10 Best Western Movie Endings of All Time

The Western genre has produced some of the most compelling and meaningful films ever made, from gritty revisionist films like Pale Rider to action-packed revenge tales like Tombstone. While not having the same mass-market appeal as superhero or comedy movies, the genre often turns in some of the most important and best-written stories in Hollywood. From tales of retired gunfighters coming back for one last hurrah to gritty lawmen bringing down an outlaw, these films cover everything from adventure and drama to action and romance.

Western movies often give audiences some of the most thought-provoking endings in cinema, and is a genre known for its unpredictable nature. From dead heroes to epic shootouts, viewers are left thrilled and entertained more often and more consistently than in most genres — and plenty of Westerns manage to draw a few tears from fans. The genre covers a range of ideas, and some films stand out for their touching conclusions more than others.

10 3:10 To Yuma Has A Gut-Punch Ending

IMDb Rating: 7.6/10

3:10 To Yuma focuses on the capture of outlaw Ben Wade, and the formation of a posse to take him to the town of Contention, where he is to be loaded aboard the train bound for Yuma prison. Among the hired guns is Dan Evans, a Civil War veteran who’s struggling to maintain his farm and provide for his family. As the posse rides out, they learn that Wade’s lethal gang is coming for them, and it isn’t long before Evans, along with his son, is the only man able to finish the job. Upon arriving in Contention, the remaining members of the group are gunned down, leaving the hero to take on the gang alone and reach the train.

3:10 To Yuma famously ends with one of the genre’s most downbeat endings. After having built a level of respect for Evans’ courage and resolve, Wade watches in anger as his captor is gunned down by his gang. Infuriated, he turns his gun on his own men, killing them all within seconds. The story of Wade is one of a cold-hearted cynic finding respect in an unlikely place, growing to admire Evans as a man of honor and integrity. His willingness to board the train of his own accord signals a sincere repentance on his part, making for one of the genre’s most downbeat, albeit meaningful, endings.

9 Open Range Has A Tender Ending

IMDb Rating: 7.4/10

Open Range follows a group of cattle drivers as they cross paths with a ruthless land baron, Denton Baxter, who resents their free-grazing practices. Initially sending them on their way, Baxter crosses the line when he sends his men out to murder the group, leaving one man dead and another gravely wounded. In response, Boss and Charley, the group’s leaders, head back to town to get their friend medical attention and set about getting revenge against the men responsible. At the same time, Charley begins to build a relationship with the doctor’s sister.

Open Range was based on romantic Western novels of which director Kevin Costner was an admirer, and its ending reflects that. After a fantastic shootout between Boss, Charley and Baxter’s goons, the men of the open range decide to settle down in the small town. It may not bring the epic scale of a John Wayne movie, nor the grit of a Clint Eastwood film, but Open Range pleases audiences who have a more tender and romantic vision of the Old West — and it does so brilliantly.

8 Unforgiven Has A Deep Conclusion

IMDb Rating: 8.2/10

Unforgiven begins when a group of prostitutes in the Wyoming town of Big Whiskey put out a bounty on a pair of cowboys after their savage attack on one of the women. In response, an aspiring bounty hunter, the Schofield Kid, turns to retired gunfighter Will Munny for help. Turning to his old friend, Ned Logan, the aged gunman reluctantly agrees to take the job to provide for his family, despite being repentant over his violent past. As they find the cowboys, Munny and Logan start to question if they’re cut out for killing again. However, when they incur the wrath of the town’s morally-flawed sheriff, Bill Daggett, Munny’s part in the job turns personal.

Unforgiven ends with a vengeful Munny entering a saloon and gunning down Daggett’s entire posse before they can fire a shot. The ending is more than it seems, however. After the movie spends much of its runtime deconstructing the Western gunfighter mythos, Munny’s shootout reconstructs it — though, his return to his old ways serves as a warning against both violence and injustice, since Daggett’s failure to do the right thing at the start of the film effectively caused his own death. The ending also includes the film’s most famous exchange; after an injured Daggett says “I don’t deserve this,” the enraged Munny replies “deserve’s got nothing to do with it,” explaining the film’s message of moral ambiguity and senseless violence in the Old West.

