All 7 Gene Hackman Western Movies, Ranked

Gene Hackman was a legend, yet that indisputable fact still doesn't cover just what incredible work he delivered in his extraordinary career. Hackman hit the ground running with an unforgettable turn in "Bonnie and Clyde," and from there used his magnetic voice, tremendous physicality, and instantly believable aura to create lived-in performances. Hackman could go big and impress audiences (just look at his delightful Lex Luthor turn in "Superman"), but his more understated work in masterpieces like "The Conversation" really reflected his talents. Just the way his eyes darted to the floor or his portrayal of a man meekly trying to talk to a woman were absolutely transfixing.

As late as 2001 with "The Royal Tenenbaums," Hackman was crushing it as a performer. Among his many accomplishments across an expansive filmography were his recurring forays into Westerns. Given that Hackman always effortlessly came off as a normal person rather than a polished movie star straining to realize a facsimile of ordinary existence, he was perfect for a genre that's all about sweat and turmoil. Ranking all seven of Gene Hackman's Western movies from worst to best (based around their average Letterboxd ratings) highlights not only Hackman's contributions to this genre, but also his countless feats as an artist.

Even the weakest of these seven Westerns found ways to exemplify why Gene Hackman was one of the greatest performers to stroll across the screen. Giddy on up, folks, and let's look at Hackman's exploits out on the range.

Considered one of Kevin Costner's five best Westerns, "Wyatt Earp" was a 1994 epic directed by Lawrence Kasdan and starring Costner in the title role. Hackman played Wyatt's dad, Nicholas, while the all-star cast inhabiting Dodge City and Tombstone included Dennis Quaid as Doc Holliday and Bill Pullman as Ed Masterson. But even with such an idiosyncratic icon like Hackman in the cast, "Wyatt Earp" couldn't escape the shadow of other early '90s Westerns when it first hit theaters. Specifically, another Wyatt Earp movie, "Tombstone," had just dropped into theaters a few months before its release, while Costner's 1990 smash "Dances with Wolves" also loomed large over "Wyatt Earp."

That more mixed reputation has, unfortunately, endured, given the 3.2 average rating "Wyatt Earp" has scored on Letterboxd. While not necessarily bad, the majority of the site's reviews generally agree that "Wyatt Earp" doesn't have anywhere near a compelling enough aesthetic or script to justify running for 210+ minutes. Even with a more succinct length (or if the superior "Tombstone" didn't exist), "Wyatt Earp" would still register as a slog. While its pacing and slavish devotion to biopic tropes was disappointing, at least the cast was universally praised by Letterboxd users.

That includes Hackman's performance as well, with the actor's turn being a highlight of the entire movie for several users. Too bad Hackman couldn't keep "Wyatt Earp" from becoming one of the 10 worst movies over three hours long.

After helping usher in the New Hollywood movement with his supporting turn in "Bonnie and Clyde," Gene Hackman was constantly working with the hottest directors of the late '60s and the entire 1970s. For instance, he anchored Francis Ford Coppola's greatest feature, "The Conversation," while also starring in William Friedkin's cultural sensation "The French Connection." 1974's "Zandy's Bride" continued this trend, given that it was helmed by Jan Troell, who was nominated for the best director Oscar just a few years earlier with his 1971 feature "The Emigrants." 

That acclaimed epic put Troell on the map, ensuring his subsequent projects (especially if they starred someone of Hackman's caliber) would be on everyone's radar. "Zandy's Bride" is set in the late 1800s and follows Zandy Allan (Gene Hackman) as he bumps heads with his unexpectedly ornery mail-order bride, Hannah Lund (Liv Ullmann). The saga of this pair growing closer has a 3.3 average rating on Letterboxd — a fine achievement, but noticeably lower than most other Hackman titles of the era. 

The biggest problem for many Letterboxd reviewers is that Troell's camera is disturbingly nonchalant about the abuse and sexual violence Zandy puts Hannah through. Such horrors make it harder to get invested in the duo's budding relationship. Other, more fawning write-ups heap praise on Hackman and Ullmann's performances, as well as Troell's ability to capture gorgeous natural tableaus with such impactful camerawork.

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Some movies are defined by labyrinthine plots, narrative twists, dense character relationships, and even non-linear presentations of reality. Not every film has to be so dense, though. Sometimes, all you need to drive a movie is a race. That's just what informs the plot of 1975's "Bite the Bullet," in which Gene Hackman's Sam Clayton is the centerpiece of a feature solely concerned with nine outsized characters engaging in a horse race that spans 700 miles. The cast here is a menagerie of recognizable faces, including Candice Bergen, James Coburn, Jan-Michael Vincent, Ben Johnson, Dabney Coleman, and Walter Scott. 

On Letterboxd, "Bite the Bullet" (which comes courtesy of director Richard Brooks, who also helmed "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "In Cold Blood," among many other features) has a 3.3 average Letterboxd rating. Some Letterboxd reviews found this title to be, despite its conceptually propulsive premise, too slow for its own good. Others found the plot difficult to get invested in on any level. Other Letterboxd denizens, though, found plenty to enjoy in the lavish ensemble cast as well as the natural backdrops. Across the board, all of the platform's "Bite the Bullet" reviews unanimously express astonishment at how good Hackman is in this particular project.

Even in a film that wasn't destined to become an enduring classic, "Bite the Bullet" still let this man show off his acting chops, nailing it even in a relatively streamlined film like this one.

