top 5 greatest performances

[fortunato]

first of all: the subject should read "top 8 greatest performances." apparently, i can't type.

so anyway, i came across this, and thought it might be interesting to post on here and see what the rest of you answer:

"in your opinion, what are the top 8 performances in the history of film?"
(not sure why it was 8, but that was the question)

after much deliberation, i came up with (in no order, really):

1. taxi driver- robert deniro as travis bickle
2. metropolis- brigitte helm as robot maria
3. evil dead 2- bruce campbell as ash
4. the good, the bad, and the ugly- clint eastwood as blondie
5. repulsion- cantherine deneuve as carole ledoux
6. american psycho- christian bale as patrick bateman
7. straw dogs- dustin hoffman as david sumner
8. vertigo- jimmy stewart as john "scottie" ferguson

[merc07]

blondie .............. a classic hero and villain,,

[Yellow Jacket]

In no particular order:

1- Casablanca- Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine
2- Taxi Driver- Robert DeNiro as Travis Bickle
3- Citizen Kane- Orson Welles as Charles Foster Kane
4- Forrest Gump- Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump
5- The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly- Clint Eastwood as Blondie
6- It's a Wonderful Life- James Stewart as George Bailey
7- The Shining- Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrence
8- Radio- Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Radio

[merc07]

sorry , i had too much whiskey ..best villian ...wrong spelling .....

[Posher778]

1- Anthony Perkins- Psycho
2- Humphery Bogart- Casablanca
3- Uma Thurman- Kill Bill
4- Rose Mcgowan- Planet Terror (she was born for that role)
5- Christian Bale- American Psycho
6- Clive Owen- Sin City


Edit- These are my favorites, not all the *greatest*

[glasseye]

Shoot, I can't think of eight.. I thought Daniel Day-Lewis was outstanding in Gangs of New York

[_____V_____]

Out of all the movies I ve seen over the years, one performance stands out as the absolute best - Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird. Harper Lee's heroic creation was perfected in flesh and blood and still makes my hairs stand even today.

Hmm...in no particular order, the rest of my choices would be -

Peter Lorre in M,

Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction,

Willem Dafoe in Platoon,

Toshiro Mifune in Yojimbo,

Charlie Chaplin in City Lights,

Eli Wallach in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly,

and

Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy.



btw, good thread.

[alkytrio666]

1. Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront
2. James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life
3. James Stewart in Vertigo
4. Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca
5. Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy
6. Robert De Niro in Raging Bull
7. Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind
8. Peter Lorre in M

[alkytrio666]

3- Uma Thurman- Kill Bill
4- Rose Mcgowan- Planet Terror (she was born for that role)
6- Clive Owen- Sin City

Seriously??

[jenna26]

Out of all the movies I ve seen over the years, one performance stands out as the absolute best - Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird. Harper Lee's heroic creation was perfected in flesh and blood and still makes my hairs stand even today.


Yep, I completely agree.

Others....

James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause
Humphrey Bogart in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Bette Davis in All About Eve
Robert DeNiro in Taxi Driver
James Stewart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Bruce Campbell in Evil Dead 2
Anthony Perkins in Psycho

But hard to say GREATEST....these came to my mind, but there are so many performances that are great in different ways.

[neverending]

Spenser Tracy in Inherit the Wind
Lee Marvin in The Iceman Cometh
Karloff in Targets
Bill Hickey Jr. in Happy Birthday Wanda June
Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire
Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon
Kathryn Hepburn in A Delicate Balance
Bogart in Casablanca

[The STE]

Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tquSRFKuv4Q)
Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuornos in Monster (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViNCBnYlttQ)
Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prXXOxCPNek)
Anthony Perkins as Josef K. in The Trial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEzzf0k8F7w)
Toshiro Mifune as Sanjuro Kuwabatake in Yojimbo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWr60b08cPg)
Humphry Bogart as Dixon Steele in In a Lonely Place (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIXDEmmQxHU)
Orson Welles as Harry Lime in The Third Man (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZg8a0nqjTE)
Jack Nicholson as Bobby Dupea in Five Easy Pieces (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wtfNE4z6a8)

[roshiq]

Marlon Brando in Godfather
Robert DeNiro in Taxi Driver
Al Pacino in Scarface
Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man
Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump
Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the lambs
Christian Bale in American Psycho
Edward Norton In Fight Club

[Posher778]

Seriously??

Really not in the mood for the criticize thing today. If you don't like it, then don't.

[alkytrio666]

Fair enough.

[Posher778]

Fair enough.

I edited it though. It's more or less a mix of what i think are the best 3, and my favorite 3. I'm pretty sure you can figure out the difference.

