Movies like The Headless Rider (1973)
The best movies like The Headless Rider (1973) are The Tall Men (1955), The Big Sky (1952) and North West Mounted Police (1940). If The Headless Rider hooked you with its romance and adventure, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDoctor Zhivago (1965)7.6/10 from 1,337 votes
- NewestThe Unholy Trinity (2025)Released 2025
The Tall Men (1955)
Two brothers discharged from the Confederate Army join a businessman for a cattle drive from Texas to Montana where they run into raiding Jayhawkers, angry Sioux, rough terrain and bad weather.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Big Sky (1952)
Two tough Kentucky mountaineers join a trading expedition from St. Louis up the Missouri River to trade whisky for furs with the Blackfoot Indians. They soon discover that there is much more than the elements to contend with.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNorth West Mounted Police (1940)
Texas Ranger Dusty Rivers ("Isn't that a contradiction in terms?", another character asks him) travels to Canada in the 1880s in search of Jacques Corbeau, who is wanted for murder. He wanders into the midst of the Riel Rebellion, in which Métis (people of French and Native heritage) and Natives want a separate nation. Dusty falls for nurse April Logan, who is also loved by Mountie Jim Brett. April's brother is involved with Courbeau's daughter Louvette, which leads to trouble during the battles between the rebels and the Mounties. Through it all Dusty is determined to bring Corbeau back to Texas (and April, too, if he can manage it.)
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & adventure
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 & romance
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 & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventure (1995)
A young boy draws on the inspiration of legendary western characters to find the strength to fight an evil land baron in the old west who wants to steal his family's farm and destroy their idyllic community. When Daniel Hackett sees his father Jonas gravely wounded by the villainous Stiles, his first urge is for his family to flee the danger, and give up their life on a farm which Daniel has come to despise anyway. Going alone to a lake to try to decide what to do, he falls asleep on a boat and wakes to find himself in the wild west, in the company of such "tall tale" legends as Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, John Henry and Calamity Jane. Together, they battle the same villains Daniel is facing in his "real" world, ending with a heroic confrontation in which the boy stands up to Stiles and his henchmen, and rallies his neighbors to fight back against land grabbers who want to destroy their town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrossfire Trail (2001)
Rafe Covington is as good as his word, and he's determined to keep his promise to a dying man that he'll look after the man's widow and Wyoming ranch. But the widow doubts the integrity of drifter Covington. And an unscrupulous land grabber and his gunmen are sizing up the ranch the way a spider eyes a fly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDavy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1955)
Legends (and myths) from the life of famed American frontiersman Davy Crockett are depicted in this feature film edited from television episodes. Crockett and his friend George Russel fight in the Creek Indian War. Then Crockett is elected to Congress and brings his rough-hewn ways to the House of Representatives. Finally, Crockett and Russell journey to Texas and the last stand at the Alamo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe White Buffalo (1977)
In this strange western version of Moby Dick, Wild Bill Hickok hunts a white buffalo he has seen in a dream. Hickok moves through a variety of uniquely authentic western locations - dim, filthy, makeshift taverns; freezing, slaughterhouse-like frontier towns and beautifully desolate high country - before improbably teaming up with a young Crazy Horse to pursue the creature.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Warrior's Way (2010)
A warrior-assassin is forced to hide in a small town in the American Badlands after refusing a mission.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Rainmaker (1956)
Lizzie Curry is on the verge of becoming a hopeless old maid. Her wit and intelligence and skills as a homemaker can't make up for the fact that she's just plain plain! Even the town sheriff, File, for whom she harbors a secrect yen, won't take a chance --- until the town suffers a drought and into the lives of Lizzie and her brothers and father comes one Bill Starbuck ... profession: Rainmaker!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Missing (2003)
When rancher and single mother of two Maggie Gilkeson sees her teenage daughter, Lily, kidnapped by Apache rebels, she reluctantly accepts the help of her estranged father, Samuel, in tracking down the kidnappers. Along the way, the two must learn to reconcile the past and work together if they are going to have any hope of getting Lily back before she is taken over the border and forced to become a prostitute.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Magnificent Seven (2016)
