January 27th, 2017. So about 30 minutes ago, Cogerson Son #2 called the house and said…”You need to write a new UMR page.” I responded….”Uh-oh…who passed away?” When he said “John Hurt” ….many of his movies flashed through my head. So as a tribute to his movie career…I decided to list the movies that popped into my head when I heard this sad news.
John Hurt (1940-2017) was an Oscar® nominated actor whose career lasted for over 55 years. His IMDb page shows over 200 acting credits from 1962-2017. This page will ranks our personal favorite Top 15 John Hurt movies. Rest in Peace Mr. John Hurt
John Hurt Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort John Hurt movies by his co-stars
- Sort John Hurt movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort John Hurt movies by domestic yearly box office rank
- Sort John Hurt movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each John Hurt movie received.
- Sort John Hurt movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
My Top 15 John Hurt Movies
- Alien (1979) …one of the greatest science fiction movies of all-time….plus he is the focus of the most famous scene in the movie
- The Elephant Man (1980)….his performance as John Merrick…better known as the Elephant Man…is sensational….and well deserving of his Oscar® nomination that he received for the role
- Snowpiercer (2014)….yet another great science fiction role…one of my favorite movies of 2014
- Midnight Express (1979)….this is a brutal film to watch….it is after all about a Turkish prison….but Hurt received this first Oscar® nomination for this movie
- V for Vendetta (2006)….here is a common theme…John Hurt in another great movie that takes place in the future
- Owning Mahowny (2003)….Roger Ebert raved about John Hurt’s performance in this movie….and that got me to really appreciate the subtle great performance of Hurt in this one
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)….his role as Mr. Ollivander (played him 3 times) is pretty small…but his role as the wand seller introduced him to a brand new generation of movie fans
- Hellboy (2004) …..love this movie….and Hurt is a blast to watch….wish he had come back for a bigger role in the sequel
- 1984 (1984)….the George Orwell classic novel came to the big screen the same exact year the novel takes place…Hurt is stellar as the main character
- Contact (1997)…..this is actually one of my wife’s favorite movies….but I really like his performance as the crazed billionaire pulling all the strings
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)….ok….I strongly dislike this movie….but having a major role in a major franchise like this ….gets it listed here
- From the Hip (1987)….always thought his performance in this one was Oscar worthy….saw this in a packed theater that has highly entertained by this movie…added bonus…..my first date with my now wife ended with us watching this movie on DVD
- Heaven’s Gate (1980)….yes this is considered one of the biggest Hollywood bombs of all-time…but if you ever get a chance to see the director’s cut….you will find a great John Hurt performance
- Jake Speed (1986)….granted this has a horrible critic/audience rating…but I had fun watching it back on HBO in the 1980s…where it seemed to play all the time
- The Osterman Weekend (1983)…directed by Sam Peckinpah….co-starring the legend Burt Lancaster…John Hurt seems to be having fun playing the role
Hmmm I didn’t do a proper tally on John Hurts films when this page first appeared after his death last year. Time to fix that.
I’ve seen 23 of the 41 films on the chart, I’ve seen more from my top 40 video, 26, if that makes any sense. Did we list the same films or did I lose count? 😉
Alien is my favorite film on here and I’m happy to see it topping the charts. Other favorites include – The Elephant Man, Harry Potter, V for Vendetta, Contact, Snowpiercer, Lord of the Rings and Hellboy 1-2.
A nice tribute page Bruce. Vote Up!
HI STEVE
Thanks for the detailed feedback complete with the usual explanations and quotes. I might have known that there was a good chance that you would have seen any zombie film that was flagged up on TV.
You and my granddaughter seem to be of the same mind set. Last Halloween, then aged 9, she dressed up as a zombie schoolgirl and I had to pretend to be frightened to go near her school as I “had heard that it had been taken over by zombies!”
Usually though whilst I can enjoy good sci-fi plots like Invasion of the Body Snatchers or the Cthulhu yarns, to affect me horror has to have some basis in potential reality. Split personalities like the Bates mother and son DO exist. For example I have often thought that maybe his failure as a rock singer and night club entertainer was such a trauma for The Master that a bogus film critic was able to take over his personality and give him a warped perspective of true Greatness. “Those whom the Gods intend to destroy, first they drive mad!”
