Johnny Guitar

Name: Johnny Guitar
Genre: Western
Released: 1954-05-26
Duration: 110 min
Rating: 7.6

1954 · 1h 50m · Western

IMDb 7.6 Metacritic 83 RT 94%

Watch it tonight if you want a genuinely weird and visionary Western that breaks all the genre rules—this 1954 oddity features a female protagonist, sexual tension over gunfights, and a fever-dream aesthetic that feels decades ahead of its time. The critics agree it's a masterpiece, so don't let the unconventional premise fool you into thinking it's a traditional shoot-em-up.

Plot

On the outskirts of town, the hard-nosed Vienna owns a saloon frequented by the undesirables of the region, including Dancin' Kid and his gang. Another patron of Vienna's establishment is Johnny Guitar, a former gunslinger and her lover. When a heist is pulled in town that results in a man's death, Emma Small, Vienna's rival, rallies the townsfolk to take revenge on Vienna's saloon – even without proof of her wrongdoing.

Related Movies

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

✓ Watch it

Western

While the Civil War rages on between the Union and the Confederacy, three men – a quiet loner, a ruthless hitman, and a Mexican bandit – comb the American Southwest in search of a strongbox containing $200,000 in stolen gold.
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

✓ Watch it

Drama · Western

As the railroad builders advance unstoppably through the Arizona desert on their way to the sea, Jill arrives in the small town of Flagstone with the intention of starting a new life.
Django Unchained (2012)

✓ Watch it

Drama · Western

With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.
Unforgiven (1992)

✓ Watch it

Western

William Munny is a retired, once-ruthless killer turned gentle widower and hog farmer. To help support his two motherless children, he accepts one last bounty-hunter mission to find the men who brutalized a prostitute. Joined by his former partner and a cocky greenhorn, he takes on a corrupt sheriff.
Dances with Wolves (1990)

✓ Watch it

Adventure · Drama · Western

Wounded Civil War soldier John Dunbar tries to commit suicide—and becomes a hero instead. As a reward, he's assigned to his dream post, a remote junction on the Western frontier, and soon makes unlikely friends with the local Sioux tribe.
No Country for Old Men (2007)

✓ Watch it

Crime · Thriller · Western

Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon dead bodies, $2 million and a hoard of heroin in a Texas desert, but methodical killer Anton Chigurh comes looking for it, with local sheriff Ed Tom Bell hot on his trail. The roles of prey and predator blur as the violent pursuit of money and justice collide.