Best movies like My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Scott Glenn is H.D., a champion rodeo rider whose career is ruined after being gored by a bull. He returns home to discover things have drastically changed -- the family farm has been abandoned, his old girlfriend Julie (Kate Capshaw) is a now a widowed mother, and his sister Cheryl (Tess Harper) has put his father (Ben Johnson) in a nursing home. H.D. rescues his father from the home and returns him to the ranch. But when H.D. leaves the farm to visit Julie, his father seeks out Cheryl. Cheryl retaliates by threatening to return her father to the nursing home and sell the ranch. At this point, H.D. takes notice of rodeo contest which would give him $100,000 if he can ride four bulls for a total of 32 seconds. H.D. bonds with his father as he gruelingly prepares for a return to the rodeo to win the contest and buy the ranch. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 701
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: independent film, touching, serious, realistic
Best tv shows and movies like My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (1991):
Similar in 90%
The Ride (1997)
Plot Summary:
A has-been cowboy is given a second chance at the hands of an unexpected teacher.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 522
Genere: Drama, Family, Sport, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: sad, independent film, sincere, uplifting, touching, emotional, realistic, semi serious, christian film
Similar in 86%
Cattle Annie and Little Britches (1980)
Plot Summary:
Cattle Annie and Little Britches is a 1981 American film[1] starring Burt Lancaster, Rod Steiger, Diane Lane, and Amanda Plummer, based on the lives of two adolescent girls in the late 19th century Oklahoma Territory, who became infatuated with the Western outlaws that they had read about in Ned Buntline's stories and left their homes to join the criminals. It was scripted by David Eyre and Robert Ward from Robert Ward's book and directed by Lamont Johnson.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 894
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: costume drama, period drama
Similar in 88%
Mackintosh and T.J. (1975)
Plot Summary:
Roy is a ranch hand and a drifter. He takes a young man into his care and helps him to grow up.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 234
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: neo western, independent film, cult film
Similar in 86%
J W Coop (1971)
Plot Summary:
After losing eight years to prison, cowboy J. W. Coop is released to return to life as a professional rodeo cowboy in the 60's. Determined to make up for the lost 'prime' years of his career, he doggedly goes forward, and learns that not only has the business of rodeo changed during his incarceration but society as a whole has made dramatic changes as well.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 574
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 85%
The Little Bedroom (2010)
Plot Summary:
One day, a bad fall forces Edmond to accept Rose's help. Eventually, the two grow closer. The young woman finds relief in confiding painful memories to the older man; things she cannot even bring herself to tell her husband. Meanwhile, Edmond, too, opens up, sharing recollections of his beloved wife.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 268
Genere: Drama
Country: Switzerland, Luxembourg
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 77%
Paper Hearts (1993)
Plot Summary:
Western drama directed by Rod McCall. Henry deserted his family years before, Henry (James Brolin) kicks up a storm when he shows up to see his youngest daughter before her wedding. He has ulterior motives, including a divorce from wife Jenny (Sally Kirkland), but her new beau, Tom (Kris Kristofferson), throws his plans off the rails. Meanwhile, Sally's older daughter must choose between love with a cowboy and life in New York.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 158
Genere: Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: independent film, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 80%
The Rider (2017)
Plot Summary:
Once a rising star of the rodeo circuit, and a gifted horse trainer, young cowboy Brady is warned that his riding days are over, after a horse crushed his skull at a rodeo. Back home on the Pine Ridge Reservation, with little desire or alternatives for a different way of life, Brady’s sense of inadequacy mounts as he is unable to ride or rodeo – the essentials of being a cowboy. In an attempt to regain control of his own fate, Brady undertakes a search for new identity and what it means to be a man in the heartland of America.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: exciting, inspirational, touching, captivating, suspenseful, indie film, rough, motivational, dark, sad
Similar in 87%
The Red Pony (1973)
Plot Summary:
A young farmboy who can't seem to communicate with his father develops an attachment to a young red pony.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 287
Genere: Drama, Family, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter's End (1999)
Plot Summary:
The third installment of the Sarah trilogy provides a glorious and touching story of a family drawn together by adversity. On a cold winter day a stranger shows up at the farm. He is slow to reveal his identity. When they find out he is Jacobs father, John Witting, thought long ago dead, hard questions about the past are difficult to get answered.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 78%
Urban Cowboy (1980)
Plot Summary:
