5 Best Western Movies Streaming For Free

Few film genres have been as popular for as long as the Western, and that extensive history also included one of the most vast catalogs of films ever collected. So it should be of little surprise that the Western has quickly become a natural denizen of the world of FAST — Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television.

You know the names — the ones so goofy you're not sure if it's a real streaming platform or a parody of one from an Onion article. Philo. Tubi. Freevee. Pluto. These platforms, accessible to all and funded by ad breaks, in a model meant to evoke something closer to traditional TV, have become quite popular over the last several years. And if you're a fan of the Western, they're a particularly rich repository, and not just for old black and white movies that have fallen out of favor among modern audiences.

From contemporary classics to timeless icons of the genre, these are five of the best Western movies currently streaming for free, and where to find them.

If you're looking for the best Westerns of the 21st century, 2007's "3:10 to Yuma" is a good place to start. A remake of the 1957 film of the same name, both of which are adapted from a short story by Elmore Leonard, the film follows down-and-out rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale), who takes a high-risk job as part of a posse escorting captured outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to the town of Contention, where he will be put aboard the 3:10 train to Yuma Prison. Dan needs the money to save his family's ranch, though the job itself is fraught with danger as Wade's gang attempts to free him.

Director James Mangold would later reassert his Western chops with the acclaimed X-Men film "Logan," but it's here that he proved himself a deft craftsman of the genre. "3:10 to Yuma" is an expertly paced film with high emotional stakes and fantastic cinematography, but it's the chemistry between Bale and Russell, two superstars of the early 2000s, that elevates the film to all-timer status. The ending of "3:10 to Yuma" is one of the truly great finales in the pantheon of modern Westerns, giving both actors room to shine.

At press time, the full film is available for free on Philo. If you've never seen it, do yourself a favor and give it a watch.

Some cinephiles know that Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" pulls from a long history, although the lineage of the name Django, which has graced many different characters over the years, is far from a connected continuity. But the origin of the name dates back to the eponymous 1966 film by Italian director Sergio Corbucci — a true spaghetti Western in the classical sense – starring Franco Nero as the titular antihero.

Another thing that fans of Tarantino's film may or may not know is that "Django," like the more famous "A Fistful of Dollars," is a loose adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's legendary samurai film "Yojimbo." But unlike either of those movies, "Django" developed a specific reputation for ultra-violence. Some critics held this aspect as a cheap trick, but the film is generally remembered quite well these days, with many retrospectives pointing to the violence as a keystone for the film's larger themes. This aspect is reflected in Tarantino's version and made the subject matter a natural fit for his own reputation as a director of hyper-violence.

The combination of historical significance, influence, and classic spaghetti Western style makes "Django" well worth the watch 60 years after its premiere. And today, anyone online can watch the movie for free over on Plex.

Westerns aren't just for grizzled older men and movie buffs. They can also be for families, and there's no better modern example of that than the 2011 animated film "Rango."

A post-"Pirates of the Caribbean" collaboration between Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp, "Rango" follows a lost pet chameleon stranded in the Mojave Desert, where he enters a Wild West world run by the iron, uh, tail of the villainous Rattlesnake Jake, as well as a cast of other unsavory characters.

What's most impressive about "Rango" is that it manages to perfectly embody the core traits of the classic Western, from the structure of the story to the types of action encounters, character archetypes, "shot" selection, music, and tone. At the same time, it brings all of that seamlessly under the banner of the modern animated family film. The film is currently available on Tubi, where it's streaming for free, perfect for a family movie night.

The original "True Grit" is a classic — arguably the prestige film for John Wayne's legendary career in Westerns. But if you don't currently have a way to watch it, or you're just looking for something modern that's just as good (or even better, depending on who you ask), you can watch the Coen brothers' 2010 remake for free on Pluto.

Jeff Bridges doesn't try to do a Wayne impression with his own Rooster Cogburn. Instead, he plays the role as only he can, adding another fantastic performance to a career chock-full of them. Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and Domhnall Gleeson are all great too in their supporting roles, but it's Hailee Steinfeld's performance as Mattie Ross that steals the show. In "True Grit," the world saw the star Steinfeld would grow into, though to be completely honest, she was already there.

While this is a remake, it's very much its own film, evocative of and reverential to the old Western stylings of the original, but distinctly Coen in its tone, writing, and cinematic style. All of that independence works to the film's benefit, helping it stand alongside its predecessor as a proper companion film. It's one of the best Western remakes ever produced, and one of the rare instances where the original and the modern adaptation actually fit together quite well as a double feature.

If you want to watch "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" right now, you'll have to pay for it, or have the right active subscription. But if you want to watch either of the first two films in the iconic Sergio Leone/Clint Eastwood trilogy, they're both currently streaming for free with ads on Tubi.

"A Fistful of Dollars," the first collaboration between the Western star and legendary director, remains a timeless icon of the genre. Based on "Yojimbo" by Akira Kurosawa, the story is more than familiar at this point: A stranger with a good shooting arm wanders into a town torn apart by warring factions, and decides to stick around long enough to see if he can do something about it. But more so than that adapted narrative, it's the visual style of Leone's direction, defined by his stunning close-ups and theatrical framing, that made the film so influential.

The massive popularity of the spaghetti Western as a subgenre can largely be tied back to this film, and while its eventual threequel may get more love today, "A Fistful of Dollars" remains a cinematic classic, irrespective of genre. It's one of the best Clint Eastwood Westerns ever, and an easy pick for a movie night now that it's streaming for free.