While classicWesternmovies may no longer be as popular as they were during their peak throughout the 1940s to the 1960s, it’s incredible how the genre’s style has been infused into countless non-Western movies. As classic tales of heroes and outlaws pervade cinema, it’s fascinating to note just how many things would not exist without the influence ofclassic Westerns. While some movies wear this influence on their sleeves, it’s a much more subtle comparison in other films.
It’s no surprise that Westerns have had a major impact on other genres, as some of thebest filmmakers of all timegrew up watching cowboys and bandits and have taken those tropes and cliches into their own work. From cult classics that cannot fit into any one genre tomajor franchisesthat echo the aesthetics of Westerns, the desert landscape of the Wild West and the individualistic charisma of its protagonists have had an undeniable impact on other types of films. With timeless themes and impactful ideas,plenty of non-Western movies still have a Western feeling about them.
10The Equalizer (2014)
The Equalizer leans into the lone gunman Western trope
The lone gunslinger with mysterious motivations and a dark past has long been a trope of the Western genre and was powerfully utilized inThe Equalizer, starring Denzel Washington. This updated adaptation of the 1980s TV series of the same namereunited Washington with theTraining Daydirector Antoine Fuquaand was the star’s first foray into the world of movie franchises. With three movies already made, Washington’s portrayal of the former marine and reluctant hero Robert McCall provided the actor with his own icon hero, who echoes legendary portrayals such as Clint Eastwood’s The Man with No Name.
Although it may not be set in the Wild West, the world inhabited by McCall was no less chaotic as he faced off with a litany of criminals and outlaws in his pursuit of his own version of justice. As a character guided by morality, Washington’s portrayal brought to mind a modern-day vigilante sheriff who listened to his conscience rather than following the exact letter of the law. While Washington has been in genuine Western movies, such as the remake ofThe Magnificent Seven,The Equalizerstood out as having borrowed plenty of elements from classic Western movies.
The Equalizer
Cast
The Equalizer is an action thriller directed by Antoine Fuqua starring Denzel Washington as Robert McCall, a former intelligence operative who lives a quiet life in Boston. When he encounters a young girl named Teri, played by Chloë Grace Moretz, threatened by violent Russian gangsters, McCall comes out of retirement to use his skills to restore justice. The film reimagines the 1980s TV series of the same name.
The icon of independent cinema, Jim Jarmusch, has never allowed himself to be pigeonholed into any particular genre, as his films utilize many styles to create a totally unique aesthetic. As a director who reflects American culture back onto itself, films likeDead Manlean into Western movie tropes and cliches while also feeling original. With Johnny Depp as a Cleveland accountant named William Blake,Dead Manis set in the late 19th century as this meek man is on the run after a killing and traverses a psychedelic landscape accompanied by a Native American spirit guide named Nobody.
Through black-and-white cinematography and an ethereal, otherworldly atmosphere,Dead Manis a postmodern and poetic piece of filmmakingthat leans into a Western style without ever fully giving over to it. This philosophical presentation of Americana was made all the more effective by the sparse soundtrack from Neil Young, whose improvised guitar sounds added to its unique feeling. While it’s never fully clear if Blake is dead and wandering the afterlife or if the setting is genuinely a strange version of the Wild West,Dead Manis a film that audiences will ponder well after the credits have rolled.
Dead Man
Dead Man is a 1995 film directed by Jim Jarmusch, featuring Johnny Depp as William Blake, an accountant who embarks on a transformative journey through the American frontier after a series of violent events. Set in the 19th century, the film explores themes of identity and existentialism, with a supporting cast including Gary Farmer, Robert Mitchum, and Iggy Pop. The film’s atmospheric black-and-white cinematography and score by Neil Young contribute to its contemplative tone.
8Kill Bill (2003)
Kill Bill echoes the Western genre’s long history of revenge stories
With a lone, wronged protagonist,Kill Billdepicts a woman on an epic and bloody quest for revenge. Revenge has long been a standard set-up for Wild West stories and has served as the foundation of classic films likeThe Outlaw Josey WalesorTrue Grit, and director Quentin Tarantino imbued his two-part kung fu epic with these same themes. As a love letter to martial arts cinema, both parts ofKill Billalso leaned heavily into a Western movie style and aesthetic.
Kill Bill: Volume 2particularly embraced Western movie tropes as the Bride’s (Uma Thurman) showdown with the titular Bill (David Carradine) felt akin to a classic Wild West standoff where only one could come out alive. Tarantino paid tribute to Spaghetti Westerns and the work of Sergio Leone through many of the visuals, much of the music, and several stylistic nods inKill Bill. While Tarantino fully embraced the genre in films likeDjango UnchainedandThe Hateful Eight,Kill Billwas an earlier indication of the filmmaker’s love for this style.
