Who is the greatest male MOVIE STAR of 1980 to the present?

[MusterX]

Drexl was an unbelievable role. You feel like if anyone but Oldman did that it would've been a disaster, but as it is it's one of the most memorable villain performances of the 90's. From like 5 minutes of screentime

LOL, Oldman is a bad ass. Check this out for laughs.

 

[Guestx]

Surprised Daniel Day Lewis isn't more popular.

I think everyone recognizes his talent as an actor but his STAR power isn't quite on the same level as some of the other guys.

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Bear in mind, I'm not saying greatest actor. I'm saying greatest movie star.

You can interpret that how you want, but I'd recommend considering a combination of many factors, including acting talent, box office impact, cultural relevance and overall quantity of great films they've appeared in.

By restricting this to 1980 to the present, I'm only including actors who did the vast majority of their best work in that time period. So that means no guys like De Niro or Pacino who did several of their best films in the 70s.

So let's do it: The movie star showdown!

Hmm, I think I would have to go with Tom Cruise. Consistently churns out quality entertaining films for the past 4 decades.

There are other actors that were great in one or two decades but Tom has been consistent for four. That's very impressive.

 

[Guestx]

Its all about making that money man, box office is king for most of those guys. People would still be talking mad shit about Keanu if he didn't become Neo and then John Wick. Making Constantine, Speed, and Point Break helped his cause as well. I also liked The Devil's Advocate.

I would say box office is definitely a factor, but you also need to a) appear in movies that are beloved by audiences, and b) deliver a good performance in those films.

For instance, you bring up The Matrix. Yes, The Matrix made a ton of money, but it also was a movie that people just thought was FUCKING COOL and Keanu did well as Neo.

To give a counter-example, the early Transformers film made a shitload of money but they didn't really make Shia a star.

 

[Guestx]

Saving Private Ryan is the only Hanks movie in my top 50. For some reason I just don't get him or his films. They're okay to me.

Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13 and Catch Me If You Can are his best films, in my opinion.

I also enjoyed A League of Their Own, The Green Mile, Road to Perdition, The Polar Express, Cloud Atlas and Sully.

 

[HARRISON_3]

Lots of great ones, but for my money, it's Tom Cruise.

The Color of Money is one of my favorite performances of his.

 

[Guestx]

For longevity, quality, and general star power, it's a close race between Pitt and Cruise.

Pitt seems to be on kind of shaky ground right now. I feel like his star has been waning over the past decade.

 

[splendica]

Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13 and Catch Me If You Can are his best films, in my opinion.

I also enjoyed A League of Their Own, The Green Mile, Road to Perdition, The Polar Express, Cloud Atlas and Sully.

I forgot about Road to Perdition. That one and Saving Private Ryan are in my top 50.

 

[Guestx]

Tom Cruise. The whole scientology thing turned some people off but the guy is ridiculous after having done this for 30 years.

Tom Hanks just cranks good movies. He probably get good scripts thrown at him so he can be picky but his body of work is beyond anyone else. He does good work with what he does.

Leonardo has an incredible body of work considering he started just as a pretty boy.


Best actors on that list I think are Daniel Day Lewis, Gary Oldman, and Christian Bale. All just breath in any role that they play. By their roles, I have no idea what they are like in person. Gary Oldman's bit role in True Romance was like what the fuck. A fucking brit can play lowlife american scum better than an american.




I would pick Tom Cruise. Harrison Ford has been the biggest money maker having been in two iconic roles. Samuel L. Jackson at number 2 suprises me for total box office draw.



1.
Harrison Ford
Actor, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
Harrison Ford was born on July 13, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, to Dorothy (Nidelman), a radio actress, and Christopher Ford (born John William Ford), an actor turned advertising executive. His father was of Irish and German ancestry, while his maternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Minsk, Belarus...
“ Total Gross (in millions): $4,871.7 ” - Dibyayan_Chakravorty



2.
Samuel L. Jackson
Actor, Pulp Fiction
Samuel L. Jackson is an American producer and highly prolific actor, having appeared in over 100 films, including Die Hard with a Vengeance, Unbreakable, Shaft, Formula 51, Black Snake Moan, Snakes on a Plane, and the Star Wars prequel trilogy (1999-2005), as well as the Marvel Cinematic Universe...
“ Total Gross (in millions): $4,646.8 ” - Dibyayan_Chakravorty



3.
Morgan Freeman
Actor, The Shawshank Redemption
With an authoritative voice and calm demeanor, this ever popular American actor has grown into one of the most respected figures in modern US cinema. Morgan was born on June 1, 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee, to Mayme Edna (Revere), a teacher, and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, a barber. The young Freeman...
“ Total Gross (in millions): $4,433.0 ” - Dibyayan_Chakravorty



4.
Tom Hanks
Actor, The Da Vinci Code
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks was born in Concord, California, to Janet Marylyn (Frager), a hospital worker, and Amos Mefford Hanks, an itinerant cook. His mother's family, originally surnamed "Fraga", was entirely Portuguese, while his father was of mostly English ancestry. Tom grew up in what he has called a "fractured" family...
“ Total Gross (in millions): $4,340.7 ” - Dibyayan_Chakravorty



5.
Robert Downey Jr.
Actor, The Avengers
Robert Downey Jr. has evolved into one of the most respected actors in Hollywood. With an amazing list of credits to his name, he has managed to stay new and fresh even after over four decades in the business. Downey was born April 4, 1965 in Manhattan, New York, the son of writer, director and filmographer Robert Downey Sr. and actress Elsie Downey (née Elsie Ann Ford)...
“ Total Gross (in millions): $3,943.6 ” - Dibyayan_Chakravorty



