List of Western subgenres

{{Short description|None}} {{More citations needed|date=June 2024}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}} {{Westerns sidebar}} The '''Western''' is a genre [[Setting (narrative)|set]] in the [[American frontier]] and commonly associated with [[Americana (culture)|folk tales]] of the [[Western United States]], particularly the [[Southwestern United States]], as well as [[Northern Mexico]] and Western Canada. It is commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West" and depicted in Western media as a hostile, sparsely populated [[American frontier|frontier]] in a state of near-total lawlessness patrolled by [[Outlaw (stock character)|outlaws]], sheriffs, and numerous other [[Stock character|stock]] [[gunslinger]] characters. Western narratives often concern the gradual attempts to tame the crime-ridden American West using wider themes of [[justice]], [[freedom]], rugged [[individualism]], [[manifest destiny]], and the national history and identity of the United States.

Within the larger scope of the Western genre, there are several recognized subgenres. Some subgenres, such as spaghetti Westerns, maintain standard Western settings and plots, while others take the Western theme and archetypes into different supergenres, such as neo-Westerns or space Westerns.

For a time, Westerns made in countries other than the United States were often labeled by foods associated with the culture, such as spaghetti Westerns (Italy), meat pie Westerns (Australia), ramen Westerns (Asia), and masala Westerns (India).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Groves |first=Derham |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h6CYEAAAQBAJ |title=Australian Westerns in the Fifties: Kangaroo, Hopalong Cassidy on Tour, and Whiplash |date=2022-10-28 |publisher=[[Springer Nature]] |isbn=978-3-031-12883-7 |page=xii |language=en}}</ref>

==Acid Western== {{main|Acid Western}} Film critic [[Jonathan Rosenbaum]] refers to a makeshift 1960s and 1970s genre called the [[acid Western]],<ref name=J>{{cite web|website=Jonathanrosenbaum.net|url=https://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/2013/04/responding-to-some-questions-about-acid-westerns-and-dead-man/|author=Rosenbaum, Jonathan|author-link=Jonathan Rosenbaum|title=Responding to some questions about "Acid Westerns" and DEAD MAN|date=April 25, 2013|access-date=2018-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418161440/https://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/2013/04/responding-to-some-questions-about-acid-westerns-and-dead-man/|archive-date=2018-04-18}}</ref> associated with [[Dennis Hopper]], [[Jim McBride]], and [[Rudy Wurlitzer]], as well as films such as [[Monte Hellman]]'s ''[[The Shooting]]'' (1966), [[Alejandro Jodorowsky]]'s bizarre experimental film ''[[El Topo (1970 film)|El Topo ''(''The Mole'')'']]'' (1970),<ref name=J/> and [[Robert Downey Sr.]]'s ''[[Greaser's Palace]]'' (1972).<ref name=J/> The 1970 film ''El Topo'' is an [[allegory|allegorical]] [[cult film|cult]] Western and [[underground film]] about the eponymous character, a violent black-clad gunfighter, and his quest for enlightenment. The film is filled with bizarre characters and occurrences, use of maimed and [[dwarfism|dwarf]] performers, and heavy doses of [[Christian symbolism]] and [[Eastern philosophy]]. Some spaghetti Westerns also crossed over into the acid Western genre, such as [[Enzo G. Castellari]]'s mystical ''[[Keoma (film)|Keoma]]'' (1976), a Western reworking of [[Ingmar Bergman]]'s ''[[The Seventh Seal]]'' (1957).

More recent acid Westerns include [[Alex Cox]]'s ''[[Walker (film)|Walker]]'' (1987) and [[Jim Jarmusch]]'s ''[[Dead Man]]'' (1995). Rosenbaum describes the acid Western as "formulating a chilling, savage frontier poetry to justify its hallucinated agenda"; ultimately, he says, the acid Western expresses a counterculture sensibility to critique and replace capitalism with alternative forms of exchange.<ref name="Chicago Reader">{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/movies/archives/0696/06286.html |title=''Acid Western: Dead Man'' |work=Chicago Reader |date=June 26, 1996 |first=Jonathan |last=Rosenbaum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929104355/http://www.chicagoreader.com/movies/archives/0696/06286.html |archive-date=September 29, 2007 }}</ref>

==Blaxploitation Western== Many [[blaxploitation]] films, particularly ones involving [[Fred Williamson]], have incorporated a Western setting within them. They are often characterized by excessive violence, stilted dialog, and macho heroes. Examples include ''[[Soul Soldier]]'' (1970), ''[[Buck and the Preacher]]'' (1972), ''[[The Legend of Nigger Charley]]'' (1972), ''[[The Soul of Nigger Charley]]'' (1973), ''[[Thomasine & Bushrod]]'' (1974), ''[[Boss Nigger]]'' (1975), ''[[Adios Amigo (1976 film)|Adiós Amigo]]'' (1975), and ''[[Posse (1993 film)|Posse]]'' (1993).<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Slatta |first=Richard W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_08YPVPGE_MC |title=The Cowboy Encyclopedia |date=1996 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-31473-1 |pages=8 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Broughton |first=Lee |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=obeKDwAAQBAJ |title=The Euro-Western: Reframing Gender, Race and the 'Other' in Film |date=2016-06-22 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-85772-738-1 |pages=118 |language=en}}</ref>

==Comedy Western== This subgenre is imitative in style to mock, comment on, or trivialize the Western genre's established traits, subjects, auteurs' styles, or some other target by means of humorous, satiric, or ironic imitation or parody. A prime example of comedy Western includes ''[[The Paleface (1948 film)|The Paleface]]'' (1948), which makes a satirical effort to "send up Owen Wister's novel ''The Virginian'' and all the cliches of the Western from the fearless hero to the final shootout on Main Street". ''The Paleface'' "features a cowardly hero known as "Painless" Peter Potter ([[Bob Hope]]), an inept dentist, who often entertains the notion that he is a crack sharpshooter and accomplished Indian fighter".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stafford |first1=Jeff |title=The Paleface (1948) |url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/88935 |publisher=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=September 25, 2018}}</ref>

Other examples include:

*''[[Along Came Jones (film)|Along Came Jones]]'' (1945), in which [[Gary Cooper]] spoofed his Western persona * ''[[The Sheepman]]'' (1958), with [[Glenn Ford]] poking fun at himself * ''[[Cat Ballou]]'' (1965), with a drunk [[Lee Marvin]] atop a drunk horse * ''[[The Hallelujah Trail]]'' (1965) * ''[[Support Your Local Sheriff]]'' (1969) * ''[[Support Your Local Gunfighter]]'' (1971), sequel to the above * ''[[The Unhanged]]'' (1971) * ''[[Blazing Saddles]]'' (1974) * ''[[Cannibal! The Musical]]'' (1993)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/cannibal%21-the-musical-v161865/related | title=Cannibal! The Musical (1993) - Trey Parker | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie }}</ref>

==Contemporary Western or neo-Western== {{See also|Contemporary Western}} Contemporary Western (or neo-Westerns or urban Westerns) have contemporary settings and use Old West themes, archetypes, and motifs, such as a rebellious antihero, open plains and desert landscapes, or gunfights. This also includes the post-Western, with modern settings and "the cowboy cult" that involve the audience's feelings and understanding of Western movies.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=French |first=Philip |title=Westerns: aspects of a movie genre; and, Westerns revisited |date=2005 |publisher=Carcanet |isbn=1-85754-747-0 |location=Manchester |page=84 |oclc=57484960}}</ref> This subgenre often features Old West-type characters struggling with displacement in a "civilized" world that rejects their outdated brand of justice. Some contemporary Westerns take place in the [[Western United States|American West]] and reveal the progression of the Old West mentality into the late 20th and early 21st centuries; but the genre is not limited to the traditional American West setting. ''[[Coogan's Bluff (film)|Coogan's Bluff]]'' and ''[[Midnight Cowboy]]'' are examples of urban Westerns set in New York City.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|pages=148–149}}

