10 Most Visually Stunning Westerns Ever Made

There's no actor, save John Wayne, as perhaps innately linked to the vision of the western in the wider cinematic consciousness than Clint Eastwood. Though the veteran actor-director has gone on to vast success on both sides of the camera away from the genre, it's his work out on the plains, enshrined in the Dollars Trilogy, that will likely remain his legacy long after he is gone.

Perhaps he would have escaped such a tag if he hadn't returned over twenty years after to deliver one of the all-time greats in the shape of Unforgiven though. Tracking two retired gunslingers as they set off for an effective final mission to the town of Big Whiskey, it brought Eastwood an Oscar for Best Director as well as winning the gong for Best Picture.

Much of its atmospheric brilliance though rests with Jack N. Green and his cinematography, soaked in the colour shifts of sunrises and sunsets, figures silhouetted in the half-darkness throughout. It's a masterful framing for a masterful film.