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Once Upon a Time in the West poster

Movies that feel likeOnce Upon a Time in the West (1968)

As the railroad builders advance unstoppably through the Arizona desert on their way to the sea, Jill arrives in the small town of Flagstone with the intention of starting a new life.

If you loved Once Upon a Time in the West, the closest films we have are Once Upon a Time in America (1984), For a Few Dollars More (1965) and Rio Bravo (1959). All three share Once Upon a Time in the West's gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Charley Varrick (1973).

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If Once Upon a Time in the West hit the spot, these will too

Once Upon a Time in America poster
Once Upon a Time in America
1984 Β· dir. Sergio Leone
πŸ… 86%β˜… 8.3drama Β· crime

Sergio Leone working the same nerve twice

The difference: Less melancholy, more its own thing

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.

For a Few Dollars More poster
For a Few Dollars More
1965 Β· dir. Sergio Leone
πŸ… 92%β˜… 8.2western

Sergio Leone directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

Two bounty hunters both pursue the brutal and sadistic bandit, El Indio, who has a large bounty on his head.

Rio Bravo poster
Rio Bravo
1959 Β· dir. Howard Hawks
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.9western Β· drama

The same preoccupation in both: small town life

A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.

A Fistful of Dollars poster
A Fistful of Dollars
1964 Β· dir. Sergio Leone
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.9westernRent or buy

One thread runs through both: spaghetti western

The Man With No Name enters the Mexican village of San Miguel in the midst of a power struggle among the three Rojo brothers and sheriff John Baxter. When a regiment of Mexican soldiers bearing gold intended to pay for new weapons is waylaid by the Rojo brothers, the stranger inserts himself into the middle of the long-simmering battle, selling false information to both sides for his own benefit.

Duck, You Sucker poster
Duck, You Sucker
1971 Β· dir. Sergio Leone
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.5westernPrime Video

Both keep coming back to the same thing: spaghetti western

At the beginning of the 1913 Mexican Revolution, greedy bandit Juan Miranda and idealist John H. Mallory, an Irish Republican Army explosives expert on the lam from the British, fall in with a band of revolutionaries plotting to strike a national bank. When it turns out that the government has been using the bank as a hiding place for illegally detained political prisoners -- who are freed by the blast -- Miranda becomes a revolutionary hero against his will.

Cool Hand Luke poster
Cool Hand Luke
1967 Β· dir. Stuart Rosenberg
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8drama Β· crime

Common ground: grief

The difference: Leans further into crime

When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable will. Luke's bravado, even in the face of repeated stints in the prison's dreaded solitary confinement cell, "the box," make him a rebel hero to his fellow convicts and a thorn in the side of the prison officers.

Lolita poster
Lolita
1962 Β· dir. Stanley Kubrick
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.5drama

Both are built on the same subject: small town life

Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged British novelist who is both appalled by and attracted to the vulgarity of American culture. When he comes to stay at the boarding house run by Charlotte Haze, he soon becomes obsessed with Lolita, the woman's teenaged daughter.

Elevator to the Gallows poster
Elevator to the Gallows
1958 Β· dir. Louis Malle
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.9crime Β· drama Β· thrillerMax

Both land stillness and grit at once

A self-assured businessman murders his employer, husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly poster
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
1966 Β· dir. Sergio Leone
πŸ… 97%β˜… 8.8western

Gritty western, and it commits to that

While the Civil War rages on between the Union and the Confederacy, three men – a quiet loner, a ruthless hitman, and a Mexican bandit – comb the American Southwest in search of a strongbox containing $200,000 in stolen gold.

High Noon poster
High Noon
1952 Β· dir. Fred Zinnemann
πŸ… 94%β˜… 7.9western

Drama with a pulse of comfort, in both cases

Will Kane, the sheriff of a small town in New Mexico, learns a notorious outlaw he put in jail has been freed, and will be arriving on the noon train. Knowing the outlaw and his gang are coming to kill him, Kane is determined to stand his ground, so he attempts to gather a posse from among the local townspeople.

Breathless poster
Breathless
1960 Β· dir. Jean-Luc Godard
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7.6drama Β· crime Β· romanceMax

Both are built on the same subject: grief

A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he attempts to persuade a girl to run away to Italy with him.

Charley Varrick poster
Charley Varrick
1973 Β· dir. Don Siegel
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.5crime Β· thriller Β· drama

Melancholy drama in both cases

Charley Varrick robs a bank in a small town with his friends, but instead of obtaining a small amount of money, they discover they stole a very large amount of money belonging to the mob. Charley must now come up with a plan to not only evade the police but the mob as well.

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The best-reviewed films that share Once Upon a Time in the West’s defining feeling.