Movies like Riders of the Frontier (1939)
The best movies like Riders of the Frontier (1939) are Return of the Bad Men (1948), Gunless (2010) and Renegade (1987). If Riders of the Frontier hooked you with its action and western, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Cowboys (1972)7.1/10 from 278 votes
- NewestOscar Shaw (2026)Released 2026
Return of the Bad Men (1948)
US Marshall Vance is assigned to rid the Oklahoma Territory of outlaws.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGunless (2010)
American gunslinger Sean Rafferty—aka The Montana Kid—is unable to find someone to duel in a Canadian town where no one understands the brutal code of the American Wild West.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRenegade (1987)
While on his travel across the Southwestern United States, with his Jeep CJ Renegade and his chestnut colt named Joe Brown, Luke meets Matt, son of a friend of his, Moose, who is in jail. Moose asks Luke to take care of Matt, and to help him to take possession of a piece of land. So starts their travel, full of adventures...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & 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 action & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOklahoma! (1955)
There's a box social coming up, and Curly asks Laurey if she'll be his date. Trouble is, Laurey thinks he's waited too long, and in a fit of pique accepts an offer from the boorish ranch hand Jud instead. Meanwhile, Laurey's friend Ado Annie is also torn between two men: cowboy Will and foreign peddler Ali Hakim. Both women struggle to know their own hearts before it's too late.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilverado (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 & action
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 action & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaverick (1994)
Bret Maverick is a gambler who would rather con someone than fight them, and needs an additional $3k in order to enter a winner-takes-all poker game beginning in a few days. He joins forces with a woman with a marvelous Southern accent, and the two try and enter the game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & 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 & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe War Wagon (1967)
An ex-con seeks revenge on the man who put him in prison by planning a robbery of the latter's stagecoach, which is transporting gold. He enlists the help of a partner, who could be working for his nemesis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOscar Shaw (2026)
After retiring from the police force, a relentless detective haunted by the tragic loss of his closest friend sets out on a perilous quest for vengeance, seeking redemption and fighting to restore justice to the streets he once swore to protect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967)
To restore his family's lost wealth, a young Boston lad stows away on a ship bound for the California Gold Rush. When their very proper butler gives chase, all roads lead to nonstop adventure, wild and woolly characters, and a lucky punch that leads to a bonanza of belly laughs!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mark of Zorro (1920)
Don Diego Vega pretends to be an indolent fop as a cover for his true identity, the masked avenger Zorro. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPaint Your Wagon (1969)
A Michigan farmer and a prospector form a partnership in the California gold country. Their adventures include buying and sharing a wife, hijacking a stage, kidnapping six prostitutes, and turning their mining camp into a boom town. Along the way there is plenty of drinking, gambling, and singing. They even find time to do some creative gold mining.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Spikes Gang (1974)
Three teenage farm boys stumble upon Harry Spikes, a local bandit wounded in a gun battle. While Harry is recuperating, he regales the young men with stories of his exciting past. The adventurous tales inspire them to start a gang of their own. Failing at their first attempt to rob a bank, the boys convince the gruff Spikes to teach them the ways of the desperado.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Me Tender (1956)
After the Civil War, Confederate soldiers Clint and Vance Reno steal a Union payroll, leading to conflict when the younger marries the woman his older brother loves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Legend of Zorro (2005)
Despite trying to keep his swashbuckling to a minimum, a threat to California's pending statehood causes the adventure-loving Don Alejandro de la Vega and his wife, Elena, to take action.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe American Astronaut (2001)
Samual Curtis's first mission in this bizarre science fiction musical comedy requires him to take a cat to a saloon on an asteroid. There, he meets his former dance partner (the Blueberry Pirate) and collects his payment: a device capable of producing a Real Live Girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Harvey Girls (1946)
On a train trip out west to become a mail-order bride, Susan Bradley meets a cheery crew of young women traveling out to open a "Harvey House" restaurant at a remote whistle-stop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisApache (1954)
Following the surrender of Geronimo, Massai, the last Apache warrior is captured and scheduled for transportation to a Florida reservation. On the way he manages to escape and heads for his homeland to win back his girl and settle down to grow crops. His pursuers have other ideas though.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArizona Round-Up (1942)
Tom Kenyon and his sidekick Pierre La Farge are hired by rancher Mike O'Day who, with his daughters Toni and Sugar, provides wild horses for the government remount station.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & western
The 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: Similar story and style · both western & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSonora Stagecoach (1944)
The Trail Blazers are bringing in a prisoner to stand trial for bank robbery, when several attempts are made to kill him; convinced of the man's innocence, they arrange a trap for the real thieves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & western
China 9, Liberty 37 (1978)
Gunslinger Clayton Drumm is about to be hanged when he is given a chance to live if he agrees to murder Matthew, a miner who has steadfastly refused to sell his land to the railroad company. Matthew’s refusal is a major obstacle to the railroad’s plans for expansion.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & western
Jesse James Unchained (2022)
The story of one of the greatest outlaw legends of the old west, Jesse James. After escaping captivity, Jesse finds himself on the run with one more score on his mind before disappearing for good.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western & action
Captain Thunder (1930)
A notorious Mexican bandit goes all soft and mushy when he falls for a beautiful senorita. Warner Bros.' Captain Thunder contains some of the darndest Mexican accents you've ever heard in your life. The star is Hungarian-born Victor Varconi, portraying a legendary south of the border outlaw who tries to force Canadian senorita Fay Wray to marry a rival rustler whom she despises. She pleads with the bandito so pathetically that he is moved to grant her a single wish. Without hesitation she chooses her poor but true love. The bandit king, being a somewhat honorable fellow grants the wish and without a twitch, guns down the wicked cattle thief. Fortunately the film was played for comedy, a wise decision since it probably would have garnered laughs as a straight drama anyway.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western & music
My Outlaw Brother (1951)
Danny, a greenhorn from New York comes to the Mexican border in search for his older brother whom he has always looked up to. A Texas Ranger charged with bringing in, El Tigre and his gang of bandits, takes Danny under his wing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & western
Randy Rides Alone (1934)
Bandits lead by Matt the Mute enter a bar and kill multiple people. Randy Bowers comes to town and is framed by Matt the Mute, who is working with the sheriff (who doesn't know Matt is really a criminal). Randy escapes with the help of the niece of the dead owner of the bar. Bowers ends up running from the sheriff, and ends up in the cave in which the bandits have their hide-out…
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & western
From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (2000)
Set one hundred years ago, outlaw Johnny Madrid, after narrowly escaping death, goes on the run with the hangman's sensuous daughter Esmeralda by his side.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
SnoozefestMovies like this7 Men from Now (1956)
Former sheriff Ben Stride, haunted by the loss of his wife in a Wells Fargo robbery, hunts for the seven men responsible for her death – along the way, encountering a couple heading west for California, and an outlaw he once arrested.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Riders of the Frontier?
The closest matches to Riders of the Frontier are Return of the Bad Men (1948), Gunless (2010) and Renegade (1987). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Riders of the Frontier?
Start with Return of the Bad Men (1948), the closest match to Riders of the Frontier.
What is the highest-rated movie like Riders of the Frontier?
The Cowboys (1972), rated 7.1/10 by 278 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Riders of the Frontier?
Oscar Shaw (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Riders of the Frontier?
Yes: Return of the Bad Men (1948), Gunless (2010) and Renegade (1987).
How are movies similar to Riders of the Frontier chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Riders of the Frontier, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.