Best movies like Jeremiah Johnson
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies like Jeremiah Johnson? Use your familiarity to guide others towards movies and tv shows you've watched that they may enjoy too. Help expand the group of people recommending videos to one another. We value your input!
Plot Summary:
A mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by Indians when he proves to be the match of their warriors in one-to-one combat on the early frontier.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, epic, realistic, scenic, meditative, factual, serious, bleak, existential, spaghetti western
Best tv shows and movies like Jeremiah Johnson (1972):
Similar in 83%
News of the World (2020)
Plot Summary:
A Texan traveling across the wild West bringing the news of the world to local townspeople, agrees to help rescue a young girl who was kidnapped.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 94000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: USA, China
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: touching, road movie, suspense, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, spaghetti western, inspirational, serious, period piece
Similar in 79%
A Man Called Horse (1970)
Plot Summary:
In 1825 an English aristocrat is captured by Indians. He lives with them and begins to understand/accept their lifestyles. Eventually he is accepted as part of the tribe and becomes their leader.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: suspense, scenic, intense, exciting, serious, captivating, epic, realistic, historical drama, independent film
Similar in 87%
Comanche Moon (2008)
Plot Summary:
Comanche Moon, the prequel to McMurtry's bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "Lonesome Dove follows Texas Rangers Augustus "Gus" McCrae (Zahn) and Woodrow F. Call (Urban), now in their middle years, as they continue to deal with the ever-increasing tensions of adult life--Gus with his great love, Clara Forsythe (Cardellini), and Call with Maggie Tilton (Banks), the young prostitute who loves him and bears him his son, Newt (Joseph Castanon). Kilmer plays Captain Inish Scull, a Yankee aristocrat and hero of the recently concluded Mexican War. Griffiths plays Inez Scull, the Captain's sexy wife who doesn't hesitate to fill her time with other men when he's away from home. Wes Studi plays Comanche Chief Buffalo Hump.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 360 min
Plot tags: captivating, tense, suspense, exciting, sincere, detective, rough, bleak, epic, serious
Similar in 77%
Follow the River (1995)
Plot Summary:
Mary Ingles is pregnant when she and her two sons are captured from their homestead in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains by Shawnee Indians. Her husband, Will, narrowly escapes death during the attack. Impressed by her grace under the pressure of captivity, Wildcat, the Shawnee chief, confers special privileges on Mary and her children, eventually proposing that Mary become his mate. Surprised by her attraction to the handsome brave, Mary nonetheless opts to remain faithful to Will and engineers a plan for her escape. Separated from her children, Mary joins another female settler, and together they embark on a harrowing homeward trek. Her odyssey comes full circle more than a decade later when she is finally reunited with her long-lost children.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 494
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, epic
Similar in 88%
Walkabout (1971)
Plot Summary:
Under the pretense of having a picnic, a geologist takes his teenage daughter and 6-year-old son into the Australian outback and attempts to shoot them. When he fails, he turns the gun on himself, and the two city-bred children must contend with harsh wilderness alone. They are saved by a chance encounter with an Aborigine boy who shows them how to survive, and in the process underscores the disharmony between nature and modern life.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: UK, Australia
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: road movie, atmospheric, visual, surreal, scenic, visually stunning, meditative, thought provoking, touching, philosophical
Similar in 80%
Windwalker (1980)
Plot Summary:
An ancient Indian warrior who has reached the end of his life is brought back from his 'death' to save his family from a raiding party of enemy Indians in this unique story of 'Indians without a single cowboy.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: independent film, sincere, serious, realistic
Similar in 84%
Leave No Trace (2018)
Plot Summary:
A father and daughter live a perfect but mysterious existence in Forest Park, a beautiful nature reserve near Portland, Oregon, rarely making contact with the world. But when a small mistake tips them off to authorities, they are sent on an increasingly erratic journey in search of a place to call their own.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 64000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, motivational, road movie, philosophical, captivating, thought provoking, intellectual, depressing
Similar in 86%
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
Plot Summary:
After avenging his family's brutal murder, Wales is pursued by a pack of soldiers. He prefers to travel alone, but ragtag outcasts are drawn to him - and Wales can't bring himself to leave them unprotected.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 79000
Genere: Western
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: suspense, realistic, harsh, epic, retro, entertaining, educational, smart, visually stunning, powerful
Similar in 85%
Into the West (2005)
Plot Summary:
Steven Spielberg executive produced this TNT miniseries about American Westward expansion during the 19th century. Told from both the perspective of the white Wheeler family and the Native American Lakota tribe, the 12-hour epic follows the clans as they struggle to find their place in a country confounded by turmoil and change.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 552 min
