Movies like Drums of the Desert (1927)
The best movies like Drums of the Desert (1927) are Comanche Station (1960), Flaming Star (1960) and Ramrod (1947). If Drums of the Desert hooked you with its western, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedScooby-Doo! Shaggy's Showdown (2017)7.7/10 from 209 votes
- NewestHacking at Leaves (2024)Released 2024
Comanche 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 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 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 thisReturn of the Gunfighter (1967)
A gunfighter and a cowboy help a Mexican girl avenge the land-related murder of her parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Wagon (1956)
When a handful of settlers survive an Apache attack on their wagon train they must put their lives into the hands of Comanche Todd, a white man who has lived with the Comanches most of his life and is wanted for the murder of three men.
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 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 thisThe Man from the Alamo (1953)
During the war for Texas independence, one man leaves the Alamo before the end (chosen to help others' families) but is too late to accomplish his mission, and is branded a coward. Unable to expose a gang of turncoats, he infiltrates them instead.
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 thisThe 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 thisScooby-Doo! Shaggy's Showdown (2017)
When the Scooby gang visits a dude ranch, they discover that it and the nearby town have been haunted by a ghostly cowboy, Dapper Jack, who fires real fire from his fire irons. The mystery only deepens when it’s discovered that the ghost is also the long lost relative of Shaggy Rogers!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisThe Bravados (1958)
Jim Douglass arrives in the small town of Rio Arriba in order to witness the hanging of the four men he believes murdered his wife. When the convicts escape, Jim tracks them into Mexico, determined to see that justice is done. But the farther Jim goes in his quest for vengeance, the more merciless he becomes, losing himself in an unrelenting spiral of hatred and violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Hunt (1956)
A buffalo hunter has a falling-out with his partner, who kills for fun.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNevada Smith (1966)
Nevada Smith is the alias of Max Sand, the son of an Indian mother and American father. When they are killed by three men over gold, Nevada sets out to avenge them. The young man is taken in by a gun merchant who shows him how to shoot, on time and correctly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSupport Your Local Gunfighter (1971)
A con artist arrives in a mining town controlled by two competing companies. Both companies think he's a famous gunfighter and try to hire him to drive the other out of town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBacklash (1956)
Jim Slater's father (whom he never knew) died in the Apache ambush at Gila Valley, and Jim is searching for the one survivor, who supposedly went for help but disappeared with a lot of gold. In the process, he gets several people gunning for him, and he keeps meeting liberated woman Karyl Orton, who may be on a similar mission. Renewed Apache hostilities and an impending range war provide complications.
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 thisHud (1963)
Hud Bannon is a ruthless young man who tarnishes everything and everyone he touches. Hud represents the perfect embodiment of alienated youth, out for kicks with no regard for the consequences. There is bitter conflict between the callous Hud and his stern and highly principled father, Homer. Hud's nephew Lon admires Hud's cheating ways, though he soon becomes too aware of Hud's reckless amorality to bear him anymore. In the world of the takers and the taken, Hud is a winner. He's a cheat, but, he explains, "I always say the law was meant to be interpreted in a lenient manner."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDestry Rides Again (1939)
Tom Destry, son of a legendary frontier peacekeeper, doesn’t believe in gunplay. Thus he becomes the object of widespread ridicule when he rides into the wide-open town of Bottleneck, the personal fiefdom of the crooked Kent.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDaughter of the West (1949)
A convent-raised woman learns of her American Indian heritage through romance with an educated Navajo (Philip Reed) during the 1880s.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Desert Kickboxer (1992)
A kickboxing cop abandons the violent life after he accidentally kills his opponent during a match. After quitting, he heads for the Arizona desert to live alone and occasionally work tracking drug runners for the area sheriff. One particularly wily Mexican drug lord, Santos, has been a real thorn in tracker Joe Highhawk's side, so when he encounters the beautiful Claudia and her simpleton brother Anthony running for their lives because she, an accountant, embezzled $20 million from Santos, he decides to help them. This actioner follows what happens next. Along the way, they encounter all sorts of danger, and double cross until the exciting final standoff between the kickboxer and the villain.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Laughing Boy (1934)
A young Navajo defies tribal custom to marry an outcast.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Column South (1953)
In the weeks prior to the start of the Civil War, Confederate sympathizers hope to help their cause by inciting a Navajo war in the New Mexico Territory. Director Frederick de Cordova's 1953 western stars Audie Murphy, Robert Sterling, Joan Evans, Ray Collins, Dennis Weaver, Palmer Lee, Jack Kelly, James Best, Bob Steele and Ralph Moody.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Redskin (1929)
Wing Foot is a Navajo educated in an otherwise all-white school. He experiences prejudice from both the whites (because of his race) and the Navajos (who disown him because of his upbringing). Thus, Wing Foot is looked upon as neither Indian nor white, but simply a "redskin".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Navajo Kid (1945)
The Navajo Kid goes in search of the villains who murdered his foster-father and stole both ring and watch. The trail leads straight to Canyon City, Texas, and smooth cardsharp Honest John Grogan, who is in possession of both the stolen items. But Grogan has an ironclad alibi for the time of the murder, an alibi confirmed by none other than Sheriff Roy Landon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Grandfather Sky (1993)
A young Native American man on his way to visit his uncle learns about his Navajo heritage by attending tribal gatherings, traditional ceremonies and listening to old folktales.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Hacking at Leaves (2024)
Hacking at Leaves documents artist and hazmat-suit aficionado Johannes Grenzfurthner as he attempts to come to terms with the United States' colonial past, Navajo tribal history, and the hacker movement. The story hones in on a small tinker space in Durango, Colorado, that made significant contributions to worldwide COVID relief efforts. But things go awry when Uncle Sam interferes with the film's production.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Windtalkers (2002)
Joe Enders is a gung-ho Marine assigned to protect a "windtalker" - one of several Navajo Indians who were used to relay messages during World War II because their spoken language was indecipherable to Japanese code breakers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Drums of the Desert and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Drums of the Desert?
The closest matches to Drums of the Desert are Comanche Station (1960), Flaming Star (1960) and Ramrod (1947). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Drums of the Desert?
Start with Comanche Station (1960), the closest match to Drums of the Desert.
What is the highest-rated movie like Drums of the Desert?
Scooby-Doo! Shaggy's Showdown (2017), rated 7.7/10 by 209 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Drums of the Desert?
Hacking at Leaves (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Drums of the Desert?
Yes: Comanche Station (1960), Flaming Star (1960) and Ramrod (1947).
How are movies similar to Drums of the Desert chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Drums of the Desert, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.