Typical themes of the neo-Western are the lack of rules, with morals guided by the character's or audience's instincts of right and wrong rather than by governance, characters searching for justice, and characters feeling remorse, connecting the neo-Western to the broader [[Western genre]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Teti |first=Julia |date=January 2, 2018 |title=How Taylor Sheridan's Films Define The Neo-Western |url=https://theplaylist.net/taylor-sheridan-neo-western-20180102/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412150608/https://theplaylist.net/taylor-sheridan-neo-western-20180102/ |archive-date=2020-04-12 |access-date=2020-04-12 |website=The Playlist}}</ref> Other conventions of the genre include displays of competence, which in turn is measured in acts of violence.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Redding |first=Aurthur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NI2tCwAAQBAJ |title=The New Western: Critical Essays on the Genre Since 9/11 |date=2016 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |isbn=978-0-7864-7928-3 |editor-last=Stoddart |editor-first=Scott F. |page=17 |language=en |chapter=Built Ford Tough: The Sincerity of John Ford and the Persistence of the American Western}}</ref>

Beginning in the postwar era, radio dramas such as ''[[Tales of the Texas Rangers]]'' (1950–1952), with [[Joel McCrea]], a contemporary detective drama set in Texas, featured many of the characteristics of traditional Westerns.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dunning |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2e0RDAAAQBAJ |title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1998 |isbn=0-19-507678-8 |pages=652–653}}</ref> In this period, post-Western precursors to the modern neo-Western films began to appear, such as [[Nicholas Ray|Nicholas Ray's]] ''[[The Lusty Men]]'' (1952) and [[John Sturges]]'s ''[[Bad Day at Black Rock]]'' (1955).<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Campbell |first=Neil |title=Post-westerns: cinema, region, West |date=2013 |isbn=978-1-4619-3720-3 |location=Lincoln |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |pages= |oclc=856584709}}</ref>{{Rp|page=56}} Examples of the modern "first phase" of neo-Westerns include films such as ''[[Lonely Are the Brave]]'' (1962) and ''[[Hud (1963 film)|Hud]]'' (1963).<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=324}} The popularity of the subgenre has been resurgent since the release of [[Joel and Ethan Coen]]'s ''[[No Country for Old Men]]'' (2007).<ref name=":0" />

The neo-Western subgenre can also be seen in modern American television shows such as ''[[Breaking Bad]],'' <ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-03-27 |title=Contemporary Western: An interview with Vince Gilligan |work=News |publisher=[[Local iQ]] |place=United States |url=http://www.local-iq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3019&Itemid=56 |access-date=2013-05-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403091323/http://www.local-iq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3019&Itemid=56 |archive-date=2013-04-03}}</ref> ''[[Justified (TV series)|Justified]],''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hale |first=Mike |date=January 19, 2015 |title=A Wry Comedy of Manners in Kentucky Coal Country |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/20/arts/television/justified-on-fx-returns-for-final-season.html |access-date=January 13, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |quote=another gun-happy neo-western, 'Justified' has been true to its Elmore Leonard roots}}</ref> and ''[[Yellowstone (American TV series)|Yellowstone]].''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pedersen |first=Erik |date=2018-04-26 |title='Yellowstone' Trailer: Kevin Costner's Back Home On The Range In Paramount Network's Neo-Western Drama |url=https://deadline.com/2018/04/yellowstone-trailer-kevin-costner-paramount-network-western-drama-series-1202377379/ |access-date=2024-06-11 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Cultural Westerns==

===Andean Western===

The Andean Western is typically a bandit narrative set in postcolonial Peru.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dabove |first=Juan Pablo |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Bandit_Narratives_in_Latin_America/5ycsDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Andean+Western%22&pg=PT102&printsec=frontcover |title=Bandit Narratives in Latin America: From Villa to Chávez |date=2017-07-12 |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press |isbn=978-0-8229-8232-6 |language=en}}</ref> is a new and emerging genre, derived from the [[Spaghetti Western]] movement. It is usually set in Peru and other countries in andean South America. The first film under this term was "Pueblo Viejo" in 2015.{{cn|date=April 2026}}

===Australian Western or meat pie Western=== {{main|Australian Western}} The Australian Western genre or meat pie Western is set in Australia, especially the [[Australian Outback]] or the [[The bush#Australia|Australian Bush]].<ref name=AusF>{{cite book|last=Ross Cooper|first=Andrew Pike|title=Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production|year=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Melbourne|isbn=978-0-19-550784-3|page=310}}</ref> The genre borrows from US traditions.

''[[The Tracker (2002 film)|The Tracker]]'' is an archetype in this form of Australian Western, with signature scenes of harsh desert environments, and exploration of the themes of rough justice, exploitation of the [[Indigenous Australians]], and the thirst for justice at all costs. Others in this category include ''[[Rangle River]]'' (1936), ''[[Kangaroo (1952 film)|Kangaroo]]'', ''[[The Kangaroo Kid (1950 film)|The Kangaroo Kid]]'' (1950),''[[The Sundowners (1960 film)|The Sundowners]]'' (1960), ''[[Quigley Down Under]]'' (1990), ''[[Ned Kelly (1970 film)|Ned Kelly]]'' (1970), ''[[The Man from Snowy River (1982 film)|The Man from Snowy River]]'' (1982), ''[[The Proposition (2005 film)|The Proposition]]'' (2005), ''[[Lucky Country (film)|Lucky Country]]'' (2009), and ''[[Sweet Country (2017 film)|Sweet Country]]'' (2017).<ref name=DT2018>{{cite news|url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/australian-meat-pie-westerns-have-been-around-for-more-than-a-century/news-story/220b01591983bdbc46fef9cacd5fa925?nk=d2a04456400b3ffd92de3375f1b5fc9e-1558436137|publisher=Daily Telegraph|work=Daily Telegraph|date=January 21, 2018|title=Australian 'meat pie' westerns have been around for more than a century|first=Troy|last=Lennon|access-date=May 21, 2019}}</ref>

''[[Mystery Road (film)|Mystery Road]]'' (2013) is an example of a modern Australian Western, and the ''[[Mad Max (franchise)|Mad Max]]'' franchise has inspired many futurist dystopian examples of the Australian Western such as ''[[The Rover (2014 film)|The Rover]]'' (2014).