Plot tags: epic, sincere, realistic, atmospheric, serious, educational, historical drama, contemplative, period drama, wild
Similar in 90%
Meek's Cutoff (2010)
Plot Summary:
Set in 1845, this drama follows a group of settlers as they embark on a punishing journey along the Oregon Trail. When their guide leads them astray, the expedition is forced to contend with the unforgiving conditions of the high plain desert.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Thriller, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, surreal, stylized, visually appealing, serious, thought provoking, realistic, art house, allegory, educational
Similar in 85%
White Fang (1991)
Plot Summary:
Jack London's classic adventure story about the friendship developed between a Yukon gold hunter and the mixed dog-wolf he rescues from the hands of a man who mistreats him.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, sincere, captivating, retro, epic, serious, realistic, black comedy, dark comedy
Similar in 79%
Black Robe (1991)
Plot Summary:
In the 17th century a Jesuit priest and a young companion are escorted through the wilderness of Quebec by Algonquin Indians to find a distant mission in the dead of winter. The Jesuit experiences a spiritual journey while his young companion falls in love with the Algonquin chief's beautiful daughter underneath the imposing and magnificent mountains. Dread and death follows them upriver.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, War
Country: Canada, Australia
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: bleak, realistic, christian film, historically accurate, sad, period piece, religious drama, colorful, thought provoking, serious
Similar in 88%
True Grit (1969)
Plot Summary:
The murder of her father sends a teenage tomboy, Mattie Ross (Kim Darby), on a mission of "justice", which involves avenging her father's death. She recruits a tough old marshal, "Rooster" Cogburn (John Wayne), because he has "grit", and a reputation of getting the job done. The two are joined by a Texas Ranger, La Boeuf (Glen Campbell), who is looking for the same man (Jeff Corey) for a separate murder in Texas. Their odyssey takes them from Fort Smith, Arkansas, deep into the Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) to find their man.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 51000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: stylized, suspense, harsh, exciting, spaghetti western, period piece, action adventure, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 79%
Little Big Man (1970)
Plot Summary:
Jack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Indians and fighting with General Custer.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: epic, humorous, sentimental, captivating, disturbing, breathtaking, realistic, scenic, picaresque, parody
Similar in 75%
Lonesome Dove (1989)
Plot Summary:
Lonesome Dove is a Western television miniseries based on Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. Starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones, Lonesome Dove was originally broadcast by CBS on February 5, 1989, drawing a huge viewing audience, earning numerous awards, and reviving both the television western and the miniseries.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 384 min
Plot tags: epic, touching, realistic, entertaining, anime, sentimental, captivating, contemplative, soap opera, serious
Similar in 89%
Never Cry Wolf (1983)
Plot Summary:
This film dramatizes the true story of Farley Mowat, when he was sent to the Canadian tundra area to collect evidence of the grievous harm the wolf population was allegedly doing to the caribou herds. In his struggle to survive in that difficult environment he studies the wolves, and realizes that the old beliefs about wolves and their supposed threat are almost totally false. Furthermore, he learns that humans represent a far greater threat to the land, and also to the wolves, a species which plays an important role in the ecosystem of the north.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: scenic, semi autobiographical, philosophical, offbeat, sensitive, anthropological, uplifting, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 87%
Dances with Wolves (1990)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 285000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 181 min
Plot tags: scenic, touching, breathtaking, sentimental, epic, sincere, emotional, period piece, inspirational, melancholic
Similar in 83%
Into the Wild (2007)
Plot Summary:
The true story of top student and athlete, Christopher McCandless, who after graduating from Emory University in 1992, abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 648000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 148 min
Plot tags: road movie, philosophical, melancholic, inspirational, motivational, reflective, touching, independent film, sad, atmospheric
Similar in 85%
The Homesman (2014)
Plot Summary:
When three women living on the edge of the American frontier are driven mad by harsh pioneer life, the task of saving them falls to the pious, independent-minded Mary Bee Cuddy. Transporting the women by covered wagon to Iowa, she soon realizes just how daunting the journey will be, and employs a low-life drifter, George Briggs, to join her. The unlikely pair and the three women head east, where a waiting minister and his wife have offered to take the women in. But the group first must traverse the harsh Nebraska Territories marked by stark beauty, psychological peril and constant threat.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 35000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: France, USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, tense, bleak, realistic, depressing, harsh, emotional, suspense, serious, road movie
Similar in 78%
Seraphim Falls (2006)
Plot Summary:
