Movies like Starbird and Sweet William (1973)
The best movies like Starbird and Sweet William (1973) are The Big Sky (1952), The White Buffalo (1977) and The Way West (1967). If Starbird and Sweet William hooked you with its adventure and western, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDances with Wolves (1990)7.8/10 from 4,909 votes
- NewestHeart of the Beast (2026)Released 2026
The 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 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 Way West (1967)
In the mid-19th century, Senator William J. Tadlock leads a group of settlers overland in a quest to start a new settlement in the Western US. Tadlock is a highly principled and demanding taskmaster who is as hard on himself as he is on those who have joined his wagon train. He clashes with one of the new settlers, Lije Evans, who doesn't quite appreciate Tadlock's ways. Along the way, the families must face death and heartbreak and a sampling of frontier justice when one of them accidentally kills a young Indian boy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
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 thisShanghai Noon (2000)
Chon Wang, a clumsy imperial guard, trails Princess Pei Pei when she's kidnapped from the Forbidden City and transported to America. Wang follows her captors to Nevada, where he teams up with an unlikely partner, outcast outlaw Roy O'Bannon, and tries to spring the princess from her imprisonment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & 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 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 thisMan in the Wilderness (1971)
In the early 1800s, a group of fur trappers and Indian traders are returning with their goods to civilization and are making a desperate attempt to beat the oncoming winter. When guide Zachary Bass is injured in a bear attack, they decide he's a goner and leave him behind to die. When he recovers instead, he swears revenge on them and tracks them and their paranoiac expedition leader down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDances with Wolves (1990)
Wounded Civil War soldier John Dunbar tries to commit suicide—and becomes a hero instead. As a reward, he's assigned to his dream post, a remote junction on the Western frontier, and soon makes unlikely friends with the local Sioux tribe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
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 this100 Rifles (1969)
When half-breed Indian Yaqui Joe robs an Arizona bank, he is pursued by dogged lawman Lyedecker. Fleeing to Mexico, Joe is imprisoned by General Verdugo, who is waging a war against the Yaqui Indians. When Lyedecker attempts to intervene, he is thrown into prison as well. Working together, the two escape and take refuge in the hills, where Lyedecker meets beautiful Yaqui freedom fighter Sarita and begins to question his allegiances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & western
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Mountain Between Us (2017)
Stranded on a mountain after a tragic plane crash, two strangers must work together to endure the extreme elements of the remote, snow-covered terrain. When they realize help is not coming, they embark on a perilous journey across hundreds of miles of wilderness, pushing each other to survive and discovering their inner strength.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHombre (1967)
John Russell, disdained by his "respectable" fellow stagecoach passengers because he was raised by Indians, becomes their only hope for survival when they are set upon by outlaws.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlive (1993)
The amazing true story of a Uruguayan rugby team's plane that crashed in the middle of the Andes mountains, and their immense will to survive and pull through alive, forced to do anything and everything they could to stay alive on meager rations and through the freezing cold.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlight of the Phoenix (2004)
When an oil rig in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia proves unproductive, an aircraft crew are sent to shut the operation down and fly them out. On the flight out over the desert on the way to Beijing, Capt. Frank Towns and co-pilot A.J. are unable to keep their cargo plane, a C-119 Flying Boxcar, in the air when a violent sandstorm strikes. Crash-landing in a remote uncharted part of the desert, the two pilots and their passengers -- a crew of oil workers and a drifter -- must work together to survive by rebuilding the aircraft. Soon, low supplies and a band of merciless smugglers add even greater urgency to their task.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeart of the Beast (2026)
After a harrowing plane crash, Special Forces officer James Belmont and his combat dog, Odin, find themselves stranded deep in the Alaskan wilderness. Together, they are forced into a brutal fight for survival against the elements.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies 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 western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
A cargo aircraft crashes in a sandstorm in the Sahara with less than a dozen men on board. One of the passengers is an airplane designer who comes up with the idea of ripping off the undamaged wing and using it as the basis for a replacement aircraft they need to build before their food and water run out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlaming Star (1960)
Pacer Burton, a young man of mixed Kiowa and white heritage, is caught between two worlds as conflict erupts between Native Americans and white settlers in Texas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOld Shatterhand (1964)
Renegades trying to get the army to abandon their fort get the Indians addicted to whiskey, then convince them to attack and drive out the soldiers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Valley of Death (1968)
An army gold shipment and its escort vanish in the Ozarks, prompting accusations of theft and desertion but frontiersman Old Shatterhand and Apache chief Winnetou help solve the mystery of the missing army gold.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisManitou's Shoe (2001)
Abahachi, Chief of the Apache Indians, and his blood brother Ranger maintain peace and justice in the Wild West. One day, Abahachi needs to take up a credit from the Shoshone Indians to finance his tribe's new saloon. Unfortunately Santa Maria, who sold the saloon, betrays Abahachi, takes the money and leaves. Soon, the Shoshones are on the warpath to get their money back, and Abahachi is forced to organize it quickly.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSavage Land (1994)
Two women and two kids are stranded in the Old West when bad guys (posing as Indians) try to snag the stagecoach's cargo. Pitted against nature, time, and the pursuing baddies, this unlikely team must trek over the mountains to reach safety.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western & adventure
Predator (1987)
A team of elite commandos on a secret mission in a Central American jungle come to find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBack to the Future Part III (1990)
The final installment finds Marty digging the trusty DeLorean out of a mineshaft and looking for Doc in the Wild West of 1885. But when their time machine breaks down, the travelers are stranded in a land of spurs. More problems arise when Doc falls for pretty schoolteacher Clara Clayton, and Marty tangles with Buford Tannen.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArctic (2018)
A man stranded in the Arctic is finally about to receive his long awaited rescue. However, after a tragic accident, his opportunity is lost and he must then decide whether to remain in the relative safety of his camp or embark on a deadly trek through the unknown for potential salvation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCongo (1995)
Eight people embark on an expedition into the Congo, a mysterious expanse of unexplored Africa, where human greed and the laws of nature have gone berserk.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Edge (1997)
The plane carrying wealthy Charles Morse crashes down in the Alaskan wilderness. Together with the two other passengers, photographer Robert and assistant Stephen, Charles devises a plan to help them reach civilization. However, his biggest obstacle might not be the elements, or even the Kodiak bear stalking them -- it could be Robert, whom Charles suspects is having an affair with his wife and would not mind seeing him dead.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
In 1931, three Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their homes to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a trek across the Outback.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like this
Like Starbird and Sweet William and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Starbird and Sweet William?
The closest matches to Starbird and Sweet William are The Big Sky (1952), The White Buffalo (1977) and The Way West (1967). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Starbird and Sweet William?
Start with The Big Sky (1952), the closest match to Starbird and Sweet William.
What is the highest-rated movie like Starbird and Sweet William?
Dances with Wolves (1990), rated 7.8/10 by 4,909 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Starbird and Sweet William?
Heart of the Beast (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Starbird and Sweet William?
Yes: The Big Sky (1952), The White Buffalo (1977) and The Way West (1967).
How are movies similar to Starbird and Sweet William chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Starbird and Sweet William, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.