Western Movies That NOT Set In The Old West

Rango

The joy of Rango is that it's set (technically) in the Old West. Or, rather, a "town" inhabited by animals who are marred by bandits, a large conspiracy and dire times. Directed by Gore Verbinski and starring the never funnier Johnny Depp as the titular chameleon, Rango was released in 2011 and remains one of Hollywood's most enjoyable and unique family animations.

Rango is a pet chameleon who spends his days wishing he could be the hero of a grand story. After his owners' fail to notice he has fallen from their car, Rango comes across a drought-ridden town in desperate need for help. Claiming to be a hero after accidentally killing a hawk, he becomes the town sheriff and works to help out the locals with their water and bandit problems.

As a film, it's predictable in its overall plot, but thanks to some great voice work (Depp, Isla Fisher and Bill Nighy), unique setting and impressive animation, Rango is great. It's also got some pretty splendid shout-outs to the idea of the Western hero, and a great caricature of Clint Eastwood voiced by Timothy Olyphant.

For the family, it's crazy levels of funny and stylish. As a Western, it's a respectful and brilliantly self-aware satire.

Outland

Sean Connery as a veteran marshal. A corrupt mining facility. A violent drug gang. A remake of a classic Old West vehicle, High Noon. All of this and more, set on Io... a moon orbiting Jupiter. What more could you want?

Described by director Peter Hyams and critics at the time of its release as a "space Western", Outland hit theatres in 1981 and managed, miraculously, to capture the essence of what made High Noon so great. There's a great deal of palatable tension, some brilliant characters (Connery is always fun, let's be fair), and a typical macho-man protagonist going against some shady happenings on an outer-space mining facility.

On top of that, there's hitmen, space travel, politics, corruption (a recurring theme on this list) and betrayal.

Taking the classic formula of the Western and literally moving it through time and space gives the film an extra level of intensity - the classic adage of "In space no one can hear you scream", only with drugs and guns and a lot less aliens. It's solid fun, if slightly leave-your-brain-at-the-door in parts, but when a film is this slick, cool and weird, that doesn't greatly matter.

Hell Or High Water

Hell or High Water was written by Taylor Sheridan and directed by David Mackenzie, released in late 2016. Starring a never better (except Big Lebowski) Jeff Bridges alongside Chris Pine, Ben Foster and Gil Birmingham, the film sees two brothers as they start robbing banks in order to pay their mortgage.

The plan starts off well, but soon a veteran lawman (Bridges) is hot on their trail. Described as a neo-Western heist thriller, Hell or High Water is the kind of film that sits back to look at the way the Old West has effected present day life. Many things have changed, but lawmen vs bank robbers is still very much a thing, and gunfights are by no means a thing of the past.

Aided by some staggeringly good performances - including a career best Chris Pine - and a great score courtesy of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, it's a slow burn of a picture which nonetheless leaves you transfixed by every frame, every confrontation, and every threat of violence.

The climax, too, is the stuff the best Westerns are made of - you know what's coming, how it's all going to end, but you can't help but hold on for dear life until it's over.

No Country For Old Men

Winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards, No Country for Old Men is arguably the most well-received film on this entire list. Directed and written by the unstoppable and always-stellar Coen Brothers, No Country for Old Men follows a hunter (Josh Brolin) as he attempts to flee with some stolen cash from a psychopathic hitman (an Oscar-winning Javier Bardem).

Amongst all the chases, intense as hell gunfights and moody dialogue, there is also Tommy Lee Jones' Sheriff Ed Bell, a weathered lawman whose faith in justice and peace is massively shaken. The whole thing is a stunning meditation on film-making and themes of peace, law, and the universal idea of good vs evil.

It's a Western modernised, with characters whose roles you can all recognised, but whose presence are altered by the way of the world they find themselves in.

And who can forget Jones' final speech in the closing moments of the film? Just thinking about it gives me the chills.

Wind River

Wind River came out in 2017, and was written and directed by Taylor Sheridan (one-time star of Sons of Anarchy and mastermind of Sicario). Full of the many themes audiences associate with the Western, Wind River follows wildlife officer Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner) and FBI Agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) as they attempt to solve the rape and murder of a teen on a Native American reservation.

In a lot of ways, this is a film that takes a step back from the Western and allows the audience to look at how the Old West and its wars and political turmoil shaped America for years to come. Beyond that, it's a film steeped in mystery, intensity and politics, a brilliant crime-thriller with sweeping sets and stunning visuals.

As he proved with Sicario, Sheridan is at his best when creating scenes of building tension and letting them pay-off massively. For that, it seems he was born to make Westerns - tense, tight, and epic in scope despite being relegated to one or two locations. Wind River is a Western through-and-through, and deserves a lot more praise for it achieved.