The 25+ Best Kurt Russell Movies of All Time, Ranked
The best Kurt Russell movies of all time prove that he is one of the most versatile actors currently working. Since he started as a child actor in the late ‘50s, Russell has appeared in plenty of blockbusters and critically-acclaimed movies, earning awards and accolades along the way. His highest grossing movies have been well-received at the box office and his lifetime box office total exceeds $1.5 billion.
Kurt Russell started his acting career at the age of 11 with an uncredited role in Elvis Presley’s It Happened at the World's Fair followed by a series of small credited roles in TV and film in the ‘60s. In the 1970s, Kurt Russell starred in a series of films for Disney and several TV series for ABC and NBC.
In the 1980s, Kurt Russell’s career started taking off with high profile roles in movies—often partnering with director John Carpenter. It was with Carpenter that he became well-known as the anti-hero Snake Plissken. From the ‘80s onwards, Kurt Russell has starred in a variety of action, comedy, and even dramatic movies. Some of the best Kurt Russell movies from his era include Backdraft, Stargate, and Tango & Cash.
Kurt Russell is no stranger to working with popular directors, including Ron Howard, Quentin Tarantino and Garry Marshall. Kurt Russell has been in plenty of blockbusters and has surpassed many of his contemporary peers such as David Caruso and Steven Seagal in terms of fame and success.
So what are the best Kurt Russell movies of all time? Is it Escape From L.A. or Tombstone? See what fans have ranked as their favorites in the Kurt Russell filmography below. Movie trailers have been included below if you want a preview of the film. If you think the best Kurt Russell role isn't at the top, then vote it up. Don’t see it listed? Add it so that others may vote for it. After all, this list of the best Kurt Russell movies should be as comprehensive as possible.
Kurt Russell is no stranger to working with popular directors, including Ron Howard, Quentin Tarantino and Garry Marshall. Kurt Russell has been in some really popular films, and is right up there with stars like David Caruso and Steven Seagal in terms of fame and success.
- In 1997, a major war between the United States and the Soviet Union is concluding, and the entire island of Manhattan has been converted into a giant maximum security prison. When Air Force One is ...more
- Tombstone is a 1993 American western film directed by George P. Cosmatos, written by Kevin Jarre and starring Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer, with Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, ...more
- In remote Antarctica, a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a helicopter shooting at a sled dog. When they take in the dog, it brutally attacks both human beings ...more
- Kurt Russell plays hard-boiled truck driver Jack Burton, who gets caught in a bizarre conflict within, and underneath, San Francisco's Chinatown. An ancient Chinese prince and Chinatown crime lord ...more
- Backdraft is a 1991 action thriller film directed by Ron Howard and written by Gregory Widen. The film stars Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rebecca De Mornay, ...more
- When college coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) is hired to helm the 1980 U.S. men's Olympic hockey team, he brings a unique and brash style to the ice. After assembling a team of hot-headed college ...more
- In modern-day Egypt, professor Daniel Jackson (James Spader) teams up with retired Army Col. Jack O'Neil (Kurt Russell) to unlock the code of an interstellar gateway to an ancient Egypt-like world. ...more
- Todd (Kurt Russell) has been trained since birth, through brutal conditioning, to be an emotionless killing machine. After 40 years, Todd and his comrades are deemed obsolete when Col. Mekum (Jason ...more
- Snobbish and wealthy Joanna Stayton (Goldie Hawn) is living a life of leisure with her husband, Grant (Edward Herrmann), when she falls off their yacht and suffers amnesia. Grant takes the ...more
- While racing toward the town of Red Rock in post-Civil War Wyoming, bounty hunter John "The Hangman" Ruth (Kurt Russell) and his fugitive prisoner (Jennifer Jason Leigh) encounter another bounty ...more
- On their cross-country drive, a married couple, Jeff (Kurt Russell) and Amy Taylor (Kathleen Quinlan), experience car trouble after an accident. Stranded in the New Mexico desert, the two catch a ...more
- When mild-mannered Martin Harvey (Martin Short) finds out that he has inherited a vintage yacht, he decides to take his family on a Caribbean vacation to retrieve the vessel. Upon arriving on a small ...more
- Bone Tomahawk is a 2015 American Western horror film directed by S. Craig Zahler. Four men set out in the Wild West to rescue a group of captives from cannibalistic cave dwellers.
- Police officers Ray Tango (Sylvester Stallone) and Gabe Cash (Kurt Russell) are narcotics experts working to bring down drug lord Yves Perret (Jack Palance). In an attempt to stymie their efforts, ...more
- This film is a 2007 American action-exploitation film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film centers on a psychopathic stunt man, Stuntman Mike played by Kurt Russell, who stalks young ...more
- Rudy Russo (Kurt Russell) is an unscrupulous car salesman who aspires to become a politician. In the meantime, however, Rudy works for the nice but ineffective automobile dealer Luke Fuchs (Jack ...more
- When terrorists hijack a plane traveling from Greece to Washington, D.C., U.S. Army specialist David Grant (Kurt Russell) and Lt. Colonel Austin Travis (Steven Seagal) join forces to bring the plane ...more
- It's International Elvis Week in Las Vegas, where the strip is flooded by a sea of King wannabes decked out in jumpsuits and sideburns. But five of the impersonators swaggering into the Riviera Hotel ...more
- Escape from L.A. is a 1996 American science fiction action film co-written, co-scored, and directed by John Carpenter, co-written and produced by Debra Hill and Kurt Russell, with Russell also ...more
- Tequila Sunrise is a 1988 American crime thriller film written and directed by Robert Towne. It stars Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell, with Raúl Juliá, J. T. Walsh, Arliss Howard and ...more
- Unlawful Entry is a 1992 American thriller film directed by Jonathan Kaplan starring Kurt Russell, Ray Liotta and Madeleine Stowe. The film involves a couple who befriend a lonely policeman, only for ...more
- Students from a cash-strapped college, in need of a computer, convince businessman A.J. Arno (Cesar Romero) to donate one. When it needs to be repaired, student Dexter Reilly (Kurt Russell) fixes it ...more
- Covering the rise of music legend Elvis Presley (Kurt Russell), this film starts with his early years in Mississippi and Tennessee raised by his parents, Gladys (Shelley Winters) and Vernon (Bing ...more
- At a school in the sky where teens learn how to be superheroes, Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) lands in a class for students who show special promise. Classmate Gwen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) ...more
- The Christmas Chronicles is a 2018 American Christmas family film directed by Clay Kaytis. The story of sister and brother, Kate and Teddy Pierce, whose Christmas Eve plan to catch Santa Claus (Kurt ...more
