Want to know the best John Travolta movies? How about the worst John Travolta movies? Curious about John Travolta’s box office grosses or which John Travolta movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which John Travolta movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
John Travolta (1954-) is a two-time Academy Award® nominated actor. His career has been one serious roller coaster ride filled some serious peaks and serious lows. A movie career can not start off any better than how Travolta’s did after the mega success of 1977’s Saturday Night Fever and 1978’s Grease. After 1983’s Staying Alive was destroyed by critics, his career took a turn for the worse. From 1983-1993 the only success he had was 1989’s Look Who’s Talking. Then came 1994’s Pulp Fiction….which turned Travolta back into a huge box office draw. From 1994 to 2009 he appeared in many box office successes with Get Shorty, The General’s Daughter, Face-Off, Wild Hogs and Michael being some of the bigger box office hits. Since 2009 things have slowed down for Travolta….can he reach the summit for the third time?….we hope so.
His IMDb page shows over 90 acting credits since 1972. This page will rank John Travolta movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies that were not released in theaters were not included in the rankings.
John Travolta 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
1994
Pulp Fiction (1994)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Actor Nom
1976
Carrie (1976)
2007
Hairspray (2007)
1997
Face/Off (1997)
1977
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
AA Best Actor Nom
1995
Get Shorty (1995)
2008
Bolt (2008)
1978
Grease (1978)
1980
Urban Cowboy (1980)
1996
Broken Arrow (1996)
1998
The Thin Red Line (1998)
AA Best Picture Nom
1989
Look Who's Talking (1989)
1998
A Civil Action (1998)
1996
Phenomenon (1996)
1998
Primary Colors (1998)
1999
The General's Daughter (1999)
1996
Michael (1996)
1981
Blow Out (1981)
2004
Ladder 49 (2004)
2007
Wild Hogs (2007)
2009
The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
2001
Swordfish (2001)
2012
Savages (2012)
1983
Staying Alive (1983)
2005
Be Cool (2005)
1990
Look Who's Talking Too (1990)
2016
In a Valley of Violence (2016)
1997
She's So Lovely (1997)
2004
The Punisher (2004)
2001
Domestic Disturbance (2001)
2015
Criminal Activities (2015)
2010
From Paris with Love (2010)
2006
Lonely Hearts (2006)
1997
Mad City (1997)
2015
Life on the Line (2015)
2003
Basic (2003)
2004
A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004)
1983
Two of a Kind (1983)
1985
Perfect (1985)
1990
Chains of Gold (1990)
2023
Die Hart (2023)
Amazon 
2009
Old Dogs (2009)
1978
Moment by Moment (1978)
1991
Shout (1991)
2018
Gotti (2018)
2019
The Poison Rose (2019)
Limited Release
2000
Lucky Numbers (2000)
1995
White Man's Burden (1995)
2022
Paradise City (2022)
2018
Speed Kills (2018)
Limited Release
1989
The Experts (1989)
1993
Look Who's Talking Now (1993)
1975
The Devil's Rain (1975)
2013
Killing Season (2013)
2000
Battlefield Earth (2000)
John Travolta 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 Travolta movies by co-stars of his movies.
- Sort John Travolta movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort John Travolta movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort John Travolta 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 Travolta movie received.
- Sort John Travolta 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
Pulp Fiction (1994)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Actor NomBruce Willis &
Samuel L. Jackson107.90
330.7
655.40
10
94
07 / 01
99.7
2
Carrie (1976)
Sissy Spacek
33.80
198.4
198.40
17
87
02 / 00
98.6
3
Hairspray (2007)
Christopher Walken
118.90
216.0
368.00
23
85
00 / 00
97.8
4
Face/Off (1997)
Nicolas Cage &
Joan Allen112.30
305.8
669.10
10
83
00 / 00
97.7
3
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
AA Best Actor NomKaren Lynn Gorney
90.20
505.7
1,306.70
5
82
01 / 00
97.7
8
Get Shorty (1995)
Gene Hackman
72.10
207.2
330.80
19
80
00 / 00
97.2
9
Bolt (2008)
Miley Cyrus
114.10
198.6
