Every Gene Hackman Movie Ranked Worst To Best

Gene Hackman retired from acting in 2004, leaving behind a rich filmography filled with Oscar-winning classics, popcorn entertainments, and even a few duds here and there. An A-list star for nearly four decades, Hackman was capable of both carrying a film as the lead and enlivening it with a memorable supporting turn. No matter how big or small the role was, you knew you were in for a treat whenever Hackman was onscreen.

Born in 1930 in San Bernardino, California, Hackman struggled early on in bit roles in film and television before hitting it big with the groundbreaking New Hollywood classic "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967). Hackman was part of a new generation of actors (along with his former roommates Dustin Hoffman and Robert Duvall) who thrived throughout the late 1960s-1970s, when more realistic-looking leading men replaced the conventionally handsome ones. This, combined with an emphasis on a more naturalistic style of acting and a grittier form of filmmaking overall, cleared a path for a whole new type of movie star to thrive.

Yet Hackman didn't flourish for just one decade; rather, his flower remained in bloom right up until the time he decided to call it quits. Throughout his career, Hackman won two Oscars (best actor for "The French Connection" and best supporting actor for "Unforgiven") and competed three additional times (best actor for "Mississippi Burning" and best supporting actor for "Bonnie and Clyde" and "I Never Sang for My Father"). He also won two BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, and one SAG Ensemble prize.

Let's take a look back at all of Hackman's many films, ranked from worst to best.

Hackman reprised the villainous role of Lex Luthor one more time for this ill-fated "Superman" sequel. In "The Quest for Peace," Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve), aka Superman, tries to ease Cold War tensions by ridding the world of nuclear weapons. His "quest for peace" is interrupted by the arrival of Lex Luthor's newest creation: the Superman clone Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow). Critics derided its thin plot, lackluster performances, and shoddy special effects, landing it a 10% Rotten Tomatoes rating. The film was so poorly received that the Man of Steel didn't make a comeback until 2006's "Superman Returns."

As the Cold War was coming to a close, Hollywood was still desperately mining tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union for movie material. In "Company Business," retired CIA agent Sam Boyd (Hackman) is reactivated to escort former KGB operative Pyotr Grushenko (Mikhail Baryshnikov) to post-war Berlin for a prisoner exchange. On the way, this unlikely duo realizes they're being set up, and they work together to outwit their handlers. Written and directed by Nicholas Meyer, the film failed to make much of an impression, with Variety calling it a "muddled comedic-thriller" with an "indecisive tone."

With an abysmal 17% Rotten Tomatoes rating, "Lucky Lady" is a low point for pretty much everyone involved, not least for Hackman. An attempt by Old Hollywood craftsman Stanley Donen to recapture some of the magic of his earlier classics ("Singin' in the Rain," "Charade") with a New Hollywood sensibility, it's a period comedy centered on a trio of Prohibition-era bootleggers (Hackman, Burt Reynolds, Liza Minnelli) who mix business with pleasure. While the expertly crafted period details sparkle, the love triangle falls flat like expired champagne, making for a lackluster slog that manages to intoxicate no one.

You'd think the combination of Hackman and Jan Troell, the Oscar-nominated Swedish director of "The Emigrants" and "The New Land," would be a match made in Heaven. Unfortunately, the reviews of "Zandy's Bride" prove they should've split before committing to anything too permanent. Hackman plays Zandy Allan, a 19th-century cattle rancher who sends away for a mail-order bride (Liv Ullmann). It's not love Zandy's after, but rather an extra ranch hand. But wouldn't you know it, he ends up caring for his new bride after all, despite a total lack of chemistry.

Released right before films like "The Deer Hunter," "Coming Home," and "Apocalypse Now" began to examine the damaging effects of the Vietnam War, "March or Die" feels almost like a throwback in many respects. It's an old-fashioned military epic about the exploits of the French Foreign Legion in the 1920s, a sort of "Gunga Din" for the boomer generation. Hackman plays Major William Foster, whose unit is tasked with protecting a Saharan archeological dig overseen by a French curator (Max von Sydow). The discovery of a sacred burial site prompts a conflict with the Arab tribes.