===Charro, cabrito, or chili Westerns=== [[Charro#In cinema|Charro Westerns]], often featuring musical stars, as well as action, have been a standard feature of [[Cinema of Mexico|Mexican cinema]] since the 1930s. In the 1930s and 1940s, these were typically films about horsemen in rural Mexican society, displaying a set of cultural concerns very different from the Hollywood metanarrative, but the overlap between "charro" movies and Westerns became more apparent in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. Some examples are [[Ismael Rodríguez]]'s ''Los Hermanos del Hierro'' (1961), [[Jorge Fons]]'s ''Cinco Mil Dólares de Recompensa'', and [[Arturo Ripstein]]'s ''[[Tiempo de morir]]''. The most important is [[Alberto Mariscal]], great author of ''El tunco Maclovio'', ''Todo por nada'', ''Los marcados'', ''El juez de la soga'', and ''[[La chamuscada]]''.<ref>Rashotte, Ryan ''Narco Cinema: Sex, Drugs, and Banda Music in Mexico's B-Filmography'' Palgrave Macmillan, April 23, 2015</ref><ref>p. 6 Figueredo, Danilo H. ''Revolvers and Pistolas, Vaqueros and Caballeros: Debunking the Old West'' ABC-CLIO, December 9, 2014</ref>

===Chinese Western=== The Western is a popular genre in the Asian film industry.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Teo |first=Stephen |title=Eastern westerns: film and genre outside and inside Hollywood |date=2017 |isbn=978-1-317-59226-6 |location=Abingdon, Oxon |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |oclc=968926905}}</ref>{{Rp|page=1}} Examples of the Chinese Western genre include ''[[Millionaires Express]]'' (1986), ''[[Let the Bullets Fly]]'' (2010) and ''[[Once Upon a Time in China and America]]'' (1997).

===Dacoit Western===

The [[Bollywood]] film ''[[Sholay]]'' (1975) was often referred to as a "curry Western".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/689776/weekly-classics-bollywoods-ultimate-curry-western|title=Weekly Classics: Bollywood's Curry Western|date=January 21, 2012|publisher=dawn.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605053244/http://www.dawn.com/news/689776/weekly-classics-bollywoods-ultimate-curry-western|archive-date=2014-06-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Adelman |first=Rebecca A. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Remote_Warfare/uZ0AEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 |title=Remote Warfare: New Cultures of Violence |last2=Kieran |first2=David |date=2020-10-27 |publisher=U of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-1-4529-6098-2 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Heide |first=William Van der |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Malaysian_Cinema_Asian_Film/k3HTdu1HuWQC?hl=en&gbpv=1 |title=Malaysian Cinema, Asian Film: Border Crossings and National Cultures |date=2002 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |isbn=978-90-5356-580-3 |pages=52 |language=en}}</ref> It has also been described as a "[[Dacoit Western|''dacoit'' Western]]", as it combines the conventions of Indian [[dacoit film|''dacoit'' films]] such as ''[[Mother India]]'' (1957) and ''[[Gunga Jumna]]'' (1961) with those of spaghetti Westerns. ''Sholay'' spawned its own genre of "''dacoit'' Western" films in Bollywood during the 1970s.<ref name="Teo">{{cite book|last=Teo|first=Stephen|title=Eastern Westerns: Film and Genre Outside and Inside Hollywood|date=2017|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|isbn=978-1-317-59226-6|page=122|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pi8lDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA122}}</ref>

The first Western films made in India – ''[[Kalam Vellum]]'' (1970, Tamil), ''[[Mosagallaku Mosagadu (1971 film)|Mosagallaku Mosagadu]]'' (1971, Telugu), ''[[Ganga (1972 film)|Ganga]]'' (1972, Tamil), and ''[[Jakkamma (film)|Jakkamma]]'' (1972, Tamil) – were based on classic Westerns. ''[[Thazhvaram]]'' (1990), the Malayalam film directed by [[Bharathan]] and written by noted writer [[M. T. Vasudevan Nair]], perhaps most resembles the spaghetti Westerns in terms of production and cinematic techniques. Earlier spaghetti Westerns laid the groundwork for such films as ''[[Adima Changala]]'' (1971) starring [[Prem Nazir]], a hugely popular zapata spaghetti Western film in Malayalam, and ''[[Sholay]]'' (1975) ''[[Khote Sikkay]]'' (1973) and ''[[Thai Meethu Sathiyam]]'' (1978) are notable curry Westerns. ''[[Kodama Simham]]'' (1990), a Telugu action film, starring [[Chiranjeevi]] and [[Mohan Babu]], was one more addition to the Indo Western genre that fared well at the box office. It was also the first South Indian movie to be dubbed in English as ''Hunters of the Indian Treasure.''<ref>{{cite news|url=https://socialfeed.info/kodama-simham-english-version-poster-4447156 |title=Hunters of the Indian Treasure |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205013433/https://socialfeed.info/kodama-simham-english-version-poster-4447156 |archive-date=2017-02-05 }}</ref>

''[[Takkari Donga]]'' (2002), starring Telugu actor [[Mahesh Babu]], was applauded by critics, but was average at box office. ''[[Quick Gun Murugun]]'' (2009), an Indian comedy film that spoofs Indian Western movies, is based on a character created for television promotions at the time of the launch of the music network Channel [V] in 1994, which had cult following.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/story/19941015-channel-v-film-funny-irreverent-and-slightly-crazy-809809-1999-11-30|title=Quick Gun Murugan: Channel V comes up with funny, irreverent and slightly crazy film|author=AMIT AGARWAL |date=November 30, 1999 |magazine=India Today|language=en|access-date=2019-10-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403110409/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/story/19941015-channel-v-film-funny-irreverent-and-slightly-crazy-809809-1999-11-30|archive-date=2019-04-03}}</ref> ''[[Irumbukkottai Murattu Singam]]'' (2010), a Western adventure comedy film, based on cowboy movies and paying homages to the John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and [[Jaishankar (actor)|Jaishankar]], was made in Tamil.'' [[Laal Kaptaan]] ''(2019) is an IndoWestern starring [[Saif Ali Khan]], which is set during the rise of the [[British Empire]] in India. ''[[Jigarthanda DoubleX]] ''(2023) is an Indo western starring [[S. J. Suryah]] and [[Raghava Lawrence]] in lead roles, Set in the 1970s, it revolves around an upcoming policeman trying to kill a gangster by going undercover as a filmmaker.

===Euro-Western=== {{Further|List of Euro-Western films}} Euro-Westerns are Western-genre films made in Western Europe. The term can sometimes include the spaghetti Western subgenre. One example of a Euro-Western is the Anglo-Spanish film ''[[Savage Guns (1961 film)|The Savage Guns]]'' (1961). Several Euro-Western films, nicknamed sauerkraut Westerns<ref>{{cite book|page= 118 |author=Brookeman, Christopher |title=The BFI Companion to the Western|publisher= A. Deutsch|date= 1993}}</ref> because they were made in Germany and shot in [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], were derived from stories by novelist [[Karl May]], and were [[Karl May film adaptations|film adaptations of May's work]]. One of the most popular German Western franchises was the ''[[Winnetou]]'' series, which featured a Native American [[Apache]] hero in the lead role. Also in [[Finland]], only a few Western films have been made, the most notable of which could be the 1971 low-budget comedy ''[[The Unhanged]]'', directed by, written by, and starring [[Spede Pasanen]].

Some new Euro-Westerns emerged in the 2010s, including [[Kristian Levring]]'s [[The Salvation (film)|''The Salvation'']], [[Martin Koolhoven]]'s [[Brimstone (2016 film)|''Brimstone'']], and [[Andreas Prochaska]]'s ''[[The Dark Valley]]''.

