Best Zapata Westerns
Named after the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, these films appeared in the late 60s as a reflection of the political turmoil of the era (Vietnam, 1968 student protests). They moved the genre away from individual revenge stories to broader themes of class struggle and revolution.
But don't let the politics scare you off—these are some of the most entertaining adventure movies ever made. Expect machine guns, massive explosions, betrayals, and the iconic pairing of Tomas Milian or Franco Nero as the bandit, with Jack Palance or Franco Nero as the mercenary.

Run, Man, Run
1968The legendary Tomas Milian stars as Cuchillo, a knife-throwing thief on the run from murderous bandits, sadistic American agents, his hot-blooded fiancée and a sheriff turned bounty hunter, all of whom are gunning for a hidden fortune in gold that could finance the Mexican Revolution.
View Movie →
El Chuncho's bandits rob arms from a train, intending to sell the weapons to Elias' revolutionaries. They are helped by one of the passengers, Bill Tate, and allow him to join them, unware of his true intentions.
View Movie →
Tepepa
1969The Mexican guerilla leader Tepepa and his gang fight against the chief of police, Cascorro.
View Movie →
The Mercenary
1968While a Mexican revolutionary lies low as a U.S. rodeo clown, the cynical Polish mercenary who tutored the idealistic peasant tells how he and a dedicated female radical fought for the soul of the guerrilla general Paco, as Mexicans threw off repressive government and all-powerful landowners in the 1910s. Tracked by the vengeful Curly, Paco liberates villages, but is tempted by social banditry's treasures, which Kowalski revels in.
View Movie →
Face to Face
1967History Professor Brad Fletcher heads west for his health, but falls in with Solomon Bennett's outlaw gang. Fascinated by their way of life, Fletcher finally takes over the gang, leading with a new 'efficient' ruthlessness.
View Movie →
The Big Gundown
1967Unofficial lawman John Corbett hunts down Cuchillo Sanchez, a Mexican peasant accused of raping and killing a 12-year-old girl.
View Movie →
A mute gunslinger fights in the defense of a group of outlaws and a vengeful young widow, against a group of ruthless bounty hunters.
View Movie →
Duck, You Sucker
1971At the beginning of the 1913 Mexican Revolution, greedy bandit Juan Miranda and idealist John H. Mallory, an Irish Republican Army explosives expert on the lam from the British, fall in with a band of revolutionaries plotting to strike a national bank. When it turns out that the government has been using the bank as a hiding place for illegally detained political prisoners -- who are freed by the blast -- Miranda becomes a revolutionary hero against his will.
View Movie →