539.70
23
79
01 / 00
96.8
7
Grease (1978)
Olivia Newton-John
179.90
960.9
2,062.40
1
77
01 / 00
96.5
10
Urban Cowboy (1980)
Debra Winger
46.90
225.6
225.60
16
68
00 / 00
94.0
13
Broken Arrow (1996)
Christian Slater
70.80
200.1
425.00
20
60
00 / 00
91.4
12
The Thin Red Line (1998)
AA Best Picture NomNick Nolte
36.40
97.0
261.50
57
81
07 / 00
91.0
11
Look Who's Talking (1989)
Bruce Willis
140.10
441.1
935.10
5
56
00 / 00
89.9
15
A Civil Action (1998)
Robert Duvall
56.70
151.1
151.10
37
67
02 / 00
88.9
12
Phenomenon (1996)
Robert Duvall
104.60
295.9
295.90
12
54
00 / 00
88.5
17
Primary Colors (1998)
Emma Thompson
39.00
103.9
138.80
52
75
00 / 00
85.6
16
The General's Daughter (1999)
Madeleine Stowe
102.70
253.7
253.70
19
45
00 / 00
85.3
14
Michael (1996)
William Hurt
95.30
269.6
338.60
16
44
00 / 00
85.3
18
Blow Out (1981)
John Lithgow
12.00
54.0
54.00
65
86
00 / 00
83.4
20
Ladder 49 (2004)
Joaquin Phoenix
74.50
150.0
202.40
38
53
00 / 00
81.9
19
Wild Hogs (2007)
Tim Allen
168.30
305.7
460.80
12
35
00 / 00
81.1
21
The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
Denzel Washington
65.50
109.1
250.30
49
59
00 / 00
77.9
24
Swordfish (2001)
Hugh Jackman
69.80
154.4
325.40
35
41
00 / 00
76.4
23
Savages (2012)
Directed by Oliver Stone
47.40
74.4
130.30
70
62
00 / 00
72.1
22
Staying Alive (1983)
Directed by Sylvester Stallone
64.90
257.5
506.30
9
22
00 / 00
71.4
27
Be Cool (2005)
Dwayne Johnson &
Vince Vaughn56.00
109.5
186.00
49
39
00 / 00
56.2
26
Look Who's Talking Too (1990)
Bruce Willis
47.80
141.2
246.00
24
28
00 / 00
53.9
25
In a Valley of Violence (2016)
Ethan Hawke
0.10
0.1
0.10
291
68
00 / 00
47.4
26
She's So Lovely (1997)
Sean Penn
7.30
19.8
19.80
126
60
00 / 00
43.2
31
The Punisher (2004)
Thomas Jane
33.80
68.1
110.10
83
43
00 / 00
40.9
30
Domestic Disturbance (2001)
Vince Vaughn
45.20
100.1
120.00
54
33
00 / 00
38.7
31
Criminal Activities (2015)
Dan Stevens
0.10
0.1
0.60
322
62
00 / 00
33.8
32
From Paris with Love (2010)
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
24.10
38.1
38.10
107
50
00 / 00
33.4
33
Lonely Hearts (2006)
Salma Hayek
0.20
0.4
0.40
289
60
00 / 00
29.9
34
Mad City (1997)
Dustin Hoffman
10.50
28.7
28.70
114
50
00 / 00
27.4
33
Life on the Line (2015)
Sharon Stone
0.10
0.1
0.10
327
58
00 / 00
26.3
36
Basic (2003)
Samuel L. Jackson
26.80
55.5
88.70
95
41
00 / 00
26.0
37
A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004)
Scarlett Johansson
0.20
0.3
3.70
262
52
00 / 00
16.1
40
Two of a Kind (1983)
Olivia Newton-John
23.60
93.8
93.80
29
22
00 / 00
14.3
39
Perfect (1985)
Jamie Lee Curtis
12.90
45.5
45.50
69
36
00 / 00
13.7
38
Chains of Gold (1990)
Hector Elizondo
0.00
0.1
0.10
268
49
00 / 00
11.9
41
Die Hart (2023)
Amazon Kevin Hart &
Josh Hartnett0.10
0.1
0.10
228
46
00 / 00
8.9
45
Old Dogs (2009)
Robin Williams
49.50
82.5
161.30
60
20
00 / 00
8.9
44
Moment by Moment (1978)
Lily Tomlin
11.00
58.6
58.60
55
28
00 / 00
8.7
40
Shout (1991)
Heather Graham
3.50
10.5
10.50
134
42
00 / 00
8.1
45
Gotti (2018)
Stacy Keach
4.30
5.8
8.10
163
43
00 / 00
7.2
46
The Poison Rose (2019)
Limited ReleaseMorgan Freeman &
Brendan Fraser0.10
0.1
0.50
324
44
00 / 00
6.5
46
Lucky Numbers (2000)
Lisa Kudrow
10.00
23.3
23.30
125
35
00 / 00
5.6
50
White Man's Burden (1995)
Harry Belafonte
3.70
10.7
10.70
154
38
00 / 00
4.7
48
Paradise City (2022)
Bruce Willis
0.10
0.1
0.20
164
41
00 / 00
4.5
48
Speed Kills (2018)
Limited Release Matthew Modine
0.10
0.1
0.20
268
41
00 / 00
4.5
49
The Experts (1989)
Arye Gross
0.20
0.5
0.50
196
34
00 / 00
1.7
51
Look Who's Talking Now (1993)
Kirstie Alley &
Diane Keaton10.30
31.2
31.20
107
24
00 / 00
1.6
53
The Devil's Rain (1975)
Ernest Borgnine
1.50
9.2
9.20
129
30
00 / 00
1.3
52
Killing Season (2013)
Robert DeNiro
0.10
0.1
0.10
250
30
00 / 00
0.8
53
Battlefield Earth (2000)
Forest Whitaker
21.50
49.8
49.80
94
12
00 / 00
0.5
Adjusted John Travolta Adjusted Worldwide Box Office Grosses
Check out John Travolta’s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Pulp Fiction in Chronological Order
Steve’s John Travolta You Tube Video
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.
