5 Great Spaghetti Westerns You Can Stream On Prime Video

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As a huge movie fan, especially of Westerns, I’ve been really impressed with what’s available on Amazon Prime Video. They’ve got everything from the iconic John Wayne films to some lesser-known classics from the older days of cinema, and even some newer Westerns. And it’s not just traditional American Westerns – they’ve got a great selection of those stylish, gritty Spaghetti Westerns too, which are a really important part of the genre’s history.

The incredibly popular Dollars Trilogy, directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood, helped Italian Westerns become a hit with audiences around the world in the mid-1960s. Even after Eastwood moved to Hollywood and stopped making these films, the genre – known as ‘Spaghetti Westerns’ – continued to be produced.

As a big fan of Westerns, I always find it interesting to learn about the actors who ended up working a lot in Italy. Clint Eastwood worked with Lee Van Cleef in a few films, and he wasn’t the only American star who found steady work there. Guys like James Coburn, Yul Brynner, and Charles Bronson all spent time making Westerns in Italy too. Of course, Italy had its own stars – people like Gianni Garko and George Hilton were regulars, and the team of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer were huge. But Franco Nero really stood out as one of the biggest names in those Italian Westerns, in my opinion.

Luckily, you can find at least one classic film from most of these famous Spaghetti Western directors available to watch on Prime Video.

5. Return Of Sabata

Lee Van Cleef isn’t just known for the “Man With No Name” Westerns; he also played a major role in the “Sabata” trilogy. While the original “Sabata” movie isn’t currently available on Prime Video, the third film in the series, “Return of Sabata,” is.

Lee Van Cleef returns to his role as the stylish and ruthless mercenary, after being absent from the second film and needing to be replaced. This time, he’s driven by revenge against a dishonest landowner.

The film’s setup lets it use a classic Western theme – revenge – which fits perfectly with Lee Van Cleef’s portrayal of a tough, self-serving gunslinger. While Return of Sabata doesn’t focus heavily on a complex story, it makes up for it with exciting action and memorable lines.

4. The Unholy Four

In the film The Unholy Four, veteran Spaghetti Western star Leonard Mann plays Chuck Mool, a gunslinger who has lost his memory. The movie slowly reveals how Chuck is connected to a group of bank robbers.

The humor in The Unholy Four largely comes from the movie’s central group: four escaped mental patients. The story kicks off when Chuck Wool breaks out of an asylum with three other men. This unusual group of characters makes for a surprisingly entertaining dynamic, and is a key strength of the film.

Featuring Western favorite Woody Strode in a major role, The Unholy Four offers a fast-paced and action-packed story filled with twists and turns in regards to the mystery of Chuck Wool’s secret past. Complementing the action is a fair amount of humor and witty dialogue for its main character and the other members of “The Unholy Four.”

3. Death Rides A Horse

Besides Return of Sabata, Prime Video also offers another great Spaghetti Western starring Lee Van Cleef: Death Rides a Horse. In it, Van Cleef plays a former prisoner and skilled gunslinger who was wrongly convicted and just served a lengthy jail sentence.

This 1967 Western, like many films of its era, features a partnership between Van Cleef’s seasoned character and a younger, less experienced hero. The hero seeks his help in finding the bandits who killed his family.

The story in Death Rides a Horse isn’t especially original, but it’s a solid revenge tale with a skilled gunslinger – a classic formula for a great Western. And this film pulls it off beautifully.

In Death Rides a Horse, the story cleverly flips the dynamic from For a Few Dollars More. Instead of needing the Man With No Name to track down the person who killed his sister, Van Cleef gets to be the one helping the hero achieve his revenge.

Death Rides a Horse is now rightfully regarded as one of the greatest Spaghetti Westerns ever made.

2. Massacre Time

I’ve always been fascinated by Franco Nero, and it’s amazing to me that right after he became famous playing Django in 1966, he starred in another great Spaghetti Western called Massacre Time. It’s really cool seeing him act alongside another legend of the genre, George Hilton. Nero plays Tom Corbett, a man who comes back home after years away, only to find his mother – who was quite wealthy – has passed away.

Tom Corbett returns to his hometown to find it overrun by criminals. He joins forces with his brother to reclaim their family home, leading to a brutal and bloody conflict. The film’s intense violence is a clear result of director Lucio Fulci’s experience making Italian horror films.

Lucio Fulci is known for horror, so his directing of Massacre Time might seem unusual. However, because ‘Spaghetti Westerns’ often have a darker feel than typical Westerns, Fulci actually fits the film’s tone surprisingly well.

1. A Reason To Live, a Reason To Die

The 1972 film A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die brought together three well-known actors: James Coburn, Bud Spencer, and Terry Savalas. It’s essentially a Spaghetti Western take on the classic World War II film, The Dirty Dozen.

Similar to the movie The Dirty Dozen, this film centers around a military officer who assembles a team of criminals – individuals you wouldn’t normally rely on for crucial missions – and leads them on a daring raid. However, instead of a German base, their target is a fort belonging to the Confederacy, making it a Western.

This movie clearly takes inspiration from The Dirty Dozen, and doesn’t even try to disguise it – especially since Terry Savalas, who starred in the original war film, also appears in this one. However, that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. It successfully proves that this type of story works just as well when set in the Western genre.

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2025-11-07 22:29