Movies Like How States Are Made

If you liked How States Are Made (1912), a movie directed by Rollin S. Sturgeon, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Shane (1953)
★ 7.3/10
A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smouldering settler and rancher conflict forces him to act.
2
Broken Arrow (1950)
★ 6.7/10
Indian scout Tom Jeffords is sent out to stem the war between the American settlers and Apaches in the late 1870s Arizona. He learns that the Indians kill only to protect themselves, or out of retaliation for white…
3
The Way West (1967)
★ 6.1/10
In the mid-19th century, Senator William J. Tadlock leads a group of settlers overland in a quest to start a new settlement in the Western US. Tadlock is a highly principled and demanding taskmaster who is as hard on…
4
Little Big Man (1970)
★ 7.4/10
Jack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Indians and fighting with General Custer.
5
News of the World (2020)
★ 6.9/10
A Texan traveling across the wild West bringing the news of the world to local townspeople, agrees to help rescue a young girl who was kidnapped.
6
Australia (2008)
★ 6.6/10
Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a stock-man in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000…
7
The Man from Laramie (1955)
★ 7.1/10
Will Lockhart arrives in Coronado, an isolated town in New Mexico, in search of someone who sells rifles to the Apache tribe, finding himself unwillingly drawn into the convoluted life of a local ranching family whose…
8
Train Dreams (2025)
★ 7.3/10
A logger leads a life of quiet grace as he experiences love and loss during an era of monumental change in early 20th-century America.
9
Adrift (2018)
★ 6.8/10
Tami Oldham and Richard Sharp couldn't anticipate that they would be sailing directly into one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in recorded history. In the aftermath of the storm, Tami awakens to find Richard badly…
10
Badland (2019)
★ 6.3/10
Detective Matthias Breecher, hired to track down the worst of the Confederate war criminals, roams the Old West seeking justice. His resolve is tested when he meets a determined pioneer woman who is far more than she…
11
Hollywood Dirt (2017)
★ 6.4/10
Hollywood arrives in force to Quincy, the small town where the secret Crown Cola billionaire's live. They want to film about the billionaire's and how they made their fortunes. Summer Jenkins, who was the town pariah…
12
How the West Was Won (1962)
★ 7/10
The epic tale of the development of the American West from the 1830s through the Civil War to the end of the century, as seen through the eyes of one pioneer family.
13
The Cowboys (1972)
★ 7.1/10
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…
14
Blood on the Moon (1948)
★ 6.2/10
Down-and-out cowhand Jim Garry is asked by his old friend Tate Riling to help mediate a cattle dispute. When Garry arrives, however, it soon becomes clear that Riling has not been entirely forthright. Garry uncovers…
15
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
★ 6.5/10
Albany, New York, 1776. After marrying, Gil and Lana travel north to settle on a small farm in the Mohawk River Valley, but soon their growing prosperity and happiness are threatened by the sinister sound of drums that…
16
The Dead Don't Hurt (2024)
★ 6.5/10
In the 1860s, fiercely independent French-Canadian Vivienne Le Coudy embarks on a journey with Danish immigrant Holger Olsen, attempting to forge a life together in the dusty town of Elk Flats, Nevada. When Holger…
17
True Grit (2010)
★ 7.3/10
Following the murder of her father by a hired hand, a 14-year-old farm girl sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. Marshal she can find—a man with 'true grit'—Reuben J. 'Rooster' Cogburn.
18
Driven (2019)
★ 6.2/10
FBI informant Jim Hoffman lures troubled automobile magnate John DeLorean to an undercover sting for cocaine trafficking.
19
Dead Man (1995)
★ 7.3/10
On the run after committing murder, an accountant encounters a strange Native American man who prepares him for his journey into the spiritual world.
20
Open Range (2003)
★ 7.2/10
A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.