Movies like Smashing Through (1918)
The best movies like Smashing Through (1918) are Man in the Shadow (1957), Gunslingers (2025) and No Name on the Bullet (1959). If Smashing Through hooked you with its thriller and western, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTrue Grit (1969)7.3/10 from 903 votes
- NewestThieves Highway (2025)Released 2025
Man in the Shadow (1957)
In a modern cow town, the powerful ranch owner’s henchmen kill a ranch hand, prompting the sheriff to investigate despite facing strong opposition. He finds an unlikely ally in the rancher's overprotected daughter, but their quest for justice puts them both in danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGunslingers (2025)
When the most wanted man in America surfaces in a small Kentucky town, his violent history -- and a blood-thirsty mob seeking vengeance and a king’s ransom -- soon follow. As brothers face off against one another and bullets tear the town to shreds, this lightning-fast gunslinger makes his enemies pay the ultimate price for their greed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Name on the Bullet (1959)
When hired killer John Gant rides into Lordsburg, the town's folk become paranoid as each leading citizen has enemies capable of using the services of a professional killer for personal revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEchoes of War (2015)
A Civil War veteran returns home to the quiet countryside, only to find himself embroiled in a conflict between his family and the brutish cattle rancher harassing them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThieves Highway (2025)
After discovering a plot to haul stolen cattle in the middle of nowhere, a desperate and isolated lawman becomes the only thing standing between a group of dangerous rustlers and a clear run to the border.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & western
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisThe Unholy Trinity (2025)
Set against the turbulent backdrop of 1870s Montana, in the moments before the execution of Isaac Broadway, he gives his estranged son, Henry, an impossible task: murder the man who framed him for a crime he didn’t commit. Intent on fulfilling his promise, Henry travels to the remote town of Trinity, where an unexpected turn of events traps him in town and leaves him caught between Gabriel Dove, the town’s upstanding new sheriff, and a mysterious figure named St. Christopher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrue Grit (1969)
The murder of her father sends a teenage tomboy on a mission of 'justice', which involves avenging her father's death. She recruits a tough old marshal, 'Rooster' Cogburn because he has 'true grit', and a reputation of getting the job done.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Missouri Breaks (1976)
When vigilante land baron David Braxton hangs one of the best friends of cattle rustler Tom Logan, Logan's gang decides to get even by purchasing a small farm next to Braxton's ranch. From there the rustlers begin stealing horses, using the farm as a front for their operation. Determined to stop the thefts at any cost, Braxton retains the services of eccentric sharpshooter Robert E. Lee Clayton, who begins ruthlessly taking down Logan's gang.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJane Got a Gun (2015)
After her outlaw husband returns home shot with eight bullets and barely alive, Jane reluctantly reaches out to an ex-lover who she hasn't seen in over ten years to help her defend her farm when the time comes that her husband's gang eventually tracks him down to finish the job.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Duel at Silver Creek (1952)
When a gang of ruthless claim jumpers brutally murders his miner father, a gunman known as the Silver Kid joins forces with the local marshal to free the tiny town of Silver City from the clutches of the dastardly villains.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRoad to Paloma (2014)
While Native American Wolf is being pursued by the FBI for having taken the law into his own hands, when his mother was raped and killed on their reservation he crosses paths with Cash, a down and out musician who is coping with the end of his marriage. An unlikely friendship develops, as they ride together towards the Teton mountain range, where Wolf will spread his mothers ashes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisUnion Pacific (1939)
One of the last bills signed by President Lincoln authorizes pushing the Union Pacific Railroad across the wilderness to California. But financial opportunist Asa Barrows hopes to profit from obstructing it. Chief troubleshooter Jeff Butler has his hands full fighting Barrows' agent, gambler Sid Campeau; Campeau's partner Dick Allen is Jeff's war buddy and rival suitor for engineer's daughter Molly Monahan. Who will survive the effort to push the railroad through at any cost?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Proud Rebel (1958)
Searching for a doctor who can help him get his son to speak again--the boy hadn't uttered a word since he saw his mother die in the fire that burned down the family home--a Confederate veteran finds himself facing a 30-day jail sentence when he's unfairly accused of starting a brawl in a small town. A local woman pays his fine, providing that he works it off on her ranch. He soon finds himself involved in the woman's struggle to keep her ranch from a local landowner who wants it--and whose sons were responsible for the man being framed for the fight.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarbarosa (1982)
Karl Westover, an inexperienced farm boy, runs away after unintentionally killing a neighbor, whose family pursues him for vengeance. He meets Barbarosa, a gunman of near-mythical proportions, who is himself in danger from his father-in-law Don Braulio, a wealthy Mexican rancher. Don Braulio wants Barbarosa dead for marrying his daughter against the father's will. Barbarosa reluctantly takes the clumsy Karl on as a partner, as both of them look to survive the forces lining up against them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Law and Jake Wade (1958)
