Movies John Wayne Westerns vs Clint Eastwood Westerns

[The Good The Bad The HBK]

I hate westerns.

I use to feel that way until 3 years ago I watched the Good bad ugly and been in the genre ever since

 

[Subotai82]

I use to feel that way until 3 years ago I watched the Good bad ugly and been in the genre ever since

Yeah Sergio Leone westerns changed my perspective on them too. His Dollars trilogy is just great filmmaking.

The Blu Ray restorations really let you appreciate his cinematic vision. The scene in The Good the Bad and the Ugly when Blondie and Tuco stumble upon the Union encampment has one of my favorite shots ever.

Blondie and Tuco are walking along a trail and facing the camera in a standard Two Shot. but then some Union soldiers confront them and make them walk to the right of the screen. The camera pans over and now you can see a hundred Union soldiers in an array of trenches with the bridge in the far distance. One unbroken shot, no edit.

 

[blaseblase]

Eastwood. Better films and not a shitty human being.

 

[HaulParris]

Clint

 

[Jack Reacheround]

Clint all the way. John Wayne’s movies, while I’m sure great back in the day, just come across as corny. And he comes across as a fucking pussy ass try hard, probably because that’s exactly what he was.
Clint’s movies are awesome. Unforgiven is one of the absolute best westerns ever made. And Hang ‘em High, Pale Rider, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly are all probably on that list too.
Tombstone is the absolute best. It’s too bad that wasn’t a Clint Eastwood movie somehow.

Though I did like The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

 

[Tone C]

Clint, and it's not even close

Agreed.

 

[Texan6533]

I went with Clint, because his films are more interesting and exciting. They explore more facets of the human experience and ask more questions, some of which can be provocative. I grew up on John Wayne films, as a Gen-X member. Clint came into things in the 80s while I was still young, but they were still replaying more John Wayne stuff on tv reruns until the 90s maybe.

While I respect Wayne's work, I find his films one dimensional and jingoistic, even though I get it more and more the older I get. His films represent a heritage and tradition in America that is lost and been overrun. For that alone, I should have picked him, but I'm human, and thus imperfect, so I picked Clint, as his films represent my (and your) imperfections rather than presenting something that we can't go back to. The more I write this, the more I want to switch my vote.

Side note: My father taught me to sail in Newport Harbor when I was a kid. We would rent something like a 16 foot sailboat and cruise around the harbor. He flew for the Navy, so he had this weird thing about boats and nautical shit, but he also loooved John Wayne, as most of his generation did. He was even earlier than Boomer. He was from the Silent Generation, and they were more hard ass.

Anyway, we would sail right past John Wayne's house in Newport Harbor every time, as his house had a beautiful lawn and dock facing the harbor. He would point it out each time, lol. It was yuge and expensive. He had died not too long before, as this was early 80s, but the house was legit rich people stuff. I still have a picture of it in my head, because it was so memorable.


This picture doesn't really do the house justice, btw. It was a prime piece of property.


The thing is, though, John Wayne set the standard for what a "pure western" film was. He started out in small roles before he got big, and I remember him talking about how he had to come up with something that set him apart from other actors, so he came up with that walk that looks like he had a stick up his butt.

If we are talking pure westerns, we have to say Wayne, because Clint made anti-hero films, which went against traditional convention on purpose. So, while we may think of that as the standard now, because they are generally more exciting films, Wayne's films are absolutely more "pure western" than Clint's. No doubt.

Let me rephrase and say I prefer Clint’s westerns over John’s

 

[fica]

Let me rephrase and say I prefer Clint’s westerns over John’s

what is so interesting about clints movies. i mean fist full of doallrs what was interesting there but italian and world view of cowboys in those times. people viewed cowboys in rest of the world as guys fighting and shooting guns, while john movies were more of how daily life was and how they viewed indians and how much hate there was. i mean john actually showed how people were toward each other with out filter or with out over the top

 

[Reign Supreme]

How is this even a poll? Clint in a landslide.

 

[Uber_Noober]

I enjoy both but my vote goes to Clint.

 

[Uber_Noober]

He was an asshole, that's the other point, Clint usually had Indians in his films in a vastly more human manner. One of the ways was showing our humor (Chief Dan George).

Josey and 10 Bears hanging with the bois

 

[shockaholic12]

Yeah, the best western may not even feature Clint or John.

but I did watch rio bravo earlier this year and enjoyed it a lot. Maybe the directing and action is better in the spaghetti westerns with Clint but the characters aren’t as interesting.

