The Best Westerns To Watch On Hulu
As anyone with a Hulu subscription knows, the popular streaming service gives you access to thousands of movies, TV shows, documentaries, and pretty much every other type of filmed media. But do you know what else Hulu has in great supply? Westerns. In fact, the platform is home to several of the best Westerns of all time, both those set in the Old West and more contemporary stories set in modernity.
If you’re looking to revisit one of the best ‘90s movies, a forgotten epic that was beefed up years after release, or several films you may not have heard of before, stick around, because we’re about to break down 10 of the best Westerns you can watch right now.
Tombstone (1993)
After leaving his gunslinger past behind him, Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) and his brothers (Sam Elliott and Bill Paxton) settle down in Tombstone, Arizona, with hopes of starting a new business and a new life for themselves. But, peace, quiet, and law-abiding citizens are rare in this boomtown.
Why It’s One Of The Best Westerns On Hulu: In addition to featuring what could very well be the best supporting character with Val Kilmer’s Doc Holliday, Tombstone has everything you want in a Western. There’s shooting, there’s romance, and there’s some top-notch facial hair. Few movies about Wyatt Earp hit as hard as this 1993 gem.
Bone Tomahawk (2015)
After a group of residents from his town are abducted by a tribe of cannibalistic Native Americans, Sheriff Franklin Hunt (Kurt Russell) leads a posse into the unforgiving terrain to bring them home, no matter what it takes.
Why It’s One Of The Best Westerns On Hulu: S. Craig Zahler’s 2015 Western, Bone Tomahawk is essentially a horror movie set in the Old West, and a terrifying one at that. It’s not nice and clean, and is at times hard to stomach, but this modern horror classic is something to behold.
Faraway Downs (2023)
Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) travels from England to Australia in an attempt to force her distant husband to sell his million-acre cattle ranch, only to discover he has been murdered and she is now in full control. When a ruthless land baron attempts to take her land, Lady Sarah teams with a cattle drover (Hugh Jackman), kicking off both adventure and romance.
Why It’s One Of The Best Westerns On Hulu: Though not your traditional Western, this expansion of Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, has all the staples of the genre, but just set in the Outback instead of the Old West. Faraway Downs is a massive undertaking (it has been split into six parts), but one worth watching nonetheless.
Get Low (2010)
After spending much of his life avoiding society and building a reputation for himself as a feared hermit, Felix Bush (Robert Duvall) waltzes into town with a stack of cash and a simple yet peculiar idea: he wants to plan and preside over his own funeral.
Why It’s One Of The Best Westerns On Hulu: Get Low isn’t your typical Western, and it is set in the hills of Tennessee instead of the deserts of New Mexico, but it captures the heart and soul of the genre masterfully with its odd tale of an old man trying to find peace and redemption. It’s got more heart than cold-blooded killers and a tremendous experience all around.
The Old Way (2023)
After his wife is brutally murdered by a gang of bandits, reformed gunslinger Colton Briggs (Nicolas Cage) goes back to his old ways to avenge the death. Joined by his daughter (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), this aging cowboy sets out to right the wrongs of the world, no matter what it takes.
Why It’s One Of The Best Westerns On Hulu: Brett Donowho’s The Old Way is a Western throwback that sees Nicolas Cage go all out to tell a tried and true story. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but this 90-minute tale of revenge and redemption is quite adventurous and action-packed.
The Salvation (2014)
Searching for a better life, Danish war veteran Jon (Mads Mikkelsen) heads to the American West only for his wife and children to be brutally murdered. When his act of vengeance angers a local gang leader, Jon is forced to put it all on the line to protect himself and a local town.
Why It’s One Of The Best Westerns On Hulu: Kristian Levring’s The Salvation, though released in 2014, feels like an old-school Western in every way imaginable. Shootouts, revenge, dastardly villains, and a sympathetic protagonist make this one to watch.
True History Of The Kelly Gang (2019)
Wanted for his various acts of violence and criminality, Australian bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly (George MacKay), along with his gang of jolly miscreants, attempts to evade capture by any means necessary.
Why It’s One Of The Best Westerns On Hulu: True History of the Kelly Gang, which is more fiction than reality, offers a unique spin to the Western genre and features one hell of a cast that includes Russell Crowe, Nicholas Hoult, and Thomasin McKenzie.
Stream True History Of The Kelly Gang on Hulu.
How To Blow Up A Pipeline (2022)
A group of climate activists aims to make their voices heard by blowing up an oil pipeline in West Texas that they hope will be detrimental to a corporation’s image and bottom line.
Why It’s One Of The Best Westerns On Hulu: Daniel Goldhaber’s How to Blow Up a Pipeline isn’t your typical Western (or Neo-Western for that matter), but it does capture the essence of the genre with its contemporary and impactful story about climate activism and the characters who feel like modern-day outlaws.
Stream How To Blow Up A Pipeline on Hulu.
Frontera (2014)
After crossing the border between the United States and Mexico, Miguel Ramirez (Michael Peña) finds himself being wrongfully accused of killing a woman involved in a freak accident. In a twist of fate, the woman’s widower (Ed Harris) becomes an unlikely source of justice and redemption for Miguel.
Why It’s One Of The Best Westerns On Hulu: Michael Berry’s Frontera, which is set in small towns and rugged terrain on either side of the border, is both a heartwarming and heartbreaking experience that shows both the goodness and evil that lives within each of us.
Forsaken (2015)
Returning years after fighting in the Civil War to discover his mother is dead and his town is being ripped apart by a ruthless gang, a gunslinger (Kiefer Sutherland) is forced to decide between the straight and narrow path or that of righteous violence.
Why It’s One Of The Best Westerns On Hulu: The pairing of real-life father and son duo Donald and Kiefer Sutherland is reason enough to watch Forsaken, but Jon Cassar’s revisionist Western has a lot of other things going for it as well. It’s short, it’s violent, and it doesn’t hold back.
Hopefully, these Westerns take you back to the Old West (or at least that old-time feeling) to relive the freedom, beauty, and unforgiving brutality of yesteryear. But, if you’re looking for more great options, there are a lot of great movies on Hulu worth checking out.
