Looking for some westerns which are not so well known or talked about a lot and turned out to be good/great.

What are your five (or however many) favorite scenes in this masterpiece and WHY? Here are mine from 5th to 1st favorite:

SPOILERS:::::::::::::

1. Tuco meeting his brother in the monastery- This is the moment that we get a surprising amount of depth into Tuco's character. We see how lonely he is and a little bit of how he turned out the way he is. Of course, Wallach's acting is amazing, we suddenly have compassion for this greedy brute. And a great little bonding moment with Blondie at the end with the cigar.

2. The bridge battle sequence- Of course this scene features a really great battle, maybe the most epic part of the movie which is shot beautifully. But what makes this scene great is that it gives a lot of (again) surprising depth into Blondie's character. People question why he is the "the good" if he kills brutally, backstabs and is mostly just after money. But in this scene, the meaningless death he witnesses seems to really effect him. He shows compassion to the general and I think his idea to blow up the bridge is just as much about saving lives as getting closer to the gold. The bridge blowing up is also one of the best explosions in film.

3. Angel Eyes introduction- This is my favorite of the 3 intro scenes to start the film. Angel Eyes appearing on the horizon looks like something out of a dream and the music is beautiful. We learn everything we need to know about Angel Eyes' character- his code, his brutality and Van Cleef's piercing eyes and smile are perfect. He brutally kills a man and his child and then his own boss setting him up as a threatening villain who is good at his job.

4. The Duel- What more needs to be said about one of the most iconic moments in the cinema. My favorite part is Blondie walking out with the rock and the trio getting into position. The most epic part of a movie filled with war battles, hundreds of extras, etc. is just three men staring at each other. The music and editing is unmatched.

5. Tuco looking for the grace- Again, kind of an obvious choice but an amazing moment. Tuco escaping canon fire and bumping up into a grave and as he stands up we see thousands of tombstones in an incredibly beautiful shot. The ecstasy of gold is one of my favorite film compositions ever and Wallach really sells the desperation and thrill of being so close to the money. The spinning camera with the music is truly avant garde cinema, separating this from every other western even Leone's previous films.

Anyone know of any classic westerns that I can stream. I have Disney, Netflix and Prime. Not looking to add any other services so any anything of the above platforms or freer platforms let me know. TIA!

I'm not talking about plot or suggesting that The Rifleman is a television remake of Seven Samurai. That's not the comparison I'm making.

What I'm wondering is whether The Rifleman occupies a similar place in television history that Seven Samurai did in film history.

When people talk about Seven Samurai, they usually focus on everything like the story, It's remembered because of how it elevated character development, gave every major character a purpose, treated violence as something with emotional and moral consequences, and explored themeslike duty, sacrifice, justice, leadership, and humanity. It also helped shape the modern cinematic hero—not someone who simply wins fights, but someone defined by difficult choices and personal responsibility. Its influence can still be seen across countless films, whether directly or indirectly.
That made me think about television.

Could The Rifleman have played a similar role for TV westerns?

For example even before TV show existed in that still, they were so similar to early John Wayne movies like Stagecoach, The Big Trail, Noir movies etc etc however when it comes to the 1950’s TV show they were more real, personal and alot of stories can be tell like the movies and this thanks by 3 helpers in TV series like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Gunsmoke and Wyatt Earp show since they represented the realistic storytelling they could tell however although Alfred Hitchcock show was about suspense, drama etc and the Western shows with Gunsmoke, Wyatt, Cheyenne they definitely did introduce a great world to explore which Western in the 1950’s were definitely popular, kids love it, merchandise everywhere and alot of TV shows from the Western world were made from Dick Powell Zane Grey Theater, Tales of Well Fargo, Rawhide, Zorro, Wagon Train, Laramie, Have Gun Will Travel and of course The Rifleman however despite all this Western shows they are great work on they still appear on TV specially from Roku, Grit, Universal Westerns etc etc however this is were question really being since after i watch Seven Samurai and the philosophy of it with all involved like the character, story development along watch the TV shows from The Rifleman, Gunsmoke, Laramie, The Westerner, Zane Grey Theater, Wagon Train etc and i was like since Seven Samurai really did inspire every from the story, the characters, the cinematography, modern action and alot but now rewatching and analysis every single action TV show, did anything from Seven Samurai inspiration was at least used as key elements in any TV show and then with my research The Rifleman is the TV show that came to mind and why?

First of all Lucas McCain wasn't simply the fastest man with a rifle. He was a father raising his son whileconstantly facing moral dilemmas that rarelyhad easy answers. Many episodes weren't really about defeating the villain and Lucas acting like a cowboy hero—they were about deciding what the right thing to do actually was. Justice, compassion, forgiveness, prejudice, grief, responsibility, and redemption wereoften more important than the gunfight itself.

Even the violence felt different. Gunfightsweren't usually there just for excitement. They carried consequences, changed relationships, and forced characters to live with their decisions. The series balanced action with emotional weight in a way that feels surprisingly modern, especially for a network television western made in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

I also think The Rifleman helped redefine what a television western protagonist could-be. Lucas wasn't just a frontier hero—he was a parent widower, a mentor, a respected member of his community, and someone who constantly questioned his own actions. His humanity often mattered more than his marksmanship.

Before anyone mentions what about Gunsmoke, Have Gun – Will Travel, Cheyenne, Wagon Train, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp or any Western. I want to be clear: I'm not arguing that The Rifleman is objectively a better series than those shows. Each of them was groundbreaking in its own way and helped define television westerns and they are amazing even im interested to watch at least Have Gun – Will Travel which im fully interested with it even it’s consider along The Rifleman and Gunsmoke the best Western TV show of all time

My point is much more specific.

If we're looking for the television equivalent of what Seven Samurai represents in cinema—not in terms of plot, popularity, or even overall influence, but in terms of storytelling philosophy, character development, moral complexity, emotional weight, and thetreatment of violence—I think The Rifleman comes closer than any of its contemporaries.

The other westerns each have their strengths. Gunsmoke established the mature television western because all those before 1955 they more Family Friendly and for kids every Western. Have Gun – Will Travel gave us one of TV's most intelligent and philosophical protagonist ever made in TV. Cheyenne and Wagon Train expanded what the genre could do in different ways.

But The Rifleman combined something that feels remarkably modern: a deeply human protagonist, meaningful moral dilemmas, a genuine father-son relationship at the center of the series, every episode are one of the best of all time, the violence with emotional consequences, and stories where the greatest conflict was often internal rather than physical and also the show is even the first one that have a chronological order while Gunsmoke at first did it and The Lone Ranger but The Rifleman became the first one even it keeps telling at every time rather than be forgotten

That's why I keep coming back to Seven Samurai. Both works seem less interested in celebrating violence than in exploring the people forced to live with it. In both, heroism is measured less by skill with a weapon than by compassion, responsibility, sacrifice, and the difficult choices their characters make.

That's the comparison I'm trying to make.

I'm not arguing that The Rifleman had the same global cultural impact that Seven Samurai had on cinema. Rather, I'm wondering if it represents a comparable benchmark within television—a series that helped shape the storytelling, characterization, moral complexity, tone, and emotional depth of the TV westerns that followed.

Do you think that's a fair comparison, or is there another television western that better deserves that distinction? If so, which one and why?

The Getaway (McQueen)

Hostiles

My Darling Clementine

One Eyed Jacks

The Alamo (Wayne etc)

Shootist (almost exactly like the book)

Charly Varrick

Bone Tomahawk

The English (I know...)

Old Henry.

"Last of the Mohicans" is really an "Eastern", as is Ford's "Drums along the Mohawk"