Ten Cowboy Movies I Love
I grew up on cowboy movies. My father loved his boyhood favorite, the 1949 Ghost Riders in the Sky with Gene Autry. My grandfather loved anything with John Wayne in it, and I was a fan of the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns growing up.
As I got older, my cowboys needed to be a little more romantic and I needed some eye candy to entertain me. There is just something about a straight shooting, hard jawed man in tight fitting Levis that makes a western all that more exciting. Also the town names and locations in all these movies are also solid gold.
Here are my top ten suggestions of cowboy movies you should see:
- The Outlaw Josey Wales with Clint Eastwood and Sam Bottoms. They’re more civil war veterans than cowboys. But they ride horses and shoot guns. I love the gunslinger drama and Josey Wales’ legacy as a guerrilla fighter that has people trembling in fear.
- Urban Cowboy with John Travolta and Debra Winger. The bull ride that Debra Winger does is reminiscent to the one June Grayson does in my book A Cowboy for June, that comes out on September 9th this year. This movie has an awesome soundtrack. Johnny Lee’s “Lookin’ For Love” and The Charlie Daniels’ Band’s “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” are my favorite songs.
- Legends of the Fall with Brad Pitt pre-Angelina Jolie. He’s got long hair and rides a horse in Montana with his brother Aidan Quinn and father Anthony Hopkins. Even beyond the eye candy, this is such a pretty movie. It’s not a happy one though.
- The Longest Ride features Scott Eastwood as a bull rider, who is just as attractive as his daddy was when he was younger. This movie is based off a Nicholas Sparks book. So you know you’re going to cry while you’re watching this.
- Quigley Down Under with Tom Selleck and his 80’s stache, Alan Rickman as the villain, and the wonderful Laura San Giacomo as Crazy Cora. The dingos in this movie were terrifying, but I loved how Quigley treated Cora.
- Brokeback Mountain with Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger. It’s based on Anne Proulx’s short story and I had read it first before seeing the movie. The end of the short story was gut wrenching and I was hoping Hollywood would give these two cowboys a HEA.
- Hidalgo with Viggo Mortensen. I loved that Viggo bought the mustang and took him home after the movie. This story is about an American cowboy competing in the Ocean of Fire, a 3,000 mile race through the desert against Arabian horses. Omar Sharif was the main Sheikh
- Maverick with James Gardner and Mel Gibson before he was a dumpster fire. This take on cowboys shows the handsome men as a lawman and a professional gambler. But there are enough high jinks and action to keep you entertained while you look for all the country singers who made cameos in the film. Crystal River is the town’s name. Part of Cole Lockwood, my hero in A Cowboy for April, which releases this week, was based on Mel Gibson’s love for the poker game.
- Cowboys and Aliens. It stars Daniel Craig as a gunslinger with amnesia, and Harrison Ford, looking wonderfully craggy and dusty, as Colonel Dolarhyde. The plot is a little far fetched, unless you can get past the concept of aliens trying to take over the Wild West. The town’s name is Absolution.
- The Quick and the Dead. It stars Sharon Stone as “The Lady” a female gunslinger and Russell Crowe as an outlaw turned preacher. This movie has the best gunfight competition. The town’s name is Redemption.
What are some of your favorite cowboy movies?
USA Today bestselling author, Jamie K. Schmidt, writes erotic contemporary love stories and paranormal romances. Her steamy, romantic comedy, Life’s a Beach, reached #65 on USA Today, #2 on Barnes & Noble and #9 on Amazon and iBooks. Her Club Inferno series from Random House’s Loveswept line has hit both the Amazon and Barnes & Noble top one hundred lists. The first book in the series, Heat, put her on the USA Today bestseller list for the first time, and is a #1 Amazon bestseller. Her book Stud is a 2018 Romance Writers of America Rita® Finalist in Erotica. Her dragon paranormal romance series has been called “fun and quirky” and “endearing.” Partnered with New York Times bestselling author and former porn actress, Jenna Jameson, Jamie’s hardcover debut, SPICE, continues Jenna’s FATE trilogy.