Am enjoying travolta will comment on return. Lots of good stuff to write about
Looking forward to your Travolta thoughts Bob…enjoy the trip!
Thanks Bob, plenty more when you come back. Enjoy your holidays. It was raining here in Manchester, after a freak heatwave hit us last week.
Thanks for good wishes
I’m like the guy in a day late and a dollar short novel. I’m in France now but two yrs ago was at lake Garda. I now find mother Theresa’s there this year to get away from guys like Steve, Jacob mogg and boris. I’d love to have had the opportunity to meet her and tell her Steve,s thoughts about her!
I will look in on Richard Curtis today.
Hey Bob….sounds like you are having fun….that is good to here. Good luck with meeting mother Theresa. Enjoy your day!
Sorry for your heatwave….last week was brutal…..this week is still hot….but not as brutal.
1 BRUCE As you have suggested above Travolta seems to have run out of steam for now at least as his last $100 million + grosser was Bolt way back 9 years ago and in that he had just a voice role. Indeed in the past 5 years he seems to have had had only two normal US cinematic releases which did abysmally at the box office and are in fact the two movies at the bottom of the box office column on this page when the sorter button is pressed, Killing Season and In the Valley of Violence.
2 Killing Season seems to have a compromise billing agreement of the kind to which I have previously alluded whereby John was first on the posters and Robert DeNiro tops the cast lists. I haven’t seen the movie so I don’t know what the on-screen billing is. The Numbers though mentions 4 Travolta releases in 1915 and 1916 that aren’t listed on this page and I hadn’t previously heard of and The Numbers records nil US grosses for them and just negligible foreign stats.
3 I have mentioned previously that in his declining years Cagney became John’s mentor and John claims to have spent lots of time at the Cagney ranch conversing with the old veteran legend. In an interview that I saw about a year or so ago John was asked if there were any other actors whom he admired and he cited Mr Mumbles but said that he preferred Mr M’s later work rather than earlier movies such as Waterfront and Streetcar whereas you of course take the view that the 1950’s were the golden years for mumbling.
4. Whilst it was not an artistically great movie I thought that the 1985 Perfect in which John co-starred with Jamie Lee Curtis was a bit of harmless fun and I have watched it a couple of times. I note thought that you give it an abysmal 29% for critic/audience and IMDB whilst more generous than you allocates only 45%. Anyhow I consider John to be one of the most important stars of the modern era and therefore welcome this update and thank you for it.
Hey Bob….thanks for checking out my Travolta updated…..wow…lot of cobwebs on this one….he switch to UMR has not helped this page…..as it is ranked as my 387th most popular page since we moved to UMR.com
1. Figured I would include my autographed Travolta page in the update.
2. Yep…things have not been too good for him the last few years….he took some time off after the passing of his son…..but now he seems to be stuck with Cage and Willis in HE movies. Maybe they get them altogether and call it The Past Their Primes…..instead of The Expendables.
3. Since those did not get released in theaters I left them off the page…I have actually seen The Forger (it is decent) and Criminal Activities (actually not too bad at all)….the other ones I only saw when they showed up at my local Wal-Mart.
4. As for The Killing Season….Travolta and DeNiro are pretty much the only people in the movie…..others appear in flashbacks….but 90% of the movie takes place in present time….gotta think DeNiro would be the person with the box office juice.
5. Good stuff about Travolta, Brando and Cagney….I like stories like that.
6. I agree I thought Perfect was a decent movie…with a sexy Jamie Lee Curtis as well. But the low rating was due to pretty much everybody destroying that movie in reviews.
🙂
HI BRUCE:
1 Thanks for your further interesting info about The Forger and Criminal Activities. I’ll definitely watch them now that you feel they’re OK. I actually liked Travolta’s Domestic Disturbance which neither critics nor public seemed to have warmed to. However as Charles Bickford said to Chuck in The Big Country when he thought Chuck was going to desert him “I’ve been alone before.”