Kill Bill
TheKill Billseries, directed by Quentin Tarantino, is a two-part martial arts action saga that follows the journey of Beatrix “The Bride” Kiddo as she seeks vengeance against her former assassination squad and their leader, Bill, after they attempt to murder her and her unborn child.
El Camino’s man on the run story felt like it could come straight out of a classic Western
As a TV series exploring the criminal underworld within the barren landscape of the New Mexico desert,Breaking Badalways had a classic Western feeling about it. This became more pronounced as the seasons went on, and Walter White gained a reputation as a notorious outlaw who pulled off massive train heists and did not hesitate to kill anyone who stood in his way of creating an empire. While the series ended with one of the best TV finales of all time,Breaking Badreturned with the epilogue movieEl Camino, which further embraced the tropes of the Western genre.
10 TV Shows That Would Not Exist Without Classic Western Movies
While on first glance the classic Western genre may not seem as popular as it once was, its influence can be seen across the modern TV landscape.
El Caminowas released six years after the conclusion ofBreaking Badand gave audiences closure on the story ofJesse Pinkman after he was freed from the Brotherhood compound in Todd Alquist’s Chevrolet El Camino. With a desire to start a new life in Alaska, before Jesse can finally leave his dark past behind, he is forced to confront the welder who assisted with his captivity and takes part in a Wild West-style duel for a share of the money he helped discover. As a worthy farewell to Jesse’s character,El Caminoappropriately echoed the show’s Western influences.
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
El Camino wraps up Jesse Pinkman’s story after he escapes from a group of Neo-Nazis at the end of Breaking Bad. Written, directed, and produced by Vince Gilligan and starring Aaron Paul, the 2019 movie revolves around Jesse’s attempt to flee to Alaska and start a new life, leaving behind his past with meth kingpin Walter White.
The dystopian action movieMad Maxwas the inception point for a major movie franchise that continues to this day. From director George Miller and with Mel Gibson as the titular road warrior Max Rockatansky, the drought-ridden, resource-scarce landscape of The Wasteland was presented as a Wild West-style world where crooked outlaws and deviant criminals run rampant as society collapses around them. As a thrilling mix of action, sci-fi, and Westerns, the post-apocalyptic world ofMad Maxstripped humanity back to its barest essentials.
As a depiction of Australia devolved into pure brutalism,Mad Maxand its various sequels and a prequel have had a significant impact on popular culture and have remained popular to this day. The long-awaited fourth movie in the franchise,Mad Max: Fury Road, recasts Gibson with Tom Hardy and has commonly been ranked among the greatest films of the 21st century. As a highly stylized, genre-bending series with impeccable worldbuilding and a unique sense of identity,Miller was heavily influenced by Westerns when he envisionedMad Max.
Mad Max
Mad Max is a 1979 sci-fi action film from director and writer George Miller. Mel Gibson stars as Max a police officer in the future who goes after a gang of vicious motorcycle thugs. The film led to a long-running franchise including The Road Warrior, Beyond Thunderdome, Fury Road, and Furiosa.
5Serenity (2005)
Serenity is like a Western set in space
Joss Whedon’s sci-fi space Western seriesFireflywas notoriously cancelled after just one season and left hordes of disappointed fans crying out for more. This was at last achieved when the short-lived series returned for the feature filmSerenity, a movie that maintained the series Western influences as its crew of fugitive freedom fighters traversed the uncharted frontiers of space and encountered many foes along the way. From corrupt political forces to rival bounty hunters,Serenityencapsulated al the cinematic stylings of classic Western movie tropes.
Even the Unification War that caused the crew of the Serenity spaceship and its Captain Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) to go on the run in the first place could be compared to the genuine American Civil War that informed countless Western movie narratives.SerenitymaintainedFirefly’sincredible characterization and strong writing to tell a thrilling sci-fi story that effectively critiques contemporary American society.
Serenity
Directed by Joss Whedon, Serenity is a science fiction film that follows the renegade crew of the spaceship Serenity. Starring Nathan Fillion as Captain Malcolm Reynolds, the crew must protect a telepathic girl with powerful secrets from a totalitarian regime while navigating through space against hostile forces. The film blends action and adventure, expanding on the universe established in the television series Firefly.
