Western films

Western films are movies set in the American Old West, typically during the late 19th century.

The genre features cowboys, outlaws, frontier towns, and conflicts between settlers and Native Americans.

Westerns dominated Hollywood through the mid-20th century, establishing iconic imagery: showdowns at high noon, saloons, horses, and vast desert landscapes.

The term applies whether describing classics like The Searchers or revisionist entries that subvert genre conventions.