"Doctors' Wives" is about as lurid as melodrama gets, a sort of "General Hospital" for the big screen. Based on Frank Slaughter's novel, it tells several interlocking stories about well-to-do doctors and their wives, all of whom seem to be going through some kind of torrid affair. Hackman plays Dr. Dave Randolph, a psychiatrist whose frigid wife, Della (Rachel Roberts), was actually having an affair with Lorrie (Dyan Cannon), who was killed by her brain surgeon husband (John Colicos) while in bed with another man. The film was trashed by critics, landing it a D.O.A. 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

"First to Fight" is the kind of old-school war epic that was completely out of step with the anti-Vietnam War movement of the day. Set during World War II, it centers on a Guadalcanal veteran (Chad Everett) who's reluctant to accept plaudits when he returns home as a decorated hero. While training a batch of recruits, he suddenly feels a need to prove himself by returning to the front lines. Hackman has a small supporting role as Sgt. Tweed, and his scene-stealing charisma hints at the stardom he would achieve that same year with "Bonnie and Clyde."

As Roger Ebert pointed out, "'Full Moon in Blue Water' is such a likable film in so many little ways that you want to forgive it for being so bad in so many big ones." There is some charm to Hackman's performance as the lonely proprietor of a rundown bar near the gulf coast of Texas. Mourning the disappearance of his wife, his heart finally starts to recover thanks to the arrival of a friendly bus driver (Teri Garr). There are enough melodramatic twists and turns here to fill an entire season of a daytime soap, weighing down the charm.

Hackman's role in "Banning" is so small it could fit on a postage stamp, but no matter: the same year this was released, he turned into a superstar with "Bonnie and Clyde." Robert Wagner stars as Mike Banning, a down-on-his-luck pro golfer who takes on a job as an instructor at an exclusive country club. When he discovers the owner is his former rival, Jonathan Linus (Guy Stockwell), Banning uses his skills on the course to take him down, while also hustling money and seducing women. Hackman plays Tommy Del Gaddo, a rival pro golfer in cahoots with Banning's nemesis.

Hackman managed to escape from "All Night Long" unscathed, with the lion's share of critical scorn going to his co-star, Barbra Streisand (who earned a Razzie nomination for her performance). It's a wannabe romantic comedy about a middle-aged drug store manager (Hackman) whose son (Dennis Quaid) is having an affair with an older married woman (Streisand). Things get complicated when Hackman falls for Streisand himself, creating a love triangle completely devoid of any form of chemistry. Despite terrible reviews, Hackman did manage to place as a runner-up at the National Society of Film Critics for best actor.

Despite some flashy visuals and kinetic editing, there's not much that separates "Behind Enemy Lines" from any number of ra-ra patriotic war films that played on the second half of many double bills during the 1940s. Owen Wilson stars as Lieutenant Chris "Longhorn" Burnett, a Navy Pilot who gets shot down over enemy territory in Bosnia. His commanding officer, Rear Admiral Leslie McMahon Reigart (Hackman), goes against protocol to rescue Burnett from a variety of stock villains. Although it was a mild box office success, the film was a critical punching bag, with reviewers savaging its threadbare plot and video game aesthetics.

Although Hackman scored one of his biggest hits with the basketball drama "Hoosiers," "The Replacements" proves that not all sports movies are created alike. Loosely inspired by the 1987 NFL strike, it centers on a fictional football team that brings in replacement players to fill out the rest of the season, including Keanu Reeves as the quarterback. Hackman plays Jimmy McGinty, a veteran coach tasked with whipping this band of misfits into shape. Despite an inspired premise, there's not much here to distinguish this from any number of sports movies, as reflected in its middling response from critics.

For a film starring acting heavyweights Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman, "Under Suspicion" is surprisingly nonexistent. That's not to say it's bad, although many of its reviews were (it currently holds a 49% rating on Rotten Tomatoes). It's just kind of forgettable, despite having some pretty lurid subject matter. Hackman plays a wealthy tax attorney brought in for questioning about a dead girl he found in a park. Although it's initially supposed to take just 10 minutes, he's kept longer by the investigating officers (Freeman and Thomas Jane) as holes start to pop up in his story.

Audiences who bought a ticket to see Gore Verbinski's "The Mexican" based on the promise that Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts were going to be on screen together were sorely disappointed to see them kept apart for most of the movie's runtime. Critics were mixed as well on this action comedy about an ordinary man (Pitt) forced into the service of a mob boss (Hackman) after he accidentally crashes into his car. Hackman tasks Pitt with traveling to Mexico to retrieve an antique gun known as "the Mexican," much to the consternation of his girlfriend (Roberts), who's fed up with his antics.

"Extreme Measures" is the kind of salacious movie title that could apply to any number of genres, from legal dramas to erotic thrillers. Perhaps that lack of clarity about its subject (coupled with tepid reviews) led to its disappointing $17 million box office haul. Directed by Michael Apted, it stars Hugh Grant as an emergency room doctor who treats a homeless man with strange symptoms. When the patient and all his medical files disappear, Grant does some digging and gradually starts to suspect that the hospital's respected neurosurgeon (Hackman) is performing experiments on homeless people in an attempt to cure paralysis.