===Filipino Western=== Also called the [[Adobo]] or [[Pancit]] Western, the genre, already familiar to Filipino audiences due to American rule of the Philippines, is transposed into a Filipino setting. It is distinct from other Asian Westerns by retaining more of the aesthetic of American Westerns but at the same time, having traditional Filipino themes, and many of the films also had socio-political context. The heroes were usually identified with the local people seeking redress from the landed elite or a supernatural force seeking their exploitation or destruction. Noted actors [[Fernando Poe Jr.]], [[Ramon Revilla Sr.]], and later Philippine president [[Joseph Estrada]] had played numerous roles in Westerns.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357826989_Locating_the_1960s_Filipino_Western_Genre</ref>

===Greek Western=== According to the naming conventions after spaghetti Western, in Greece they are also referred to as "[[fasolada]] Westerns" (Greek: φασολάδα = bean soup, i.e. one of the national dishes of Greece). Notable examples are ''[[Blood on the Land]]'' (1966), which was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ellinikoskinimatografos.gr/%CF%84%CE%BF-%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%BB%CE%B7%CE%BD%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8C-%CE%B3%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%AD%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B5%CF%81%CE%BD-%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B9-%CE%B7-%CF%85%CF%80%CE%BF%CF%88%CE%B7%CF%86%CE%B9%CF%8C%CF%84/ |title=Το ελληνικό γουέστερν και η υποψηφιότητα στο Hollywood για όσκαρ, στην κατηγορία καλύτερης ξενόγλωσσης ταινίας! |trans-title=The Greek Western and its Hollywood nomination for Oscar, in Best Foreign Language Film category! |date=April 14, 2016 |website=ellinikoskinimatografos.gr |access-date=October 11, 2019 |language=el |archive-date=December 21, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221055959/http://ellinikoskinimatografos.gr/%CF%84%CE%BF-%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%BB%CE%B7%CE%BD%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8C-%CE%B3%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%AD%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B5%CF%81%CE%BD-%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B9-%CE%B7-%CF%85%CF%80%CE%BF%CF%88%CE%B7%CF%86%CE%B9%CF%8C%CF%84/ }}</ref> and ''[[Bullets don't come back]]'' (1967).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.anagnostis.org/2021/06/13/to-proto-elliniko-gouestern-gyristike-stin-peloponniso-to-1967-deite-poio-itan/|title=Το πρώτο Ελληνικό «γουέστερν» γυρίστηκε στην Πελοπόννησο το 1967!|date=2021-06-13|website=anagnostis.org|language=el|accessdate=2024-04-22}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{Cite web|url=https://www.maxmag.gr/cinema/goyestern-ala-ellinika/|title=Γουέστερν αλά Ελληνικά|last=Ευθυμίου|first=Αντώνιος|date=2021-07-05|website=MAXMAG|language=el|accessdate=2024-04-22}}</ref>

===Nordestern=== A nordestern film is a Brazilian genre that is set in the [[Sertão]] region of [[Brazil]]. The name is a mix of "Western" and "Nordeste", refearing to the [[Northeast Region, Brazil|Northeastern Brazil]]. These movies are about banditry, heroes, or folklore of the region.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schulze |first=Peter W. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Crossing_Frontiers/Zr14DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 |title=Crossing Frontiers: Intercultural Perspectives on the western |last2=Klein |first2=Thomas |last3=Ritzer |first3=Ivo |date=2015-12-22 |publisher=Schüren Verlag |page=163 |isbn=978-3-7410-0019-5 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ekotto |first=Frieda |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Rethinking_Third_Cinema/tdBMvdJ7UbcC?hl=en&gbpv=1 |title=Rethinking Third Cinema: The Role of Anti-colonial Media and Aesthetics in Postmodernity |last2=Koh |first2=Adeline |date=2009 |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |page=83 |isbn=978-3-8258-1804-3 |language=en}}</ref>

===Ostern=== {{main|Ostern}}

Ostern or Eastern<ref>{{ill|Norbert Franz|lt=Franz, Norbert P.|de|Norbert Franz (Slawist)}}, (2020). [https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/opus4-ubp/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/46939/file/franz_hollywood.pdf ''Hollywood - a Challenge for the Soviet Cinema: Four Essays'', p.159], Germany: Universitätsverlag Potsdam.</ref> films were Western-style films produced in the [[Soviet Union]] and Socialist Eastern Europe. They were popular in Communist Eastern European countries and were a particular favorite of [[Joseph Stalin]]. Osterns are typically divided between "Easterns", which sought to portray an Eastern European analogue to the Wild West set in frontier regions across Eurasia, and "Red Westerns", which were set in the American West but sought to subvert the ideas of [[manifest destiny]] and other narratives typical of Hollywood Westerns in favor of [[Marxist]] ideals of [[proletarian internationalism]] and [[class consciousness]].

Red Western films usually portrayed the [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indians]] sympathetically, as oppressed people fighting for their rights, in contrast to American Westerns of the time, which frequently portrayed them as villains. Osterns frequently featured [[Romani people|Gypsy]] or [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] people in the role of the Indians, due to the shortage of authentic Native Americans in Eastern Europe.

In "[[DEFA]]-Indianerfilme" series of films, produced in the [[East Germany|GDR]], [[Gojko Mitic]] portrayed righteous, kind-hearted, and charming Indian [[Tribal chief|chiefs]] (e.g., in ''[[The Sons of the Great Mother Bear|Die Söhne der großen Bärin]]'' (1966), directed by [[Josef Mach]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=DEFA-Indianerfilme |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/story/defa-indianerfilme/-AXxVBhH2vfFIA |access-date=2025-11-12 |website=Google Arts & Culture |language=de}}</ref> He became honorary chief of the [[Sioux]] tribe when he visited the United States, in the 1990s, and the television crew accompanying him showed the tribe of one of his films. American actor and singer [[Dean Reed]], an expatriate who lived in [[East Germany]], also starred in several Ostern films.

"Eastern" films typically replaced the [[Wild West]] setting with by an [[Eastern world|Eastern]] setting in the [[steppes]] of the [[Caucasus]]. Western stock characters, such as "[[cowboy]]s and [[Native Americans in the United States|Indians]]", were also replaced by [[Peoples of the Caucasus|Caucasian]] stock characters, such as [[bandits]] and [[harems]]. A famous example of the genre was ''[[White Sun of the Desert]]'', which was [[List of highest-grossing films in the Soviet Union|popular in the Soviet Union]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wright |first1=Esmee |title=Untold Stories: Bollywood and the Soviet Union |url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/film-and-tv/17664 |website=[[Varsity (Cambridge)|Varsity]] |access-date=May 31, 2020 |date=June 19, 2019}}</ref>

===Ramen Western=== First used in the publicity of the film ''[[Tampopo]]'', the term "ramen Western" also is a play on words using a national dish. The term is used to describe Western style media set in Asia. Examples include ''[[The Drifting Avenger]]'', ''[[Break the Chain]]'', ''[[Millionaires Express]]'', ''[[East Meets West (1995 film)|East Meets West]]'', ''[[Tears of the Black Tiger]]'' and ''[[Dynamite Warrior]]'', ''[[Let the Bullets Fly]]'', ''[[Unforgiven (2013 film)|Unforgiven]]'', ''[[Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts]]'', ''[[Buffalo Boys (2018 film)|Buffalo Boys]]'', ''[[The Good, the Bad and the Weird]], [[Golden Kamuy]]'' and ''[[Sukiyaki Western Django]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ramen Western|url=http://www.criminalelement.com/ramen-westerns-far-east-meets-old-west/|website=criminalelement.com|date=August 16, 2011}}</ref>

