movies made in the 1980s.
Number 6: “The Long Riders” (1980). This movie is a fictional account of the Jesse James and Younger gang. The main characters are played by the Keach brothers (as the James brothers) and the Carradine brothers (as the Youngers).
Number 5: “Stagecoach” (1986). This film was a retelling of the classic 1939 and 1966 movies of the same title. This time, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willlie Nelson, Kris Kristopherson and June Carter Cash star as the main characters as they battle their way through hostile territory in a stagecoach.
Number 4: “Young Guns” (1988). Tells the story of Billy the Kid during the Lincoln County War. Billy and his friends join in the range war between two rival factions. The lead roles were played by young Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Charley Sheen.
Number 3: “Pale Rider” (1985). This film is yet another Clint Eastwood Man with No Name western. This time, Eastwood stars as a preacher who joins a small mining community. There, he finds the miners are being pressured to leave their claims and turn them over to the local mine owner. The mine owner hires a group of seven gunslingers. Eastwood transforms from a preacher to a gunfighter as he battles to save the small town.
Number 2: “Silverado” (1985). Kevin Costner, Scott Glenn, Danny Glover and Kevin Kline star as four cowboys who roam the west. They eventually meet up and join together to help clean up some towns of the local bad guys. This movie is full of western clichés and broke no new ground. However, it is still a good movie and fun to watch. It helped launch the careers of the four lead characters.
Number 1: “Lonesome Dove (1989). Perhaps the finest Western movie ever made, this miniseries stars Robert Duvall as Augustus McCrae and Tommy Lee Jones as Woodrow F. Call. McCrae and Call are two retired Texas rangers who lead a boring life in a small Texas border town. They are desperate for a new adventure. They gather a herd of cattle and horses, hire a group of cowboys and take the herd on a 1,500 mile cattle drive to start the first ranch in Montana. Along the way, they battle harsh conditions, Indians and bandits. This miniseries was based on the award winning novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry. Several other series and follow movies were based on McMurtry’s books.
All of these movies rank among the top Western movies ever made.