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David Bowie Movies

David Bowie in 2006's The Prestige
David Bowie in 2006’s The Prestige

Want to know the best David Bowie movies?  How about the worst David Bowie movies?  Curious about David Bowie’s box office grosses or which David Bowie movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which David Bowie movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

January 11, 2016 6:30 AM. “Why did you not tell me David Bowie died when we were on our walk last night and you were talking about him?”  Those were the first words I heard from my wife as I woke up this morning.  “He died?” I asked.  “It is the top story right now on the internet” she said.  Sadly David Bowie (1947-2016) died yesterday.  Just last night I was telling my wife that I found it hard to believe that Elvis would have been 81 and that Bowie was 69 on January 8th (they shared birthdays).   Only 12 years apart?….seems there should be about a 25-to-30-year difference in their ages….. not 12. 
 
Anyway as the sun has come up and I have digested this bad news, I figured I would take a look at his movie career as a tribute to one of my favorite singers.  Rest in peace….Mr. Bowie….you will be missed! David Bowie’s IMDb page shows 38 acting credits and 452 soundtrack credits from 1967-2016. This page ranks David Bowie movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, cameos, shorts, video games and movies not released in North America and many of his movies that barely made a dent at the box office were not included in the rankings.
David Bowie in 1986's Labyrinth
David Bowie in 1986’s Labyrinth

David Bowie Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

Year Movie (Year) Rating S
Year Movie (Year) Rating S
2006 The Prestige (2006)
2001 Zoolander (2001)
1976 The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976)
1988 The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
2022 Moonage Daydream (2022)
1986 Labyrinth (1986)
1983 Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
2009 Bandslam (2009)
1996 Basquiat (1996)
2014 Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces (2014)
1992 The Linguini Incident (1992)
1985 Into the Night (1985)
1986 Absolute Beginners (1986)
1983 The Hunger (1983)
1992 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)
2006 Arthur and the Invisibles (2006)
2008 August (2008)
1978 Just a Gigolo (1978)

David Bowie 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 David Bowie movies by co-stars of his movies.
  • Sort David Bowie movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort David Bowie movies by domestic box office rank
  • Sort David Bowie movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each David Bowie movie received and how many Oscar® wins each David Bowie movie won.
  • Sort David Bowie 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.
R Movie (Year) UMR Co-Star Links Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) Review Oscar Nom / Win UMR Score
R Movie (Year) UMR Co-Star Links Actual B.O. Domestic (mil) Adj. B.O. Domestic (mil) Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) B.O. Rank by Year Review Oscar Nom / Win UMR Score S
1 The Prestige (2006) Christian Bale &
Michael Caine
53.10 100.9 208.40 61 81 02 / 00 88.3
4 Zoolander (2001) Ben Stiller &
Luke Wilson
45.20 99.9 134.50 55 65 00 / 00 80.3
2 The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976) Rip Torn 7.80 45.7 45.70 67 81 00 / 00 79.9
3 The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) Willem Dafoe &
Directed by Martin Scorsese
8.40 25.5 27.00 100 83 01 / 00 77.1
5 Moonage Daydream (2022) Documentary 2.60 2.9 9.50 101 83 00 / 00 71.1
5 Labyrinth (1986) Jennifer Connelly 12.70 42.9 42.90 62 67 00 / 00 66.1
6 Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983) Tom Conti 2.30 9.2 9.20 111 74 00 / 00 62.1
7 Bandslam (2009) Vanessa Hudgens 5.20 8.7 21.60 160 73 00 / 00 60.1
8 Basquiat (1996) Dennis Hopper 3.00 8.5 8.50 169 71 00 / 00 56.4
9 Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces (2014) David Lynch 0.10 0.1 0.10 299 73 00 / 00 56.1
11 The Linguini Incident (1992) Rosanna Arquette 0.00 0.1 0.10 258 69 00 / 00 47.8
11 Into the Night (1985) Jeff Goldblum &
Michelle Pfeiffer
7.60 26.6 26.60 101 58 00 / 00 43.8
11 Absolute Beginners (1986) Patsy Kensit 0.90 3.1 3.10 172 60 00 / 00 31.5
13 The Hunger (1983) Susan Sarandon 6.00 23.7 23.70 82 53 00 / 00 30.1
13 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) Sheryl Lee 4.20 12.5 12.50 128 51 00 / 00 20.3
17 Arthur and the Invisibles (2006) Robert DeNiro 15.10 28.7 205.10 133 41 00 / 00 13.2
17 August (2008) Rip Torn 0.00 0.1 0.10 408 49 00 / 00 11.7
17 Just a Gigolo (1978) Marlene Dietrich 1.10 5.9 5.90 127 46 00 / 00 10.3