===Spaghetti Western=== {{main|Spaghetti Western|Zapata Western}}

[[File:Clint Eastwood - 1960s.JPG|thumb|[[Clint Eastwood]] as the ambiguously named protagonist of the Dollars Trilogy (marketed as "the [[Man with No Name]]") in a publicity image of ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]'', a film by [[Sergio Leone]]]]During the 1960s and 1970s, a revival of the Western emerged in Italy with the "spaghetti Westerns", also known as "Italo-Westerns". The most famous of them is ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'', the third film of the [[Dollars Trilogy]]. Many of these films are low-budget affairs, shot in locations (for example, the Spanish desert [[Province of Almería|region of Almería]]) chosen for their inexpensive crew and production costs, as well as their similarity to landscapes of the Southwestern United States. Spaghetti Westerns were characterized by the presence of more action and violence than the Hollywood Westerns. Also, the protagonists usually acted out of more selfish motives (money or revenge being the most common) than in the classical Westerns.<ref>{{cite book|author=Frayling, Christopher |title=Spaghetti Westerns: Cowboys and Europeans from Karl May to Sergio Leone|publisher=IB Tauris|date= 1998}}</ref> Some spaghetti Westerns demythologized the American Western tradition, and some films from the genre are considered revisionist Westerns. For example, the Dollars Trilogy itself has much different tropes compared to standard Westerns, demythologizing the Sheriff figure (in ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]'' and ''[[For a Few Dollars More]]''), putting both the [[United States|Union]] and the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] in ambiguously moral positions (''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly''), and not featuring Native Americans (except for a brief mention in ''A Fistful of Dollars'').

The Western films directed by Sergio Leone were felt by some to have a different tone from the Hollywood Westerns.<ref name=TG/> Veteran American actors Charles Bronson, Lee Van Cleef, and Clint Eastwood<ref name=TG/> became famous by starring in spaghetti Westerns, although the films also provided a showcase for other noted actors such as [[James Coburn]], [[Henry Fonda]], [[Rod Steiger]], [[Klaus Kinski]], [[Jason Robards]], [[Gian Maria Volonte]] and [[Eli Wallach]]. Eastwood, previously the lead in the television series ''[[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]'', unexpectedly found himself catapulted into the forefront of the film industry by Leone's ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (the first in the Dollars Trilogy).<ref name=TG>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/11096814/Forget-the-Spaghetti-Western-try-a-Curry-Western-or-a-Sauerkraut-one.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/11096814/Forget-the-Spaghetti-Western-try-a-Curry-Western-or-a-Sauerkraut-one.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |last=Billson |first=Anne |title=Forget the Spaghetti Western – try a Curry Western or a Sauerkraut one |work=Daily Telegraph |date=September 15, 2014 |access-date=September 21, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

== Documentary Western == The documentary Western is a subgenre of Westerns that explore the nonfiction elements of the historical and contemporary [[American West]]. Between 1894 and 1899, Edison's early use of film included several examples of documentaries that introduced Western characters and settings. Among them were ''Parade of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show''. His work showcased Native American ceremonial dance films such as ''Eagle Dance'' and ''Indian Day School'', working cowboys in ''Branding Cattle'', and scenic attractions such as ''Royal Gorge'' and ''Coaches Going to Cinnabar from Yellowstone Park''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Edgerton |first=Gary R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PUbcAAAAQBAJ |title=Westerns: The Essential 'Journal of Popular Film and Television' Collection |date=2013-09-13 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-76508-8 |pages=8 |language=en}}</ref>

[[The West (miniseries)|Ken Burns's ''The West'']] is an example of a series based upon a historical storyline, whereas films such as ''[[Cowboys: A Documentary Portrait]]'' provide a nonfiction portrayal of modern working cowboys in the contemporary West.

==Electric Western==

The 1971 film ''[[Zachariah (film)|Zachariah]]'' starring [[John Rubinstein]], [[Don Johnson]], and [[Pat Quinn (American actress)|Pat Quinn]], was billed as the "first electric Western".<ref name=NYT/> The film featured multiple performing rock bands in an otherwise [[American frontier|American West]] setting.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D05E3DE163BE53BBC4D51DFB766838A669EDE|title=Zachariah (1970) Screen: 'Zachariah,' an Odd Western|author-link=Roger Greenspun|author=Greenspun, Roger|date=January 25, 1971}}</ref>

''Zachariah'' featured appearances and music supplied by rock groups from the 1970s, including the [[James Gang]]<ref name=NYT/> and [[Country Joe and the Fish]] as "The Cracker Band".<ref name=NYT/> Fiddler [[Doug Kershaw]] had a musical cameo<ref name=NYT/> as does [[Elvin Jones]] as a gunslinging drummer named Job Cain.<ref name=NYT/>

The [[independent film]] ''Hate Horses'' starring [[Dominique Swain]], [[Ron Thompson (actor)|Ron Thompson]], and [[Paul Dooley]] billed itself as the "second electric Western".<ref>{{cite video|work=YouTube|date=2015|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgTXHXiP7lk| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/zgTXHXiP7lk| archive-date=2021-10-28|title=Hate Horses – Official Trailer}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Epic Western== [[File:Westwon trailer Fonda.png|thumb|300px|{{center|''[[How the West Was Won (film)|How the West Was Won]]'' (1962)}}]] The [[Epic film|epic]] [[Western (genre)|Western]] is a subgenre of the Western that emphasizes the story of the American Old West on a grand scale.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Lusted |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tWauBAAAQBAJ |title=The Western |date=2014-10-13 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-87491-1 |pages= |language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|page=124}} Many epic Westerns are set during a turbulent time, especially a war, as in Sergio Leone's ''[[The Good, the Bad and the Ugly]]'' (1966), set during the American Civil War,<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Agnew |first=Jeremy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kH_DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22the+good,+the+bad,+and+the+ugly%22+%22epic+western%22+%22civil+war%22&pg=PA193 |title=The Landscapes of Western Movies: A History of Filming on Location, 1900-1970 |date=2020-09-24 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-4223-9 |pages= |language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|page=193}} or Sam Peckinpah's ''[[The Wild Bunch]]'' (1969), set during the Mexican Revolution.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Andreychuk |first=Ed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MsfhcLmhnRwC&dq=%22the+wild+bunch%22+%22epic+western%22+%22Mexican+revolution%22&pg=PA129 |title=The Golden Corral: A Roundup of Magnificent Western Films |date=1997-08-15 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-0393-6 |pages=129 |language=en}}</ref> One of the grandest films in this genre is Leone's ''[[Once Upon a Time in the West]]'' (1968), which shows many operatic conflicts centered on control of a town while using wide-scale shots of [[Monument Valley]] locations against a broad running-time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fowler |first=Chris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ECoeCgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Once+Upon+a+Time+in+the+West%22+%22epic+western%22+%22Monument+valley%22&pg=PA37 |title=The Neolithic of the Irish Sea |date=2015-03-31 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=978-1-78570-038-5 |pages=37 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=195}}

In the silent film era, ''[[The Covered Wagon]]'' (1923) with [[J. Warren Kerrigan]], was the first epic Western filmed entirely on location.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=76}} Another silent epic was ''[[The Iron Horse (film)|The Iron Horse]]'' (1924) with [[George O'Brien (actor)|George O'Brien]].<ref name=":7" />{{Rp|page=136}}

Other notable examples include ''[[Duel in the Sun (film)|Duel in the Sun]]'' (1946)<ref name=":7" />{{Rp|page=127}} with [[Joseph Cotten]] and [[Gregory Peck]], ''[[The Searchers]]'' (1956) with [[John Wayne]], ''[[Giant (1956 film)|Giant]]'' (1956) with [[Elizabeth Taylor]] and [[James Dean]], ''[[The Big Country]]'' (1958) with Gregory Peck and [[Charlton Heston]], ''[[Cimarron (1960 film)|Cimarron]]'' (1960) with [[Glenn Ford]], [[How the West Was Won (film)|''How the West Was Won'']] (1962) with [[James Stewart]] and [[Henry Fonda]] (among [[How the West Was Won (film)#Cast|many others]]), ''[[Custer of the West]]'' (1967) with [[Robert Shaw (actor)|Robert Shaw]], ''[[Duck, You Sucker!]]'' (1971) with [[Rod Steiger]] and [[James Coburn]], ''[[Heaven's Gate (film)|Heaven's Gate]]'' (1980) with [[Isabelle Huppert]], [[Thazhvaram]] (1990) with [[Mohanlal]], ''[[Dances with Wolves]]'' (1990) with [[Kevin Costner]], ''[[The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford]]'' (2007) with [[Brad Pitt]], ''[[Django Unchained]]'' (2012) with [[Jamie Foxx]], ''[[The Revenant (2015 film)|The Revenant]]'' (2015) with [[Leonardo DiCaprio]], and ''[[Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1]]'' (2024).