[The STE]

Shoot, I can't think of eight.. I thought Daniel Day-Lewis was outstanding in Gangs of New York

And it looks like he'll be just as good in There Will Be Blood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EiYfv03Hi0

[fortunato]

And it looks like he'll be just as good in There Will Be Blood

that's exactly what i'm thinking.

i can't wait for that movie.

[fortunato]

*shameless bump*

[paws the great]

Anthony Hopkins - The Silence of the Lambs

Morgan Freeman - Seven

Robert De Niro - The Untouchables

Bill Paxton - Aliens

Bruce Willis - Die Hard

[roshiq]

Honorable mention:

Bruce Campbell as Elvis in Bubba Ho-tep.

[Red1332]

I have problems with this because there are so many small nuances to a performance. I might love one for the comedic factor, but then another for the drama. They don't really lend themselves to listing out in my skull. : /

But here's a few I thoroughly enjoyed.

Robin Williams in Patch Adams

Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption

Chris Tucker in The 5th Element (Because it is damned hard to play a metrosexual diva in the 25th century...)

Sigourney Weaver in Gorillas in the Mist

Michael Clark Duncan in The Green Mile (I loved the books and the movie makes me cry ever...single...time.)

And...sadly...I can't really come up with too much else. I'm going to blame that on the fact I just woke up. Heh. :D

[mordrid]

Bette Davis - What ever happened to Baby Jane
Joan Crawford - What ever happened to Baby Jane
James Stewart - Vertigo
Tom Hanks - Forestt Gump
De Niro - Taxi Cab
Anthony Perkins - Pyscho
Charlie Chaplain - The Immigrant
Tim Robbins - The Shawshank Redemption

[X¤MurderDoll¤X]

Isabelle Adjani is Posession
Sam Neil in Posession
Anthony Perkins - Psycho
Tim Robbins - The Shawshank Redemption
Brad Pitt in 12 monkeys
Jack Nicholson The Shining
Leo Bill - The Living and the Dead
Robert Deniro in taxi driver

[Roderick Usher]

Lon Chaney - "Phroso" West of Zanzibar
Warren Oates - "Bennie" Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Daniel Day Lewis - "Bill the Butcher" Gangs of New York
Cary Grant - "C.K. Dexter Haven" The Philadelphia Story
Katharine Hepburn - "Rose Sayer" The African Queen
Gena Rowlands - "Mabel Longhetti" A Woman Under the Influence
Alain Delon - "Costello" Le Samourai
Toshiro Mifune - "Murakami" Stray Dog

[jaybomb]

i have a ton, agree with alot of you on some of these...

kevin spacey- american beauty
denzel washington- training day
jack nicholson- the shining
tom hanks- forrest gump
samual l jackson- pulp fiction/unbreakable
anthony perkins- psycho
anthony hopkins- silence of the lambs
jeff bridges- the big lebowski:)
al pacino- godfather movies/ scarface
dustin hoffman- rain man
johnny depp- blow
harrison ford- the fugutive


there are so many others i cant think of off the top of my head

[X¤MurderDoll¤X]

almost forgot nick cage in bringing out the dead

[The Mothman]

1. Robert Deniro - Raging Bull
2. Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
3. Robert Deniro - Cape Fear
4. Robert Mitchum - Night Of The Hunter
5. Al Pacino - Scarface
6. Joe Pesci - Casino
7. Lee Van Cleef - Good, Bad, Ugly
8. Clint Eastwood - good, bad, ugly

honorable mention
Javier Bardem - No Country For Old Men

[fortunato]

honorable mention
Javier Bardem - No Country For Old Men

tell me about it. i can't wait to see more from him.

[The Mothman]

yep. dude plays one mean baddie.

[Roderick Usher]

tell me about it. i can't wait to see more from him.

Have you seen Dance With the Devil (Perdita Durango)? It's a great, cheesy exploitation movie and he's AWESOME in it.

[fortunato]

Have you seen Dance With the Devil (Perdita Durango)? It's a great, cheesy exploitation movie and he's AWESOME in it.

no, but i am definitely going to. i checked it out, and it looks really awesome.
thanks for the suggestion.

edit: and i just read that screamin' jay hawkins is in it! holy crap!

[The Vault of Horror]

Boris Karloff in Frankenstein
Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker's Dracula
Simon Pegg in Shaun of the Dead
Max Shrek in Nosferatu
Fredric March in Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde

[The_Return]

I missed this one on the first go around...deserving of up bump for sure.

