Movies like Denver and Rio Grande (1952)
The best movies like Denver and Rio Grande (1952) are Silverado (1985), Return of the Gunfighter (1967) and Open Range (2003). If Denver and Rio Grande hooked you with its western, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)7.8/10 from 1,362 votes
- NewestNews of the World (2020)Released 2020
Silverado (1985)
Four unwitting heroes cross paths on their journey to the sleepy town of Silverado. Little do they know the town where their family and friends reside has been taken over by a corrupt sheriff and a murderous posse. It's up to the sharp-shooting foursome to save the day, but first they have to break each other out of jail, and learn who their real friends are.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReturn of the Gunfighter (1967)
A gunfighter and a cowboy help a Mexican girl avenge the land-related murder of her parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOpen Range (2003)
A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Sheepman (1958)
A stranger in a Western cattle-town behaves with remarkable self-assurance, establishing himself as a man to be reckoned with. The reason appears with his stock: a herd of sheep, which he intends to graze on the range. The horrified inhabitants decide to run him out at all costs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRamrod (1947)
A cattle-vs.-sheepman feud loses Connie Dickason her fiance, but gains her his ranch, which she determines to run alone in opposition to Frank Ivey, "boss" of the valley, whom her father Ben wanted her to marry. She hires recovering alcoholic Dave Nash as foreman and a crew of Ivey's enemies. Ivey fights back with violence and destruction, but Dave is determined to counter him legally... a feeling not shared by his associates. Connie's boast that, as a woman, she doesn't need guns proves justified, but plenty of gunplay results.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAngel and the Badman (1947)
A wounded outlaw finds unexpected mercy in the care of a rancher's daughter. The hope of love pulls him toward a different life until the law, and his violent past, close in on his new home. Now he must choose the kind of man he'll become.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChato's Land (1972)
In 1870s New Mexico, a half-breed kills a bigoted sheriff in self-defense but the posse that eventually hunts him finds itself in dangerous territory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDay of the Outlaw (1959)
Blaise Starrett is a rancher at odds with homesteaders when outlaws hold up the small town. The outlaws are held in check only by their notorious leader, but he is diagnosed with a fatal wound and the town is a powder keg waiting to blow.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Questions arise when Senator Stoddard attends the funeral of a local man named Tom Doniphon in a small Western town. Flashing back, we learn Doniphon saved Stoddard, then a lawyer, when he was roughed up by a crew of outlaws terrorizing the town, led by Liberty Valance. As the territory's safety hung in the balance, Doniphon and Stoddard, two of the only people standing up to him, proved to be very important, but different, foes to Valance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHeaven's Gate (1980)
Harvard graduate James Averill serves as the sheriff of prosperous Jackson County, Wyoming, standing at the center of a conflict between impoverished immigrants and affluent cattle farmers. Politically connected ranchers enlist mercenary Nathan Champion—who is also vying for the affections of local madam Ella Watson—to combat the immigrant uprising. As tensions escalate, both Averill and Champion start to question their decisions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisColorado Territory (1949)
After escaping from jail, outlaw Wes McQueen is convinced by his old partner in crime to do one last heist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976)
A female hustler is chasing after rich men, but becomes repeatedly mixed up with a suave con man and card shark through a series of misadventures before falling in love with him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Train Robbers (1973)
A gunhand named Lane is hired by a widow, Mrs. Lowe, to find gold stolen by her deceased husband so that she may return it and clear the family name.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoss Nigger (1975)
Two black bounty hunters ride into a small town out West in pursuit of an outlaw. They discover that the town has no sheriff, and soon take over that position, much against the will of the mostly white townsfolk.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEl Dorado (1966)
Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Harrah. Together with a fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Cowboys (1972)
When his cattlemen abandon him for the gold fields, rancher Wil Andersen is forced to take on a collection of young boys as his cowboys in order to get his herd to market in time to avoid financial disaster. The boys learn to do a man's job under Andersen's tutelage, however, neither he nor the boys know that a gang of cattle thieves is stalking them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMcLintock! (1963)
Aging rancher and self-made man, George Washington McLintock is forced to deal with numerous personal and professional problems. Seemingly everyone wants a piece of his enormous farmstead, including high-ranking government men and nearby Native Americans. As McLintock tries to juggle his various adversaries, his wife—who left him two years previously—suddenly returns. But she isn't interested in George; she wants custody of their daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYoung Guns II (1990)