==Exploitation Western== Exploitation Western is a subgenre of the [[Exploitation film]], a genre characterized by "exploiting" lurid and graphic content throughout 1960s and 1970s up to the early 1980s. Examples of exploitation Western films include ''[[Soldier Blue]]'' (1970), ''[[Cain's Cutthroats]]'' (1971), ''[[Cut-Throats Nine]]'' (1972) and ''[[Kid Vengeance]]'' (1977).

==Fantasy Western== Fantasy Westerns mixed in [[Fantasy film|fantasy]] settings and themes, and may include fantasy mythology as background. Some famous examples are [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[The Stand]]'' and [[The Dark Tower series|''The Dark Tower'' series]] of novels, the [[Vertigo (DC Comics)|Vertigo]] comics series ''[[Preacher (comics)|Preacher]]'', and [[Keiichi Sigsawa]]'s light novel series, ''[[Kino's Journey]]'', illustrated by [[Kouhaku Kuroboshi]].

==Florida Western== {{main|Florida Western}}

Florida Westerns, also known as cracker Westerns, are set in Florida during the [[Second Seminole War]]. An example is ''[[Distant Drums]]'' (1951) starring [[Gary Cooper]].

==Gaucho Western== Gaucho Westerns are films set in the 18th century in South America's [[pampas]] following stories of [[gauchos]], cowhands and swashbucklers getting into adventures akin to the cowboys portrayed in American movies of the era. Notable examples of gaucho Westerns include ''[[Nobleza gaucha (1915 film)|Nobleza gaucha]]'' (1915), ''[[The Gaucho]]'' (1927), ''[[The Gaucho War]]'' (1942), ''[[Way of a Gaucho]]'' (1952), ''[[Savage Pampas (1966 film)|Savage Pampas]]'' (1966), ''[[Don Segundo Sombra (film)|Don Segundo Sombra]]'' (1969), ''[[The Ardor]]'' (2014) and ''[[The Settlers (2023 film)|The Settlers]]'' (2023). An example of a gaucho neo-Western would be ''[[The Ones from Below|The Ones From Below]]'' (2023).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perelmuter |first=Federico |date=2023-01-23 |title=The Gaucho Western |url=https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/gaucho-western |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=Roundtable |language=en}}</ref>

==Horror Western== {{main|Horror Western}}

The horror Western subgenre has roots in films such as ''[[Curse of the Undead]]'' (1959), ''[[Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter]]'' (1965), and ''[[Billy the Kid vs. Dracula]]'' (1966), which depicts the legendary outlaw [[Billy the Kid]] fighting against the notorious vampire. Another example is ''The Ghoul Goes West'', an unproduced [[Ed Wood]] film to star [[Bela Lugosi]] as [[Dracula]] in the Old West.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rhodes |first=Gary Don |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eomACgAAQBAJ |title=Lugosi: His Life in Films, on Stage, and in the Hearts of Horror Lovers |date=2015-09-03 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-0077-2 |pages=226 |language=en}}</ref> Newer examples include the films ''[[Near Dark]]'' (1987) directed by [[Kathryn Bigelow]], which tells the story about a human falling in love with a [[vampire]], ''[[From Dusk till Dawn]]'' (1996) by [[Robert Rodriguez]] deals with outlaws battling vampires across the border, ''[[Vampires (1998 film)|Vampires]]'' (1998) by [[John Carpenter]], which tells about a group of vampires and vampire hunters looking for an ancient relic in the west, ''[[Ravenous (1999 film)|Ravenous]]'' (1999), which deals with cannibalism at a remote US army outpost; ''[[The Burrowers]]'' (2008), about a band of trackers who are stalked by the titular creatures; and ''[[Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter]]'' (2012). ''[[Undead Nightmare]]'' (2010), an expansion to ''[[Red Dead Redemption]]'' (2010) is an example of a video game in this genre, telling the tale of a [[zombie]] outbreak in the [[Old West]]. ''[[Bone Tomahawk]]'' (2015) received wide critical acclaim for its chilling tale of cannibalism, but like many other movies in the genre, it was not a commercial success. [[Jordan Peele]]'s film ''[[Nope (film)|Nope]]'' (2022) combines horror and science fiction with a neo-Western lens. It depicts two rancher siblings attempting to capture evidence of a UFO terrorizing their remote desert ranch.

==Hybrid Western== A generic term for a Western which is combined with another genre such as [[horror (genre)|horror]], ''[[film noir]]'' or [[martial arts (genre)|martial arts]].<ref>[https://www.allmovie.com/subgenre/hybrid-western-d601/releaseyear-desc/10 AllMovie – Hybrid Western]</ref> [[Dynamite Warrior]] is a martial arts fantasy Western set in Thailand.

==Martial arts Western (Wuxia Western)== While many of these mash-ups (e.g., ''[[Billy Jack]]'' (1971) and its sequel ''[[The Trial of Billy Jack]]'' (1974)) are cheap exploitation films, others are more serious dramas such as the ''[[Kung Fu (1972 TV series)|Kung Fu]]'' TV series, which ran from 1972 to 1975. Comedy examples include the [[Jackie Chan]] and [[Owen Wilson]] collaboration ''[[Shanghai Noon]]'' (2000). Further subdivisions of this subgenre include Westerns based on [[ninja]]s and [[samurai]]s (incorporating [[samurai cinema]] themes), such as ''[[Red Sun]]'' (1971) with [[Charles Bronson]], [[Alain Delon]], and [[Toshiro Mifune]].

