Do You Know These Underrated Western Films? 20-Question Trivia Quiz Challenge!

Answers Below – No Peeking!

Are you a true fan of the Western genre’s hidden treasures? This trivia quiz spotlights underrated Western films that pack a punch but flew under the radar, with questions spanning easy warm-ups to expert-level brain-teasers. Test your knowledge and see if you can score a perfect 20/20!

20 Trivia Questions on Underrated Western Films

Question 1: Who directed the 2015 horror-Western Bone Tomahawk?

A. John Hillcoat
B. Ti West
C. S. Craig Zahler
D. Scott Cooper

Question 2: In Bone Tomahawk (2015), what is Kurt Russell’s character name?

A. Arthur O’Dwyer
B. John Brooder
C. Franklin Hunt
D. Chicory

Question 3: The Proposition (2005) is primarily set in which location?

A. American Old West
B. 1880s Australian outback
C. Mexican borderlands
D. Canadian Rockies

Question 4: Who plays the outlaw Charlie Burns in The Proposition (2005)?

A. Ray Winstone
B. John Hurt
C. Guy Pearce
D. Danny Huston

Question 5: What is the release year of the cannibal-themed Western Ravenous?

A. 1997
B. 1999
C. 2001
D. 2003

Question 6: In Ravenous (1999), Guy Pearce portrays which character?

A. Col. Ives
B. Captain John Boyd
C. Reich
D. Toffler

Question 7: Who directed The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)?

A. Sam Peckinpah
B. Ed Harris
C. Andrew Dominik
D. Robert Altman

Question 8: Which actor received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford?

A. Brad Pitt
B. Sam Shepard
C. Sam Rockwell
D. Casey Affleck

Question 9: Robert Altman directed which 1971 anti-Western starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie?

A. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
B. McCabe & Mrs. Miller
C. Valdez Is Coming
D. The Great Silence

Question 10: In Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973), who plays the title character Billy the Kid?

A. James Coburn
B. Kris Kristofferson
C. Bob Dylan
D. Slim Pickens

Question 11: Sergio Corbucci directed which 1968 Spaghetti Western set in the snowy mountains?

A. Django
B. Keoma
C. The Great Silence
D. Compañeros

Question 12: Who stars as the mute gunslinger Silence in The Great Silence (1968)?

A. Franco Nero
B. Klaus Kinski
C. Jean-Louis Trintignant
D. Lee Van Cleef

Question 13: What is the release year of Enzo G. Castellari’s Spaghetti Western Keoma starring Franco Nero?

A. 1972
B. 1976
C. 1980
D. 1968

Question 14: Kelly Reichardt directed which 2010 Western following a lost wagon party on the Oregon Trail?

A. The Homesman
B. Meek’s Cutoff
C. Hostiles
D. The Sisters Brothers

Question 15: Tommy Lee Jones both directed and starred in which 2014 Western about transporting women across the plains?

A. Appaloosa
B. The Homesman
C. In a Valley of Violence
D. Open Range

Question 16: In Hostiles (2017), Christian Bale plays which character?

A. Sgt. Charles Wills
B. Capt. Joseph J. Blocker
C. Rosalee Quaid
D. Master Sgt. Thomas Metz

Question 17: Who directed the 2008 Western Appaloosa starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen?

A. Viggo Mortensen
B. Ed Harris
C. Robert Rodriguez
D. Antoine Fuqua

Question 18: Jacques Audiard’s first English-language film is which 2018 Western adaptation?

A. Bone Tomahawk
B. The Sisters Brothers
C. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
D. In a Valley of Violence

Question 19: In The Sisters Brothers (2018), which actors play the assassin brothers Eli and Charlie?

A. Christian Bale & Matt Damon
B. John C. Reilly & Joaquin Phoenix
C. Ed Harris & Viggo Mortensen
D. Ethan Hawke & John Travolta

Question 20: Ti West directed which 2016 revenge Western starring Ethan Hawke?

A. Hostiles
B. In a Valley of Violence
C. Meek’s Cutoff
D. Ravenous

Answers

  1. C. S. Craig Zahler – Zahler’s directorial debut was the 2015 film Bone Tomahawk; Hillcoat directed The Proposition, West made In a Valley of Violence, and Cooper helmed Hostiles.
  2. C. Franklin Hunt – Russell plays the sheriff leading the rescue party in Bone Tomahawk; Arthur is Patrick Wilson, John Brooder Matthew Fox, and Chicory Richard Jenkins.
  3. B. 1880s Australian outback – The Proposition is an Australian Western set during the colonial era; the others are typical American settings.
  4. C. Guy Pearce – Pearce stars as the conflicted outlaw Charlie Burns; Winstone is Capt. Stanley, Hurt the crazed Jellon Lamb, and Huston Arthur Burns.
  5. B. 1999 – Ravenous was released in 1999; the other years do not match this cult horror-Western.
  6. B. Captain John Boyd – Pearce’s Boyd is the reluctant hero battling cannibalism; Ives is Carlyle’s villain, others are supporting roles.
  7. C. Andrew Dominik – Dominik directed the 2007 slow-burn Western; Peckinpah did Pat Garrett, Harris Appaloosa, Altman McCabe.
  8. D. Casey Affleck – Affleck earned the nomination for Robert Ford; Pitt was lead, others supporting without noms.
  9. B. McCabe & Mrs. Miller – Altman’s 1971 film reimagines the genre; the others have different directors.
  10. B. Kris Kristofferson – Kristofferson portrays Billy; Coburn is Pat Garrett, Dylan plays Alias.
  11. C. The Great Silence – Corbucci’s bleak 1968 film features snowy settings; others are by different directors.
  12. C. Jean-Louis Trintignant – Trintignant is the silent protagonist; Kinski is the antagonist Loco, Nero stars in Keoma.
  13. B. 1976 – Keoma was released in 1976, Nero’s final Spaghetti Western as lead.
  14. B. Meek’s Cutoff – Reichardt’s minimalist 2010 film stars Michelle Williams; others have different plots/directors.
  15. B. The Homesman – Jones directed and plays George Briggs alongside Hilary Swank; others mismatch.
  16. B. Capt. Joseph J. Blocker – Bale’s Blocker escorts a Cheyenne chief; others are different characters.
  17. B. Ed Harris – Harris directed and stars as Virgil Cole with Mortensen as Hitch; others not involved.
  18. B. The Sisters Brothers – Audiard adapted Patrick deWitt’s novel in 2018 with Reilly and Phoenix.
  19. B. John C. Reilly & Joaquin Phoenix – The duo play Eli and Charlie Sisters; other pairs are from different films.
  20. B. In a Valley of Violence – West’s 2016 film features Hawke’s revenge tale; others by different directors.

How did you do? Share your score in the comments and challenge your friends to beat it – these underrated Westerns deserve the spotlight!