Three of the original five "young guns" — Billy the Kid, Jose Chavez y Chavez, and Doc Scurlock — return in Young Guns, Part 2, which is the story of Billy the Kid and his race to safety in Old Mexico while being trailed by a group of government agents led by Pat Garrett.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNews of the World (2020)
A Texan traveling across the wild West bringing the news of the world to local townspeople, agrees to help rescue a young girl who was kidnapped.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man from Colorado (1948)
Two friends return home after their discharge from the army after the Civil War. However, one of them has had deep-rooted psychological damage due to his experiences during the war, and as his behavior becomes more erratic--and violent--his friend desperately tries to find a way to help him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHigh Noon (1952)
Will Kane, the sheriff of a small town in New Mexico, learns a notorious outlaw he put in jail has been freed, and will be arriving on the noon train. Knowing the outlaw and his gang are coming to kill him, Kane is determined to stand his ground, so he attempts to gather a posse from among the local townspeople.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Law Comes to Gunsight (1947)
Brown arrives in the town of, yes, Gunsight, in the company of saddle pal Raymond Hatton. Like a new broom, Brown sweeps clean, going after the town's corrupt element.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
An oppressed Mexican peasant village hires seven gunfighters to help defend their homes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHidalgo (2004)
Set in 1890, this is the story of a Pony Express courier who travels to Arabia to compete with his horse, Hidalgo, in a dangerous race for a massive contest prize, in an adventure that sends the pair around the world...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Revenant (2015)
In the 1820s, a frontiersman, Hugh Glass, sets out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLooking for Trouble (1926)
Jack Pepper accidentally fires his gun while forcing a newspaper editor to retract his statement regarding Miss Tulip Hellier, and the sheriff goes after Jack. While hiding out, Jack finds a liquor cache on the Hellier ranch and knows it was placed there as a ruse to distract the sheriff while an outlaw gang runs dope across the border.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Will Penny (1967)
Will Penny, an aging cowpoke, takes a job on a ranch which requires him to ride the line of the property looking for trespassers or, worse, squatters. He finds that his cabin in the high mountains has been appropriated by a woman whose guide to Oregon has deserted her and her son. Too ashamed to kick mother and child out just as the bitter winter of the mountains sets in, he agrees to share the cabin until the spring thaw. But it isn't just the snow that slowly thaws; the lonely man and woman soon forget their mutual hostility and start developing a deep love for one another.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Bandit (1949)
About to marry Jim Plummer, Kate Foley runs off to Nevada when Ed Bagley convinces her a quick fortune can be made robbing gold shipments that are being transported by the railroad. In Bannock City she meets reformed-bandit Frank Plummer, posing as Frank Norris, brother of Jim Plummer, who has being going straight and working as an express shipment guard. Jim also shows up and plans a robbery by stealing a train and hiding it in an abandoned tunnel. The two brothers are on opposite sides of the law with the now-reformed Kate caught in the middle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
The Hi-Lo Country (1998)
An intimate story of the enduring bond of friendship between two hard-living men, set against a sweeping backdrop: the American West, post-World War II, in its twilight. Pete and Big Boy are masters of the prairie, but ultimately face trickier terrain: the human heart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeadin' South (1918)
A lost film. As described in a film magazine Exhibitors Herald on March 16, 1918: "a forest ranger known only as Headin' South (Fairbanks) goes forth in search of Spanish Joe (Campeau), a Mexican responsible for most of the treachery and outlawry along the U.S.-Mexican boarder. Headin' South gains quite a reputation as he goes along and finally believes himself worthy of joining Joe's band. in a whirlwind finish in which Joe is captured, Headin' South meets one of Joe's near victims (MacDonald) and falls in love with her."
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Denver and Rio Grande?
The closest matches to Denver and Rio Grande are Silverado (1985), Return of the Gunfighter (1967) and Open Range (2003). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Denver and Rio Grande?
Start with Silverado (1985), the closest match to Denver and Rio Grande.
What is the highest-rated movie like Denver and Rio Grande?
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), rated 7.8/10 by 1,362 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Denver and Rio Grande?
News of the World (2020) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Denver and Rio Grande?
Yes: Silverado (1985), Return of the Gunfighter (1967) and Open Range (2003).
How are movies similar to Denver and Rio Grande chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Denver and Rio Grande, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.