==Musical== There have been many [[musical film]]s with a Western setting and many musicians have appeared in Western films, sometimes in non-musical roles. Singers [[Doris Day]] and [[Howard Keel]] worked together in ''[[Calamity Jane (1953 film)|Calamity Jane]]'', a huge success on release which remains one of the most popular Western musicals. On the other hand, crooner [[Dean Martin]] and pop singer [[Ricky Nelson]] played the parts of gunfighters in ''[[Rio Bravo (film)|Rio Bravo]]'', which is not a musical, although they did combine to sing a couple of songs in the middle of the film while they were guarding the jailhouse.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kalinak |first=Kathryn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UXmpAgAAQBAJ |title=Music in the Western: Notes From the Frontier |date=2012-05-22 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-62057-7 |pages=132–133 |language=en}}</ref>

== Narco Western == A subgenre that highlights Mexican [[Narcoculture in Mexico|narcoculture]] and portrays drug trafficking and [[Drug cartel|traffickers]] (real or imagined).<ref>{{Cite book |first=Dave |last=Boothroyd |title=Culture on drugs: narco-cultural studies of high modernity |date=2016 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0-7190-5598-0 |oclc=1263592569}}</ref> Narco Westerns are typically set in [[Northern Mexico]], the Southwest United States, or [[US-Mexican border|on the border]] between the two.<ref name="What Is Narco Cinema">{{cite book |author=Ryan Rashotte |chapter=What Is Narco Cinema? |title=Narco Cinema |year=2015 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |doi=10.1057/9781137489241 |isbn=978-1-137-48924-1}}</ref> A relatively new genre, Hilario Peña states the narco Western is the Western for the "modern age," and that "instead of a horse, the character drives a truck, and instead of fighting [[Apache]]s, the character must defeat criminals and the [[Federal Police (Mexico)|federal police]] in the state of [[Sinaloa]]."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Belausteguigoitia |first=Marisa |date=October 1, 2009 |title=Borderlands/La Frontera: el feminismo chicano de Gloria Anzaldúa desde las fronteras geoculturales, disciplinarias y pedagógicas |journal=Debate Feminista |volume=40 |doi=10.22201/cieg.2594066xe.2009.40.1444 |issn=2594-066X|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chavarín González |first=Marco Antonio |date=February 3, 2022 |title=Enunciar la frontera sur de México desde la narrativa: algunos cuentos guatemaltecos |journal=LiminaR: Estudios Sociales y Humanísticos |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=1–17 |doi=10.29043/liminar.v20i2.909 |s2cid=246604874 |issn=2007-8900|doi-access=free }}</ref> Examples of narco Westerns include the American television shows ''[[Breaking Bad]]'' and ''[[Better Call Saul]]'', as well as the films ''[[Miss Bala (2011 film)|Miss Bala]], [[El Infierno]] and [[Heli (film)|Heli]].''<ref>{{cite book |author=Carmen Boullosa |author2=Mike Wallace |chapter=1940s–1950s |title=A Narco History |pages=19–22 |publisher=OR Books |doi=10.2307/j.ctt18z4gtv.5}}</ref><ref name="What Is Narco Cinema"/> They may also come in the form of literature or [[Telenovela|''telenovelas'']]. Narco Westerns often feature narratives of [[personal identity]], usually the struggles of a cowboy-like [[Antihero|anti-hero]], while focusing on themes of life and death, love and loss, greed and desire, and hope and pain. Dry or [[Black comedy|dark humor]] is sometimes used. Most notably, Narco Westerns frequently showcase graphic portrayals of addiction, violence, and [[narcoterrorism]].<ref>{{cite book |author=O. Hugo Benavides |chapter=Melodrama as Ambiguous Signifier: Latin American Telenovelas and Narco-Dramas |date=December 31, 2008 |title=Drugs, Thugs, and Divas |pages=1–22 |publisher=University of Texas Press |doi=10.7560/714502-002 |isbn=978-0-292-79466-5 |s2cid=243770017}}</ref><ref name="What Is Narco Cinema"/>

==Northern== {{main|Northern (genre)}}

The Northern genre is a subgenre of Westerns taking place in [[Alaska]] or Western Canada. Examples include several versions of the [[Rex Beach]] novel, ''[[The Spoilers (Beach novel)|The Spoilers]]'' (including 1930's ''[[The Spoilers (1930 film)|The Spoilers]]'', with Gary Cooper, and 1942's ''[[The Spoilers (1942 film)|The Spoilers]]'', with Marlene Dietrich, [[Randolph Scott]], and Wayne); ''[[The Far Country (film)|The Far Country]]'' (1954) with James Stewart; ''[[North to Alaska]]'' (1960) with Wayne; ''[[Death Hunt]]'' (1981) with [[Charles Bronson]]; and ''[[The Grey Fox]]'' (1983) with [[Richard Farnsworth]].

==Pornographic Western== Pornographic Westerns use the Old West as a background for stories primarily focused on erotica. The three major examples of the porn Western film are [[Russ Meyer]]'s [[nudie-cutie]] ''[[Wild Gals of the Naked West]]'' (1962), and the hardcore ''[[A Dirty Western]]'' (1975) and ''[[Sweet Savage (1979 film)|Sweet Savage]]'' (1979). ''Sweet Savage'' starred [[Aldo Ray]], a veteran actor who had appeared in traditional Westerns, in a non-sex role. Among videogames, ''[[Custer's Revenge]]'' (1982) is an infamous example, considered to be one of the [[List of video games notable for negative reception|worst video games of all time]].

== Pre-Western == Film critic [[Philip French]] includes a subgenre of "pre-Western" to describe films that include themes and characters reminiscent of cowboy pictures but are not strictly regarded as Westerns. This includes films with an early nineteenth century frontier setting with characters like [[James Fenimore Cooper|James Fenimore Cooper's]] [[Natty Bumppo]]. It includes examples like ''[[The Alamo (1960 film)|The Alamo]]'' (1960) and ''[[Drums Along the Mohawk]]'' (1939).<ref>{{Cite book |last=French |first=Philip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dI-GAAAAIAAJ |title=Westerns: Aspects of a Movie Genre and Westerns Revisited |publisher=Carcanet |year=1973 |isbn=978-1-85754-747-4 |page=18 |language=en |author-link=Philip French}}</ref>

==Revisionist Western== {{main|Revisionist Western}}

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Western was reinvented with the revisionist Western.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bandy |first=Mary Lea |title=Ride, Boldly Ride: The Evolution of the American Western |author2=Kevin Stoehr |publisher=University of California Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-520-25866-2 |location=Berkeley/Los Angeles/London |page=234}}</ref> After the early 1960s, many American filmmakers began to question and change many traditional elements of Westerns, and to make revisionist Westerns that encouraged audiences to question the simple hero-versus-villain dualism and the morality of using violence to test one's character or to prove oneself right. This is shown in Sam Peckinpah's ''The Wild Bunch'' (1969). One major revision was the increasingly positive representation of Native Americans, who had been treated as "savages" in earlier films. Examples of such revisionist Westerns include ''[[Ride the High Country]]'' (1962), [[Richard Harris]]' ''[[A Man Called Horse (film)|A Man Called Horse]]'' (1970), ''[[Little Big Man (film)|Little Big Man]]'' (1970), ''[[Soldier Blue]] (1970),'' ''[[Man in the Wilderness]]'' (1971), ''[[The Outlaw Josey Wales]]'' (1976), ''[[Dances with Wolves]]'' (1990), ''[[Unforgiven]]'' (1992), ''[[The Quick and the Dead (1995 film)|The Quick and the Dead]]'' (1995), and ''[[Dead Man]]'' (1995). A television miniseries, ''[[Godless (miniseries)|Godless]]'' (2016), also fits into this category. A few earlier revisionist Westerns gave women more powerful roles, such as ''[[Westward the Women]]'' (1951) starring [[Robert Taylor (American actor)|Robert Taylor]]. Another earlier work encompassed all these features, ''[[The Last Wagon (1956 film)|The Last Wagon]]'' (1956). In it, [[Richard Widmark]] played a white man raised by [[Comanche]]s and persecuted by [[white people|Whites]], with [[Felicia Farr]] and [[Susan Kohner]] playing young women forced into leadership roles.

