Movies Like Red River (1948)

Red River is a 1948 western film from Howard Hawks with a MovieMagicScore of 7.3/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Cowboys and The Far Country.

Western

The Cowboys

1972

When his cattlemen abandon him for the gold fields, rancher Wil Andersen is forced to take on a collection of young boys as his cowboys in order to get his herd to market in time to avoid financial disaster. The boys learn to do a man's job under Andersen's tutelage, however, neither he nor the boys know that a gang of cattle thieves is stalking them.

7.1

MagicScore

The Far Country

1954

During the Klondike Gold Rush, a misanthropic cattle driver and his talkative elderly partner run afoul of the law in Alaska and are forced to work for a saloon owner to take her supplies into a newly booming but lawless Candian town.

6.9

MagicScore

Chisum

1970

Cattle baron John Chisum joins forces with Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett to fight the Lincoln County Land War in the New Mexico Territory of 1878.

6.7

MagicScore

Pocket Money

1972

Broke and in debt, an otherwise honest cowboy and his buddy get mixed up in some shady dealings with a crooked cattle dealer.

5.4

MagicScore

The Wizard of Oz

1925

A farm girl learns she is a princess and is swept away by a tornado to the land of Oz.

5.4

MagicScore

The Tall Men

1955

Two brothers discharged from the Confederate Army join a businessman for a cattle drive from Texas to Montana where they run into raiding Jayhawkers, angry Sioux, rough terrain and bad weather.

6.4

MagicScore

Old Yeller

1957

Young Travis Coates is left to take care of the family ranch with his mother and younger brother while his father goes off on a cattle drive in the 1860s. When a yellow mongrel comes for an uninvited stay with the family, Travis reluctantly adopts the dog.

6.9

MagicScore

Texas

1941

Two Virginians are heading for a new life in Texas when they witness a stagecoach being held up. They decide to rob the robbers and make off with the loot. To escape a posse, they split up and don't see each other again for a long time. When they do meet up again, they find themselves on different sides of the law. This leads to the increasing estrangement of the two men, who once thought of themselves as brothers.

6.5

MagicScore

Unforgiven

1992

William Munny is a retired, once-ruthless killer turned gentle widower and hog farmer. To help support his two motherless children, he accepts one last bounty-hunter mission to find the men who brutalized a prostitute. Joined by his former partner and a cocky greenhorn, he takes on a corrupt sheriff.

7.9

MagicScore

#10

Paper Moon

1973

During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.

7.9

MagicScore

#11

Open Range

2003

A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.

7.2

MagicScore

#12

Rio Grande

1950

Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke is posted on the Texas frontier to defend settlers against depredations of marauding Apaches. Col. Yorke is under considerable stress by a serious shortage of troops of his command. Tension is added when Yorke's son (whom he hasn't seen in fifteen years), Trooper Jeff Yorke, is one of 18 recruits sent to the regiment.

6.8

MagicScore

#13

Django Unchained

2012

With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.

8.2

MagicScore

#14

The Outlaw Josey Wales

1976

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.

7.4

MagicScore

#15

The Sons of Katie Elder

1965

The four sons of Katie Elder reunite in their hometown of Clearwater, Texas for her funeral and discover that the family ranch is now in the hands of Morgan Hastings, a corrupt businessman who wants to exploit the area around the town.

7.0

MagicScore

#16

Hannie Caulder

1971

After she's raped by the outlaw trio who murdered her husband, a frontierswoman hires a bounty hunter to instruct her in the ways of a gun in order to exact her revenge.

6.2

MagicScore

#17

The Hunting Party

1971

A ruthless rancher, and his gang, use extremely long range rifles to kill the men who kidnapped his wife.

6.1

MagicScore

#18

The Wonderful Country

1959

Having fled to Mexico from the U.S. many years ago for killing his father's murderer, Martin Brady travels to Texas to broker an arms deal for his Mexican boss, strongman Governor Cipriano Castro. Brady breaks a leg and while recuperating in Texas the gun shipment is stolen. Complicating matters further the wife of local army major Colton has designs on him, and the local Texas Ranger captain makes him a generous offer to come back to the states and join his outfit. After killing a man in self-defense, Brady slips back over the border and confronts Castro who is not only unhappy that Brady has lost his gun shipment but is about to join forces with Colton to battle the local raiding Apache Indians.

6.0

MagicScore

#19

1985

2018

Having been gone for three years, closeted advertising executive Adrian returns to his Texas hometown and struggles to reveal his dire circumstances to his conservative family.

6.2

MagicScore

#20

Sicario

2015

An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.

7.4

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Red River?

The top films similar to Red River by MovieMagicScore are The Cowboys (7.1), The Far Country (6.9), Chisum (6.7). Each shares western themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Red River worth watching?

Red River holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.3/10 from 565 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is Red River?

Red River (1948) is a western film directed by Howard Hawks, starring John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru.

Where can I find more recommendations like Red River?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more western recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like The Cowboys Movies like The Far Country Movies like Chisum Movies like Pocket Money Movies like The Wizard of Oz Movies like The Tall Men

About movies like Red River

This ranked list pairs Red River (1948), a western film from Howard Hawks, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of John Wayne take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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