12 Incredible Movies About Wyoming You Need To See
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Lisa Jensen
Author
The spectacular wilderness and small towns of Wyoming are idyllic settings for storytelling, whether it’s of the fact or fiction variety. That’s why, for over a century, many movies have been filmed in the Cowboy State. It’s always nice to get the nod from Hollywood that our state is breathtakingly beautiful and photogenic, but it’s even better when the story is about Wyoming. Starting in 1914, over 50 movies have been made with Wyoming as the setting. Here, we’ve picked a dozen of the best that need to go on your must-see list.
Possibly the single movie most closely associated with Wyoming, Close Encounters had to be included on the list. The Devil's Tower in the northeastern corner of the state plays a key role in the storyline when it becomes fixed in the minds of several people who experience the same UFO encounter. Everyone heads for Wyoming which ends up being the setting for a meet and greet between extraterrestrials and humans.
A classic western movie if there ever was one, Shane tells the story of a gunfighter who, weary of his violent lifestyle, tries to settle down on a Wyoming homestead. Unfortunately, a conflict between local ranchers and settlers forces him out of retirement.
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Few actors these days can play a gunslinger like Clint Eastwood, and Unforgiven proves that he is still King Cowboy, as well as a talented director. In the movie, Eastwood's character, William Munny, is another retired gunfighter trying to live a quiet life. When a young man looking to make a name for himself and claim a bounty asks for his help and offers him a cut of the reward, Munny reluctantly agrees to help on the condition that his partner - played by Morgan Freeman - be included.
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A teen headed down the wrong road is sent to live with his estranged father, who happens to be a park ranger in Wyoming. Searching for his place in the world, he finds it when he develops a kinship with a pack of wolves living in the park.
Said to be based "loosely" on fact, this classic starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford follows the exploits of the legendary outlaws as they pull off train robberies in Wyoming before heading to South America when the law starts closing in.
The original movie, based on the novel by Mary O'Hara, was released in 1943, but the most recent adaptation was done in 2006. The novel and first film told the story of a Wyoming boy who tries to prove himself to his rancher father by taking on a wild mustang. Though the 2006 movie differs slightly by making the lead role female, the story still endures.
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Henry Fonda in the starring role alone makes this movie set in Wyoming a classic that should be in everyone's library. It tells the story of the large Spencer family, headed up by hard-working patriarch Clay Spencer. His most heartfelt wish is to build a house for his wife and their large brood on a piece of land in the Snake River Valley, but seeing the dream come true could mean depriving his oldest son of a future. If you grew up watching the Waltons, you will notice more than a passing similarity between this movie and the show, and you should - the Waltons television show was based on the movie Spencer's Mountain.
Nicolas Cage plays a drifter who is mistaken for a hitman after arriving in a small Wyoming town. He's tempted to take the money meant to pay the killer - until the real hitman appears on the scene.
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This made-for-TV movie earns its place among the motion pictures on the list not only because the story takes place in Wyoming but also because Tom Selleck is one of the rare actors who has the chops to be in the cowboy fraternity with the likes of Eastwood and Elliot. Selleck plays the title role, a cowhand who enjoys a predictable existence working the range and visiting town occasionally - until his life is derailed by a friend's plans to rustle cattle.
Leave it to the king of genre filmmaking to put out one of the best westerns of the century. The Hateful Eight consist of a bounty hunter, a hangman, a prisoner, a sheriff, a cowboy, a Confederate general, and two other nefarious characters who take shelter from a treacherous Wyoming winter storm at a stage stop in the middle of nowhere. In addition to being a terrific western movie with an all-star cast, it's a fascinating mystery that will have you guessing until the end. It's a Tarantino film, so be prepared for plenty of blood.
After Private First Class Chance Phelps is killed in Iraq, Marine Colonel Michael Strobl - played by Kevin Bacon - escorts his body back to Phelps's hometown of Dubois, Wyoming. The movie takes viewers along on the journey, and was featured at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009.
Jeremy Renner takes a break from the Avengers to play a Wyoming Fish and Wildlife Service tracker. When he discovers the body of a murdered Wind River Indian woman, he sees it as an opportunity to right a wrong from his own past if he can solve the crime.
Have you seen all of these films?
What other movies about Wyoming are your favorites?
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