6.
Eddie Murphy
Actor, Beverly Hills Cop
Edward Regan Murphy was born April 3, 1961 in Brooklyn, New York, to Lillian (Laney), a telephone operator, and Charles Edward Murphy, a transit police officer who was also an amateur comedian and actor. After his father died, his mother married Vernon Lynch, a foreman at a Breyer's Ice Cream plant...
“ Total Gross (in millions): $3,810.4 ” - Dibyayan_Chakravorty



7.
Tom Cruise
Actor, Top Gun
In 1976, if you had told fourteen year-old Franciscan seminary student Thomas Cruise Mapother IV that one day in the not too distant future he would be Tom Cruise, one of the top 100 movie stars of all time, he would have probably grinned and told you that his ambition was to join the priesthood. Nonetheless...
“ Total Gross (in millions): $3,587.2 ” - Dibyayan_Chakravorty



8.
Johnny Depp
Actor, Edward Scissorhands
Johnny Depp is perhaps one of the most versatile actors of his day and age in Hollywood. He was born John Christopher Depp II in Owensboro, Kentucky, on June 9, 1963, to Betty Sue (Wells), who worked as a waitress, and John Christopher Depp, a civil engineer. Depp was raised in Florida. He dropped out of school when he was 15...
“ Total Gross (in millions): $3,366.3 ” - Dibyayan_Chakravorty



9.
Michael Caine
Actor, The Dark Knight
Michael Caine was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite in London, to Ellen Frances Marie (Burchell), a charlady, and Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, a fish-market porter. He left school at age 15 and took a series of working-class jobs before joining the British army and serving in Korea during the Korean War...
“ Total Gross (in millions): $3,340.5 ” - Dibyayan_Chakravorty



10.
Scarlett Johansson
Actress, Lost in Translation
Scarlett Johansson was born in New York City. Her mother, Melanie Sloan, is from a Jewish family from the Bronx, and her father, Karsten Johansson, is a Danish-born architect, from Copenhagen. She has a sister, Vanessa Johansson, who is also an actress, a brother, Adrian, a twin brother, Hunter Johansson...
“ Total Gross (in millions): $3,332.1 ” - Dibyayan_Chakravorty

Wow, that list is crazy. I would never have thought Sam Jackson would be at number 2 and I wouldn't expect Eddie Murphy to be on there at all.

Yes, Eddie was a mega-star at one point but hasn't had a hit in like 15 years.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13 and Catch Me If You Can are his best films, in my opinion.

I also enjoyed A League of Their Own, The Green Mile, Road to Perdition, The Polar Express, Cloud Atlas and Sully.

All good movies (well, haven't actually seen Cloud Atlas and Sully) but I would personally add Cast Away to that list. It takes a lot of talent to carry a movie where you're the only actor on screen for 95% of the film. Also, his body transformation, while not quite to the level of say Bale in the Machinist or the Fighter, was still pretty impressive, especially when you consider it was two looks for one movie.

 

[Guestx]

In fairness to them the Dark Knight is a well loved movie all around, even outside of Sherdog.

Yes, it's a good movie, but should it have EVER been in the finals if we're talking about THE fucking best movie of the last 37 years?

I certainly don't think so.

 

[Guestx]

All good movies (well, haven't actually seen Cloud Atlas and Sully) but I would personally add Cast Away to that list. It takes a lot of talent to carry a movie where you're the only actor on screen for 95% of the film. Also, his body transformation, while not quite to the level of say Bale in the Machinist or the Fighter, was still pretty impressive, especially when you consider it was two looks for one movie.

Hanks's performance in Cast Away was great no doubt. I haven't seen the movie since I caught it in the theater though, but I do remember being kind of disappointed by it as a whole.

Maybe I should revisit it soon.

 

[JBSchroeds]

I went with Hanks. He's a well liked guy who rarely puts out a crappy movie, interacts well with the public, never had a big blow-up or falling out, and has put out some genuinely excellent performances. Might have gone with Cruise but he's got too much Scientology baggage that drags him down.

 

[Guestx]

Arnold coming in third, I see.

The problem with Arnold in this discussion is that he hasn't had a real, bonafide hit (made a lot of money and also was well-received by fans and critics) since the 90s. I'd say that True Lies was that film.

 

[MusterX]

Arnold coming in third, I see.

The problem with Arnold in this discussion is that he hasn't had a real, bonafide hit (made a lot of money and also was well-received by fans and critics) since the 90s. I'd say that True Lies was that film.

Arnold was mainly a great action star but his acting is not all that great. I'll tell you a guy that has been great in his twilight years, I've always liked him.

Spoiler

[/SPOLER]

 

[Guestx]

Arnold was mainly a great action star but his acting is not all that great. I'll tell you a guy that has been great in his twilight years, I've always liked him.

Spoiler

[/SPOLER]

Yeah, Tommy Lee Jones is great.

He was in a pretty good Western recently called The Homesman.

 

[sickc0d3r]

I'm taking my main man DDL. Also, Kurt Russel, and Micheal Douglas deserve to be on the list.

 

[MusterX]

Yeah, Tommy Lee Jones is great.

He was in a pretty good Western recently called The Homesman.

Plus we lose some of the great ones early and don't get to see their full body of work. Heath Ledger and Phillip Seymour Hoffman come to mind.

 

[Peteyandjia]

Anyone who voted DDL doesn't really get the question.

 

[Deleted member 245586]

I was deciding between Tom Hanks, Denzel and Tom. I went with Tom Hanks.