One of the finest of the genre, this classic western follows two men whose initial contempt for each other's methods, one a hard man rancher, the other a naively honest lawyer, develops into respect when faced with the the town's local hoodlum. Tense, absorbing and not without wit. Superb. find out more...

Two drifters are passing through a Western town when news comes in that a local farmer has been murdered and his cattle stolen. The townspeople, joined by the drifters, form a posse to catch the perpetrators. They find three men in possession of the cattle, and are determined to see justice done on the spot. Superlative western with a timeless message, echoed in another Henry Fonda classic: 12 Angry Men. find out more...

After a sensitive widow (Kirsten Dunst) and her enigmatic, fiercely loving son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) move in with her gentle new husband (Jesse Plemons), a tense battle of wills plays out between them and his brutish brother (Benedict Cumberbatch), whose frightening volatility conceals a secret torment, and whose capacity for tenderness, once reawakened, may offer him redemption or spell his destruction.

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Crusading frontier policeman Captain Stanley captures the fugitive Burns brothers, Charley and Mikey, at the scene of a bloody rape and murder. Informing Charley that he must kill his older brother, Arthur, in order to avoid the execution of Mikey, Stanley retreats to an old jailhouse and awaits the bloody outcome. Director John Hillcoat's second collaboration with Nick Cave (here contributing the film's screenplay and soundtrack), is a taut and often brutal character study of desperation ami find out more...

When Melquides Estrada is found murdered it is presumed he's just another illegal immigrant and consequently of no concern to the American authorities. Buried in an unnamed pauper's grave it would seem that is the end of the matter, but Melquaides knew a good man in ranch foreman Pete Perkins, a tough as nails individual determined to see justice done and honour the wishes of his dead friend. 'Three Burials' is a mesmerising tale of friendship, revenge and redemption, driven by a dominating perf find out more...

Jimmy Stewart plays the good brother whose sharp shootin' wins him the eponymous, and often fetishised, rifle in a riveting contest. The episodic story that follows tracks the rifle as it changes hands, from brother to brother, arms trader to Indian warrior, encouraging the viewer to realise that the true star of the film (and indeed the battle for the West) is the rifle. The actors, including a young Rock Hudson, seem to play their characters in the knowledge that they are very much in the back find out more...