There is nothing better than spending your free time relaxing and watching movies. One good movie can turn a rainy afternoon into something entertaining, especially if they are action-packed. Classic Westerns are often filled with action, whether it’s fighting criminals or stealing precious items from others. Check out our list of the top five best streaming services for Western movies, and find your favorite Western.
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5. Netflix
Netflix has a wide range of new and modern Westerns. However, there are no classic old Westerns. It is an excellent value for money as you can get everything at $7 a month with ads or $15.49 a month without ads. Here are some movies you can expect to see on Netflix.
- The Harder They Fall: Outlaw Nat Love is looking for revenge to take down his enemy, Rufus Buck, a ruthless crime boss who just left prison.
- The Power of the Dog: Domineering rancher who wages a war of intimidation against his sister-in-law and nephew until long-hidden secrets come to light.
- The Hateful Eight: Years after the Civil War, a bounty hunter and his captive are waylaid by a Wyoming blizzard and hole up in a way station with six dicey strangers.
4. Starz
Starz holds a vast collection of premium Western series and movies and other old movies. You can get this extensive collection for $8.99 and discover some of the best movies around. Here are some movies you can expect to see on Starz
- The Virginian: This series spans from 1962-1970 with 225 episodes. Like a true western, a mysterious man enforces law and order in 1890s Wyoming, with lots of gun fights and stand-offs.
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Butch and Sundance are leaders of a gang to the pastime. They rob trains. After going after the same train too many times, the two realize a special posse is following them.
- Brimstone: Though this movie came out in 2016, it still holds all of the key western movie tropes. This revenge western focuses on a young woman in a frontier community who must go on the run after being targeted by a diabolical preacher.
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3. MGM+
Formally known as Epix Now, MGM+ has over 200 Western movies to pick from. The collection does not include the latest Western movies. It is the same as Best Western Ever (#1 on this list), which offers a cheaper rate. MGM+ also offers a 7-day free trial and $5.99 monthly after the trial. You can expect to see these movies on MGM+.
- Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer: The frontiersman leads settlers to Kentucky, where he makes peace with a Shawnee chief.
- Fighting Westerner: As the owner of a radium mine lies dying in his bed, his heirs are mysteriously murdered. It is up to an old sheriff and mining engineer to figure out the mystery. This is an older western, coming out in 1935 and only being 63 minutes long.
- The Sons of Katie Elder: The four sons return to their Texas hometown after the death of their mother, looking to avenge their father’s death, while getting into a conflict with a rival family.
2. HBO Max
HBO Max has a few of those blockbuster Western movies that are true classics. They also have newer Westerns that are still sure to keep you entertained. After a free trail, HBO Max costs $9.99 a month with ads, or if you get the ad-free version it costs $19.99.
- Beauty and the Bandit: This 1946 classic is based on a comic book series with the main character being The Cisco Kid. Though not as dark as the books, this movie follows the Bandido as he raids a stagecoach and realizes that a woman owns the items he stole, and he soon falls for her.
- Heaven’s Gate: When a battle erupts between the area’s poverty-stricken immigrants and its wealthy cattle farmers. As the struggle escalates, Averill and Champion begin to question their decisions.
- How the West Was Won: Regarded as one of the best Hollywood epics and westerns of all time, this movie sweeps through the Wild West’s most prominent time periods, including the 1830s migration and Civil War.
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1. Prime Video Best Streaming Services for Western Movies
You can watch the channel Best Western Ever on Prime Video without having a standalone app. It has the widest collection of Western channels and movies from the 40s and beyond. After a 7-day free trail, it costs only $1.99 a month to keep watching your favorite Westerns. It lacks the availability of mainstream and new Western films, but includes some classics, including:
- One Eye Jacks: After pulling a bank heist in Mexico, the outlaw and his partner, Dad Longworth, make a run for it, but Dad has bigger plans than freedom.
- Yellowstone: A bank robber’s son is searching for the money his father hid at Yellowstone National Park 20 years ago.
- Roaring Six Guns: A man with a lease on government land is threatened by killers in this 1937 Western.
When Were Westerns Popular?
Westerns began their life during the Silent Era (1894-1929) and continued into the Sound Era (post-1929). The fascination with the new world and frontier towns pushed this genre to become huge, especially when Manifest Destiny was completed because it reminisced on the days where the land was untamed and dangerous. The pinnacle of Western movies was between 1945 and 1965, with a quarter of studio output residing in this genre.
This trend changed in the late 1970s into the 1980s, falling to the wayside as newer westerns skewed the genre’s tropes, making the Westerns different from before and losing its priceless nostalgia.
Though Western movies and books have lessened in popularity, there still is a huge amount of film to see in this nostalgic genre. Try these five best streaming services for Western movies to find your new favorite, or just enjoy how films themselves have progressed over the years.