While most movie fans were distracted by Reality Bites and Titanic, Western stars were quietly reclaiming their place in American cinema. Any Western fan will tell you that Michael Cimino sunk the genre in 1980 with his overwrought, under-attended flop Heaven's Gate. After that jaw-dropping failure, production of Westerns slowed to a trickle and cowboys seemed relegated to reruns of Gunsmoke. But lo and behind! The '90s brought about a major Western resurgence that put cowboys back on marquees. Of course, not all of them belonged there. (Here's looking at you, Will Smith.) Which '90s Westerns should you add to your must-see list?

Dead Man (1995)
This is probably the most unique Western to come around during the '90s, and certainly the trippiest. A coup was snagging Robert Mitchum as the corrupt company boss of the town of Machine. Mitchum both dignifies the movie with his presence, and makes it that much odder. Director Jim Jarmusch reimagines the Western to his own quirky, aloof specifications, something instantly apparent from the movie's opening train-ride sequence.

Wyatt Earp (1994)
Unfortunately, Lawrence Kasdan's take on the Earp story, starring Kevin Costner as the lawman, doesn't fare quite as well as its kissing cousin, Tombstone (in which Costner was originally slated to star). It's not a bad movie per se, but the sheer amount of material it crams in causes it to lose steam well before the credits roll. Still, those vast landscapes make up for some of the movie's slack -- they even earned the movie a Best Cinematography nod at the Oscars that year.

Tombstone (1993)
You'd think the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral had been wrung dry long before 1993, but this take on the event, with Kurt Russell as a fierce Wyatt Earp, breathes new life into the genre. In fact, it might just be the best version of the story ever committed to film -- beating out such stalwarts as My Darling Clementine and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Val Kilmer's turn as a one-liner-spitting Doc Holliday is one of the actor's best performances.

Posse (1993)
Mario van Peebles's restless camera and disorienting editing makes for a decidely weird movie experience -- even more so than the sight of rapper Big Daddy Kane in cowboy boots and spurs. Nevertheless, Posse's tale of black cowboys is an appealing corrective to the conventional all-white Western ethos, even if it didn't exactly amount to crossover success.

Unforgiven (1992)
Clint Eastwood's grim gunfighter tale turns the conventional ingredients of the Western into the stuff of Greek tragedy, and its explorations of violence, myth, and regret were territory that Eastwood would continue to probe in Mystic River and Flags of our Fathers. And while some reviewers at the time stated that it seemed to close the book on the Western, in reality it opened up a whole new frontier of possibilities.

City Slickers (1991)
The Wild West is a place brimming with machismo and unspoken rules, so there's great potential for fish-out-of-water comedy. In this laugher, Jack Palance's rugged trail boss makes a perfect foil for Billy Crystal's acerbic smart-ass. But the movie's well-developed characters, and a great supporting class that included Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby, make it much more than just a collection of silly gags.

Quigley Down Under (1990)
Another way to reinvigorate the Western, of course, is to change what makes it familiar -- including the setting. Here, Tom Selleck plays a bad-ass American who goes to the Australian outback where he goes up against aborigine-killing sadist (Alan Rickman). And, instead of carrying a six-shooter, he totes an elephant gun with gigantic bullets that any child of the '90s would covet.

Dances with Wolves (1990)
Movie buffs may cry treason at Kevin Costner's epic beating out Goodfellas for Best Picture at the Oscars; but prestige pics beating out masterpieces is what the Academy Awards do best. And, yes, Dances helped usher in the era of three-hour event movies. But all things considered, it won its golden statue for a reason: Great storytelling that meshes a romantic view of the West with a modern sensibility. (Just don't mention it in the same breath as The Postman...)

Click here for a full schedule of Posse on AMC.