5 Western Movies That Cracked the Code and Won an Oscar
Just like horrors, Western films are often overlooked when it comes to winning big at the Oscars. These movies are exceptions and pure gems for lovers of the genre.
The inclusivity has been a ruling power in Hollywood for years, but somehow it didn’t quite concern several genres that frequently remain ignored ahead of the industry’s awards season.
Talks like this usually go to the horror genre, with this year’s Oscar nominee The Substance being a disheartening example of a deserving movie deprived of all statuettes, though Westerns aren’t common guests at the ceremonies either.
However, there are still some exceptions that not only got nominated, but also won the most desired award in Hollywood, and these films can become your perfect watch if you’re a fan of the genre.
Rango (2011)
The only Western movie to win an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, Rango stars Johnny Depp ( or rather his voice) as a quirky pet chameleon that suddenly gets lost in a city swirled by criminals since there’s no one to take on the role of a local sheriff.
The Western theme, however, isn’t just a background here, and the film was quite clearly inspired by the genre’s timeless classics like Sergio Leone’s hits The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West.
Rango was a touching tribute to the history of Western in cinema, so its collection of prestigious statuettes, that also includes a BAFTA, People's Choice Award and four Annie Awards, is pretty deserved.
Dances With Wolves (1990)
Before Kevin Costner embarked on a mission to make his dream project come true with the Horizon franchise, he was already the Western genre’s big hero who won yet another “Western” Oscar after starring in a 1990 epic drama Dances With Wolves.
The movie follows Costner’s Lieutenant John J. Dunbar whose trip to the American frontier makes him end up with a decision to join the Lakota and completely change his lifestyle.
Dances With Wolves was a massive box office hit and a big winner at the 1991 Oscars ceremony, taking home 7 statuettes, including for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
How the West Was Won (1962)
More than six decades later, the movie is considered one of Hollywood’s greatest epic films ever made. How the West Was Won sets its journey off in the 1830s, expanding a story of a family trying to settle somewhere near the American frontier of the US.
The film features a star-studded cast, comprising James Stewart, Carroll Baker, Gregory Peck and Henry Fonda among others, and was granted 3 Oscar statuettes at the 1963 ceremony.
The Revenant (2015)
Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s epic Western that brought Leonardo DiCaprio his first long-overdue Oscar back in 2016, The Revenant is a gripping story about a hunter set to bring full-scale revenge to those who killed his son and also left him dying in the frozen forests somewhere close to a Native American village.
Apart from Best Actor, the movie also got Oscars in two more categories for Best Director and Best Cinematography.
The Power Of The Dog (2021)
Benedict Cumberbatch ’s heart-shattering Western drama is still considered one of the biggest Oscar snubs of recent years, despite the movie receiving one award after all.
The film primarily follows Cumberbatch’s Phil Burbank, a rude and sometimes even abusive wealthy rancher whose life is thrown upside down when his brother welcomes a new wife and her child at their property.
The Power Of The Dog received a whopping number of 12 Oscar nods, but eventually won only one for Best Director.
