10 Best Movies To Watch If You Like Once Upon A Time In The West

Once Upon A Time In The West is a movie that still holds up almost 60 years later, with its distinctive Western styling and engaging characters giving it a lot in common with a range of other stellar films. Once Upon A Time In The West manages to be action-packed, oftentimes funny, and frequently devastating to watch, as the story pulls no punches with any of its cast, and none of its protagonists escape the matter of Sweetwater and who will be left owning it unscathed. Be it the haunting backstory of Harmonica and how he earned the moniker, or the range of tragic deaths within the film, Once Upon A Time In The West is symbolic of what a fully realized and mature Western can be, as it's punchy and impactful while also never feeling like it's doing anything to shock you or for the sake of audience titillation alone. Between the immense and multifaceted yet classic-feeling Western story it tells, and the impressive team who put the film together both in front of and behind the camera lens, there are mercifully plenty of similar films that fans of Once Upon A Time In The West should also enjoy. Many of these films also offer an opportunity to further expand the kind of movies viewers may be invested in, thanks to Once Upon A Time in The West working from many different angles that other, different stories also excel in. 10 Death Wish (1974) Death Wish is often regarded as one of the best movies that has Charles Bronson as its leading man, making it well worth a watch for those who found themselves fascinated by his performance as Harmonica in Once Upon A Time In The West. Though it's not a Western itself, Death Wish also takes Bronson's protagonist, Paul Kersey, in a similar direction to Bronson's Harmonica throughout the action-thriller, as Kersey is similarly motivated by the abhorrent crimes done to his family, leading him to go after the criminals who killed his wife and sexually assaulted his daughter before escalating further. In effect, Death Wish serves as a look at what the story of Harmonica might have been in a modern setting. Paul's increasing thirst for violence and vigilantism makes him a complex hero, and a figure who helped cement Bronson's career as a film tough guy for decades to come. 9 Mister Roberts Mister Roberts is substantially more upbeat than Once Upon A Time In The West, but it's considered one of Henry Fonda's best films for a reason, and is a great chance for those who loved Fonda's performance as Frank to see him on center stage displaying why his character in the Western movie was such a shock for audiences. Lieutenant Douglas Roberts is the polar opposite of Frank, being a well-intentioned and self-sacrificing figure. For Roberts, this comes in terms of the cargo officer being forced to give in to his ship's captain, Morton, who threatens to deny their crew leave on dry land unless the lieutenant follows his strict orders to the letter and doesn't explain why to those he works with. What follows is a story wherein you can't help but root for Roberts, and sympathize with him even more because of how much he's willing to look out for others. The fact the movie is set towards the end of World War II also makes it feel similar to Once Upon A Time In The West in a different sense, as both films explore the unique atmospheres that come from those within it knowing they're experiencing the end of an era of sorts for the world and their lives as well. 8 The Great Silence The Great Silence is frequently cited as one of the bleakest Westerns of all time. This gives it some ties to the darker elements of Once Upon A Time In The West, and also has played a role in The Great Silence being commonly considered one of the strongest spaghetti Westerns of all time, which is also a claim to fame Once Upon A Time In The West boasts as well. The Great Silence's character roster and underpinning story mirrors Once Upon A Time In The West more than might be immediately expected. Both films have widows who play crucial roles in the plot, and feature lone gunslingers with tragic backstories who end up forming unlikely alliances to fight against the more morally bankrupt antagonists. Though bleak, The Great Silence is also concerned with the legacy of Westerns and cowboys, and how the landscape of both the real-world and the world of movies evolves onward from this point. This gives it a lot of direct and indirect subject matter and symbolic meanings that are sure to be intriguing to those who found themselves with a lot to chew on with Once Upon A Time In The West. 7 Once Upon A Time In Hollywood While it's in some ways the film that contrasts the most with Once Upon A Time In The West on this list, the concept of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is one that is inherently tied to the Western - and not just because Quentin Taratino's 2019 comedy drama draws from Once Upon A Time in The West and Once Upon A Time In America with its own name. Much like Once Upon A Time In The West, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is invested in telling a tale that is simultaneously a classic and archetypal movie story that reflects its title, and also focuses on subverting the expectations this sets, as well as being a dissection of sorts about the end of a specific point in film and real-world history. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood takes a decidedly meta approach to things, with its protagonist being fictional actor Rick Dalton, who is an in-universe Western star that eventually decides to take on the kind of spaghetti Western that Once Upon A Time In The West is. In this way, the movie is both exploring the concept of a film like Once Upon A Time In The West with its in-universe fictional films, and its own actual central story and construction, making it a layered matter to say the least. 