David Bowie Adjusted World Wide Box Office Grosses
Movie (Year) UMR Co-Star Links World-Wide Box Office Adjusted (mil) S
Movie (Year) UMR Co-Star Links World-Wide Box Office Adjusted (mil) S
The Prestige (2006) Christian Bale &
Michael Caine
208.40
Arthur and the Invisibles (2006) Robert DeNiro 205.10
Zoolander (2001) Ben Stiller &
Luke Wilson
134.50
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) Willem Dafoe &
Directed by Martin Scorsese
27.00
Bandslam (2009) Vanessa Hudgens 21.60
Moonage Daydream (2022) Documentary 9.50

 
David Bowie in 1976's The Man Who Fell To Earth
David Bowie in 1976’s The Man Who Fell To Earth

My Mini-Reviews of my favorite David Bowie Movies

The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976) ….this has become a cult classic movie.  Movie is pretty strange, a little slow and confusing….but Bowie creates a very memorable character as Thomas Jerome Newton.
The Hunger (1983)….as a teenager I loved this movie…..Bowie plays third fiddle to Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve….got horrible reviews…but it is a guilty pleasure of mine. Into The Night (1985)….Bowie pops up every so often as a hit man in this movie….this might be my favorite Bowie movie character….I always thought his character would make a great lead character in a movie. Absolute Beginners (1986)….this movie which is about life in London in the late 1950s…. offers great music and a wonderful performance by Bowie. Labyrinth (1986)….Bowie was perfectly cast as Jareth the Goblin King….how this movie did not do better at the box office has always confused me…but it has gained a nice following over the last 30 years.  His Goblin King used to really scare my 2nd oldest child. The Linguini Incident (1992)…this might be the best Bowie performance….I find the movie very funny and memorable….sadly people have not only not seen the movie….heck they have never even heard of the movie. Zoolander (2001)…..my kids love this movie…..Bowie plays Bowie….sadly it does not appear that he will be playing David Bowie in Zoolander 2. The Prestige (2006)….Bowie plays Nikola Tesla who helps Hugh Jackman try and top Christian Bale in one of my favorite Christopher Nolan movies.  Easily the best dueling magicians movie ever made!
 
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.

 

For comments….all you need is a name and a comment….please ignore the rest.
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27 thoughts on “David Bowie Movies”

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Older comments
  1. Dan says:
    October 9, 2021 at 10:25 am

    David Bowie was the # 56 most connected actor of the 1980’s.

    Reply
  2. Ronnie says:
    January 12, 2016 at 1:31 pm

    Still dealing with yesterday’s bad news. Rest in peace David Bowie.

    Reply
    1. Cogerson says:
      January 12, 2016 at 6:54 pm

      Yep it still seems unreal. I saw a photo of him…which was taken last Friday…and he looked good. And even better he looked very happy. Thanks for stopping by.

      Reply
  3. Glenn Fan says:
    January 11, 2016 at 4:17 pm

    Love David. Favourite Bowie movie is The Man Who Fell To Earth and my favourite Bowie song is Loving The Alien. I miss him already.

    Reply
    1. Cogerson says:
      January 11, 2016 at 6:44 pm

      Hey David Fan…..The Man Who Fell To Earth is a cult classic. I have to admit that I do not think I am aware of the Bowie song…Loving The Alien….but the title sure looks like a Bowie title. I will fix your name issue….thanks for stopping by.

      Reply

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