Amazon Prime Video has five of the best Western films in its catalogue.
The hit streaming platform continues to please fans with a vast array of Hollywood movies and series.
As one of its western series gets praised as its answer to Yellowstone and American Primeval, here is a list of the top films in the category that have captured audiences’ attention.
Broke
Amazon recently added Broke to its lineup this past spring. The movie, which boasts a 91% Rotten Tomatoes score, released on May 6 with a star-studded cast that includes Wyatt Russell and Dennis Quaid as the leads.
The contemporary western film follows Wyatt’s character True Brandywine, “a bareback bronc rider clinging to his fading rodeo career. When True gets trapped in a freak spring blizzard, he must battle injuries, illness, and the bitter cold. While fighting for his survival, True is forced to face his choices and the circumstances that led him to his tenuous situation.”
Old Henry
Next up is the 2021 action film Old Henry, which is led by Tim Blake Nelson.
The movie, rated 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, tells the story of “a widowed farmer and his son who warily take in a mysterious, injured man with a satchel of cash. When a posse of men claiming to be the law comes for the money, the farmer must decide whom to trust. Defending against a siege of his homestead, he reveals a talent for gunslinging that surprises everyone, calling his true identity into question.”
Tombstone
The beloved Tombstone is also available on the platform. Although it earned just a 76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the 1993 film is often celebrated for its standout cast, featuring some of the biggest names in Western cinema.
Val Kilmer, Kurt Russell, Bill Paxton, and Sam Elliott lead the movie that follows a group of men who have “left their gunslinger ways behind them to settle down and start a business in the town of Tombstone, Ariz. While they aren’t looking to find trouble, trouble soon finds them when they become targets of the ruthless Cowboy gang. Now, together with Wyatt’s best friend, Doc Holliday, the brothers pick up their guns once more to restore order to a lawless land.”
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Day of Reckoning
Another new western film that was released on the platform is Day of Reckoning. Since its release in March, it has captured viewers’ attention with its storyline, told through Cara Jade Myers, Scott Adkins and Billy Zane.
The synopsis reads, “On the verge of losing his wife and his job as sheriff, put-upon lawman John Dorsey reluctantly teams up with bullish U.S. Marshall Butch Hayden to hold outlaw Emily Rusk hostage. A battle of wills ensues as Emily turns the posse on themselves, but as her marauding husband and his gang approach, Emily and John realize they will need each other to survive.”
Appaloosa
Last but not least is the hit 2008 film Appaloosa.
The period drama, which has a 77% Rotten Tomatoes score, follows Ed Harris as he plays Virgil Cole, who partners with his longtime friend Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) as they “travel the 1880s Southwest, bringing justice to lawless towns desperate enough to hire them. In the mining town of Appaloosa, malevolent rancher Randall Bragg and his cronies ride roughshod over the frightened citizens. As Cole and Hitch work to end Bragg’s reign of terror, an unconventional widow (Renee Zellweger) arrives, complicating the job and threatening their bond.”