Best movies like The Cowboys

All they wanted was their chance to be men... and he gave it to them.

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like The Cowboys Starring John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, Bruce Dern, Colleen Dewhurst, and more. If you liked The Cowboys then you may also like: Young Guns, Yuma, Will Penny, Nevada Smith, Open Range and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

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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 Andersen nor the boys know that a gang of cattle thieves is stalking them.

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Know any good movies to watch like The Cowboys 1972. With a similar plot or stoyline. Suggest it.

Young Guns

A group of young gunmen, led by Billy the Kid, become deputies to avenge the murder of the rancher who became their benefactor. But when Billy takes their authority too far, they become the hunted.

Yuma

A down-and-dirty town is forced to shape up when a new marshal (Clint Walker) comes to town. However, when a scheme is launched to destroy the lawman's authority, he must discover the perpetrators and preserve his reputation.

Will Penny

Will Penny, an aging cowpoke, takes a job on a ranch which requires him to ride the line of the property looking for trespassers or, worse, squatters. He finds that his cabin in the high mountains has been appropriated by a woman whose guide to Oregon has deserted her and her son. Too ashamed to kick mother and child out just as the bitter winter of the mountains sets in, he agrees to share the cabin until the spring thaw. But it isn't just the snow that slowly thaws; the lonely man and woman soon forget their mutual hostility and start developing a deep love for one another.

Nevada Smith

Nevada Smith is the young son of an Indian mother and white father. When his father is killed by three men over gold, Nevada sets out to find them and kill them. The boy is taken in by a gun merchant. The gun merchant shows him how to shoot and to shoot on time and correct.

Open Range

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

Quigley Down Under

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.

Return of the Seven

Chico one of the remaining members of The Magnificent Seven now lives in the town that they (The Seven) helped. One day someone comes and takes most of the men prisoner. His wife seeks out Chris, the leader of The Seven for help. Chris also meets Vin another member of The Seven. They find four other men and they go to help Chico.

Rooster Cogburn

After a band of drunken thugs overruns a small Indian Nation town, killing Minister Goodnight and raping the women folk, Eula Goodnight enlists the aid of Marshal Cogburn to hunt them down and bring her father's killers to justice.

Joe Kidd

A band of Mexicans find their U. S. land claims denied and all the records destroyed in a courthouse fire. Their leader, Louis Chama, encourages them to use force to regain their land. A wealthy landowner wanting the same decides to hire a gang of killers with Joe Kidd to track Chama.

Joshua

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.

6.9 / 10 1971 Western
suggested by: user620e3s23izk

Big Jake

An aging Texas cattle man who has outlived his time swings into action when outlaws kidnap his grandson.

Cahill U.S. Marshal

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.

6.7 / 10 1970 Western
suggested by: user363reb74frh

Chisum

Cattle baron John Chisum joins forces with Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett to fight the Lincoln County land war.

The Comancheros

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.

5.4 / 10 1973 Western
suggested by: user557mitugqsp

The Deadly Trackers

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.

El Dorado

Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Harrah. Together with a fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.

7.4 / 10 1969 Western
suggested by: user828l6lgp8ea

True Grit

The murder of her father sends a teenage tomboy on a mission of 'justice', which involves avenging her father's death. She recruits a tough old marshal, 'Rooster' Cogburn because he has 'true grit', and a reputation of getting the job done.

6.8 / 10 1967 Western
suggested by: user452pj1lxu0o

The War Wagon

An ex-con seeks revenge on the man who put him in prison by planning a robbery of the latter's stagecoach, which is transporting gold. He enlists the help of a partner, who could be working for his nemesis.

The Burning Hills

When Trace Jordan's brother is murdered by members of the land-grabbing Sutton family, he vows to report this injustice to the nearest Army fort.

Arizona Raiders

Murphy plays an ex-Quantrill's Raider who's released from jail with buddy Cooper to be deputized as Arizona Rangers in order to hunt down the remnant of the gang, rumored to he hiding out in a town "neer dee border" in the words of the loose-lipped saloon dancer. The goons are found hiding in an Indian mission. Murphy and Cooper pretend to want to rejoin the gang, but the bad guys catch on and brutally beat Cooper, who protects Murphy's true sentiments to the death.