Hard Hat Days Honky-Tonk Nights. John Travolta stars as a young man from the country who learns about life and love in a Houston bar.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: melancholic, uplifting, touching, realistic, romantic, talky, entertaining, sex comedy, sexual, romantic drama
Similar in 76%
Cowboy Up (2001)
Plot Summary:
"Cowboy Up" is a celebration of the risk-taking, daredevil personalities of modern rodeo. In the world of professional bull riding, newcomer Ely Braxton (Marcus Thomas) is the craziest guy around; his brother Hank (Kiefer Sutherland) is a rodeo clown, and the two use each other to play up their acts. But love may be one thing that tears the brothers apart. When Ely falls for the rodeo's sweetheart (Daryl Hannah), Hank is filled with jealousy and hatred. The brothers try to come to grips with their differences, but the competition gets as fierce as the bulls in the ring.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 941
Genere: Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, touching, sex comedy
Similar in 76%
Storm Rider (2013)
Plot Summary:
Spoiled 18-yr-old Dani Fielding's world is turned upside down when her father gets arrested for securities fraud, and she has to leave her upscale life in the city to stay with her gruff Uncle Sam out in the country. As Dani and her uncle struggle to bond, she's given an orphaned horse to foster and train. Dani pours her affection into this young horse, calling her Stormy and giving her all the attention she's missing from her unsettled life. Dani soon realizes that truly caring about others is the answer to most of life's biggest problems. And when her uncle and friends need her the most, Dani and Stormy work together to save the day and learn the true meaning of the word, family.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, light, thought provoking, captivating, feel good, semi serious
Similar in 90%
Showdown (1973)
Plot Summary:
Two men who have been friends since childhood find themselves on opposite ends of the law.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, contemplative, semi serious, spaghetti western
Similar in 79%
Harry & Son (1984)
Plot Summary:
Widower Harry Keach is a construction worker who was raised to appreciate the importance of working for a living. He takes a dim view of his sensitive son Howard's lackadaisical lifestyle and has a strained relationship with his daughter Nina as he does not approve of her husband. When Harry is fired from his job, his life changes drastically as he is made to focus on the relationships around him.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: serious, sincere, realistic, talky, independent film, touching
Similar in 75%
Junior Bonner (1972)
Plot Summary:
McQueen is Junior Bonner, an aging rodeo champ who returns to his home town to participate in the annual rodeo. He finds his family estranged, does what he can to help, and then moves on ... after some good rodeo riding and a few brawls.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, funny, cult classic, independent film, neo western, psychological, touching, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 84%
When the Legends Die (1972)
Plot Summary:
An elderly rodeo rider becomes mentor to a young man attempting to make his own name in the business.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 547
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
The Last Cowboy (2003)
Plot Summary:
John William 'Will' Cooper is a modern-day rancher, maintaining his ranch in hard times along with his friend and foreman Amos Russell. When Will's estranged daughter Jake returns to the ranch for her grandfather's funeral, father and daughter clash over how to run the ranch and over the death years before of Jake's mother, which she blames on Will. Crisis comes in the form of insurmountable debt, and it is only by working together that Will and Jake have any chance of saving their home and their family.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 673
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
Everything That Rises (1998)
Plot Summary:
His son's critical injury forces a Montana man (Dennis Quaid) to reconsider priorities as he struggles to retain family land.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 364
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 88%
8 Seconds (1994)
Plot Summary:
This film chronicles the life of Lane Frost, 1987 PRCA Bull Riding World Champion, his marriage and his friendships with Tuff Hedeman (three-time World Champion) and Cody Lambert.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Sport, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: sentimental, captivating, sincere, realistic, independent film, serious, exciting, light, inspirational, romantic
Similar in 82%
The Long Shot (2004)
Plot Summary:
Annie Garret is a young woman who moves with her irresponsible husband Ross and their seven-year-old daughter Taylor from Colorado to a ranch in northern California where Ross abandons them after he fails to land a job. With no money and no friends, and Taylor and Annie's prized racehorse, Tolo, to look after, Annie lands a job at a ranch hand and stable person at a stud farm owned by the stern Mary Lou O'Brien who is hiding some person demons of her own. Despite Annie's own setbacks in life, she decides to find an outing by entering her horse in a high-stakes riding competition. But when her horse goes blind from a race illness, Annie must struggle with her hardships to put the impossible to the test.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 634
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: uplifting, serious, realistic, sincere
Similar in 89%
The Last Rites of Joe May (2011)
Plot Summary:
Now in his sixties, Joe is released from the hospital after a long battle with pneumonia and forced to confront the harsh reality of his legacy: everyone he knew had assumed he was dead, and life had gone on around him without missing a beat. Returning to his old neighborhood in Chicago's "Patch" district, he finds his car gone, all his worldly possessions pawned by his landlord, and the apartment he's lived in his entire adult life rented out to a single mother named Jenny and her eight year-old daughter Angelina.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 774
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, contemplative, psychological, captivating, sincere, touching, independent film
Similar in 81%
The Stone Angel (2007)
Plot Summary:
The feisty aging Hagar Shipley has lived an unconventional life. Her rebellious heart has always ruled and her choices have put her at odds with family and friends. Faced with her own mortality, and desperate to find solace, she goes on the run. In both the past and the present, she is forced to come to terms with the pain and pleasure, the disappointments and the exhilarations of her life.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, UK
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, sexual, sexy
Similar in 83%
The Locket (2002)
Plot Summary:
A bereaved man takes a job at a health care center, where he befriends an elderly and embittered woman - and as time passes, he becomes obsessed with reuniting her with her long-lost true love.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 671
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, uplifting, touching, feel good, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic
Similar in 81%
American Bandits: Frank and Jesse James (2010)
Plot Summary:
After Jesse James is wounded by a bullet to the chest, Frank James splits the gang up and plans a rendezvous in four days time. With U.S.-Marshall Kane in hot pursuit, and betrayal within the outlaw band, the stage is set for a blazing and climactic shootout in the deserted town of 'Gila Wells'.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 460
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 77%
Conagher (1991)
Plot Summary:
Mrs. Evie Teale is struggling to stay alive while raising her two children alone on a remote homestead. Conn Conagher is a honest, hardworking cowboy. Their lives are intertwined as they fight the elements, indians, outlaws, and loneliness.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, wild
Similar in 75%
Dead Man's Burden (2012)
Plot Summary:
A western set on the New Mexico frontier a few years after the Civil War and centered on a struggling young family and the mining company who wants to buy their land.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 688
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, tense, stylized, independent film
Similar in 86%
The Quick and the Dead (1987)
Plot Summary:
In 1876 Wyoming, the gun is the only law. And for Duncan and Suzanna McKaskel (Tom Conti and Kate Capshaw), newly arrived settlers beset by outlaws, rugged frontiersman Con Vallian (Sam Elliot) is the only hope.From the book by famed Western author Louis L'Amor, the Quick and the Dead is a rousing adventure recalling all-time greats like Shane and Pale Rider. It shares tried-and-true ingredients of those sagebrush sagas: a tale of peacable folk driven to action under the guidance of a mysterious stranger, rich outdorr cinematography and a stellar cast led by the peerless Elliot.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, realistic, serious, suspenseful, retro, mysterious
Similar in 90%
The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky (1995)
Plot Summary:
A young ranger in the Montana wilderness discovers the great forces of nature while learning the importance of honor, trust and integrity. Legendary veteran ranger Bill Bell educates the young man and guides him toward manhood. The year is 1919-a time when being a ranger meant more than operating expensive equipment. Forest fires were fought with guts and courage, not chemicals and airplanes. Bill Bell was the toughest ranger in an elite crew of very rugged men. A figure of heroic proportions, he was generally feared and respected by all. It was even rumored that he had at one time killed a sheep farmer, which only fueled his already enormous reputation. The young ranger does everything to remain in the good graces of Bill Bell, the senior ranger he idolizes. Their tentative rapport grows into a friendship through a hilarious and heroic rite of passage in which the younger ranger meets the test-and the woman of his dreams.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 629
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, exciting, tense, captivating
Similar in 78%
Convicts (1991)
Plot Summary:
Texas writer Horton Foote's touching story set in 1902 features Robert Duvall as Sol, the hardened boss of a sugar plantation who unwittingly becomes a mentor to a young boy named Horace (Lukas Haas), who comes to Sol looking for a way to earn a living. Horace eventually learns, through his associations with Sol, Ben (James Earl Jones) and others, that life, though it isn't always fair or just, is worth rising for every day.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 716
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: independent film, sincere, atmospheric, serious, realistic, contemplative, crying
Similar in 90%
Hud (1963)
Plot Summary:
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.".
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: emotional, atmospheric, realistic, black and white, thought provoking, neo western, cynical, tense, suspense, retro