Hackman teamed up with legendary director John Frankenheimer for this sturdy auctioneer, which falls somewhere in the middle of both their careers, critically speaking: it's nowhere near the heights of their best works, but it's also nowhere near the worst for either of them. "The Gypsy Moths" is the story of three professional skydivers: leader Burt Lancaster, daredevil Hackman, and rookie Scott Wilson. While in Kansas, the team stays at the home of Wilson's aunt (Deborah Kerr) and uncle (William Windom), and a love affair sparks between Lancaster and Kerr reminiscent of their famous romance in "From Here to Eternity."

The 1952 noir quickie "The Narrow Margin" isn't exactly a sacred text, but that didn't stop some critics from decrying director Peter Hyams for attempting a remake (although some did like it). The bare bones of the plot are more or less the same: a Los Angeles District Attorney (Hackman) is accompanying a murder witness (Anne Archer) from Canada back to the United States, where she's set to testify against the Mafia. Hackman has to break out the combat training he picked up in Vietnam when he learns that the train they're traveling on is swimming with hitmen out to get Archer.

You could almost think of "Uncommon Valor" as a more emotionally engaging "Behind Enemy Lines," since both center on Hackman's efforts to rescue a fallen soldier in hostile territory. In this film, he plays a former Marine who holds out hope that his son is still alive 10 years after he went missing while serving in Vietnam. He decides to take matters into his own hands, assembling a team of soldiers to track through the jungles of Laos and find him. While most critics praised Hackman's poignant performance, others were disappointed by its routine storytelling, leading to a mixed reception.

Before there was "Apollo 13," there was "Marooned," which eerily predicted some of the fateful events that would inspire Ron Howard's 1995 Oscar winner. Although it's not nearly the classic that film is, it's still an entertaining yarn that capitalized on increased interest in the space race (it was released just four months after the 1969 moon landing). Directed by sturdy Hollywood craftsman John Sturges, it centers on three astronauts (Hackman, Richard Crenna, and James Franciscus) who get stranded in space on their return flight. It's up to NASA (headed by Gregory Peck) to bring the men home before their oxygen runs out.

Richard Attenborough's "A Bridge Too Far" hopes to be an epic reminiscent of David Lean, but as critics at the time pointed out, the film's narrative falls short of Lean's best work, ultimately buckling under the weight of its massive scope. That's not to say it isn't watchable, even at a lumbering three-hour runtime. It's an action-packed, all-star World War II drama about the Allied attempts to weaken the German offense by capturing several strategically important bridges in the Netherlands. Hackman co-stars as Maj. Gen. Stanisław Sosabowski, a Brigadier Commander in the Polish Armed Forces.

Hackman made his big-screen debut in "Lilith," and if nothing else, you have to thank this film for introducing him to Warren Beatty, who would later cast him as his brother in "Bonnie and Clyde." Produced during the psychoanalysis boom of the 1960s, it's the story of a war veteran turned therapist (Beatty) who finds work in a sanitarium and falls in love with one of his patients: the beautiful, unstable Lilith (Jean Seberg). Things get complicated when another patient (Peter Fonda) falls in love with her as well. Hackman has a small role as Norman, who's having marital problems with his wife (Jessica Walter). Even with his limited screen time, it's no wonder he became a major star just three years later.

Warren Beatty called in a ton of favors when he was bringing "Reds" to the screen, especially when it came to filling out its massive cast. It's a sprawling biopic about American journalist John Reed (Beatty), who chronicled the Communist Revolution in Russia with his romantic partner, writer and suffragette Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton). Beatty assembled an all-star cast to play the many historical figures Reed encounters throughout his journey, including Hackman in a cameo as fellow journalist Pete Van Wherry. Critics hailed the film for its epic scope and intelligent storytelling. It was nominated for 12 Oscars and won three, including best director for Beatty.

Hackman only worked with Woody Allen once during his long career, and not in one of the director's famous comedies. "Another Woman" is one of many cinematic odes Allen made to his hero, Ingmar Bergman, a deeply serious drama without a single joke or gag. Gena Rowlands stars as a philosophy professor who rents an apartment next to a psychiatrist's office so she can finish her new book. She soon overhears the therapist's sessions with a pregnant patient (Mia Farrow), and those conversations cause Rowlands to re-evaluate her relationship with her husband (Ian Holm) and her lost love with his best friend (Hackman).

