Movies Like Dakota (1945)

Dakota is a 1945 western film from Joseph Kane with a MovieMagicScore of 5.1/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Jesse James and The Virginian.

Western

Jesse James

1939

After railroad agents forcibly evict the James family from their family farm, Jesse and Frank turn to banditry for revenge.

6.4

MagicScore

The Virginian

1946

Arriving at Medicine Bow, eastern schoolteacher Molly Woods meets two cowboys, irresponsible Steve and the "Virginian," who gets off on the wrong foot with her. To add to his troubles, the Virginian finds that his old pal Steve is mixed up with black-hatted Trampas and his rustlers...then finds himself at the head of a posse after said rustlers; and Molly hates the violent side of frontier life.

6.0

MagicScore

Dances with Wolves

1990

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.

7.8

MagicScore

3 Bad Men

1926

Three outlaws come to the aid of a young girl after her father is killed.

6.8

MagicScore

The Burrowers

2008

It is 1879 in the Dakota Territories, a band of men who set out to find and recover a family of settlers that has mysteriously vanished from their home. Expecting the offenders to be a band of fierce natives, but they soon discover that the real enemy stalks them from below.

5.8

MagicScore

Tumbbad

2018

India, 1918. On the outskirts of Tumbbad, a cursed village where it always rains, Vinayak, along with his mother and his brother, care of a mysterious old woman who keeps the secret of an ancestral treasure that Vinayak gets obsessed with.

7.6

MagicScore

Love and Death

1975

In czarist Russia, a neurotic soldier and his distant cousin formulate a plot to assassinate Napoleon.

7.5

MagicScore

City Girl

1930

A waitress from Chicago falls in love with a man from rural Minnesota and marries him, with the intent of living a better life - but life on the farm has its own challenges.

7.4

MagicScore

Cowboy

2008

Real estate agent Christian travels the countryside scouting for investment prospects. In a forgotten, seemingly abandoned village far off the main roads, he finds more than he is looking for. Getting entangled in an encounter with a taciturn teenage farmhand, he confronts his sexual frustrations and, in the process, gets drawn into the undergrowth of a bloodthirsty rustic community.

5.8

MagicScore

#10

Blazing Saddles

1974

A town—where everyone seems to be named Johnson—stands in the way of the railroad. In order to grab their land, robber baron Hedley Lamarr sends his henchmen to make life in the town unbearable. After the sheriff is killed, the town demands a new sheriff from the Governor, so Hedley convinces him to send the town the first black sheriff in the west.

7.2

MagicScore

#11

Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon

1972

After avenging the death of his teacher, a Shaolin monk flees China to the American West and helps people while being pursued by bounty hunters.

7.1

MagicScore

#12

The Great Train Robbery

1903

After the train station clerk is assaulted and left bound and gagged, then the departing train and its passengers robbed, a posse goes in hot pursuit of the fleeing bandits.

7.0

MagicScore

#13

7 Faces of Dr. Lao

1964

An old Chinese man rides into the town of Abalone, Arizona and changes it forever, as the citizens see themselves reflected in the mirror of Lao's mysterious circus of mythical beasts.

6.9

MagicScore

#14

Santa Fe

1951

After their service in the Civil War, four brothers go their separate ways, but later find themselves on opposite sides of a final showdown.

6.8

MagicScore

#15

The Iron Horse

1925

Brandon, a surveyor, dreams of building a railway to the west. He sets off with his son, Davy, to survey a route. They discover a new pass which will shave 200 miles off the expected distance, but they are set upon by a party of Cheyenne. One of them, a white renegade with only two fingers on his right hand, kills Brandon and scalps him. Davy is all alone now.

6.6

MagicScore

#16

Union Pacific

1939

One of the last bills signed by President Lincoln authorizes pushing the Union Pacific Railroad across the wilderness to California. But financial opportunist Asa Barrows hopes to profit from obstructing it. Chief troubleshooter Jeff Butler has his hands full fighting Barrows' agent, gambler Sid Campeau; Campeau's partner Dick Allen is Jeff's war buddy and rival suitor for engineer's daughter Molly Monahan. Who will survive the effort to push the railroad through at any cost?

6.6

MagicScore

#17

Night Passage

1957

Grant MacLaine, a former railroad troubleshooter, lost his job after letting his outlaw brother, the Utica Kid, escape. After spending five years wandering the west and earning his living playing the accordion, he is given a second chance by his former boss.

6.4

MagicScore

#18

Just Pals

1920

Bim (Buck Jones) seems to be his town's biggest loser, but when he takes a needy 13-year-old boy named Bill (George Stone) under his wing, it seems there may be some hope for Bim. After learning about Bill, a young teacher, Mary (Helen Ferguson), whom Bim secretly adores, helps get the young boy into school. And when Bim then helps Mary repay a loan, defaulted on by shifty boyfriend (William Buckley), it becomes evident that Bim can reform. As the plot in this captivating film twist and turns, the stakes get higher, the action gets more intense and hope for Bim bounds upward.

6.3

MagicScore

#19

The Great Locomotive Chase

1956

During the Civil War, a Union spy, Andrews, is asked to lead a band of Union soldiers into the South so that they could destroy the railway system. However, things don't go as planned when the conductor of the train that they stole is on to them and is doing everything he can to stop them. Based on a true story.

6.3

MagicScore

#20

Canadian Pacific

1949

A surveyor for the Canadian Pacific Railroad must fight fur trappers who oppose the building of the railroad by stirring up Indian rebellion.

5.0

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Dakota?

The top films similar to Dakota by MovieMagicScore are Jesse James (6.4), The Virginian (6.0), Dances with Wolves (7.8). Each shares western themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Dakota worth watching?

Dakota holds a MovieMagicScore of 5.1/10 from 33 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Dakota?

Dakota (1945) is a western film directed by Joseph Kane, starring John Wayne, Vera Ralston, Walter Brennan.

Where can I find more recommendations like Dakota?

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 Jesse James Movies like The Virginian Movies like Dances with Wolves Movies like 3 Bad Men Movies like The Burrowers Movies like Tumbbad

About movies like Dakota

This ranked list pairs Dakota (1945), a western film from Joseph Kane, 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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