5 Best Western Movies About Revenge, Ranked

They say revenge is a dish best served cold, but it's played a key role in many hot westerns. Horse operas come in all forms, but stories about vengeance are the genre's bread and butter. All you need is a cowboy who's been wronged by some bad folks, and the story essentially writes itself. Still, the best revenge Westerns are about more than just revenge, and it's time to celebrate them.

We could spend all day discussing great revenge Westerns, so boiling this list down to five was no easy task. However, we are confident that our chosen entries will tickle the taste buds of most Western aficionados who are in the mood to watch gunslingers do what they do best. These movies will cater to your action needs, but they also explore deeper themes pertaining to history, humanity, and the myths of the Old West, most of which have been perpetuated by Westerns. So, without further ado, here are five great revenge Westerns every fan should see.

"Once Upon a Time in the West" is Sergio Leone's swansong to the genre, and many folks (rightfully) agree that it's one of the Westerns you should see before you die. What's more, fewer movies are better when it comes to revenge stories.

"Once Upon a Time in the West" tells the story of a corrupt railroad tycoon's attempts to build a train line through a patch of land. The baddie sends Frank (Henry Fonda) to intimidate the land's owner, but the outlaw gets a little too carried away. Elsewhere, a mysterious gunslinger known as Harmonica (Charles Bronson) travels the West searching for Frank, as he wants payback for an incident that happened years prior.

Leone's film is a master class in executing tension. While there is action and violence, the best moments occur during the calm before the storm. Extreme close-ups and drawn-out sequences are used to maximize tension and suspense before the poop hits the fan — and it's pretty nerve-wracking. Plus, you can't go wrong with any Western that has Fonda and Bronson sharing screen time.

Sergio Leone might be the godfather of Spaghetti Westerns, but Sergio Corbucci isn't far behind. He is mostly remembered for "Django" — the '60s Western that influenced Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" — but "The Great Silence" is an all-timer that doesn't get talked about enough.

In this one, a mute gunslinger, Silence (Jean-Louis Trintignant), helps persecuted outlaws take the fight to a group of vicious outlaws led by Loco (Klaus Kinski). Silence is recruited by a widow who wants revenge for her husband's death, but our anti-hero also has a history with a certain villain.

"The Great Silence" rejects the romanticized myths of the American West — and it does so without taking any prisoners. This world is a snow-capped hellscape where heroes don't exist. The ending is flat-out cruel, so don't expect to walk out of the film feeling optimistic about humanity. Still, it's hard not to admire a film that sticks to its amoral convictions, which is why "The Great Silence" is regarded as one of the best Westerns of all time among Letterboxd users.

"The Outlaw Josey Wales" is one of Clint Eastwood's best Westerns, both as an actor and director. In it, he plays the titular farmer who joins forces with Confederate soldiers to get revenge on the Unionists who murdered his wife and son. However, when Josey's comrades are slaughtered, he needs to go on the run, evading bounty hunters at every turn.

In many ways, "The Outlaw Josey Wales" is a continuation of the Westerns Eastwood is known for, most notably Sergio Leone's "Man with No Name" trilogy. Even though he teams up with others, the actor plays a silent loner with an impressive trigger finger. However, the film eventually becomes a story about Josey finding camaraderie with others along the way, offering brief respite from the violence.

"The Outlaw Josey Wales" explores America's dark Civil War history through a nuanced lens, highlighting the atrocities of war and the toll it takes on society afterward. The film provides plenty of food for thought, but it also works as an entertaining shoot 'em up with compelling characters.

Clint Eastwood is up again, but you would be hard-pressed to find a Western fan who doesn't agree that "Unforgiven" is a revenge masterpiece. The feature — which also stars Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman — won four Academy Awards and helped rejuvenate Westerns in the early '90s. What's more, "Unforgiven" also served as a major inspiration for Taylor Sheridan's "Yellowstone," and that counts for something.

"Unforgiven" sees Eastwood portray Will Munny, a former outlaw who just wants to live the quiet life. However, he needs money as farming isn't making ends meet, so he accepts a bounty put out by sex workers who want to avenge their friend. Will recruits an old buddy (Freeman) to assist on the mission, putting them on a collision course with a corrupt sheriff (Hackman).

Eastwood's film is one of many revisionist Westerns to strip away the Old West's glamor — but it might be the best of the bunch. Eastwood is a Western poster boy, and "Unforgiven" is a powerful, elegiac swansong to the genre that made him a household name. They don't get much better than this one, folks.

George P. Cosmatos' "Tombstone" is the huckleberry of revenge-themed Westerns. Heck, the movie is so entertaining, accessible, and stylish that it might even appeal to folks who don't like horse operas. To sweeten the deal, Kurt Russell, Sam Elliott, Val Kilmer, Michael Biehn, Powers Boothe, and Billy Bob Thornton make up one of the greatest casts ever assembled in a Western.

Russell plays Wyatt Earp, the legendary Old West lawman whose story has been told in countless Westerns. In "Tombstone," he and his brothers move to the titular town to chase their slice of the American Dream, but it doesn't work out. Our settlers butt heads with an outlaw gang known as the Cowboys, resulting in atrocities that force Wyatt to embark on a vengeance crusade.

"Tombstone" has action, violence, romance, and everything else one could want from a mainstream Western. The performances are terrific across the board, but Kilmer steals the show as Doc Holliday. Even though it deals with some weighty themes like violence and revenge, the film is surprisingly comforting and feel-good, as it feels like a love letter to the Westerns of yesteryear.