7 The Shootist Reconstructs the Gunfighter Mythos

IMDb Rating: 7.6/10

The Shootist focuses on JB Books, an aged gunfighter who rides into Carson City to see a doctor over his ailing health. After learning he has terminal cancer, with months to live if he’s lucky, Books rents a room from a nearby widow, Bond Rogers, whose son, Gillom, looks up to the legendary shootist. However, as news spreads of his presence in town, a band of aspiring gunfighters target him, each man looking to make a name for himself as the person who killed the icon. Realizing that the violence won’t stop, Books arranges for his challengers to meet him in a saloon for one final showdown.

The Shootist is a film loaded with meaning, casting John Wayne, who was himself dying of cancer at the time, in the role of JB Books. The ending sees the hero go down in a blaze of glory, sparing himself the slow and painful death his doctor tells him awaits him. In a scene that both reconstructs the legend of the Western gunfighter, particularly the roles played by Wayne, while also ending the cycle of violence as Gillom throws his gun away, the film has a poignant, heartfelt conclusion.

6 3 Godfathers Ends With True Redemption

IMDb Rating: 7.3/10

Based on the novel by Peter B. Kyne, 3 Godfathers begins when a trio of outlaws, headed by the young and hotheaded Bob Sangster, ride into the town of New Jerusalem. With a history there, Sangster tries to swindle his way through town, attempting to rekindle a relationship with his old love, Molly. The next day, the criminals rob a bank and are run out of town, fleeing into the desert, where they stumble upon a wagon. Realizing that the man has perished after drinking from a poisoned waterhole, they find the woman, who has recently given birth to a baby. As the men take responsibility for the child after the mother’s death, they continue their journey, slowly letting go of their greed for the sake of the child.

3 Godfathers follows its unlikely heroes as each man succumbs to thirst while trying to return to New Jerusalem, where the child will be safe. After seeing his friends perish, Sangster decides to give his own life by drinking from the poisoned water, allowing him to regain his strength just long enough to reach town. Bursting into church, the dying outlaw places the child in Molly’s arms, giving him a hero’s death. While John Ford’s 1948 version of the film is better known, it also ends on a more triumphant note — while the 1936 film strikes the perfect bittersweet tone.

5 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Has the West’s Greatest Stand-Off

IMDb Rating: 8.8/10

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly begins with the Man With No Name, “Blondie,” and his new partner, the outlaw Tuco, running scams on towns to collect their bounties. At the same time, a mercenary, Angel Eyes, learns of a buried stash of Confederate gold, and begins chasing down leads as to its location. When Blondie and Tuco’s partnership turns sour, the latter marches the former out into the desert at gunpoint — where they happen upon a dying soldier, who gives each man half the location of the gold. When they cross paths with Angel Eyes in a Union prisoner of war camp, their quest takes a dramatic turn.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ends with a classic Mexican standoff between Blondie, Tuco and Angel Eyes to decide the fate of the gold. As Ennio Morricone’s score intensifies and audiences are shown close-ups of the gunfighters’ eyes, Blondie shoots Angel Eyes as a frustrated Tuco realizes his gun has been emptied by his old partner. Splitting the loot in half as promised, the antihero has Tuco hung up in a noose while standing on a box, only to perform the best shot in the West when he blasts the rope apart from a safe distance. With his treasure secure and his word kept, he rides away to the film’s triumphant music.

4 The Searchers Has An Iconic Ending

IMDb Rating: 7.8/10

The Searchers follows Ethan Edwards, a Confederate Civil War veteran, as he forms a posse to search for his nieces following a Comanche raid against his brother’s homestead. Riding out into the frontier after them, his mission turns into an epic five-year quest as he learns of the death of one of the girls, and discovers the other has now assimilated into the tribe. Staging an intense rescue, Ethan infiltrates the camp and saves the girl.

