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Peak Performances by Movie Stars

SlinkyRedfoot

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Actually I’ll switch Top Gun with Tropic Thunder. Even through Cruise is only in it for like 5 mins it was the best 5 mins ever.
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JohnShadows

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Hackman - Unforgiven. He was surprisingly great as an old west bad guy. Hon. Mention: Mississippi Burning.
Whore: "you just kicked the shit out of an innocent man".
Little Bill: "innocent a what?"

Eastwood movies always have memorable lines.

Cruise: Minority Report, combination of good role/acting, mass appeal for the film.
Clooney: Up In The Air
Damon: liked him best in The Departed
Willis: Die Hard
 

Ewa PGH Fan

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"What's the story on that dog?" :wink:
It was filmed on location during WPIAL football season in Johnstown and Pittsburgh. The cities stood in for the run down mill town the film was set in. Despite the film being considered a dog, Johnstown brags about it being filmed there. When your other claim to fame is devastating floods a crappy movie is a step up. I was born in Pittsburgh and grew up about 45 minutes south of Johnstown and have a lot of family that live in Johnstown which is why the film stays on my radar. My HS played and still plays Johnstown HS teams all the time in football and other sports. So growing up in the middle of the rust belt, I have an appreciation for the film that a lot don't.
 

Clayton

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Bruce Willis:

Peak performance: Die Hard
Best Performance: Sixth Sense
I have some agreement here but I like his performance in Pulp Fiction more than Sixth Sense. His role in Pulp Fiction really glues the whole movie together even if he gets overshadowed by the other main characters. Willis has to deal with some of the craziest scenarios in movie history.
 

Omar 382

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The Ringer's Rewatchable podcast reviews movies we've all seen a million times. And in that they talk about the stars of the movie and whether the film was their "Apex Mountain" or basically their best performance. So I figured we could talk about. I'll offer 5 stars and we can talk about what their greatest film was. Should spark some good debate. We can start with the dudes but an actress one would be fun as well.

1. Tom Cruise
2. George Clooney
3. Matt Damon
4. Bruce Willis
5. Gene Hackman
Great idea for a thread. I think you could go a couple ways with this, and since no parameters are laid out in the OP, I'll list my own. By "peak performance," I'm referring to an actor who gives a great performance in the midst of a string of big/great performances. The success of the movie plays a role in my evaluation. For example, while The Dark Knight (5/5 stars) is far from Christian Bale's best performance, IMO, it would take the cake for me since it was released right around other very well reviewed movies that he was in (Batman Begins (5/5 stars), The Prestige (4.5/5 stars), The Hustler, etc.)

I will also only give performances from actors in movies that I've seen. And by "apex" I am factoring in my personal opinion of the movie and the performance, but also the critical and commercial success of the movie. Suffice to say, completely subjective on my part.

Tom Cruise- Mission Impossible
George Clooney- Ocean's 11
Matt Damon- The Departed
Bruce Willis- Die Hard (tough one)
Gene Hackman- Superman (?)
 

DragonfromTO

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It was filmed on location during WPIAL football season in Johnstown and Pittsburgh. The cities stood in for the run down mill town the film was set in. Despite the film being considered a dog, Johnstown brags about it being filmed there. When your other claim to fame is devastating floods a crappy movie is a step up. I was born in Pittsburgh and grew up about 45 minutes south of Johnstown and have a lot of family that live in Johnstown which is why the film stays on my radar. My HS played and still plays Johnstown HS teams all the time in football and other sports. So growing up in the middle of the rust belt, I have an appreciation for the film that a lot don't.

Yeah, but you might not know Johnstown as well as you think you do ;-) That quote is a classic "Slap Shot" line, and the response even references the flood.
 

DragonfromTO

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I'm not at all sure that it should be considered his peak but I love Hackman as Royal Tenenbaum.
 

Ewa PGH Fan

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Yeah, but you might not know Johnstown as well as you think you do ;-) That quote is a classic "Slap Shot" line, and the response even references the flood.
Well that went over my head, I'll blame a brain fart or too much Appalachian moonshine, maybe both!
 