Last Night I watched a 1973 Columbo episode called Lovely but Lethal and starring as the guest murderess was Hitch’s lead Psycho girl Vera Miles. In almost the first reel the audience sees her murder a young largely unknown Marty Sheen and then get caught up in the usual cat and mouse game that leads to her exposure and arrest by The Great Detective. Hitch’s Psycho shower girl Janet Leigh was in a 1975 Columbo episode called Forgotten Lady. It is likely that Columbo would have worked out from almost the start who Mother Bates really was!
Anyway take care.
Hey Bob….good stuff. Interesting theory on the Great Joel, zombies, Columbo and the Bates family.
Hi Bob, zombies were originally part of voodoo lore and didn’t eat people. They were raised from the dead by a Haitian witch doctor and would follow the bidding of a master, usually a rich plantation owner. The undead would work in the fields as very cheap labour [wink] but occasionally the master would send a zombie out to kill, usually by strangulation.
The whole zombie cannibal thing was invented by the late George Romero for Night of the Living Dead (1968) and filmmakers have been using that as the template for zombie horror ever since. Even the concept that they could only be killed by striking the head with deadly force or a bullet to the brain was started by Romero.
HI STEVE
Thanks for the historical explanation.
Back in the early 50s one of the Batman serials had two artificially created zombies called Pat and Robert. The Master Criminal “zombatized” them by keeping electrified plates on their heads so that they couldn’t speak or think for themselves and lived just to do his bidding.
When the Master Criminal sent them out to kill someone they would do so and then report back to him to receive from him the command “Pat and Robert return to your stations!”
Pat and Robert fascinated 10 year old me and I have always remembered them even though I have forgotten everything else about that serial.
Added Steve’s John Hurt You Tube Video To This Page….plus our thoughts on that video and Hurt’s career.
“I wrote a tribute page on him when he passed away. Voted up and shared on our Hurt page. #38 Captain C.’s M….ok drama. #35 Osterman Weekend…he is good as the villain #34 Hercules…not good. #33 The Immortals…should have been better #32 Outlander..enjoyed this one #31 Night Crossing…pretty sure I saw in theaters. #26 Scandal…good role for Hurt #24 History of World…good cameo #23 Heaven’s Gate….long long movie. #22 Melaconia….boring #21 Indy 4…brutal…so that is 11 of first 20.
Seen 17 of the Top 20. Favorites would include Alien (of course), V For Vendetta, Snowpiercer and Elephant Man. Elephant Man is his best performance…even under all that makeup. Midnight Express is a good movie but depressing as hell. So that is a total of 28 movies seen…..that does not count one of his more underrated movies…From The Hip…..saw that in a packed theater…..the comedy was fun…but Hurt was solid in a supporting role. Good stuff.”
Domo arigato!
Rest In Peace.
Yes indeed…Rest in Peace…Mr. Hurt. Thanks for checking out our Hurt tribute page.
BRUCE:
1 A very nice tribute to the late brilliant John Hurt. My favourites among John’s cinematic films were Alien, The Elephant Man and A Man for all Seasons.
2 However the work that John did that I most admired was in the 1975 British TV movie The Naked Civil Servant in which he gave a wonderful performance as the flamboyant and witty Quentin Crisp, writer and storyteller.
3 You may recall the previous posts about the aborted Brando movie set in Ireland Divine Rapture. I can’t remember if I mentioned that John Hurt had a key supporting role in the film and that he and Mr Mumbles completed a few scenes together before the project was abandoned and that they apparently got on very well with each other.
4 Anyway my congratulations on the priority that you give to posting speedy appreciations that pay this site’s respects to deserving actors like John when have sadly passed on.
Hey Bob. Thanks for checking out my John Hurt tribute page. I have seen A Man For All Seasons….but it has been years….and do not even remember Hurt’s role in the movie. I guess I need to re-watch that one.
Good to know Hurt and Brando got along….too bad that project fell apart. I have never even heard of the Naked Civil Servant…but if I ever get a chance I will watch it.
Son #2 wants to know if I will ever finish the page….not sure…but the fact he has so many good movies…maybe he should get the Full Monty too.
Thanks for the visit and the comment.