==Science fiction Western== {{main|Science fiction Western}}

The science fiction Western places science fiction elements within a traditional Western setting.<ref name="Broughton">{{Cite book |last=Broughton |first=Lee |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hKnqDAAAQBAJ |title=Critical Perspectives on the Western: From A Fistful of Dollars to Django Unchained |date=2016-09-19 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-7243-9 |page=29 |language=en}}</ref> Early examples are [[serial film]]s such ''[[The Phantom Empire]]'' (1935) and ''[[Ghost Patrol]]'' (1936) which incorporated supernatural figures of [[science fiction]] fantasy into a [[Western (genre)|Western]] setting.<ref name="Broughton" /> An example of cross-over genre, the fantasy science fiction Western ''[[The Valley of Gwangi]]'' (1969) displayed cowboys fighting dinosaurs, a trend that took hold during the 1960s. [[John Jakes]]'s ''Six Gun Planet'' takes place on a future planet colonized by people consciously seeking to recreate the Old West (with cowboys riding robot horses...). The movie ''[[Westworld (film)|Westworld]]'' (1973) and its sequel ''[[Futureworld]]'' (1976), ''[[Back to the Future Part III]]'' (1990), ''[[Wild Wild West]]'' (1999), and ''[[Cowboys & Aliens]]'' (2011), and the television series [[Westworld (TV series)|''Westworld'']] (2016, based on the movie).

This subgenre also encompasses the [[post-apocalyptic Western]], an offshoot of the Western genre with themes of lawlessness and survival, and often include an alienated lone hero trying to make sense out of the chaos.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Green |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nyu6CwAAQBAJ |title=Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Films, Television and Games, 2d ed. |date=2016-02-25 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-6257-2 |page=1 |language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|page=2}} Examples include ''[[The Postman (film)|The Postman]]'', the ''[[Mad Max]]'' series, and [[The Rover (2014 film)|''The Rover'']].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Selinger |first=Julia |date=2013-06-27 |title=A24 Acquires Futuristic Western 'The Rover,' Starring Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson |url=https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/a24-acquires-futuristic-western-the-rover-starring-guy-pearce-and-robert-pattinson-37245/ |access-date=2024-06-09 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kilday |first=Gregg |date=2015-05-12 |title=Cannes: How George Miller Rebooted an Iconic Franchise With 'Mad Max: Fury Road' (Q&A) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/cannes-how-george-miller-rebooted-794780/ |access-date=2024-06-09 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Reed |first=Michael |date=2011-10-26 |title=Looking back at Kevin Costner's The Postman |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/looking-back-at-kevin-costners-the-postman/ |access-date=2024-06-09 |website=Den of Geek |language=en-US}}</ref> Science fiction Westerns may also incorporate [[steampunk]] elements, giving rise to the [[steampunk Western]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Edgerton |first=Gary R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-eraAAAAQBAJ&q=steampunk+western+genre |title=Westerns: The Essential 'Journal of Popular Film and Television' Collection |date=2013-09-13 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-76515-6 |language=en}}</ref>

== Singing cowboy Western == {{Main|Singing cowboy}}

A singing cowboy was a subtype of the archetypal [[cowboy]] hero of early Western films.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Loy |first=R. Philip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k6-zCgAAQBAJ |title=Westerns and American Culture, 1930-1955 |date=2015-10-05 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-8115-6 |pages=16–18 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Abrams |first=Jerold J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lffOEAAAQBAJ |title=Contemporary Cowboys: Reimagining an American Archetype in Popular Culture |date=August 2023 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-6669-2018-5 |pages=203 |language=en}}</ref> It references real-world [[campfire]] side [[ballad]]s in the [[American frontier]], the original cowboys sang of life on the trail with all the challenges, hardships, and dangers encountered while pushing cattle for miles up the trails and across the prairies.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cumxDJChwj8C |title=Folklife Center News |date=1994 |publisher=American Folklife Center, Library of Congress |pages=3–6 |language=en |quote=While Hollywood created a sanitized version of the singing cowboy, in fact, cowboy songs and verse recitation were genuinely a part of cowboy life. In his introduction to the Library's Cowboy Poetry Day, Hal Cannon traced cowboy poetry back to the 1860s and 1870s, the early days of the trail drive, when cowboys entertained themselves by reciting verse around the campfire and the chuck-wagon... [Howard] Thorp described the themes of cowboy songs as "things cowboys liked, things they hated, incidents of the here and reflections on the hereafter."}}</ref>

==Space Western== {{main|Space Western}}

The space Western is a subgenre of science fiction which uses the themes and [[trope (literature)|tropes]] of Westerns within science-fiction stories.<ref name="Broughton"/> Subtle influences may include exploration of lawless frontiers in [[Deep space exploration|deep space]], while more overt influences may feature literal cowboys in outer space who use [[ray gun]]s and ride robotic horses. Examples include the American cartoon series ''[[BraveStarr]]'' (which aired original episodes from September 1987 to February 1988), the Japanese [[manga]] series ''[[Trigun]]'' (debuted in 1995), the Japanese [[anime]] series ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' (debuted in 1997), the American television series ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]'' (created by [[Joss Whedon]] in 2002), and the films ''[[Battle Beyond the Stars]]'' (1980), which is a remake of ''[[The Magnificent Seven]]''; ''[[Outland (film)|Outland]]'' (1981), which is a remake of ''[[High Noon]]''; and ''[[Serenity (2005 film)|Serenity]]'' (2005, based on the ''Firefly'' TV series). The classic Western genre has also been a major influence on science-fiction films such as the original ''[[Star Wars: A New Hope|Star Wars]]'' movie of 1977, with 2018's ''[[Solo: A Star Wars Story]]'' and 2019's ''[[The Mandalorian]]'' more directly featuring Western tropes. [[Gene Roddenberry]]'s concept of the TV show ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' was a "''Wagon Train'' to the stars".<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 3, 2016 |title=Inside "Star Trek" mastermind Gene Roddenberry's Western in space |url=https://www.newsweek.com/wagon-train-stars-410030 |access-date=2022-06-27 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref>

==Weird Western== {{main|Weird Western}}

The weird Western combines elements of the classic Western with those of other genres, particularly fantasy, horror and science fiction.<ref name="BFI">{{cite web |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/where-begin-with-weird-west |last=Bogutskaya |first=Anna |title=Where to begin with the Weird West |publisher=British Film Institute (BFI) |date=March 27, 2020 |access-date=July 31, 2021}}</ref> This subgenre includes the steampunk Western subvariant, which incorporates the [[retrofuturistic]] elements of [[steampunk]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Newman |first=Kim |author-link=Kim Newman |title=Wild West Movies |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd |location=London |year=1990 |page=187 |isbn=978-07-47507-47-5}}</ref> ''[[The Wild Wild West]]'' television series, television movies, and 1999 film adaptation blend the Western with [[steampunk]].<ref name="SPK">{{cite web |url=https://steampunkary.com/entertainment/tv-shows/the-wild-wild-west-tv-show |title=The Wild Wild West TV Show |publisher=Steampunkary |date=May 26, 2019 |access-date=August 3, 2021}}</ref> The ''[[Jonah Hex]]'' franchise also blends the Western with superhero elements. The film ''[[Western Religion (film)|Western Religion]]'' (2015), by writer and director [[James O'Brien (filmmaker)|James O'Brien]], introduces the devil into a traditional Wild West setting. The ''[[Old Man Logan]]'' (2008–2009) graphic novel combines the elements of superhero and post apocalyptic fiction with Westerns.

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Western (genre) subgenres|*]] [[Category:Film genres]] [[Category:Literary genres]] [[Category:Lists of genres|Western]]