4Badlands (1973)
Badlands’ outlaw couple brought to mind real life bandits like Bonnie and Clyde
Outlaws on the run have acted as a standard set-up for Western movies since as long as the genre existed, and Terrence Malick’s cult classicBadlandsleaned into the well-worn trope. With elements of real-life figures like Bonnie and Clyde or the spree killers Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate (viaGuardian),Badlandsevoked the societal defiance of the best Western movie protagonists. However, this dark story about a 25-year-old garbage collector going on a killing spree with his 15-year-old girlfriend played out like a sinister cautionary tale on choice, freedom, and immorality.
As an extraordinary debut film from Mallick,Badlands’cinematography, characters, and music all contributed to its Western feeling, although its late-1950s setting meant it was far removed from the Wild West. As a couple on the run making their way across the landscape of America, it was impossible not to conjure images of classic Western antiheroes. With Martin Sheen as the charismatic but deeply troubled leading man, he had the rugged good looks of a noble Western hero yet possessed the characteristics of an immoral, villainous bandit.
Badlands
A teenage girl and her greaser boyfriend from a small, dead-end town set off on a deadly crime spree through the South Dakota badlands.
3Logan (2017)
Logan melded the superhero and Western genres
After having portrayed the mutant superhero Wolverine in theX-Menfranchise since 2000, Hugh Jackman starred in what was billed as his final appearance in the series,Logan. Taking inspiration from the “Old Man Logan” comics by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven,Loganfeatured an aged Wolverine and an extremely ill Charles Xavier protecting a young mutant girl from the Reavers led by Donald Pierce and Zander Rice. With a dark and violent tone that was closer to a Western than a traditional superhero movie,Loganfelt like a gritty and mature farewell to the character.
While Jackman has since returned to the role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe releaseDeadpool & Wolverine,Loganremains one of the most impactful and narratively rich superhero movies ever. With themes of revenge and the weary consequences of heroism,Loganhad a lot in common with Western classics likeTrue GritandUnforgiven. The highly stylized nature ofLoganharkened back to black-and-white Westerns and film noirs of the past, which were further highlighted by the limited theatrical release ofLogan Noir, a black-and-white edition of the film.
Logan
Logan is set in a near future where an aging Wolverine, played by Hugh Jackman, takes care of a frail Professor Xavier, portrayed by Patrick Stewart, at a secluded location near the Mexican border. Their secluded existence is disrupted by the arrival of a young mutant, pursued by malevolent forces.
2Seven Samurai (1954)
Seven Samurai originated many tropes and cliches commonly seen in Westerns
Samurai stories and Western tales are two genres regularly compared to each other and whose tropes and tenets share much in common. This was certainly the case with Akira Kurosawa’s martial arts classicSeven Samurai, a movie that had an undeniable effect on the Western genre. Although it was set in the 1500s Sengoku period of Japanese history, the gathering of a team trope seen in the film would be copied and parodied in countless subsequent Western movies.Seven Samuraieven received an American remake as the Western classicThe Magnificent Seven.
In a story filled with heroes and outlaws,Seven Samuraidepicted a village of desperate farmers hiring samurai to protect them from crooked bandits. With a landscape easily comparable to the Wild West, the honor of the samurai felt similar to the vigilante-style justice so often seen from lone wolf Western heroes who live by a personal code of justice. As one of the most influential films ever made, it’s no surprise thatSeven Samuraihas become such a common reference point for American Western movies.
Seven Samurai
Directed by legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samurai is an epic Drama and Samurai film that revolves around a group of farmers in 1586 Japan that band together to hire Ronin to help protect themselves and their families from bandits that plan to steal from them.
1Star Wars (1977)
Star Wars was majorly influenced by classic stories of cowboys and outlaws
Featuring classic Western archetypes, such as Luke Skywalker’s hero’s journey, Han Solo as the lone gunslinger, or the Wild West frontier that is the desert planet of Tatooine and the rest of the vast universe,Star Warsis packed with Western tropes and cliches. Even the lightsaber battles bring to mind Mexican standoffs and fast-draw duels.George Lucas clearly took inspiration from Westerns, kung fu, and old adventure movie serials when he envisioned the world ofStar Wars.
Not only does the battle between good and evil represented by the Force and the Dark Side evoke classic Western themes of heroes and villains, but the dusty landscape and gritty locations bring to mind the Wild West in every scene. From the outlaw-ridden tavern Mos Eisley Cantina to the bounty-hunting smuggling endeavors of Han Solo,Star Warsand its sequels, spin-offs, and extended media could not exist without the influence ofWesternmovies.
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
Star Wars is a seminal science fiction film released in 1977 that follows the quest of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo to rescue Princess Leia from the oppressive Imperial forces. They are aided by the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, as they strive to restore peace to the galaxy.