2 I know your,re very busy but if you get a chance you should make an effort to see Steve’s Ray Milland video – it’s one of his best so far. .
Hey Bob….I agree Domestic Disturbance has some nice moments…I think Vince Vaughn made a good bad guy in that one. Of the two I talked about…Criminal Activities is the better of the two….it is directed by Jackie Earl “Kelly from Bad News Bears” Haley. I think it is his first movie he directed….and he obviously has seen, liked and copied from Tarantino movies. About to head over to Steve’s You Tube channel…..and check out his Milland video. 🙂
BRUCE:
1 To add to the confusion about Saturday Night Fever IMDB confirms your rental figure of 74.1 but quotes a tota actual gross of 121.1 as at Aug 78 so we now have three separate ACTUAL grosses !!
2 74.1/121.1 is not though inconsistent within itself as I understand that often a distributor can ask for a rental well above the average if he has a high demand film to offer; so it could be that 121.1 WAS the gross and the cinemas got keeping only 47 million of it with 74.1 going to the distributor. 47 million was still a massive sum back then and would be equivalent to around 175 million in today’s dollars.
3 However you’re much better at researching and second-guessing those kind of things than I and as you have yet to update your Travolta page you have plenty of time to think about Fever’s gross. It would be nice to definitively nail it though in view of all the confusion. Meanwhile thanks for taking the trouble to consider the conundrum for me.
Hey Bob….yep I have time to figure that out….too bad he does not have a new movie for cinemas….that gets the newer actors a quicker update…for example…Seth Rogen’s The Sausage Party opens this weekend….and his page will updated in the next day or two. All of these numbers are so confusing….but at least everybody acknowledges that it was a huge blockbuster…just now we are trying to figure out how big a blockbuster it was.
Psssst!!!! I’m whispering…so listen closely…….I would like someone or maybe a few people to tell me that all these “accusations” by the message therapists…one after the other….are all BULL…..I need to know that they are 100% totally false….made up by people trying to get money and publicity. I LOVE John T and all of his movies…..especially “Grease ” and Saturday Night Fever……and Colors……Why are these guys all stepping forward to hurt him?
I love his wife too and I think they’re such a great couple……I would feel very disappointed if he did this to his wife and family.
Hey effer……..the price of being a celebrity is having to deal with these people…I read that one of the accusers was proven to be lying about times and dates…so hopefully the other will follow the same path….But I agree with you…I hope that he has not done the things they claim….it seems their family has had enough issues lately. Travolta has a career that has had lots of ups and downs….but he has been making movies for almost 40 years now. So you would think he would know that anything he does makes the news. Thanks for quietly commenting.
Shhhhh……OK…….I feel better now. I know that celebrities pay a high price for their fame and popularity….then again, they live lavishly in luxuries 24/7……….it’s called the “bad with the good.”
Alot of them ask for trouble too…..but I have never felt John was one of that type. I really like him and Kelly as a classy couple….. I hope it all turns out well for him.
Hey fpherj48/effer/Overall Best Hubber….I think the John/Kelly couple will survive this bump in the road….their new baby has to help the cause……thanks again for the visit.
Hey Steve….thanks for finally commenting…..everyday for the past 17 months the first thing I did was check this hub to see if you had commented on it yet…..tomorrow morning I will have to change my wakeup routine…..lol.
I will have to go and check out Jools99’s Pulp Fiction hub….that is one of my Top 5 films ever…so I am also glad that it tops the charts here. I have seen 33 of the 45 mentioned….I have been looking for The Devil’s Rain for awhile now…but so far it has escaped me….but Shatner, Borgnine and Travolta in cheap horror movie….it has my interest.
Blow Out is a pretty underrated movie….I think it is one of his best performances….for some reason I have stayed away from Hairspray….I saw the John Waters version were Divine played the Travolta part…and like you say what was he thinking.
Thanks for the votes and the Pulp Fiction notice….they are both greatly appreciated.
Hey Jason….I am right there with you…I saw Grease and Saturday Night Fever at the theater as well….granted I had to see the PG version of Saturday Night Fever that came out after the R rated version had taken America by storm. I wonder why they do not do that anymore….I think a PG versions of Al Pacino’s Scarface is well overdue.
I agree with you 100% about Vincent Vega being his best role….with Chilli Palmer from Get Shorty being up there as well…..one of my favorite pieces of trivia is that in the world of Taratino…Vincent Vega’s brother was Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs….and maybe one day we will see a Vega brothers movie. Thanks for the visit.