Epic Western

The Epic Western is a sub-genre of the Western.

An archetypical example is Once Upon a Time in the West, a lengthy revenge epic directed by Sergio Leone and starring Charles Bronson. Other movies that may be considered archetypes of the sub-genre include The Searchers with John Wayne, The Magnificent Seven, Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy, Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove, The Shootist with John Wayne, and How the West was Won.

Epic Westerns draw from the Norse Saga technique. They tend to be long, sweeping, and complex, with often-shifting alliances. Characters are more deeply drawn than shoot 'em up Westerns, sometimes acting as forces for good, sometimes evil. Men are often caught in situations not of their own choosing, and must surmount fantastic difficulties. A common technique is the portrayal of someone who never wants to resort to violence, but is forced to do so due to circumstances beyond his control.

Many critics have also drawn comparisons with Greek mythology, with Martin M. Winkler comparing The Searchers to Homer's Iliad, and specifically the character of Ethan Edwards to Achilles. In addition, some of the early epic westerns, such as The Magnificent Seven and Leone's spaghetti westerns, were influenced by Akira Kurosawa's samurai films, such as Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and Sanjuro.