Looking to mine for gold, greedy industrialist Bartholomew Bogue seizes control of the Old West town of Rose Creek. With their lives in jeopardy, Emma Cullen and other desperate residents turn to bounty hunter Sam Chisolm for help. Chisolm recruits an eclectic group of gunslingers to take on Bogue and his ruthless henchmen. With a deadly showdown on the horizon, the seven mercenaries soon find themselves fighting for more than just money once the bullets start to fly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDavy Crockett and the River Pirates (1956)
Davy Crockett and his sidekick Georgie compete against boastful Mike Fink ("King of the River") in a boat race to New Orleans. Later, Davy and Georgie, allied with Fink, battle a group of river pirates trying to pass themselves off as Native Americans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBend of the River (1952)
Two men with questionable pasts, Glyn McLyntock and his friend Cole, lead a wagon-train load of homesteaders from Missouri to the Oregon territory...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlackthorn (2011)
In Bolivia, Butch Cassidy (now calling himself James Blackthorn) pines for one last sight of home, an adventure that aligns him with a young robber and makes the duo a target for gangs and lawmen alike.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMackenna's Gold (1969)
A bandit kidnaps a Marshal who has seen a map showing a gold vein on Indian lands, but other groups are looking for it too, while the Apache try to keep the secret location undisturbed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpirit Untamed (2021)
Lucky Prescott's life is changed forever when she moves from her home in the city to a small frontier town and befriends a wild mustang named Spirit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLast of the Dogmen (1995)
A Montana bounty hunter is sent into the wilderness to track three escaped prisoners. Instead he sees something that puzzles him. Later with a female Native Indian history professor, he returns to find some answers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like this3 Bad Men (1926)
Three outlaws come to the aid of a young girl after her father is killed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Beach (2000)
Twenty-something Richard travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of a strange map. Rumours state that it leads to a solitary beach paradise, a tropical bliss - excited and intrigued, he sets out to find it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStardust (2007)
In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man makes a promise to his beloved that he'll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm. His journey takes him into a world beyond his wildest dreams and reveals his true identity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDoctor Zhivago (1965)
The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMilea (2020)
Years after his teen romance with Milea, a now-adult Dilan tells his version of their love story when a high school reunion brings them back together.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Notes on a Scandal (2006)
A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her 15-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond platonic friendship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBridge to Terabithia (2007)
Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school. So he's very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences including that she's rich, he's poor, she's a city girl, and he's a country boy the two become fast friends. Together they create Terabithia, a land of monsters, trolls, ogres, and giants where they rule as king and queen.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMeet the Robinsons (2007)
Lewis, a brilliant young inventor, is keen on creating a time machine to find his mother, who abandoned him in an orphanage. Things take a turn when he meets Wilbur Robinson and his family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Return of the King (1980)
Two Hobbits struggle to destroy the Ring in Mount Doom while their friends desperately fight evil Lord Sauron's forces in a final battle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hobbit (1977)
The story follows the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, a diminutive creative who resides in a place called Middle-Earth before he is compelled to go on a quest to find a treasure buried deep in the heart of the Lonely Mountain.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo drive a red convertible across the Mojave desert to Las Vegas with a suitcase full of drugs to cover a motorcycle race. As their consumption of drugs increases at an alarming rate, the stoned duo trash their hotel room and fear legal repercussions. Duke begins to drive back to L.A., but after an odd run-in with a cop, he returns to Sin City and continues his wild drug binge.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Headless Rider?
The closest matches to The Headless Rider are The Tall Men (1955), The Big Sky (1952) and North West Mounted Police (1940). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Headless Rider?
Start with The Tall Men (1955), the closest match to The Headless Rider.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Headless Rider?
Doctor Zhivago (1965), rated 7.6/10 by 1,337 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Headless Rider?
The Unholy Trinity (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Headless Rider chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Headless Rider, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.