JumpCutz

Two of the biggest "movie stars" on the planet.

Who is the better actor?

Bonus question: What is their best work? (Please list only one film for either)

EDIT: Brat Pitt? Whoops! Can a mod please fix my spelling error?

mhg83

Brad Pitt definitely. Best performance "Fight Club"

If i had to choose for Cruise i think his best performance was in "Magnolia"

MoviePage

Tom Cruise is a better and far more versatile actor, in my opinion. Brad Pitt has certainly improved from his early days, but he's still pretty bland most of the time and has problems communicating any sort of emotion (unless you count cockiness as an emotion).

Best performance: Collateral or Magnolia, tough decision. Bonus points for being in a Kubrick film.

Sonic

Hazel Motes

Tough question. I'm not gonna vote, but I will say Tom Cruise's body of work doesn't hold a candle to Pitts. Pitt's been in so many great films. Cruise's great films are few and far between.

Charlie Goose

Pitt is the better actor.

Cruise has gotten much better, but he spent the first half of his career playing the same type:
The Cocky Young _________ (agent) (football player) (bartender) (lawyer) (pilot) (pool shark), etc.

Pitt's best work is Seven.
Cruise's is Collateral

Ash Ketchum

That's a tough question. Pitt has done way more showy, actor-y performances that get him a lot of acclaim, while Cruise has generally stuck to safe movie star parts. But when Cruise steps out of his comfort zone, he can be a really powerful actor and not just a movie star. I hold up COLLATERAL as evidence. And some would argue MAGNOLIA as well. Too bad he doesn't do that more often. But he IS a really good movie star.

But they're both way better than we would have thought they'd be when they were just starting out. With Cruise--we're talking 29 years ago! With Pitt, 21 years! They both deserve credit for longevity, staying at the top of the field for all this time. And I actually consider them both better actors than Johnny Depp who gets a lot of praise for doing what is essentially just schtick. Both Pitt and Cruise are capable of giving deeply affecting performances and I'm not sure I've ever seen something like that from Depp.

TGM

Pitt. and his best work was 12 Monkeys.

leacha

Best comment given in any of these polls.

coli

I think Pitt is a good actor, but a bit overrated simply because he the women love him. He has more talent then DiCaprio and Clooney, who are true simply good looking guys who are in Hollywood because of their looks.

I don't think Cruise has huge range, but can play the cocky-prick role to perfection: Jerry Maguire, A Few Good Men, Rain Man, and even Top Gun, he pulls those roles off perfectly. I will say that his best role is 'Born on the 4th of July' as I have yet to see Brad Pitt do anything close to this.

jmu878

Pitts in three of my favorite flicks ever: Fight Club, Snatch, & Inglourious Basterds, plus a slew of other quality roles, so I give it to him.

Cruise is good as well, but most of his roles are too one dimensional.

kd5

Can't choose, they're both good. -kd5-

tommyp007

Cruise, and I agree that his best work is "Collateral"

Rival11

Brad Pitt can't act....ugh, sorry - good on him for making more money than I can ever dream of making and banging some of the hottest chicks on the planet but........come on, this dude can't act for shit. "he's just another good looking retard" - can't remember where I heard that but that pretty much nails it.

Tom Cruise isn't that great either but he's definitely better than Pitt.

Coral

I'll go with Pitt, and I think Cruise's best performance is in Magnolia.

Iron_Giant

I have enjoyed so many of Tom C movies and I have only enjoyed 1 or 2 Brad P movies.

Tom has done a lot of action movies which I like much more than Brad movies.

MoneyBall was my fav Brad movies are Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

Tend to like the Movie over the Actor.

Solid Snake

this 100% truth. Personally..I'd consider Cruse to have more range...he just chooses not to go out of it the safe zone too much. Which is sad. Love Pitt more though cuz of his association w/ movies that I prefer more often.

Talent? I'd argue that Pitt has great talent. Though I'd add that Clooney is a better actor than Pitt (also a very solid director) and that DiCaprio is very overrated (but that he's pretty good) and is still growing...the problem w/ him is that...you can see that he's growing..but also...trying too hard maybe.

I dunno..Fight Club is pretty solid w/ his acting. Dug him in Assassination of Jesse James, he had a level of uniqueness..things...under the water as they say. Did solid work in Babel, Benjamin Button, Se7en, Inglorious Basterds, and I did believe he was that dad in Tree of Life.

CloverClover

IMO Cruise has way more personality and talent, it is just the last five or so years PITT has schooled him

Collateral he was great in, but now, choosing to be a boring action star in one ridiculous project after another, it's a walking joke. He used to be a legit actor. I think scientology ruined talented people like Tom Cruise and Will Smith, if you look at the projects they choose now, they're all mindless 'for the masses' stuff

TomOpus

It's a tough choice. Really like both so I picked Cruise since he's behind in the poll

As for his best role, IMO, I'll go with Jerry Maguire. I think I connected with his character more than other roles.

fumanstan

I think Brad Pitt is the better actor, but BOTH are underrated as far as their acting ability. Pitt's been in some great movies, and I think he's shown his range with a lot of unique and quirky performances, like in 12 Monkeys, Fight Club, Snatch, Burn After Reading, and Inglorious Bastards. He's also been able to do serious stuff, action, and comedic roles all very well.

I like Cruise too, but I think he picks more safe roles that play to his strengths.

It's kind of funny how differing the opinions are here, with picking one or the other and saying the other has no range

GoldenJCJ

Tom Cruise is the better actor. I think he's given a number of truly fantastic performances. Collateral, Jerry Maguire, Magnolia to name just a few. I think his best performance is Born on the Fourth of July.

Pitt's definitely improved in just the last 5 or 10 years but he's still not up to par with Cruise. I thought his performance in Se7en was mediocre at best. His acting in the "What's in the box?" scene is damn near laughable!

Pitt's best performance is definitely The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. A film I love more and more each time I see it.

Shannon Nutt

Michael Caine once said that it was Tom Cruise, not Dustin Hoffman who deserved the Oscar for RAIN MAN. If a great actor says that Tom Cruise is a great actor, who am I to argue? (I also happen to agree.)

For the record though, Pitt's best work is the not-widely-seen THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD.

Cruise's best work is EYES WIDE SHUT (yeah, I said it!)

RocShemp

I vote for Cruise. His best are Born on the Fourth of July and Collateral.

Pitt is good but doesn't hold a candle to Cruise. That said, Pitt's best are The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and, if you can get passed the automotive ping-pong scene, Meet Joe Black.

Supermallet

Fixed the title. Happy to help!

Dr Mabuse

Pitt is the better actor, but Cruise does solid work, and has a long history of some solid films behind him.