Movies like Lighting Bill (1934)
The best movies like Lighting Bill (1934) are The Rare Breed (1966), The Cowboys (1972) and Ramrod (1947). If Lighting Bill hooked you with its western, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Lighting Bill
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)7.8/10 from 1,361 votes
- NewestDead for a Dollar (2022)Released 2022
The Rare Breed (1966)
When her husband dies en route to America, Martha Price and her daughter Hilary are left to carry out his dream: the introduction of Hereford cattle into the American West. They enlist Sam "Bulldog" Burnett in their efforts to transport their lone bull, a Hereford named Vindicator, to a breeder in Texas, but the trail is fraught with danger and even Burnett doubts the survival potential of this "rare breed" of cattle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 thisBlood on the Moon (1948)
Down-and-out cowhand Jim Garry is asked by his old friend Tate Riling to help mediate a cattle dispute. When Garry arrives, however, it soon becomes clear that Riling has not been entirely forthright. Garry uncovers Riling's plot to dupe local rancher John Lufton out of a fortune. When Lufton's firecracker of a daughter, Amy, gets involved, Garry must choose between his old loyalties and what he knows to be right.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMan Without a Star (1955)
A wandering cowboy gets caught up in a range war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTerror on the Prairie (2022)
A pioneering family fights back against a gang of vicious outlaws that is terrorizing them on their newly-built farm on the plains of Montana.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead for a Dollar (2022)
In 1897, veteran bounty hunter Max Borlund is deep into Mexico where he encounters professional gambler and outlaw Joe Cribbens — a sworn enemy he sent to prison years before. Max is on a mission to find and return Rachel Kidd, the wife of a wealthy businessman, who as the story is told to Max, has been abducted by Buffalo Soldier Elijah Jones. Max is ultimately faced with a showdown to save honor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies 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 Culpepper Cattle Co. (1972)
Working as an assistant on a long cattle drive, the young Ben Mockridge contends between his dream of being a cowboy and the harsh truth of the Old West.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 thisThe Left Handed Gun (1958)
When a crooked sheriff murders his employer, William "Billy the Kid" Bonney decides to avenge the death by killing the man responsible, throwing the lives of everyone around him into turmoil, and endangering the General Amnesty set up by Governor Wallace to bring peace to the New Mexico Territory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonte Walsh (2003)
Monte Walsh and Chet Rollins are long-time cowhands, working whatever ranch work comes their way, but "nothing they can't do from a horse." Their lives are divided between months on the range and the occasional trip into town. Monte has a long-term relationship with prostitute Martine Bernard, while Chet has fallen under the spell of the widow who owns the hardware store. Camaraderie and competition with the other cowboys fill their days, until one of the hands, Shorty Austin, loses his job and gets involved in rustling and killing. Then Monte and Chet find that their lives on the range are inexorably redirected.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed River (1948)
Following the Civil War, headstrong rancher Thomas Dunson decides to lead a perilous cattle drive from Texas to Missouri. During the exhausting journey, his persistence becomes tyrannical in the eyes of Matthew Garth, his adopted son and protégé.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOld Yeller (1957)
Young Travis Coates is left to take care of the family ranch with his mother and younger brother while his father goes off on a cattle drive in the 1860s. When a yellow mongrel comes for an uninvited stay with the family, Travis reluctantly adopts the dog.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChisum (1970)
Cattle baron John Chisum joins forces with Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett to fight the Lincoln County Land War in the New Mexico Territory of 1878.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWild Rovers (1971)
Ross Bodine and Frank Post are cowhands on Walt Buckman's R-Bar-R ranch. Bodine is older and broods a bit about how he will get along when he's too old to cowboy. Post is young and rambunctious and ambitious for a better life than wrangling cows. When one of their fellow cowboys is killed in a corral accident, Post suggests a way into a better life for himself and his friend: robbing a bank. Bodine reluctantly joins in the plan and the two contrive to rob the local bank. They make good their escape initially, but Walt Buckman and his two sons, John and Paul, are incensed at this betrayal by their own trusted employees. John and Paul set out to bring Bodine and Post to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Westerner (1940)
Drifter Cole Harden is accused of stealing a horse and faces hanging by self-appointed Judge Roy Bean, but Harden manages to talk his way out of it by claiming to be a friend of stage star Lillie Langtry, with whom the judge is obsessed, even though he has never met her. Tensions rise when Harden comes to the defense of a group of struggling homesteaders who Judge Bean is trying to drive away.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)
As a cowardly farmer begins to fall for the mysterious new woman in town, he must put his new-found courage to the test when her husband, a notorious gun-slinger, announces his arrival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
A posse discovers a trio of men they suspect of murder and cow theft and are split between handing them over to the law or lynching them on the spot.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Worth the HypeMovies 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: Similar story and style · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRidin' On (1936)
Bolton has organized a feud between the Rork's and the O'Neil's. He has rustled cattle and killed a man putting the blame on Danny O'Neil. Tom Rork has found a bullet with markings on it that he hopes will clear Danny and bring in the real killer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
The Return of Wild Bill (1940)
When Matt Kilgore and his men frame and then hang an innocent man, Lige Saunders sends for his son Wild Bill Saunders who arrives to find his father shot by Matt's brother. When the brother is killed in his fight with Bill, Matt sends two fake Deputies to arrest Bill whom he then plans to hang. But Matt's sister, attracted to Bill, overhears the plan and rides for help.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Trigger Pals (1939)
Kent wants the Allen ranch. So he has Steve and his men rustle their cattle using Pete as an informant. When the Trigger Pals Lucky, Stormy, and Fuzzy fight back, Kent frames Stormy for the rustling.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Bar-L Ranch (1930)
Bob Tyler has rustler trouble while driving a herd of cattle to the new owner, but he refuses to turn the herd over to Frank Kellogg. He has a run-in with Jean Polk, discovers she is the owner of the cattle, and is fired. With his friend, Barney McCool , Bob snoops around and discovers that Kellogg is behind the rustling.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
The Big Stampede (1932)
Deputy Sheriff John Steele recruits bandit Sonora Joe to help him find out who's been bumping off all the local lawmen and rustling the cattle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Cow Town (1950)
Gene responds to cattle rustling by stringing barbed wire all around his range.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Stick to Your Guns (1941)
Buck Peters arranges for Hoppy, California, Johnny and other cowboys to go to the aid of friends whose cattle are being rustled. Hoppy and California locate the rustlers' hideout and join the gang by posing as outlaws themselves, but must find a way to let the rest of the posse know where they are.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Twilight on the Trail (1941)
Hoppy, California and Johnny come to the ranch of a friend and his daughter, disguised as dude detectives from the east, to investigate the disappearances, without a trace, of several herds of cattle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Like Lighting Bill and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Lighting Bill?
The closest matches to Lighting Bill are The Rare Breed (1966), The Cowboys (1972) and Ramrod (1947). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Lighting Bill?
Start with The Rare Breed (1966), the closest match to Lighting Bill.
What is the highest-rated movie like Lighting Bill?
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), rated 7.8/10 by 1,361 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Lighting Bill?
Dead for a Dollar (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Lighting Bill?
Yes: The Rare Breed (1966), The Cowboys (1972) and Ramrod (1947).
How are movies similar to Lighting Bill chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Lighting Bill, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.