Jake Wade breaks Clint Hollister out of jail to pay off an old debt, though it's clear there is some pretty deep hostility between them. They part, and Jake returns to his small-town marshal's job and his fiancée only to find he has been tracked there by Hollister. It seems they were once in a gang together and Jake knows where the proceeds of a bank hold-up are hidden. Hollister and his sidekicks make off into the hills, taking along the trussed-up marshal and his kidnapped bride-to-be to force the lawman to show them where the loot is.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrontera (2014)
After crossing the border illegally for work, Miguel, a hard-working father and devoted husband, finds himself wrongfully accused of murdering a former sheriff’s wife. After learning of his imprisonment, Miguel’s pregnant wife tries to come to his aid and lands in the hands of corrupt coyotes who hold her for ransom. Dissatisfied with the police department’s investigation, the former sheriff tries to uncover the truth about his wife’s death and discovers disturbing evidence that will destroy one family’s future, or tear another’s apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Outsider (2002)
Montana sheep farmer Rebecca Yoder offers sanctuary to an on-the-lam outlaw, Johnny Gault, who is suffering from a gunshot wound. Yoder is a recent widow, and her decision to help the outsider doesn't sit well with her Quaker community. As a romance brews between her and Gault, it puts in jeopardy her standing among her devout neighbors. But when an evil rancher makes a play for the community's land, Gault's sharpshooting skills might prove his worth after all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisBorder Hunters (2025)
After his police officer brother is killed by a drug dealer who flees to the protection of his cartel-connected uncle in Mexico, an American man with a diverse law enforcement/military background goes south of the border to get revenge
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEl Gringo (2012)
A man crossing into Mexico with a satchel of $2,000,000—and a bloody past—finds himself under sudden attack in the sleepy town of El Fronteras.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHer Atonement (1915)
Owner of a fashionable gambling den John De Forrest seeks out wealthy people and lures them to his gambling den with the help of Lil, a beautiful but heartless blonde once there they trick the moneyed suckers into losing their fortunes. When the joint is raided and a policeman accidently killed the pair take it on the lam and head towards very different destinies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
The Virgin of the Seminole (1923)
The film focused on a young black man who joins the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and becomes a hero by rescuing a captive mixed-race woman from a hostile American Indian tribe. The young man later purchases a ranch that becomes the foundation for great financial wealth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Headin' 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
Under the Tonto Rim (1928)
Gold miner Edd Denmeade loves Lucy Watson, the sister of the official mining claim recorder. Denmeade suspects Watson of killing his father, who after a poker game was shot by a gambler "who shuffles with one hand." The real murderer, Sam Spralls, has convinced Watson that he killed Denmeade and threatens to expose him unless Watson assigns him all the gold claims. Spralls assembles a band of killers to jump the claims when Watson complies. Eventually, Denmeade learns the identity of the killer when he sees Spralls shuffle a deck of cards. He forms a vigilante party and rids the community of Spralls and his gang.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Whispering Canyon (1926)
Returning from the war to his father's California sawmill, Bob Cameron takes up with Hinky Dink, a cocky Englishman and man of the road. Ignoring a "no trespassing" sign on Cameron's property, Hinky is caught in a steel trap; Cameron, seeking aid, is threatened by Eben Beauregard, an old southerner, but the appearance of Antonia "Tony" Lee, Bob's childhood friend, quells his temper.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Looking 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
The Lawless Legion (1929)
Cal Stanley goes undercover as a beef buyer in order to catch the gang responsible for stealing the area's cattle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
The Last of the Duanes (1919)
Buck Duane guns down the man who killed his father and flees from the law. He rescues a girl he once loved from outlaws, but the wife of outlaw chief has her own designs on him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Cheyenne (1929)
Cal Roberts can ride anything with four legs. He enters the contests held at big rodeo. He wins all honors and meets a girl who races horses to help her father clear pressing debts. Complications follow, but Cal wins the girl.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
The Silver Greyhound (1932)
A King’s Messenger has important documents stolen by a female spy. The plot follows the messenger’s uncle as he takes action to track down the culprit, retrieve the papers, and unmask the spy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Smashing Through?
The closest matches to Smashing Through are Man in the Shadow (1957), Gunslingers (2025) and No Name on the Bullet (1959). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Smashing Through?
Start with Man in the Shadow (1957), the closest match to Smashing Through.
What is the highest-rated movie like Smashing Through?
True Grit (1969), rated 7.3/10 by 903 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Smashing Through?
Thieves Highway (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Smashing Through?
Yes: Man in the Shadow (1957), Gunslingers (2025) and No Name on the Bullet (1959).
How are movies similar to Smashing Through chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Smashing Through, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.