✓ YES — Watch it

The Cowboys

Name: The Cowboys
Director: Mark Rydell
Genre: Western, Adventure, Drama, Action
Released: 1972-01-13
Duration: 134 min
Rating: 7.4
Cast: John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, Bruce Dern, Colleen Dewhurst, Alfred Barker Jr.

1972 · 2h 14m · Western, Adventure, Drama, Action

IMDb 7.4 Metacritic 52 RT 75%

Watch it. "The Cowboys" is a solid Western with genuine heart—it's got the adventure and coming-of-age elements that make the genre work, backed by strong audience and critic approval. John Wayne's final film earned its stripes, and at 75% on RT and 7.4 on IMDb, it's exactly the kind of movie that deserves a spot on your tonight rotation.

Plot

When his cattlemen abandon him for the gold fields, rancher Wil Andersen is forced to take on a collection of young boys as his cowboys in order to get his herd to market in time to avoid financial disaster. The boys learn to do a man's job under Andersen's tutelage, however, neither he nor the boys know that a gang of cattle thieves is stalking them.

Director: Mark Rydell

Cast: John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, Bruce Dern, Colleen Dewhurst, Alfred Barker Jr.

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.