"Class Action" is one of those legal dramas with a premise so ludicrous you'd almost expect it to be a network television pilot. Yet the majority of critics were won over by director Michael Apted's intelligent handling of potentially melodramatic material. The premise: Hackman is a liberal civil rights attorney long estranged from his daughter (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) over his many infidelities. They're brought back together in an unexpected way when Mastrantonio, now a ladder-climbing corporate lawyer, is hired to defend an auto manufacturer in a wrongful injury suit against her father, who is representing the injured plaintiff.

Hackman starred in one of the worst John Grisham movie adaptations ("The Chamber") and two of the best (more on the second one later). "Runaway Jury" is also notable for being the only cinematic collaboration between Hackman and his former roommate, Dustin Hoffman (although they came close with "The Graduate"). Directed by Gary Fleder, it's a meat-and-potatoes movie about a lawyer (Hoffman) taking on a corrupt jury consultant (Hackman) over a lawsuit against a gun manufacturer. Hackman has stacked the jury in favor of the defense, until he realizes that one of the jurors (John Cusack) and his girlfriend (Rachel Weisz) have different plans for the verdict.

Before he rescued Owen Wilson in "Behind Enemy Lines," Hackman had to save his own tail in "Bat*21." In the last days of the Vietnam War, Lt. Colonel Iceal Hambleton (Hackman) is shot down in hostile territory, all on his own. His only contact with the outside world is with Captain Bartholomew "Bird-Dog" Clark (Danny Glover), who helps him plot an escape route via radio. Critics were generally positive about this old-fashioned survival flick, with Roger Ebert calling it "the kind of lean, no-nonsense war film Hollywood used to make back before the subject became burdened with metaphysical insights."

Hackman earned a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in Bud Yorkin's intimate domestic drama. "Twice in a Lifetime" is a small-scale story about a middle-aged factory worker (Hackman) who, on his 50th birthday, falls in love with a barmaid (Ann-Margret) at his favorite tavern. He shocks his wife (Ellen Burstyn) and daughters (Amy Madigan and Ally Sheedy) by asking for a divorce, and that's when the film forgoes sitcom conventions and instead unfolds in surprising and unexpected ways. Reviews were generally positive for the film, which got an Oscar nomination for Madigan as best supporting actress.

Hackman reunited with "Crimson Tide" director Tony Scott for this high-octane espionage thriller that has remained surprisingly relevant since its 1998 release. Will Smith stars as a labor lawyer who comes into possession of a videotape tying a politically motivated murder on the corrupt head of the National Security Agency (Jon Voight). Voight sics the NSA on Smith, framing him for the murder. Hackman co-stars as an ex-intelligence agent helping him evade capture while trying to clear his name. Critics praised "Enemy of the State" for its mixture of action and suspense, likening its surveillance paranoia to another Hackman film, "The Conversation."

The New Hollywood of the late 1960s-'70s was so richly creative that even films that were dismissed as minor in their time have been rediscovered as classics. Such is the case with Jerry Schatzberg's "Scarecrow," which was a modest critical success when it was released in 1973 and has only grown in stature since then. It's a gritty little drama about a pair of drifters — ex-con Max (Hackman) and homeless sailor Lion (Al Pacino) — who hit the road from California to Pittsburgh in the hopes of starting a business. While on the way, they stop off in Detroit so Lion can finally meet the child he left behind. There's not much in the way of plot, but you don't really need it to enjoy watching two titans of acting play off each other as Hackman and Pacino do here.

Hackman had a major supporting role in director Michael Ritchie's feature debut, which earned critical raves when it was first released and has only grown in stature since then. "Downhill Racer" stars a young Robert Redford as David Chappellet, a hotshot skier who joins an American Olympic team led by coach Eugene Claire (Hackman). Chappellet's arrogant behavior puts him at odds with the team and his coach, and a rivalry eventually sparks between him and an expert skier (Jim McMullan). Ritchie's visceral direction puts audiences on the slopes right alongside Redford, but it's the performances that really help this one win the gold.

Though he only has a few minutes of screen time, Hackman is a comedic highlight of Mel Brooks' horror spoof. "Young Frankenstein" takes aim at the classic Universal monster movies, parodying the moody, gothic atmosphere of James Whales' "Frankenstein" and "Bride of Frankenstein" with love and admiration. Gene Wilder stars as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, who inherits his famous grandfather's Transylvanian estate and tries to replicate his attempts to bring life back from the dead. His creation, The Monster (Peter Boyle), escapes and finds refuge in the home of a blind hermit (Hackman), whose endeavors to forge a friendship go hysterically wrong.

