Best movies like The Shadow Riders
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
After starring in "The Sacketts", Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott team up again but this time as Mac and Dal Traven, in a movie based on a classic Louis L'Amour novel. They are brothers, who meet up at the end of the Civil War fighting on opposite sides. They go home only to find their family in dire need and their sisters and brother kidnapped by ruthless raiders. They set out to rescue their family.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: retro, tense, bleak, serious, realistic
Best tv shows and movies like The Shadow Riders (1982):
Similar in 81%
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973)
Plot Summary:
Western based on the novel by Marilyn Durham. A defiant wife who leaves her husband to take up riding with outlaws.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic
Similar in 78%
Last Stand at Saber River (1997)
Plot Summary:
As America recovers from the Civil War, one man tries to put the pieces of his life back together but finds himself fighting a new battle on the frontier. Cable is an embittered Confederate soldier who returns from the war to reclaim his Arizona homestead from rebel pioneers who sympathize with the Union war effort. Desperate to rebuild the life he once knew, Cable ultimately joins forces with Vern Kidston, his Union adversary to make a last stand for the one thing worth fighting for -- his family.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, realistic, wild
Similar in 88%
The Sacketts (1979)
Plot Summary:
Two part TV adaptation of Louis L'Amour's third novel in the Sackett series. The story follows the three Sackett brothers out west from their Tennessee home. Along the way the oldest, Tell, prospects for gold, while the two younger Orin and Tye herd cattle and later help bring order to a racially divided Santa Fe.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 240 min
Plot tags: rough, epic, serious, realistic, saga, suspenseful
Similar in 77%
The Comancheros (1961)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, fairy tale, tense, sentimental, light, sexy
Similar in 78%
The Texican (1966)
Plot Summary:
Wanted north of the border, Jess Carlin resides safely in Mexico. Then he hears his brother was killed in a gunfight with another man. Knowning his brother never carried a gun he heads north to find his brother's killer. After battling bounty hunters he arrives in Rimrock, a town controlled by Luke Starr. Starr is the man he wants but he unable to find any evidence until he is given an item found by his brother's body.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 912
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Romance, Western
Country: Spain, USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: spaghetti western, retro, independent film, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 84%
Barbarosa (1982)
Plot Summary:
Karl Westover, an inexperienced farm boy, runs away after unintentionally killing a neighbor, whose family pursues him for vengeance. He meets Barbarosa, a gunman of near-mythical proportions, who is himself in danger from his father-in-law Don Braulio, a wealthy Mexican rancher. Don Braulio wants Barbarosa dead for marrying his daughter against the father's will. Barbarosa reluctantly takes the clumsy Karl on as a partner, as both of them look to survive the forces lining up against them.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: spaghetti western, offbeat, atmospheric, serious, realistic, surprise ending, buddy comedy, dark comedy, tense, light
Similar in 75%
Guns of Diablo (1964)
Plot Summary:
Bronson and Russell are up against some bad guys who run the town to which the pair have gone for supplies. Bronson runs into an old girl friend, Oliver, who is now married to his enemy Merlin. Bronson had long ago broken Merlin's arm, and now the man wants revenge.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 850
Genere: Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 82%
Molly and Lawless John (1972)
Plot Summary:
Western - Molly, the shy, romance-starved wife of an arrogant frontier sheriff, finds herself drawn to a prisoner in her husband's jail. This prisoner, a handsome young man named Johnny, plays on Molly's sympathy and convinces her to help him escape. Molly then accompanies Johnny on his cross-country flight but soon learns he's simply been using her. Molly makes the best of the situation, however, and by the time the sheriff's posse catches up with them, Molly shows that she's learned how to assert herself. - Vera Miles, Sam Elliott, Clu Gulager.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 328
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: independent film, realistic, semi serious, surprise ending
Similar in 83%
Big Jake (1971)
Plot Summary:
An aging Texas cattle man who has outlived his time swings into action when outlaws kidnap his grandson.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: spaghetti western, tense, entertaining, atmospheric, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing, independent film, neo western
Similar in 79%
Bandolero! (1968)
Plot Summary:
Posing as a hangman, Mace Bishop arrives in town with the intention of freeing a gang of outlaws, including his brother, from the gallows. Mace urges his younger brother to give up crime. The sheriff chases the brothers to Mexico. They join forces, however, against a group of Mexican bandits.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: funny, retro, serious, realistic, suspenseful, wild
Similar in 90%
The Outlaws (1985)
Plot Summary:
Four unwitting heroes cross paths on their journey to the sleepy town of Silverado. Little do they know the town where their family and friends reside has been taken over by a corrupt sheriff and a murderous posse. It's up to the sharp-shooting foursome to save the day, but first they have to break each other out of jail, and learn who their real friends are.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 48000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: tense, light, intense, exciting, feel good, realistic, serious, spaghetti western, talky, offbeat
Similar in 81%
Monte Walsh (2003)
Plot Summary:
Monte Walsh and Chet Rollins are long-time cowhands, working whatever ranch work comes their way, but "nothing they can't do from a horse." Their lives are divided between months on the range and the occasional trip into town. Monte has a long-term relationship with prostitute Martine Bernard, while Chet has fallen under the spell of the widow who owns the hardware store. Camaraderie and competition with the other cowboys fill their days, until one of the hands, Shorty Austin, loses his job and gets involved in rustling and killing. Then Monte and Chet find that their lives on the range are inexorably redirected.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, tense, period piece, sentimental, gloomy, surprise ending, wild
Similar in 85%
Shenandoah (1965)
Plot Summary:
Charlie Anderson, a farmer in Shenandoah, Virginia, finds himself and his family in the middle of the Civil War he wants nothing to do with. When his youngest boy is taken prisoner by the North the Civil War is forced upon him.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, War, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: retro, black and white, sincere, rough, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, technicolor, tense
Similar in 84%
The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
Plot Summary:
The Elder boys return to Clearwater, Texas for their Mother's funeral. John the eldest is a well known gunfighter and trouble follows him wherever he goes. The boys try to get back their ranch from the towns gunsmith who won it from their father in a card game with which he was shortly murdered there after but not before getting through the troubles that come with the Elders name.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: serious, exciting, rough, suspenseful, suspense, realistic, tense, romantic, road movie, clever
Similar in 84%
Return of the Outlaws (2009)
Plot Summary:
Miraculously escaping a painful demise in the gallows, a notorious outlaw cons a crooked judge, an attractive saloon girl, and an old partner into carrying out the heist of a lifetime. As the plan gets underway, a small town sheriff makes it his personal mission to capture the outlaw and ensure that justice is served.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 117
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, suspense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 79%
El Dorado (1966)
Plot Summary:
Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Hara. Together with an old indian fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: talky, tense, suspense, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, spaghetti western, entertaining
Similar in 83%
Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973)
Plot Summary:
J.D. Cahill is the toughest U.S. Marshal they've got, just the sound of his name makes bad guys stop in their tracks, so when his two young boy's want to get his attention they decide to rob a bank. They end up getting more than they bargained for.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: tense, talky, sentimental, suspenseful, semi serious, sincere, realistic, suspense, light, road movie
Similar in 81%
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%
The Undefeated (1969)
Plot Summary:
After the Civil War, ex-Union Colonel John Henry Thomas and ex-Confederate Colonel James Langdon are leading two disparate groups of people through strife-torn Mexico. John Henry and company are bringing horses to the unpopular Mexican government for $35 a head while Langdon is leading a contingent of displaced southerners, who are looking for a new life in Mexico after losing their property to carpetbaggers. The two men are eventually forced to mend their differences in order to fight off both bandits and revolutionaries, as they try to lead their friends and kin to safety.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance, War, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, light, road movie, feel good, bleak, epic
Similar in 87%
Hellbenders (1967)
Plot Summary:
The Civil War has ended, but not for Jonas, a ruthless Confederate officer who wants to continue the fight by reorganizing Confederate troops in the Southwest with the support of a large sum of stolen money. He devises an elaborate ruse to allow his small party to travel with minimal scrutiny through hostile territory, for the money is hidden in a coffin said to contain the body of his dead son. Jonas' other sons travel with him along with a hired "widow", as they proceed to what they hope to be a new start to the War between the States. However, while en route, they face severe, ongoing strife among themselves and successive threats from Union soldiers, a posse of cowboys, and an Indian war party.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance, Western
Country: Italy, Spain
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: spaghetti western, euro western, cult classic, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, cult film
Similar in 81%
Hang 'Em High (1968)
Plot Summary:
Marshall Jed Cooper survives a hanging, vowing revenge on the lynch mob that left him dangling. To carry out his oath for vengeance, he returns to his former job as a lawman. Before long, he's caught up with the nine men on his hit list and starts dispensing his own brand of Wild West justice.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: spaghetti western, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, retro, epic, exciting, rough, serious, crime drama
Similar in 86%
A Time for Killing (1967)
Plot Summary:
During the Civil War, Confederate soldiers escape from a Union prison and head for the Mexican border. Along the way, they kill a Union courier bearing the news that the war is over. Keeping the message a secret, the captain has his men go on and they soon find themselves in a battle with the Union search party who also is unaware of the war's end.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: retro, costume drama, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
Shalako (1968)
Plot Summary:
Sean Connery is Shalako, a guide in the old West who has to rescue an aristocratic British hunting party from Indians and bandits.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: UK, West Germany, USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, stylized, spaghetti western, independent film, euro western, wild, cult film
Similar in 86%
Joshua (1976)
Plot Summary:
A black soldier returns from fighting for the Union in the Civil War only to find out that his mother has been murdered by a gang of white thugs. He becomes a bounty hunter, determined to track down and kill the men who killed his mother.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 418
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: spaghetti western, independent film, psychological, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
Crossfire Trail (2001)
Plot Summary:
Rafe Covington is as good as his word, and he's determined to keep his promise to a dying man that he'll look after the man's widow and Wyoming ranch. But the widow doubts the integrity of drifter Covington. And an unscrupulous land grabber and his gunmen are sizing up the ranch the way a spider eyes a fly.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, tense, suspenseful, cult film
Similar in 77%
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 89%
Quigley Down Under (1990)
Plot Summary:
American Matt Quigley answers Australian land baron Elliott Marston's ad for a sharpshooter to kill the dingoes on his property. But when Quigley finds out that Marston's real target is the aborigines, Quigley hits the road. Now, even American expatriate Crazy Cora can't keep Quigley safe in his cat-and-mouse game with the homicidal Marston.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance, Western
Country: Australia, USA, France
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: suspense, entertaining, exciting, harsh, rough, realistic, serious, period piece, spaghetti western, funny
Similar in 80%
The Deadly Trackers (1973)
Plot Summary:
Sheriff Sean Kilpatrick is a pacifist. Frank Brand is the leader of a band of killers. When their paths cross Kilpatrick is compelled to go against everything he has stood for to bring death to Brand and his gang. Through his hunt into Mexico he is challenged by a noble Mexican Sheriff interested only in carrying out the law - not vengeance.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, spaghetti western
Similar in 79%
The Man from Snowy River (1982)
Plot Summary:
Jim Craig has lived his first 18 years in the mountains of Australia on his father's farm. The death of his father forces him to go to the low lands to earn enough money to get the farm back on its feet. Kirk Douglas plays two roles as twin brothers who haven't spoken for years, one of whom was Jim's father's best friend and the other of whom is the father of the girl he wants to marry.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Romance, Western
Country: Australia
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sentimental, cult classic, surprise ending, feel good, serious, captivating, realistic, independent film, exciting, light
Similar in 90%
Open Range (2003)
Plot Summary:
A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 77000
Genere: Action, Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, stylized, intense, realistic, captivating, contemplative, period piece, funny, sexy, epic