5 Women Who Won The West

Annie, Get Your Gun...

1. Liz (Dakota Fanning) in BRIMSTONE

Dakota Fanning is all grown up and starring in a new western with veteran actor Guy Pearce and "Game of Thrones" star Kit Harington. Wrongly accused of a crime she didn’t commit, Liz, a frontier woman turned fugitive is hunted by a vengeful preacher in the menacing inferno of the old West.

BRIMSTONE is a tale of powerful womanhood and resistance against the unforgiving cruelty of the American frontier.

2. Jane Hammond (Natalie Portman) in JANE GOT A GUN

Strength, justice, power, vengeance. The tagline for JANE GOT A GUN says it all. Starring Academy Award winner Natalie Portman as a woman who has to defend her home against a group of outlaws.

The western film centers on Jane Hammond, who has built a new life with her husband Bill "Ham" Hammond after being tormented by the ultra-violent Bishop Boys outlaw gang. She finds herself in the gang's cross-hairs once again when Ham stumbles home riddled with bullets after dueling with the Boys and their relentless mastermind Colin. With the vengeful crew hot on Ham's trail, Jane has nowhere to turn but to her former fiancé Dan Frost for help in defending her family against certain destruction. Haunted by old memories, Jane's past meets the present in a heart-stopping battle for survival.

3. Stella Davis (Dorian Brown) in RUNNING WILD

RUNNING WILD tells the story of a young widow named Stella who tries to save her ranch following her husband's tragic death. She creates a convict rehabilitation program, working with a herd of wild horses that have wandered onto her property. She did not anticipate the greed, bureaucracy and vanity that she must overcome to heal the convicts, the horses and ultimately herself.

This inspiring drama/western stars Sharon Stone, Tommy Flanagan, Jason Lewis, Dorian Brown Pham, and Tom Williamson.

4. Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) in TRUE GRIT

Before Hailee Steinfeld became a pop star, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Mattie Ross in the Coen brothers' critically acclaimed western TRUE GRIT.

Following the murder of her father by hired hand Tom Chaney, 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. marshal she can find, a man with "true grit," Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn. Mattie insists on accompanying Cogburn, whose drinking, sloth, and generally reprobate character do not augment her faith in him. Against his wishes, she joins him in his trek into the Indian Nations in search of Chaney. They are joined by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, who wants Chaney for his own purposes. The unlikely trio find danger and surprises on the journey, and each has his or her "grit" tested.

5. Emily Tetherow (Michelle Williams) in MEEK'S CUTOFF

MEEK'S CUTOFF is an indie drama/western featuring a powerhouse cast including Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Zoe Kazan, and Paul Dano. The year is 1845, the earliest days of the Oregon Trail, and a wagon train of three families has hired mountain man Stephen Meek to guide them over the Cascade Mountains. Claiming to know a shortcut, Meek leads the group on an unmarked path across the high plain desert, only to become lost in the dry rock and sage.

Director Kelly Reichardt previously worked with Michelle Williams on the indie flick Wendy and Lucy. Critics praised Michelle Williams' performance as pioneer woman Emily Tetherow when the film premiered at Toronto International Film Festival.