Movies like The East Is Red, The West Is Bending (1977)
The best movies like The East Is Red, The West Is Bending (1977) are The Big Lebowski (1998), Schizopolis (1997) and The Gunfighter (2014). If The East Is Red, The West Is Bending hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)8.1/10 from 6,482 votes
- NewestWardriver (2026)Released 2026
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Jeffrey 'The Dude' Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker who only wants to bowl and drink White Russians, is mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski, a wheelchair-bound millionaire, and finds himself dragged into a strange series of events involving nihilists, adult film producers, ferrets, errant toes, and large sums of money.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSchizopolis (1997)
A man works for the unpleasant guru of a Scientology-like movement.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Gunfighter (2014)
In the tradition of classic westerns, a narrator sets up the story of a lone gunslinger who walks into a saloon. However, the people in this saloon can hear the narrator and the narrator may just be a little bit bloodthirsty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisToo Many Cooks (2014)
"Too Many Cooks" is a humorous parody of US sitcoms of the 1970s and the 1980s, meanwhile what seems like an interminable opening theme, a mysterious killer makes his way and kills (preparing a lunch with their limbs) various members of the Cook Family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisComanche Station (1960)
A white man trades with the Comanche for the release of a female stranger and the pair cross paths with three outlaws who have their eyes on the handsome reward for bringing her home and Comanche on the warpath.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
After the insane General Jack D. Ripper initiates a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, a war room full of politicians, generals and a Russian diplomat all frantically try to stop it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSerenity (2005)
A group of rebels travel the outskirts of space evading the sinister Alliance regime. Their lives of smuggling and cargo-running are interrupted by a psychic passenger who harbours a dangerous secret. Soon, the crew find themselves being pursued by an Alliance agent who will stop at nothing to find them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRepo Man (1984)
A down and out young punk gets a job working with a seasoned repo man, but what awaits him in his new career is a series of outlandish adventures revolving around aliens, the CIA, and a most wanted '64 Chevy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRolling Thunder (1977)
A recently-returned Vietnam POW loses his family and his right hand during a violent home invasion, and seeks retribution against those responsible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWardriver (2026)
He’s a Wardriver: a hacker who steals from banks, not people—until he’s noticed. Now the money turns violent, and the woman caught in it could save him or kill them both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Dictator (2012)
The heroic story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWaiting for Guffman (1997)
Aspiring director Corky St. Clair and the marginally talented amateur cast of his hokey small-town musical production go overboard when they learn that Broadway theater agent Mort Guffman will be in attendance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966)
A naive traveler in Laredo gets involved in a poker game between the richest men in the area, jeopardizing all the money he has saved for the purpose of settling with his wife and child in San Antonio.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEquilibrium (2002)
In a dystopian future, a totalitarian regime maintains peace by subduing the populace with a drug, and displays of emotion are punishable by death. A man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFalling Down (1993)
An ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (2006)
It is the story of an average, popular American teenager named Wendy Wu who discovers that in order to win the coveted crown she must first learn the way of the warrior. Wendy Wu has a one track mind, and that track leads directly to the title of homecoming queen -- no unscheduled stops, and no unnecessary detours. When a mysterious Chinese monk named Shen arrives to mold Wendy into a fearless kung fu warrior, however, her royal aspirations suddenly jump the track as she desperately attempts to juggle her boyfriend, her homework, and of course, the fierce competition to become homecoming queen. Now, as Wendy begins to train her mind, body, and spirit in the ancient tradition of the martial arts and her inner warrior gradually begins to emerge, the girl who once obsessed over popularity finally begins to put that popularity into perspective as she gradually realizes what truly matters in life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDie Hart (2023)
Kevin Hart - playing a version of himself - is on a death-defying quest to become an action star. And with a little help from John Travolta, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Josh Hartnett - he just might pull it off.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisWatching the Detectives (2007)
Neil, a self-proclaimed film geek and owner of Gumshoe video, has always been content to live vicariously through his favorite films noir. But when he meets Violet, a real-life femme fatale, his mundane world gets turned upside down and the line between reality and the movies quickly begins to blur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKoyaanisqatsi (1983)
Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and the exceptional music by Philip Glass.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe 27th Day (1957)
Five individuals from five nations, including the USA, USSR, and China, suddenly find themselves on an alien saucer, where an alien gives each a container holding three capsules. The alien explains that no power on earth can open a given container except a mental command from the person to whom it is given, then anyone may take a capsule and, by speaking a latitude and longitude at it, cause instant death to all within a given radius: thus each of the five has been provided with the power of life and death. Then, they are given 27 days to decide whether to use the capsules, and returned to the places from which each one came...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The East Is Red, The West Is Bending?
The closest matches to The East Is Red, The West Is Bending are The Big Lebowski (1998), Schizopolis (1997) and The Gunfighter (2014). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The East Is Red, The West Is Bending?
Start with The Big Lebowski (1998), the closest match to The East Is Red, The West Is Bending.
What is the highest-rated movie like The East Is Red, The West Is Bending?
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), rated 8.1/10 by 6,482 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The East Is Red, The West Is Bending?
Wardriver (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The East Is Red, The West Is Bending?
Yes: The Big Lebowski (1998), Schizopolis (1997) and The Gunfighter (2014).
How are movies similar to The East Is Red, The West Is Bending chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The East Is Red, The West Is Bending, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.