Breed

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Tom Cruise - While I thought Cruise was very good in The Last Samurai and loved the movie. I picked Collateral as my choice. A rare role where Cruise plays the heavy and did so very convincingly.

George Clooney - Can't call it. Can't think of any Clooney movies I liked or have watched from start to finish.

Matt Damon - The Talented Mr Ripley

Bruce Willis - 16 Blocks

Gene Hackman - Crimson Tide
 

PatsFan2003

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I have some agreement here but I like his performance in Pulp Fiction more than Sixth Sense. His role in Pulp Fiction really glues the whole movie together even if he gets overshadowed by the other main characters. Willis has to deal with some of the craziest scenarios in movie history.

He was great in Pulp Fiction. I just like the understated "nuance" of his role in 6th sense. :)
 

DarthVedder

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Tom Cruise - Collateral. I really like him as a villain and playing against type a bit. He has many other great roles, but my second favorite is "Edge of Tomorrow"

George Clooney - Up in the Air. HM, Ocean's 11

Matt Damon - The Martian.

Bruce Willis - Unbreakable. He was also pretty great in The Sixth Sense and obviously in the first 3 Die Hard movies.

Gene Hackman - The Firm.
 

Blackshirts BLVD

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The Ringer's Rewatchable podcast reviews movies we've all seen a million times. And in that they talk about the stars of the movie and whether the film was their "Apex Mountain" or basically their best performance. So I figured we could talk about. I'll offer 5 stars and we can talk about what their greatest film was. Should spark some good debate. We can start with the dudes but an actress one would be fun as well.

1. Tom Cruise
2. George Clooney
3. Matt Damon
4. Bruce Willis
5. Gene Hackman

These are at least my personal favorites of each...

1. Cruise - A Few Good Men
2. Clooney - O'Brother or A Perfect Storm.. to be honest, I haven't seen many Clooney movies. I don't think he's that great. The Ocean movies were ok though.
3. Damon - Goodwill Hunting or any Bourne movie with the exception of the most recent. Or maybe the Departed.
4. Willis - in my opinion it has to be Die Hard or The Sixth Sense.
5. Hackman - Enemy of the State, he has been in a lot of good movies though.
 

Clayton

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Worst Cruise - MI:2
Worst Clooney - Batman.
Worst Damon - Suburbicon. Or basically anything recently.
Worst Willis - Armageddon.
Worst Hackman - Runaway Jury
 

FaCe-LeE-uS

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Cruise - A Few Good Men
Damon - Good Will Hunting or The Martian
Willis - Sixth Sense or Armageddon
Hackman - Hoosiers

Clooney - toughest one for me... Couple come to mind: O Brother, Where Art Thou & The Perfect Storm. I want to say Ocean's 11 in that list, but I think that had more to do with Soderbergh's recreation of the original & the chemistry between him & Pitt. I'm also a big fan of From Dusk Til Dawn, but he wasn't necessarily the highlight of that film.
 

mr.hockey4242

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This thread just gonna carry on with the same 5 guys?!?!
 

The Q

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1. Tom Cruise. Collateral
2. George Clooney. Sisters. Or ER.
3. Matt Damon. The Martian
4. Bruce Willis. Die Hard with a Vengeance
5. Gene Hackman. Hoosiers

Glad someone else mentioned collateral.
 

The Q

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Tom Cruise - While I thought Cruise was very good in The Last Samurai and loved the movie. I picked Collateral as my choice. A rare role where Cruise plays the heavy and did so very convincingly.

George Clooney - Can't call it. Can't think of any Clooney movies I liked or have watched from start to finish.

Matt Damon - The Talented Mr Ripley

Bruce Willis - 16 Blocks

Gene Hackman - Crimson Tide

Yes. Collateral, bro.

Nails it
 

broncosmitty

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Glad someone else mentioned collateral.
Someone else mentioned it the other day too.

I forget what tread, most underrated, maybe.


He's never the bad guy. But he was great the one time he was.
 
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