The Civil War has ended, but Colonel Morsman Carver is on one final mission – to kill Gideon, no matter what it takes. Launched by a gunshot and propelled by rage, the relentless pursuit takes the two men through frigid snow-capped mountains and arid deserts, far from the comforts and codes of civilisation, into the bloodiest recesses of their own souls.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 33000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller, War, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, suspense, intense, atmospheric, rough, captivating, serious, suspenseful, breathtaking
Similar in 84%
Dead Man (1995)
Plot Summary:
On the run after murdering a man, accountant William Blake encounters a strange North American man named Nobody who prepares him for his journey into the spiritual world.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 102000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Western
Country: USA, Germany, Japan
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: bleak, atmospheric, black and white, gloomy, captivating, offbeat, art house, surreal, tense, melancholic
Similar in 89%
The Edge (1997)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 78000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, suspenseful, serious, compassionate, exciting, entertaining, intense, atmospheric, clever
Similar in 81%
True Grit (2010)
Plot Summary:
Following the murder of her father by hired hand Tom Chaney, 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. Marshal she can find, a man with "true grit," Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn. Mattie insists on accompanying Cogburn, whose drinking, sloth, and generally reprobate character do not augment her faith in him. Against his wishes, she joins him in his trek into the Indian Nations in search of Chaney. They are joined by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, who wants Chaney for his own purposes. The unlikely trio find danger and adventure on the journey, and each has his or her "grit" tested.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 353000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: tense, suspense, atmospheric, rough, suspenseful, scenic, visually appealing, serious, captivating, dark
Similar in 85%
The Way Back (2010)
Plot Summary:
Peter Weir's follow-up to Master & Commander (2003) is the stark & brilliant The Way Back, which takes on the theme of man's struggle for freedom. At the dawn of WWII, several men escape from a Russian gulag. The film details their perilous & uncertain journey to freedom, as they cross deserts, mountains, & several nations.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 121000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, History
Country: USA, United Arab Emirates, Poland, India
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: realistic, epic, inspirational, rough, serious, bleak, visually appealing, intense, road movie, dramatic
Similar in 88%
Hostiles (2017)
Plot Summary:
A legendary Native American-hating Army captain nearing retirement in 1892 is given one last assignment: to escort a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory back to his Montana reservation.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 93000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, suspense, psychological, captivating, motivational, heartbreaking, serious, tear jerker, spaghetti western
Similar in 80%
The Mountain Men (1980)
Plot Summary:
The story concerns two grizzled mountain men -- Bill Tyler and Henry Frapp -- during the dying days of the fur-trapping era. The plot begins when Running Moon runs away from her abusive husband Heavy Eagle and comes across the two seedy fur trappers. The mountain men take her in, unaware that Heavy Eagle has dispatched an army of Indian braves to reclaim her.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: perverse, action adventure, serious, realistic, suspenseful, historical drama, wild, period drama
Similar in 86%
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
Plot Summary:
As the English and French soldiers battle for control of the American colonies in the 18th century, the settlers and native Americans are forced to take sides. Cora and her sister Alice unwittingly walk into trouble but are reluctantly saved by Hawkeye, an orphaned settler adopted by the last of the Mohicans.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 183000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: epic, exciting, period piece, costume drama, historical drama, dramatic, visually appealing, visually stunning, cult classic, realistic
Similar in 89%
Ravenous (1999)
Plot Summary:
Upon receiving reports of missing persons at Fort Spencer, a remote Army outpost on the Western frontier, Capt. John Boyd investigates. After arriving at his new post, Boyd and his regiment aid a wounded frontiersman who recounts a horrifying tale of a wagon train murdered by its supposed guide -- a vicious U.S. Army colonel gone rogue. Fearing the worst, the regiment heads out into the wilderness to verify the gruesome claims.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 43000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Horror, Western
Country: UK, Czech Republic, Mexico, USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: disturbing, dark comedy, scary, tense, suspenseful, black comedy, bloody, psychological, cult classic, atmospheric
Similar in 88%
Man in the Wilderness (1971)
Plot Summary:
In the early 1800's, 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.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, tense, rough, suspenseful, independent film, epic, period piece, bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 89%
The Revenant (2015)
Plot Summary:
In the 1820s, a frontiersman, Hugh Glass, sets out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 854000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: Hong Kong, Taiwan, USA
Duration: 156 min
Plot tags: breathtaking, atmospheric, scenic, exciting, visually stunning, suspenseful, harsh, rough, realistic, serious