Here's my list, no order:

1. Boris Karloff - The Body Snatcher
2. Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
3. Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
4. Vincent Price - TIE: The Song of Bernadette, Masque of the Red Death, House on Haunted Hill
5. Dwight Frye - Dracula (1931)
6. Micheal C. Hall - Dexter
7. Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
8. Humphrey Bogart - Casablanca

Damn it was hard to narrow that to 8....I could come up with a top 30 in a heartbeat.

[Elvis_Christ]

Joe Spinell in Maniac
Bill Mosely in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2
Judd Nelson in The Breakfast Club
Michael Beck in The Warriors
Emilo Estevez in Repo Man

[Doc Faustus]

Jimmy Stewart-It's a Wonderful Life
Peter Lorre-Mad Love
Boris Karloff-The Bride of Frankenstein
Vincent Price-the Abominable Dr. Phibes
Isabella Rossellini-Blue Velvet
Ben Kingsley-Gandhi
Robert Mitchum-Night of the Hunter
Charlie Chaplin-the Kid

[Festered]

Peter O'Toole - Lawrence of Arabia
William Holden - The Wild Bunch
John Wayne - The Cowboys
Stephen Rea - The Crying Game
Joseph Cotten - Shadow of a Doubt

[Nella]

Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects
Jeremy Sisto in Requiem For A Dream
Ellen Burstyn in Requiem For A Dream
Kevin Spacey in The Life of David Gale
Guy Pearce in Memento
Jack Nicholson in The Shining
Pierce Brosnon in Shattered
Maria Bello in Shattered

I have so many more...

[fortunato]

Robert Mitchum-Night of the Hunter

Heck yes.
One of the great, generally overlooked performances of all time.

[Bub the Zombie]

01. Catherine Denevue in Repulsion
02. Max Von Sydow in The Virgin Spring
03. Anthony Perkins in Psycho
04. Toshiro Mifune in Rashomon
05. Al Pacino in Scarface

[ferretchucker]

Dick Warlock in Halloween 2 as Michael Myers
Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs as Hannibal Lecter
Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park as Dr. Ian Malcolm
Tom Hanks in Philadelphia as Andrew Beckett
Robert Englund in A Nightmare on Elm Street as Freddy Krueger

[fortunato]

01. Catherine Denevue in Repulsion
02. Max Von Sydow in The Virgin Spring
03. Anthony Perkins in Psycho
04. Toshiro Mifune in Rashomon
05. Al Pacino in Scarface

Excellent list, Bub.

[Papillon Noir]

Henry Fonda - Once Upon A Time in the West
Anne Baxter - All About Eve
Vivian Leigh - Gone With the Wind
Martin Sheen - Apocalypse Now
Malcolm McDowell - A Clockwork Orange
Ben Kingsley - Sexy Beast
Humphrey Bogart - Maltese Falcon
Maria Falconetti - The Passion of Joan of Arc


Oops! I forgot about Orson Welles in Touch of Evil (though I'm not sure who I would delete)

[Bub the Zombie]

Excellent list, Bub.

Thank you, fortunato.

A very close sixth to that list would be Al Pacino again, for Scent Of A Woman, but overall those 5 performances are arguably the best on contemporary celluloid today, IMO.

[fortunato]

Henry Fonda - Once Upon A Time in the West
Anne Baxter - All About Eve
Vivian Leigh - Gone With the Wind
Martin Sheen - Apocalypse Now
Malcolm McDowell - A Clockwork Orange
Ben Kingsley - Sexy Beast
Humphrey Bogart - Maltese Falcon
Maria Falconetti - The Passion of Joan of Arc


Oops! I forgot about Orson Welles in Touch of Evil (though I'm not sure who I would delete)

Another excellent list.
Kingsley in Sexy Beast is crazy!

[Papillon Noir]

Another excellent list.
Kingsley in Sexy Beast is crazy!

Seriously! Kingsley makes that movie.


oh, and thanks :)

[fortunato]

Thank you, fortunato.

A very close sixth to that list would be Al Pacino again, for Scent Of A Woman, but overall those 5 performances are arguably the best on contemporary celluloid today, IMO.

Agreed.
Especially Max von Sydow in The Virgin Spring. It's unbelievable how he just exudes this horrifying mix of sadness, hatred, grief, and sorrow. The scene in which he's cutting down the tree gives me chills every time I see it.

Seriously! Kingsley makes that movie.

He really does. I actually want to go watch that now.

[newb]

Anthony Hopkins--MAGIC

Martin Landau--ED WOOD

Faye Dunaway--Bonnie & Clyde

Robert Mitchum--Cape Fear

Johnny Depp--SWEENY TODD

[Bub the Zombie]

Anthony Hopkins--MAGIC

Martin Landau--ED WOOD

Quite possibly two of the most underrated performances of all time.