Brandt Ruger (Gene Hackman) has a problem. His wife, Melissa (Candice Bergen), has been snatched. Now, to get her back, he and his motley followers are determined to get some good ol' fashioned revenge on the folks behind this kidnapping scheme. Also along for this vengeful ride from director Don Medford are actors like Oliver Reed and Simon Oakland. "The Hunting Party" treads similar narrative ground (at least conceptually) as some of the best revenge movies of all time, but the general reception to "The Hunting Party" was widely negative, with many critics finding this title to have all the violence of a Sam Peckinpah Western but none of the artistry.

Over on Letterboxd, "The Hunting Party" hasn't suddenly mustered up a massive cult following. However, it's certainly received a better response compared to those dreary critic reviews. The average Letterboxd rating for "The Hunting Party" is 3.3, with many of the more negative reviews lamenting its relentlessly grim execution. Others, though, found the pervasive nastiness interesting to watch unfold, especially since it offered the chance to see (among other sights) British thespian Oliver Reed donning an American accent to play a Western character.

Plus, if any actor could fully commit to a Western evoking the 14 most disturbing movies of all time, it'd be Gene Hackman. This actor was never afraid of a grimy, even repellant character. His willingness to utilize his chops on these roles helped "The Hunting Party" garner more modern fans than it initially received in 1971.

1993's "Geronimo: An American Legend" accomplished something extremely rare in the history of American cinema: delivering a movie where audiences could reasonably wish Gene Hackman wasn't in it. This wasn't a reflection of the quality of Hackman's performance, but rather how frustrating it was that this Walter Hill directorial effort, supposedly all about Apache legend Geronimo (Wes Studi), focuses so heavily on white people (performed by actors like Hackman, Jason Patric, Robert Duvall, and Matt Damon, among others). All due respect to Hackman, but his screentime should have gone to other Indigenous performers.

Still, the final, Caucasian-centric cut of "Geronimo: An American Legend" is the one released to theaters and the one that's garnered a 3.3 average rating on Letterboxd. That rating would be higher, except many Letterboxd users lamented the slow pacing and lackluster performances from actors like Patric. These qualities inevitably kept "Geronimo" from hitting its loftiest historical epic aspirations. Still, the strong visual sensibilities and Wes Studi's universally lauded performance are constantly praised in even the most critical "Geronimo" reviews. Meanwhile, Hackman's reliably sturdy supporting work is also lauded in several write-ups.

Hackman, firmly in the "legendary actor" phase of his career, proved here that he could still just be another member of an ensemble cast, contributing to a movie that was larger than any one star, even if "Geronimo" might have been admittedly better without him (and Jason Patric) in it.

Sam Raimi's Western "The Quick and the Dead" features, among several other accomplishments, two future movie stars who would become massive deals just a few years after this movie's February 1995 debut. First there was Russell Crowe, who would sporadically appear in further Westerns even after the triple-whammy of "The Insider," "Gladiator," and "A Beautiful Mind" from 1999 to 2001 solidified him as a legend. Then there's Leonardo DiCaprio as a gunslinger nicknamed "The Kid," showing up here two years before "Titanic" changed everything for him. Intriguingly, these two then-newbies get to share the screen here with a long-established icon like Gene Hackman.

All these actors are assembled for the saga of Ellen (Sharon Stone) coming to the town of Redemption to seek revenge against Mayor Herod (Hackman). A local quick-draw tournament could be the perfect opportunity to finally put a bullet in Herod's head. Considered one of the 10 most rewatchable Western movies of all time, "The Quick and the Dead" has amassed a 3.5 average rating on Letterboxd. Raimi's gifts for delivering gnarly entertainment are in rare form here as the bullets and outsized Western characters fly.

Plus, Raimi's gift for unspooling memorable performances out of his actors inspired many Letterboxd reviewers to heap praise on the various "Quick and the Dead" cast members, including Hackman's nefarious turn. A significantly more unhinged creation than most other Hackman Westerns, "The Quick and the Dead" unified multiple eras of movie stars with thrilling results.

1992's "Unforgiven" was about '60s cinema legends coming to terms with mortality and grappling with the complicated consequences of the classical Western image. The film's leading man and director, Clint Eastwood, was clearly embodying that as Will Munny, a tormented man conscious of violence's long-ranging consequences. That's a sharp contrast to the '60s spaghetti Westerns Eastwood once headlined, which dished out carnage without giving a second thought to the ripple effects of such behavior. Similarly, Gene Hackman, who also got his start in the '60s playing law-breaking figures in rural settings, is around to subvert his initial movie star image as the "Unforgiven" villain.

Hackman, who once played Bonnie and Clyde's most trusted associate, is now the bloodthirsty Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett. Eastwood and Hackman's respective performances are richly in conversation with their past, but their turns also work like gangbusters even for those who haven't seen those landmark titles. It also explains how "Unforgiven" has scored a 4.2 average rating on Letterboxd. The reviews on this site are constantly heaping praise on its haunting atmosphere and commanding collection of performances.

That includes Hackman's Oscar-winning work, which stands out even in a career chock full of antagonist turns. Some movies get too lost in the past when reflecting on yesteryear. With talented actors like Gene Hackman, "Unforgiven" — one of Taylor Sheridan's major inspirations for "Yellowstone" — effortlessly used pre-existing films as a launchpad for something new and exceptional.