6 The Magnificent Seven The Magnificent Seven is worth a watch for anyone curious about the iconic Westerns that set the stage for Once Upon A Time In The West before the film's release. The 1960 classic is a prime example of exactly this kind of film, having influenced everything from the rise of Charles Bronson's career to the pop culture awareness around the title that arguably had a hand in the likes of the name of Marvel's Sinister Six and many similar group names. With an expansive ensemble cast of seven gunslingers tasked with protecting a small town from outlaws - and a story that draws from the acclaimed Seven Samurai - The Magnificent Seven still has a lot of interesting material, and is similarly engrossing to watch to compare to many other films of the early 1960s, wherein The Magnificent Seven often has the edge, particularly in terms of the film's score. Ultimately, The Magnificent Seven serves as a history lesson of sorts that makes Once Upon A Time In The West also look all the more impressive, as it makes it even clearer where the later film drew from convention, and where it choose to follow its own path. 5 A Fistful Of Dollars The Dollars Trilogy is one of the most popular and praised Western film series in history, and is also directed by none other than Sergio Leone, meaning that its first installment, A Fistful of Dollars, is a natural fit for those who enjoyed Once Upon A Time In The West. A Fistful of Dollars is much more than the first installment in a trilogy alone, though, being arguably one of the defining films in establishing the popularity of spaghetti Westerns and the heights the genre reached. With its iconic story of The Man With No Name - played by Clint Eastwood, and firmly establishing his career as one of film's biggest action heroes - playing a town's smugglers against one another, A Fistful of Dollars has a mythical feel to it that has earned it decades-long fame, and makes it a perfect movie for folks wanting something similar to Once Upon A Time In The West. 4 Unforgiven Much as Once Upon A Time In The West explores how the increasing pace of technology spells the end for the world of cowboys, Unforgiven is also a sendoff to Westerns and regarded as Clint Eastwood's sendoff of sorts to his iconic time as The Man With No Name, though he plays a darker kind of hero in thefilm, alongside directing the movie, producing the movie, and composing music for the movie too. Unforgiven is a revisionist Western movie in the classical sense, deconstructing the tropes and traditions of the Western genre, and giving the movie a decidedly morally complex protagonist who deals with the murky and not straightforward matter of his past even as the events of the film continue onwards. In short, it's got all of the most haunting implications of Once Upon A Time In The West, is as quotable as Once Upon A Time In The West, and is a Clint Eastwood movie that gets better and better depending on how many other Clint Eastwood movies and Westerns you've seen, so it's also a solid watch for a wide variety of reasons. 3 No Country For Old Men While Westerns were far from their heyday in 2007, this only makes the critical and commercial success of No Country For Old Men all the more striking, and makes it a worthwhile experience for those wanting a more modern look at the world of Westerns and how they can explore concepts like revenge, justice, and heroism. No Country For Old Men also mirrors Once Upon A Time In The West by centering its story on a range of focal figures, with the 2007 movie focusing on a veteran of the Vietnam War, a sheriff, and a hitman, who is famously played by Javier Bardem in one of the best and most harrowing Western antagonist performances out there. This trio find themselves embroiled in a matter involving $2 million in cash, and the efforts many of the cast will go to in order to obtain that money. It's a plot that sets up a true neo-Western in every sense, and blends the tropes and trappings of this genre with the world of crime thrillers to ensure No Country for Old Men feels timeless and haunting in a way that should work for just about any kind of movie fan - though it's perhaps best for those who are familiar with more classic Westerns like Once Upon A Time In The West. 2 Once Upon A Time In America There's a reason Once Upon A Time In America is often brought up in conversations about the best and most significant movies of all time, much like Once Upon A Time In The West, and it goes far deeper than both simply being good films, though they certainly are. Once Upon A Time In America is the 1984 crime drama sequel of sorts to its Western predecessor, not to mention Sergio Leone's final film, giving it even more significance in the wider movie landscape. Exploring the fictional lives of best friends David Aaronson and Maximilian Bercovicz as they grow up and enter the world of organized crime in New York City, Once Upon A Time In America is an expansive and engaging movie that's able to do a whole lot with its runtime - especially if you're watching the full-length cut. The movie is one part murder mystery, one part gangster story, and all around a film that contends with wider topics around loyalty and love as much as it's concerned with the actual events it depicts within its plot, giving it mult-layered appeal. 1 The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly is a movie so famous that even people who aren't that into Westerns often have it on their list of must-watch films - meaning it's ironically likely a movie those who've seen Once Upon A Time In The West may have also already watched. With that said, it's a true cornerstone of the Western genre, so it's also a film that still deserves a watch or rewatch from folks who enjoyed the subject matter and atmosphere of Once Upon A Time all the same. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is the quintessential spaghetti Western, in part because of its formidable film roster, including director Sergio Leone as well as Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach, who are all at the helm of the movie as the titular trio of gunslingers searching for buried Confederate gold the story focuses on. The reported initial more divided reception the movie received is ironically something of a mark in the film's favor today. It seems in many ways The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly was ahead of its time, with the 1966 epic not holding back in its story or the violence found within it - which makes particular sense both given the gunslingers the film centers on, and its story being set during the American Civil War. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly works equally well if you're wanting a complex and layered exploration of what a Western is and the moral complexities that come hand in hand with the genre, or if you're just wanting to see some stylish action from some of the greatest of all time, making it a worthy peer to Once Upon A Time In The West itself.