MovieSorter

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The Gunfighter
None Yet 0 Points 1950
High Noon
Great 66 Points 1952

Gary Cooper walking alone down a dusty Western street to confront a gang of killers is as iconic as Hollywood gets, making High Noon an archetype even more than a legend. That’s quite a weight.

Fortunately the movie itself is engaging, suspenseful and tight. A mere 85 minutes, it runs in ne…

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WikChip Video High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My D...
Shane
Great 66 Points 1953

“Shane, come back!” could have been a Simon & Garfunkel lyric. Instead, the troubadours chose Joe DiMaggio, another icon of mid-Century American manhood. Yet, Shane endures as a cultural touchstone.

Thousands of baby boomers were christened with his clarion clear name

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WikChip Image Jack Palance: a badass star is born
Gunfighters of ...
None Yet 0 Points 1954
Gunfight at the...
None Yet 0 Points 1957
Death of a Gunf...
None Yet 0 Points 1969
True Grit
Very Good 66 Points 1969

Star power in service to a (then) unconventional story makes for a very good movie. A grizzled John Wayne, shiny Glen Campbell and sharp Robert Duvall provide the star power, while a young girl hiring a de facto bounty hunter to track down her father’s killer provides the novel story.

Rescree…

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WikChip Video Yowza, true Western entertainment
Joe Kidd
Great 66 Points 1972

The great Elmore Leonard wrote two kinds of scripts, great ones and, well, er, the great Elmore Leonard wrote one kind of script, not counting the two genres he wrote: Westerns and darkly funny crime dramas. Known more now for the latter, he was a modern master of the former, populating his hair…

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WikChip Video Guitar kicks in 40s into the Joe Kidd...
The Shootist
Good 66 Points 1976

John Wayne’s final movie serves as a benediction for gunfighters at the dawn of the 20th Century, and for Wayne’s career as a celluloid gunfighter. It does the latter better than the former, making it more of an obligation for fans of the Duke than for Western fans generally.

The Shootist b…

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WikChip Image Lauren Bacall: strong & lovely
The Dogs of War
OK 17 Points 1981

Got African dictator coup? It used to be cliche, but its been a while – so I indulged myself in this action movie sleeper. In the end, I was entertained, but not overly impressed. Decent action, but not enough of it. Classic Christopher Walken drama – but slightly over done. A lot of time for c…

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