10 Most Visually Stunning Westerns Ever Made

4. Once Upon A Time In The West (Tonino Delli Colli)

The Hateful Eight Samuel L Jackson Kurt Russell
Paramount Pictures

His Dollars Trilogy complete, Sergio Leone looked set to walk away from the western - until he was coaxed back in for another round though when Paramount not only offered him a generous budget but the chance to work with Henry Fonda, the director's favourite actor.

Their resulting collaboration is arguably Leone's masterpiece - and given just how many of his films are considered among the very best by scholars and critics, that's saying something. But one thing that few would struggle to dispute though is that it is Leone's most beautifully striking entry into the genre.

Reuniting with cinematographer Delli Colli - with whom he worked on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - it's a gloriously lit work, shot in a way that captures the sprawling size of the Old West perhaps more than any other work in his oeuvre.

Those skies - azure blue with the shadow of dust and cloud below and above them - seem to stretch on for miles and miles, folding every player beneath it into its own breathtaking world.

Contributor

Something of a culture vulture, Mr Steel can historically be found in three places; the local cinema, the local stadium or the local chip shop. He is an avowed fan of franchise films, amateur cricket and power-chords.