Movies like The Return of the Rangers (1943)
The best movies like The Return of the Rangers (1943) are The Comancheros (1961), Wild Rovers (1971) and Extreme Prejudice (1987). If The Return of the Rangers hooked you with its western, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedEl Dorado (1966)7.4/10 from 621 votes
- NewestGunfight at Rio Bravo (2023)Released 2023
The Comancheros (1961)
Texas Ranger Jake Cutter arrests gambler Paul Regret, but soon finds himself teamed with his prisoner in an undercover effort to defeat a band of renegade arms merchants and thieves known as Comancheros.
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 thisExtreme Prejudice (1987)
Lean, mean Texas Ranger Jack Benteen locks horns with a former friend, Cash Bailey, now a ruthless drug kingpin. Though they're on opposite sides of the law, they share a love interest in the sensual Sarita. When a crew of rogue soldiers descends upon the border town for an off-the-books mission, all roads lead to a bloody, to-the-death showdown, as loyalties shift and the lines between good and evil are blurred.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBuchanan Rides Alone (1958)
Passing through a border town, a man is caught up in a Mexican's murder of a member of the town's most powerful family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTexas Rangers (2001)
Ten years after the Civil War has ended, the Governor of Texas asks Leander McNelly to form a company of Rangers to help uphold the law along the Mexican border. With a few veterans of the war, most of the recruits are young men who have little or no experience with guns or policing crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies 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 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 thisThe Kentuckian (1955)
A frontiersman and his son fight to build a new home in Texas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisJubal (1956)
Jubal Troop is a cowboy who is found in a weakened condition, without a horse. He is given shelter at Shep Horgan's large ranch, where he quickly makes an enemy in foreman Pinky, a cattleman who accuses Jubal of carrying the smell of sheep.
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 thisEl Dorado (1966)
Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Harrah. Together with a fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Man Called Sledge (1970)
James Garner is Luther Sledge, the leader of a pack of rebels who are planning to steal a stash of gold. But after the thieves actually manage to get away with the bounty, they soon discover that the enemy lies within their midst. As they begin to bicker over who should get the biggest cut, the stage is set for a deadly showdown. Claude Akins and John Marley co-star in this Italian Western directed by Vic Morrow.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lone Ranger (2013)
The Texas Rangers chase down a gang of outlaws led by Butch Cavendish, but the gang ambushes the Rangers, seemingly killing them all. One survivor is found, however, by an American Indian named Tonto, who nurses him back to health. The Ranger, donning a mask and riding a white stallion named Silver, teams up with Tonto to bring the unscrupulous gang and others of that ilk to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wonderful Country (1959)
Having fled to Mexico from the U.S. many years ago for killing his father's murderer, Martin Brady travels to Texas to broker an arms deal for his Mexican boss, strongman Governor Cipriano Castro. Brady breaks a leg and while recuperating in Texas the gun shipment is stolen. Complicating matters further the wife of local army major Colton has designs on him, and the local Texas Ranger captain makes him a generous offer to come back to the states and join his outfit. After killing a man in self-defense, Brady slips back over the border and confronts Castro who is not only unhappy that Brady has lost his gun shipment but is about to join forces with Colton to battle the local raiding Apache Indians.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAppaloosa (2008)
Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.
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 thisGo West (1940)
A con man heading west to search for gold teams up with a pair of scheming brothers along the way. The trio soon find themselves in the middle of a feud between two rival families and two underhanded land developers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDecision at Sundown (1957)
A man and his partner arrive at a small Western town to kill its most powerful man because the former blames him for his wife's death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGunfight at Rio Bravo (2023)
When mysterious Russian gunslinger Ivan Turchin rides into a small Texas town, he runs afoul of a bloodthirsty outlaw gang known as The Hellhounds. Outmanned and outgunned, the town must put their trust in Turchin to protect them from annihilation at the hands of the bandits. The gunslinger finds allies in the form of Marshal Austin Carter and Sheriff Vernon Kelly, and together the three must make a desperate stand against impossible and violent odds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThree Guns for Texas (1968)
A man searching for a stolen army payroll is joined by several men after the reward money. Feature film edited together from three first-season episodes of the NBC western series LAREDO
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 Western Code (1932)
When Tim Barrett rides into Carabinas, his reputation as a lawman precedes him. Rescuing Polly Loomis from the unwanted attentions of a saloon ruffian, he learns her mother married ranch foreman Nick Grindel shortly before her death, and left everything to him in her will. Nick has proposed marriage to his stepdaughter, and she fears violence if her hot-blooded brother Dick finds out. When a body is found at the Bow Knot, Tim barely rescues Dick from a necktie party and is deputized to investigate when Dick confesses to a crime he didn't commit.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
West of the Alamo (1946)
Despite his unprepossessing screen personality, singing cowboy Jimmy Wakely was starred in a series of Monogram westerns, one of which was West of the Alamo. Wakely and comedy sidekick Lee "Lasses" White play a pair of government agents who work undercover to solve a series of baffling crimes. It comes to no one's surprise that the criminal mastermind is the town's leading citizen, in this case banker Clay Bradford (Jack Ingram). As was typical in the Wakely westerns, West of the Alamo is approximately 25 percent action and 75 percent musical. Among the guest warblers this time out is the Arthur Smith Trio, headed by a gospel singer who'd later emcee a popular religious TV talk show.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Texans Never Cry (1951)
A Texas Ranger tries to bring down counterfeiters selling fake lottery tickets.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
The Pinto Bandit (1944)
A masked desperado wants to disrupt the mail service between two frontier communities.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Seven Ways from Sundown (1960)
A Texas Ranger must capture an outlaw and take him-in, while tangling with savage Apaches and greedy bounty-hunters on the way back to jail.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Guns of the Law (1944)
The Texas Rangers take on a shyster who is trying to bilk a family of their money after he learns that an oil company thinks their land may contain the black gold.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Without Honor (1932)
Pete Marlan is a gambler with an unsavory past. Suspected of being an outlaw, Pete plays along with this misconception, the better to infiltrate a gang of smugglers. Along the way, he clears the name of the brother of Texas Ranger Mike Donovan, and helps patch up the romance between Donovan and heroine Bernice.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
The Texas Rangers (1936)
Two down-on-their-luck former outlaws volunteer to be Texas Rangers and find themselves assigned to bring in an old friend, now a notorious outlaw.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Return of the Rangers?
The closest matches to The Return of the Rangers are The Comancheros (1961), Wild Rovers (1971) and Extreme Prejudice (1987). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Return of the Rangers?
Start with The Comancheros (1961), the closest match to The Return of the Rangers.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Return of the Rangers?
El Dorado (1966), rated 7.4/10 by 621 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Return of the Rangers?
Gunfight at Rio Bravo (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Return of the Rangers?
Yes: The Comancheros (1961), Wild Rovers (1971) and Extreme Prejudice (1987).
How are movies similar to The Return of the Rangers chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Return of the Rangers, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.