5 Best Kevin Costner Western Movies, Ranked

Few other contemporary acting juggernauts are so closely associated with the Western genre as Kevin Costner. The Academy Award-winning actor, director, and producer has made many waves on the Western front in the past, though it's probably safe to say that his current genre credibility leans heavily on his long-standing role as John Dutton on Taylor Sheridan's career-making Paramount neo-Western series "Yellowstone" — which Looper considers one of Costner's very best roles. 

Despite his reputation as a Western guy, it may be surprising to discover that Costner has actually made surprisingly few traditional Western movies. When you start to list his genuinely good Western movies, the list is, unfortunately, even shorter. This means that when, say, a devoted "Yellowstone" fan wants to check out the actor's other Western work, there's a not insignificant chance that the fan in question may land on a free range turkey. In order to stop such things from happening, Looper has put together a list of Kevin Costner's five finest Western movies, ranked from comparative worst to best based on their Rotten Tomatoes scores.

Lawrence Kasdan's 1994 Western epic "Wyatt Earp" has a meager 33% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and while the viewers' Popcornmeter rating is more merciful, its 61% score doesn't exactly scream greatness either. Arguably, the movie arrived too late after the 1993 Earp brothers flick "Tombstone" — the one where Val Kilmer delivers a Doc Holliday for the ages. Ironically enough, things could have been different: As Looper's sister site /Film has noted, Costner was originally involved with "Tombstone" and nearly killed the movie before production could even begin. In fact, Entertainment Weekly has reported that "Tombstone" scribe Kevin Jarre considers "Wyatt Earp" a spite project, made to defeat "Tombstone." 

Despite its lack of critical love, "Wyatt Earp" is actually the more decorated movie of the two — after a fashion, anyway. The good news is that it got an Academy Award nod for Owen Roizman's cinematography. The bad news is that the bulk of its award nominations were for Razzies. These awards of ill intent gave no fewer than seven nominations to the movie, with Costner ultimately "winning" one for worst actor and the film also taking home worst remake or sequel.

Look, they can't all be winners, but "Wyatt Earp" isn't quite as bad as all those Razzie nominations would have you believe. It's a serviceable if lengthy Western epic with an absurdly stacked cast that includes the likes of Costner, Gene Hackman, Mark Harmon, Elizabeth Rossellini, Michael Madsen, Tom Sizemore, and many others. This alone makes the film an interesting potential addition to your watch list.

Speaking of epic Kevin Costner Westerns that have been less than well received, we arrive at his infamous late-game product, "Horizon: An American Saga." The film's "Chapter 1" dropped in 2024 but underperformed at the box office so severely that "Chapter 2" has been pulled from theaters, and at the time of writing the first of the three planned sequel films has only made the programs of the 2024 Venice Film Festival and the 2025 Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Review wise, things haven't been going well, either: "Chapter 1" stands at 51% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the critics who have seen "Chapter 2" have given it a 50% Tomatometer rating.

There's a lot of "Horizon: An American Saga" even as it stands. "Chapter 1" is a swooping thing that clocks in at slightly over three hours, telling a story that spans many years of the Old West era. Costner stars as horse trader Hayes Ellison, with the likes of Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Rooker, Luke Wilson, and even Costner's "Yellowstone" co-star Danny Huston providing backup.

Costner has been planning "Horizon" since 1988 and ended up risking a good chunk of his personal fortune in the process. "I've mortgaged 10 acres on the water in Santa Barbara where I was going to build my last house," he told Deadline in 2023. "But I did it without a thought. It has thrown my accountant into a f****** conniption fit. But it's my life, and I believe in the idea and the story." Unfortunately, the reception of "Horizon: An American Saga" hasn't matched his grand vision, and "Part 1" alone seems destined to end near the bottom whenever Kevin Costner movies are ranked from worst to best. 

On a considerably more well-received Lawrence Kasdan-Kevin Costner front than "Wyatt Earp" we have 1985's "Silverado," one of the iconic 1980s Westerns that defined the genre. It has the tried-and-tested premise of a ragtag team of plucky cowboys saving a town that's ruled with iron fist by sheriff-slash-saloon owner Cobb (Brian Dennehy) and ranch lord McKendrick (Ray Baker). It's a fun buddy premise, and at two hours and 12 minutes, relatively compact for a Costner film. 

"Silverado" is a solid Western through and through, but it particularly thrives on its casting. The four key cowboys are played by Scott Glenn, Costner, Kevin Kline, and Danny Glover, with names like Jeff Goldblum, Rosanna Arquette, Linda Hunt, and John Cleese in supporting roles. Everyone pulls their weight here, and two Academy Award nominations and a solid 78% Tomatometer rating speak volumes about the movie's quality. While the previous two movies are decidedly in the "watch if you like Kevin Costner a lot" category, "Silverado" marks the turning point of our list — it's going to be pure quality from here on out.

"Horizon: The American Saga" aside, it's worth noting that Kevin Costner's greatest successes in the Western movie game have been projects where he played a notable role not only as an actor, but also as a director and co-producer. Based on Lauran Paine's book "The Open Range Men," the 2003 movie "Open Range" is the lesser of his two major works on this front, but still a very good movie in its own right. 

Here, the movie's focal point is actually cattleman Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall), with Costner playing his cowhand assistant, former Civil War bushwhacker Charley Waite — a man who feels the weight of every life he's taken during the conflict. Boss, Charley, and the latter's fellow cowhands Mose (Abraham Benrubi) and Button (Diego Luna) soon end up in conflict with a rancher called Baxter (Michael Gambon) and a ruthless marshal called Poole (James Russo).

Sure, the setup seems like "Silverado." However, "Open Range" is a decidedly different animal; one that focuses on a violent dispute between free-roaming and territorial cattlers. It relies heavily on old-school Western traditions and gives plenty of space for the actors to do their thing. This is a good choice, too, given a cast that includes the aforementioned names as well as the great Annette Bening. "Open Range" is an enjoyable Western drama that isn't afraid to either go quiet or fire on all cylinders, and has the 79% Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score to show for it. 

Sometimes, you simply already know which movie is going to top the list, don't you? With an 87% Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score and a haul of no fewer than seven Academy Awards — including best picture, best director, and best actor in a leading role for co-producer and actor-director Costner – "Dances with Wolves" is no slouch by any stretch of imagination.

"Dances with Wolves" revived the Western genre when it came out in 1990. It depicts the adventures of the disillusioned, struggling, and lonely Union lieutenant John Dunbar (Costner), who finds a new lease on life in the diminishing American frontier as a honorary member of the Lakota tribe. Dunbar is dubbed Dances with Wolves after an earlier incident where he befriended a wolf, a richly symbolic part of his new journey about finding love and meaning. Unfortunately, things get complicated when other Union soldiers finally arrive to occupy the fort that Dunbar was initially manning on his own.

Moving and atmospheric, "Dances with Wolves" has a story to tell and it tells it well. Your mileage may vary on some of its details, but the movie wears its heart on its sleeve throughout, and it's as captivating as it is touching. With his grand plans for "Horizon: An American Saga," Costner himself might prefer it otherwise, but "Dances with Wolves" may very well turn out to be his magnum opus, after all.