Another one which people don't give much credit for is Klaus Kinski in Werner Herzog's Nosferatu The Vampyre. Subtle, melancholic, yet absolutely brilliant.

[neverending]

I can't pick out performances I think stand above all others- there's just too much amazing work on film. I can. however, pick out some moments I remember just impressing the hell out of me when I saw them. Each time the performers bowled me over with tiny moments in which I thought with just a slight gesture or series of looks on their face clearly showed me an entire range of emotions and thoughts.

There was a moment in Forest Gump where Gump is trying to figure out what Jenny means about who the father of her child is. You can clearly read Gump's thought process even though he never says a word.

Same thing in A Few Good Men when Nicholson breaks down on the stand.

For Bogart I'm always bowled over by the "play it Sam" scene. Also there's a scene in the terribly underappreciated "Dead End" where Bogart, as a hoodlum of minor reknown goes to visit his mother (played witrh heart wrenching pathos by Ma Kettle herself, Marjorie Main). You ain't no son of mine, she tells him, and the pain of abandonment on Bogart's face is more powerful than anything else he ever did.

And believe it or not, Woody Allen even impressed me with his acting once. I attended a double feature of Casablanca, followed by Allen's Play It Again Sam. As I sat there in the darkness, awash wih the mixture of awe and astonishment at just how GOOD that film is, as happens every time I see that film, and Play it Again Sam starts. In the film Woody is watching the end of Casablanca in a movie theatre, and a shot lingers on his face as HE is amazed at the film he just saw- it was the SAME look I still had on my face. Great job.

A final moment I'll mention is in Happy Birthday, Wanda June. Bill Hickey has the key soliliquey of describing the moment he dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. It's as if he was born to give that speech.

Like some others in this forum, I've spent my time on the stage. While acting is never easy if done well, the fire & brimstone roles are perhaps EASIER. It's the quiet moments that are truly impressive when done well.

[Bub the Zombie]

I can't pick out performances I think stand above all others- there's just too much amazing work on film. I can. however, pick out some moments I remember just impressing the hell out of me when I saw them. Each time the performers bowled me over with tiny moments in which I thought with just a slight gesture or series of looks on their face clearly showed me an entire range of emotions and thoughts.

There was a moment in Forest Gump where Gump is trying to figure out what Jenny means about who the father of her child is. You can clearly read Gump's thought process even though he never says a word.

Same thing in A Few Good Men when Nicholson breaks down on the stand.

For Bogart I'm always bowled over by the "play it Sam" scene. Also there's a scene in the terribly underappreciated "Dead End" where Bogart, as a hoodlum of minor reknown goes to visit his mother (played witrh heart wrenching pathos by Ma Kettle herself, Marjorie Main). You ain't no son of mine, she tells him, and the pain of abandonment on Bogart's face is more powerful than anything else he ever did.

And believe it or not, Woody Allen even impressed me with his acting once. I attended a double feature of Casablanca, followed by Allen's Play It Again Sam. As I sat there in the darkness, awash wih the mixture of awe and astonishment at just how GOOD that film is, as happens every time I see that film, and Play it Again Sam starts. In the film Woody is watching the end of Casablanca in a movie theatre, and a shot lingers on his face as HE is amazed at the film he just saw- it was the SAME look I still had on my face. Great job.

Nicholson was really awesome in those final moments of A Few Good Men. Very memorable, and quite excellent.

And I have to agree about Woody Allen. He has done some really good work in his early movies. I don't like his later works though - most of his 90s and post-2000 stuff is borrowed heavily from his 70s flicks.

[neverending]

And of course I meant Hiroshima, not Pearl Harbor. Original post edited for accuracy.

[fortunato]

It's the quiet moments that are truly impressive when done well.

Well-said, NE. I agree whole-heartedly.

[Lord Voldemort]

James Dean-Rebel Without A Cause
Johnny Depp-Black Mass
Michael Fasbender-First Class and Shame
Dustin Hoffman-Straw Dogs
Bill Murray-Lost In Translation
Heath Ledger-Dark Knight
AL Pacino-Scarface
Any role Daniel Day -Lewis has ever done.

[Lord Voldemort]

My top favorite actresses prformance:
Jennifer Lawrence-Hunger Games
Sigourney Weaver-Aliens
Uma Thurman-Kill Bill
Susan George-Straw Dogs
Angelina Jolie-Gia
Jessica Lange-AHS:Coven
Daisey Ridley- The Force Awakens
Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra-Bend It Like Beckham

[Morningriser]

5. Malcolm MacDowell - A Clockwork Orange
4. Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
3. Jack Nicholson - The Shining
2. Johnny Depp - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
1. Daniel Day Lewis - There Will Be Blood