Kurt Russell is a Hollywood icon, as evidenced by his many beloved characters throughout his career. From Russell’s collaborations with John Carpenter to big franchise movies to even the occasional comedy, his career has been versatile and filled with notable titles.
It is also known that Russell excels at playing cool characters, whether it is real-life Western hero Wyatt Earp or the futuristic anti-hero Snake Plissken. Even some of Russell’s underrated movies contain some of his best characters. These roles don’t just show off Russell’s great performances, but they made their mark in his career.
10
Herb Brooks – Miracle (2004)
An inspiring sports movie based on a true story, Miracle takes a look at the U.S. men’s ice hockey team and their gold medal victory in the 1980 Winter Olympics when they beat the favored Soviet Union team in a game dubbed “The Miracle on Ice.” While mostly unknown actors play the players, Kurt Russell stars as Coach Herb Brooks.
Russell can effortlessly bring a sense of authority to any role, and that works perfectly for his performance as Brooks. The actor is not interested in taming down the coach’s intensity. He plays him as a hard man who demands the best from his team and will not accept anything less.
Throughout the movie, it is as if Brooks is the only one who is sure the American team can win the gold, and he has to convince the rest of the world of the same thing.
9
John Ruth – The Hateful Eight (2015)
Kurt Russell’s Western persona has been shaped by a number of roles over the years, including joining Quentin Tarantino’s dark Western thriller. The Hateful Eight co-stars the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Walton Goggins as a group of strangers who converge on a cabin to wait out a blizzard.
Russell takes on the role of John Ruth, a bounty hunter who has earned the nickname “The Hangman” due to his unblemished record of delivering his bounties alive to the hangman’s noose. Amid the nefarious characters who make up the movie’s ensemble, Ruth is certainly a mean customer but a man of principles as well.
It is a lot of fun seeing Russell channeling John Wayne in his performance, and he has particularly great chemistry with Jackson and Leigh.
8
Stephen McCaffery – Backdraft (1991)
Backdraft is an underrated action movie from the 1990s and one with a star-studded cast. However, even alongside the likes of Robert De Niro and Donald Sutherland, Kurt Russell gives the best performance in the movie as Stephen McCafferty, a firefighter with a dysfunctional relationship with his brother, Brian (William Baldwin), a rookie in the firehouse.
Stephen is known as a firefighter who is ready to be the first one into the blaze. However, he is also quite hot-tempered himself, which has left his personal life in shambles.
Russell is great at playing the flawed hero who can frustrate the audience by saying the wrong thing and making poor choices, but is still easy to cheer for in the end.
7
Ego The Living Planet – Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Kurt Russell is one of the most legendary actors to step into the MCU, and while it might seem like his stature in Hollywood would not need the cinematic universe, he still gives his all to the performance. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 sees the dysfunctional group of cosmic heroes returning as Peter Quill connects with his long-lost father.
Russell fills the daunting role of Quill’s powerful dad, a Celestial being known as Ego the Living Planet. It is a wild character who could easily have gotten lost in the intergalactic story, but Russell’s committed performance grounds Ego in a surprising way.
His chemistry with Chris Pratt is great as their relationship changes over the course of the movie, especially when Ego’s true intentions become clear. However, Russell always manages to keep an authentic emotional core to the character, which is a massive benefit for the movie.
6
Sheriff Hunt – Bone Tomahawk (2015)
Kurt Russell’s career in Westerns is extensive enough that he also managed to bleed over into the Western horror subgenre. It just so happens that Bone Tomahawk is also the best Western horror movie of all time. Russell stars as a small-town sheriff who ventures out into the badlands to track down townspeople who were taken.
The movie is a slow-burn for the first act, relying on the characters to entertain the audience as they head out on their journey. Russell gives a reserved and stoic performance in these early scenes as a true Western hero. The fact that Hunt is such a sturdy lead makes it all the more impactful when the movie descends into terror.
As Hunt and the others come face to face with the evil they have been chasing, it is worse than they could have imagined. Hunt is shocked and even terrified by what he experiences, but he never wavers in his bravery, cementing Russell’s most underrated Western character.
5
Jack Burton – Big Trouble In Little China (1986)
Kurt Russell’s comedic performances don’t always get enough recognition, but he is hilarious and endearing in the fantasy action comedy Big Trouble in Little China. Russell and John Carpenter reunite for his wild ride in which he stars as Jack Burton, a mild-mannered truck driver who is caught up in a supernatural underworld.
Jack is not the brightest guy in the world, and Russell has a lot of fun as he stumbles around cluelessly through this strange adventure. However, Jack is also a loyal and smooth operator, which makes him an easy hero to root for.
Russell’s performance is a big part of the reason the movie works so well, with his comedic energy helping to make the fantastical elements and convoluted mythology just feel like a fun ride.
4
Stuntman Mike – Death Proof (2007)
It is not often that Kurt Russell plays a villain, but Death Proof suggests it is the kind of role he should take on more often. Quentin Tarantino offered his own take on the slasher movie genre with the tale of a Hollywood stunt driver who uses his custom car to terrorize and murder innocent women.
Russell’s Stuntman Mike is a chilling horror movie villain, but one who also has an alluring quality to him. That is mostly thanks to Russell’s charisma and commanding screen presence. However, as intimidating as Mike is for the majority of the movie, he is even more entertaining in the climax.
Tarantino perfectly subverts the expectations for this kind of movie and this kind of character, flipping it in such a fun and memorable way. Russell sells this shift in Stuntman Mike so well, getting some unexpected big laughs from this sadistic killer.
3
MacReady – The Thing (1982)
While not appreciated when it was first released, The Thing is now regarded as one of the greatest horror movies of all time. John Carpenter brings his terrifying vision to the story of a remote team in Antarctica who encounter an alien being that can take the shape of any living organism it encounters.
The practical effects of The Thing certainly steal the show, but Kurt Russell stands out as the movie’s hero, MacReady. Even as the madness of the situation unfolds, MacReady proves himself to be a level-headed man of action and the only one seemingly capable of taking on this threat.
It is another hero who is far from perfect, as MacReady finds himself at odds with the other terrified survivors and is willing to fight back against anyone who gets in his way. However, he is a determined survivor from beginning to end.
2
Snake Plissken – Escape From New York (1981)
Kurt Russell’s collaborations with John Carpenter resulted in some true classics in both of their respective careers. However, when it comes to Russell’s best characters, one from these movies stands out over the others. Escape from New York helped to establish Russell as an action hero with his character of Snake Plissken.
In a future in which Manhattan has become an island prison, Plissken is a criminal who is forced to enter the island in order to save the President of the United States, who crash-landed there. It sets Plissken up as the perfect reluctant hero, with an anti-authority attitude.
Russell took inspiration from Clint Eastwood for the role, creating his own ultra-cool hero who was a man of few words but ready for action in any situation. Even though his second adventure in Escape from L.A. was not as well-received, Plissken remains a timeless character we’d love to see again.
1
Wyatt Earp – Tombstone (1993)
Kurt Russell established himself as one of the great Western actors by giving the definitive performance of one of the Old West’s most iconic figures. Tombstone is the story of Wyatt Earp and his comrades taking on the villainous gang known as The Cowboys, bringing justice to the titular town.
It cannot be denied that Val Kilmer steals the show as Doc Holliday, giving a hugely entertaining performance. However, Russell’s Wyatt will not be overshadowed as he is an impressive hero right from the beginning, smacking around any misbehavers and delivering some of Tombstone‘s best lines.
Tombstone is one of the most entertaining Western adventures and features one of the best casts in the entire genre. However, it is Russell who guides the movie with his strong performance.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