Although you don't hear much about it these days, "I Never Sang for My Father" is actually one of Hackman's most revered films, with a certified fresh 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating. Adapted by Robert Anderson from his own Broadway play, it's an intimate family drama about a college professor (Hackman) living in the shadows of his father (Melvyn Douglas). Hackman hopes to marry his girlfriend (Elizabeth Hubbard) and move to California, but when his mother dies, he worries about abandoning his dad, whose declining mental state and physical health require constant care. Hackman earned an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor for his sensitive performance.

Filmed on a massive scale with A-list stars and state-of-the-art (for the time) special effects, Richard Donner's "Superman" paved the way for the big-budget superhero films that would later dominate the 21st century. Christopher Reeve stars as Clark Kent, a mild-mannered reporter who suddenly realizes he's blessed with superhuman powers. As Superman, he tries to defeat the villainous Lex Luthor (a scenery-chewing Hackman) while romancing Kent's fellow reporter, Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). Audiences and critics alike hailed the film's mix of grand spectacle and nuanced storytelling, making it both one of the year's highest grossers and a multi-Oscar nominee (it won a special achievement award for its groundbreaking special effects).

Two titans of acting collide in Tony Scott's "Crimson Tide," a tightly wound thriller. On one side, you have Hackman as Captain Frank Ramsay, commanding officer of a U.S. nuclear missile submarine eager to attack a Russian warhead before they can strike first. On the other side, you have Denzel Washington as Lieutenant Commander Ron Hunter, Ramsay's second in command, who fears his captain has gone off the deep end and plots a mutiny against him. Reviewers praised both Scott's handling of the action and the performances by Hackman and Washington, with critics like Roger Ebert saying, "Oddly enough, 'Crimson Tide' develops into an actors' picture, not just an action movie." And what an actors' picture it is!

While previous Elmore Leonard adaptations focused mainly on plot mechanics, Barry Sonnenfeld's "Get Shorty" finds its strength from the musicality of the author's dialogue, which finds its rhythms from the vernacular of lowlifes and scumbags. John Travolta stars as Chili Palmer, a Miami mobster sent to Hollywood by his boss (Dennis Farina) to collect a debt from grade-Z horror movie producer Harry Zimm (a scene-stealing Hackman). Rather than shake Harry down for money, Chili decides to use him as a way to get into the movie business, romancing his leading lady (Rene Russo) in the process. Critical praise for the film was near-unanimous, and its formula of faithfully capturing Leonard's lyrical arias found further success in cinematic adaptations like Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown" and Steven Soderbergh's "Out of Sight."

It's truly shocking that Hackman wasn't nominated for an Oscar for "The Royal Tenenbaums," not just because of the amount of precursor wins and bids he picked up along the way, but because of how integral he is to the film's lasting impact. As the wily Royal Tenenbaum, Hackman effortlessly walks the line between abhorrent behavior and rascally charm. Having walked out on his family years ago, Royal tries to reconnect with his wife (Anjelica Huston) and their three gifted yet deeply damaged children (Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Luke Wilson). Though it's rough going at first, the entire Tenenbaum clan is eventually won over by his freewheeling antics, and so are we. It remains the very best and most memorable performance in any Wes Anderson film, and that's saying a lot.

Hackman won his second Oscar for Clint Eastwood's revisionist Western, which implicates both heroes and villains in the violence of the Old West. Eastwood directs and stars as Bill Munny, a retired gunslinger who left his killing ways behind to raise a family. He's dragged back into one more job when a prostitute is horribly disfigured by a pair of bandits. Will rides into the town of Big Whiskey with his partners, Ned (Morgan Freeman) and the Scofield Kid (Jaimz Woolvett), where they're greeted by sheriff Little Bill Daggert (Hackman), who in many ways is more sociopathically violent than the career killers. Hackman is ruthless in his performance, which creates a complex character out of a tired cliché. In addition to his supporting actor win, the film also took home trophies for best picture, best director, and best film editing.

Choosing the best film out of a career as long and rich as Hackman's can be a fool's errand, but if you had to pick one performance the actor will always be remembered for, it's that of Popeye Doyle in "The French Connection." Based in part on a true story, William Friedkin's tightly wound police thriller broke new ground not just for its gritty, documentary-esque approach, but for its complex, nuanced take on the hero archetype. Popeye Doyle, an NYPD narcotics officer hunting down a French heroin dealer (Fernando Rey), is indicative of the kind of antiheroes '70s filmmaking explored: casually racist, prone to violence, yet determined to do the right thing. It's a high-wire act that only an actor as capable as Hackman can pull off. There's not a wasted moment in "The French Connection," which features the greatest car chase ever committed to film. (Don't believe us? Watch it.) It's little wonder it won five Oscars, including best picture, best director, and best actor for Hackman, who returned for the 1975 sequel "French Connection II."