The 15 Best Westerns That Won an Oscar, Ranked
Westerns, those dust-kicking, horse-riding tales of the wild, wild West, aren't typically the darlings of the Oscars.
But there's this standout bunch of 15 that bucked the trend and lassoed themselves an Academy Award or two.
They're the exceptions in a genre that often rides under the radar of the Academy's spotlight, films that managed to capture the essence of the rugged frontier spirit and translate it into something Oscar voters couldn't ignore.
These films, ranked for their achievements, each tell a story that goes beyond the typical Western clichés of bar brawls and gun duels, delving into narratives that are as layered as the landscapes they're set against, from sunbaked deserts to the sprawling plains.
They're the kind of movies that remind us that the Western genre, often left in the shadows of cinema's more celebrated genres, has its own tales of complexity and depth, proving that every once in a while, a cowboy story can gallop past the usual suspects and capture the golden statuette.
And these 15 films, each in their own unique way, managed to do just that, proving that the tales of the old West still have the power to capture hearts and minds, and yes, even those elusive Oscar votes.