If Christopher Walken (1943-) is not the best character actor performing right now , then he is close to the top of that list. When I think of Mr. Walken, the following movies scenes pop into my head. His Colonel Koons telling young Butch Coolidge about the history of Butch’s watch in the classic Pulp Fiction (1994). His interrogation of Dennis Hooper in True Romance (1993). And of course playing Russian roulette with Robert DeNiro in The Deer Hunter (1978).
Christopher Walken has been appearing in movies since 1969. He became an overnight sensation 8 years later with his Oscar® winning performance in The Deer Hunter (1969). After a few lead roles, he pretty much slipped into supporting roles. It is a role that suites him pretty well.
His IMDb page shows 133 acting credits since 1969. This page will rank 73 Christopher Walken movies from Best to Worst in five different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies that were not released in theaters were not included in the rankings.
Christopher Walken Movies Ranked By Combination of Box Office, Reviews and Awards (UMR Score) *Classic UMR Table (the one with all the stats is the second table)
Christopher Walken Movies Can Be Ranked 5 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort by Christopher Walken movies by his co-stars
- Sort Christopher Walken movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Christopher Walken movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Christopher Walken 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 Christopher Walken movie received.
- Sort Christopher Walken 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.
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Christopher Walken Table
- Fifteen Christopher Walken movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 48.38% of his movies listed. 1992’s Batman Returns is his biggest box office hit.
- An average Christopher Walken movie grosses $58.20 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 30 Christopher Walken movies are rated as good movies…or 46.15% of his movies. Pulp Fiction (1994) is his highest rated movie while Gigli (2003) is his lowest rated movie.
- Ten Christopher Walken movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 15.38% of his movies.
- Five Christopher Walken movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 7.69% of his movies.
- A “good movie” Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 60.00. 26 Christopher Walken movies scored higher that average….or 33.84% of his movies. The Deer Hunter (1978) got the the highest UMR Score while Gigli (2003) got the lowest UMR Score.
Check out Steve Lensman’s Christopher Walken You Tube Video
If you do a comment….please ignore the email address and website section.
Does anyone know the name of a movie with Christopher Walken in it, where he’s a crazy detective that bullies a kid who works at a morgue because he discovers that this guy (christopher walken) turns out to be a spychopath rapist who drugs his victims before he kills them. I’d appreciate if anyone can tell me the name of this film. I want to show it to my friends
Hey Phill….I just went through his entire IMDB career and the only two possible answers that I can see are 1991’s An All-American Murder or 2002’s Undertaking Betty…but I will keep looking. This page is not one of my more popular ones but I will ask some of the movie experts for help to…thanks for stopping by.
I just love Christopher Walken. When I saw the first photo, I started cracking up. I love that story about the watch in Pulp Fiction. If I hear a movie has Christopher Walken in it, I am there!
Hey Jeannieinabottle…thanks for checking out my Chris Walken hub..I agree with you…he usually has a small but great role in most of his movies..and he always makes them better. I think his 5 minute scene in Pulp Fiction is a classic and a scene that people never forget.
Christopher was a hoot in Hairspray!!! Who would have thought he could pull off playing John Travolta’s WIFE!?!? What an adorable couple they made :)) I enjoy Christopher in every movie I’ve seen him in! Excellent movie page cogerson!!
Hey Sunshine625….I think Walken has reached a point in his career is all he has to do is show up and people will enjoy the performance. I have to admit I have not seen Hairspray…but I thought Travolta was the one in drag….thanks as always for your great comments.
Kill the Irishman? There is such a film? I thought you were making it up.
Nope not making it up….it was actually his first movie to get released to theaters in over 4 years….pretty sure it was based on a true story…..it barely crossed one million at the box office….it co-stars Val Kilmer…I would do a hub on Val…but it might be too depressing especially with his last 5 years of direct to DVD movies.
Wait didn’t Walken play a bad guy in one of the Bond films? I’m almost sure he did… it’s not on your list Cogerson… no wait there it is… At Close Range… I think Dalton was the… no no A View to a Kill there at no.15, I remember now, Moore, Roger Moore. What a flick, I think Moore was nominated…
Walken was great in True Romance, hilarious as an Italian Gangster insulted by Dennis Hopper, classic scene.
And check out Walken in the music video for Fatboy Slim’s Weapon of Choice, simply unforgettable!
Hey Steve….wow checking out this hub…I feel my hubs are much more reader friendly now…..this one needs facelift and some new movies….as I know he was in Kill the Irishman….
I think you are correct about A View To A Kill…I think Roger Moore got nominated for Best Actor….while Walken and Grace Jones picked up much deserved Best Supporting Actor nominations….I still can not believe Grace Jones did not win the Oscar(TM).
The two Walken things you mention…his scene with Hooper, and the video are classic moments. I love how Hopper goes from trying to lie his way out of the trouble…to realizing he is not going to make it out of the trailer alive….so he decides for a last cigarette and to insult the gangster….just writing about it makes me want to see it again