Retrospective Assessments
In 1989, The Searchers was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress, and selected for preservation in its National Film Registry. The Searchers has been cited as one of the greatest films of all time, such as in a Sight and Sound poll of the greatest films ever made. In 1972, The Searchers was ranked 18th; in 1992, fifth; in 2002, 11th; in 2012, 7th. The 2007 American Film Institute 100 Greatest American Films list ranked The Searchers in 12th place. In 2008, the American Film Institute named The Searchers as the greatest Western of all time. In 2010, Richard Corliss noted the film was "now widely regarded as the greatest western of the 1950s, the genre's greatest decade" and characterized it as a "darkly profound study of obsession, racism and heroic solitude."
The film has been recognized multiple times by the American Film Institute:
- AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies – No. 96
- AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains:
- Ethan Edwards – Nominated Hero
- AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes:
- "Let's go home, Debbie." – Nominated
- AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – No. 12
- AFI's 10 Top 10 – No. 1 Western Film
The film has also been recognized by the critically acclaimed film-site "They Shoot Pictures Don't They" ... Top 100 Movies – No. 8
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