Young Guns II

Three of the original five "young guns" — Billy the Kid (Emilio Estevez), Jose Chavez y Chavez (Lou Diamond Phillips), and Doc Scurlock (Kiefer Sutherland) — return in Young Guns, Part 2, which is the story of Billy the Kid and his race to safety in Old Mexico while being trailed by a group of government agents led by Pat Garrett.

The Sons of Katie Elder

The four sons of Katie Elder reunite in their Hometown of Clearwater, Texas for their Mother's funeral, and discover that the family ranch is now in the hands of Morgan Hastings, the town's gunsmith.

The Culpepper Cattle Co.

Working as an assistant on a long cattle drive, the young Ben Mockridge contends between his dream of being a cowboy and the harsh truth of the Old West.

6.8 / 10 1968 Western
suggested by: user419qram4wru

Hang 'em High

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.

Gang of Roses

Set in the 1800's, the town of Flat ridge is over run by a band of outlaws looking for lost treasure said to be buried somewhere in town. In their quest for dominance, the outlaws kill Sally, a whore who happens to be the sister of Rachel and a 1/5 member of the Roses Gang. With the weight of grief on her heart, Rachel decides to shed her new found religious faith to bring vengeance upon her sister's killers. After placing Sally to rest, she goes in search of her former posse to assist her in the reckoning of the outlaws wrong doing.

Return of the Outlaws

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.

Catlow

Catlow is a 1971 western based on a story by Louis L'Amour. It stars Yul Brynner as a outlaw determined to pull off a gold robbery and co-stars Richard Crenna and Leonard Nimoy.

Young Guns of Texas

A man searching for a stolen army payroll is joined by several men after the reward money. One of the pursuers, after killing a ranch foreman, elopes with the ranchers' daughter. Enraged at the shooting of his foreman and convinced that his daughter was kidnapped, the rancher leads a posse after his daughter. When Apaches attack the thieves and their pursuers, the rancher's posse is forced to side with his daughter's new husband and his friends.

Cry Blood Apache

Telling the story of his early life in flashback, a former prospector (Joel McCrea, with flashback sequences featuring son Jody) explains his brutal massacre of a tribe of Indians. The only survivor (Marie Gahua) agrees to lead him to a secret gold mine.

The Tall Stranger

A Union soldier returns to his western home at the end of the Civil War and finds himself caught in the middle of a land war between his greedy half-brother and a wagon train of Confederate homesteaders.

Molly and Lawless John

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.

6.4 / 10 2008 Action Western
suggested by: user8753emscsqp

Aces 'N' Eights

Already taking a gamble settling in the uncharted west, the peaceful settlers of a town destined for railroad greatness suddenly find themselves being ruthlessly gunned down. With no law and order to be found, justice falls onto the shoulders of an elderly rancher and an accomplished, but retired, gunslinger.

Rio Diablo

Kenny Roger's leaves his good-guy image behind as the rugged, gutsy Quentin Leach, a bounty hunter with a quick temper and a trigger finger to match. If you're an outlaw with a price on your head, Leach is the last man you'll want to meet. Travis Tritt, in an impressive acting debut, stars as Benjamin Tabor, a man out for blood after a gang of murderous bank robbers flee with his beautiful young bride. Together, Tabor and Leach take to the Trail with guns blazing in search of the same outlaws. And they're not going to stop until they find them - dead or alive.

Gunsmoke: One Man's Justice

Retired marshal Dillon goes after a 15 year old boy who is determined to kill the men responsible for the murder of his mother during a stagecoach robbery

Kentucky Rifle

A man escorts a wagon load of Kentucky rifles through Indian territory and must find a way to get through without losing the rifles to the Indians. Unfortunately the Indians know about it, and give the occupants an ultimatum: either the rifles or their lives.

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