 

[Madmick]

Westerns scoring a 7.0+ on IMBb

Clint Eastwood

1. [8.8] The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
2. [8.2] Unforgiven
3. [8.2] For a Few Dollars More
4. [7.9] A Fistful of Dollars
5. [7.8] The Outlaw Josey Wales
6. [7.4] High Plains Drifter
7. [7.3] Pale Rider
8. [7.0] Hang 'Em High
9. [7.0] Two Mules for Sister Sara

John Wayne

1. [8.1] The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
2. [8.0] Rio Bravo
3. [7.9] The Searchers
4. [7.8] Stagecoach
5. [7.8] Red River
6. [7.6] The Shootist
7. [7.5] El Dorado
8. [7.4] True Grit
9. [7.4] The Cowboys
10. [7.4] Fort Apache
11. [7.2] She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
12. [7.1] McLintock!
13. [7.1] Big Jake
14. [7.1] The Sons of Katie Elder
15. [7.1] The Horse Soldiers
16. [7.1] The Big Trail
17. [7.1] 3 Godfathers
18. [7.0] How the West was Won
19. [7.0] Hondo
20. [7.0] Rio Grande

 

[The Good The Bad The HBK]

Westerns scoring a 7.0+ on IMBb

Clint Eastwood

1. [8.8] The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
2. [8.2] Unforgiven
3. [8.2] For a Few Dollars More
4. [7.9] A Fistful of Dollars
5. [7.8] The Outlaw Josey Wales
6. [7.4] High Plains Drifter
7. [7.3] Pale Rider
8. [7.0] Hang 'Em High
9. [7.0] Two Mules for Sister Sara

John Wayne

1. [8.1] The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
2. [8.0] Rio Bravo
3. [7.9] The Searchers
4. [7.8] Stagecoach
5. [7.8] Red River
6. [7.6] The Shootist
7. [7.5] El Dorado
8. [7.4] True Grit
9. [7.4] The Cowboys
10. [7.4] Fort Apache
11. [7.2] She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
12. [7.1] McLintock!
13. [7.1] Big Jake
14. [7.1] The Sons of Katie Elder
15. [7.1] The Horse Soldiers
16. [7.1] The Big Trail
17. [7.1] 3 Godfathers
18. [7.0] How the West was Won
19. [7.0] Hondo
20. [7.0] Rio Grande

And yet the 3 highest rated films goes to Clint

 

[The Good The Bad The HBK]

I would also argue True Grit was a more enjoyable watch than Liberty Valance, pilgrim.

I would also argue Clint's lowest rated film you listed, 2 Mules, is a more enjoyable watch than Liberty.....pilgrim.

 

[listrahtes]

The searchers is one of his most popular but it was kinda boring to me. Wayne was a true racist too, he never apologized for it either, which is good depending on how you look at it. At least he was honest. It wasn't just the roles, he was all for genocide and racism.

Do you know how many racist actors we have nowadays? It's not less just has a different face. Read an interview with an actress from that African warrior queen history forgery. It was pure hate and racism just on another skin colour and no one in Hollywood cares. Jada Smith is a hateful racist and gets film roles all over.

You would not be able to watch a lot of movies if racists should not be part of it

 

[Madmick]

And yet the 3 highest rated films goes to Clint

Which cuts to the jib of what the poll is telling you. To add perspective to that, being blunt, as is always the case with polls like this, the majority of respondents haven't seen the majority of filmographies once you got 50 films deep.

So mostly blue-collar Millennial aged men who love violence strongy prefer Unforgiven and Leone's spaghetti western trilogy to Wayne's collaborations with Ford. That's what the poll tells me. Cool. Cool cool cool.

 

[mozfonky]

Do you know how many racist actors we have nowadays? It's not less just has a different face. Read an interview with an actress from that African warrior queen history forgery. It was pure hate and racism just on another skin colour and no one in Hollywood cares. Jada Smith is a hateful racist and gets film roles all over.

You would not be able to watch a lot of movies if racists should not be part of it

I never got real into john wayne but it wasn't because he was a racist, just a bit before my time and the movies I've seen I wasn't too crazy about. I don't really care if he was a racist, just pointing it out.

Another thing to point out because he was also a gung ho in his ww2 films, he avoided the war and claimed hardship to avoid going. So, that wasn't a good look either. Again, do I really care? no, Stallone coached volleyball in europe to avoid the draft and I still love the rambo movies.

 

[The Good The Bad The HBK]

Which cuts to the jib of what the poll is telling you. To add perspective to that, being blunt, as is always the case with polls like this, the majority of respondents haven't seen the majority of filmographies once you got 50 films deep.

So mostly blue-collar Millennial aged men who love violence strongy prefer Unforgiven and Leone's spaghetti western trilogy to Wayne's collaborations with Ford. That's what the poll tells me. Cool. Cool cool cool.

Sounds like you can't handle Eastwood having the better films than Wayne. John Wayne has some good westerns but Clint has some masterpieces and some great/good westerns which is the difference. John could have made another 100 more westerns and it wouldn't have mattered.

 

[mozfonky]

I would also argue True Grit was a more enjoyable watch than Liberty Valance, pilgrim.

I would also argue Clint's lowest rated film you listed, 2 Mules, is a more enjoyable watch than Liberty.....pilgrim.

Clint is plain magic, when I recently rewatched unforgiven, I always thought, "not much of an actor" yet, when he turns dark at the end, he blows me away.