The Searchers is a story of resolve, prejudice and obsession, as Ethan’s love for his niece is tested against his fierce bigotry against the Comanche. After overcoming his hate for what he believes Debbie has become, the protagonist is able to rescue her following a daring battle, and the film closes on the iconic shot of him carrying her home, turning and walking out as the door closes with her safely returned. Based on Alan La May’s novel, the film has since become a standard-bearer for the epic Western, both in its themes and scale, having influenced films like Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga.

3 High Noon Is A Tale of Heroism in the Face of Cowardice

IMDb Rating: 7.9/10

Set in the town of Hadleyville, High Noon begins with the wedding of outgoing marshal Will Kane to his wife Amy. However, before they can leave, he learns of the release of Frank Miller, a notorious outlaw Kane sent to prison for murder. Despite his wife pleading for him to come away for their honeymoon, Kane is bound by his sense of duty to the town to face the killer, so he can keep the town safe. However, as he tries to assemble a posse of townspeople to help him take on the gang, Kane is left dismayed as they turn their backs on him — including his own wife, a Quaker pacifist, who fears he will be killed.

High Noon ends with the showdown between Kane and Miller’s gang, with the lone hero taking on the odds. As it seems that he’s about to be killed, Amy shows up to save him, allowing him to finish off the outlaw. As the townspeople suddenly appear to rally around him, Kane throws down his star, leaving behind the cowardly residents to start his life with Amy. The scene is one of the most significant in film history, let alone the Western genre, as it serves up a damning indictment of inaction and cowardice, with many interpreting the ending as criticism of silence and cowardice during McCarthyism. The idea of the heroic lawman throwing down his star has since become a mainstay part of Western and thriller movies, signifying a hero’s frustration with an unappreciative system of people — famously borrowed for the ending of Dirty Harry.

2 Shane Ends On A Perfectly Ambiguous Note

IMDb Rating: 7.6/10

Shane tells the story of a family of homesteaders, the Starretts, as they face intimidation from a local land baron, Ryker. As the campaign of violence against them escalates, their farm hand, a retired gunfighter by the name of Shane, steps up to protect them — and takes the fight to Ryker and his goons. Realizing that the conflict can only end one way, the hero prepares for the ultimate showdown against the villains, all while growing closer with the family, particularly their young son, Joey.

Shane helped build up the Western genre’s now-iconic trope of the retired gunfighter with the heart of a hero getting back in the saddle to do the right thing. As an injured Shane rides off over the horizon, Joey calls his name — and audiences are left to question whether the hero survived his injuries, or if he rode off to spare the boy having to see him die. The story has an almost Biblical tone to it, with the hero potentially having given his own life so that the Starretts can be free of Ryker’s persecution. It’s worth mentioning that this ending was paid homage to in Clint Eastwood’s Pale Rider, which is a darker, supernatural adaptation of the iconic 1953 film.

1 For A Few Dollars More Has the Perfect Feel-Good Ending

IMDb Rating: 8.2/10

For A Few Dollars More begins with the arrival of a seasoned bounty hunter, Colonel Mortimer, to a small town in search of feared outlaw, El Indio. There, he meets the Man With No Name and, after an initial competition between them, the pair join forces to infiltrate the criminal’s gang of bank robbers. Unknown to his partner, Mortimer is actually seeking revenge against El Indio for the death of his sister. After foiling their plans, the movie draws to a close as the villain catches Mortimer without his weapon, playing his sister’s musical locket as a countdown to his death. Just as the chimes begin to slow, the Man With No Name appears, aiming a gun at El Indio as he evens the playing field by giving his friend a pistol — and allowing him to outdraw his sister’s killer.

For A Few Dollars More ends with as perfect a send-off as it gets, with Mortimer riding off into the sunset as the Man With No Name counts his new fortune. As legendary as the other films in the trilogy may be, this Western boasts the greatest conclusion to any film in its genre, honoring both the camaraderie of the story and the tone of Leone’s trilogy. Justice is served, the villain is killed, and the heroes leave on good terms, each man better off for having teamed up — all to the sound of Ennio Morricone’s masterful score.