The Kurt Russell appreciation thread
02-05-17, 02:12 PM
#1
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The Kurt Russell appreciation thread
One of the biggest stars of the 80's and 90's he defied the odds of most child actors. After being a big child star for Disney he looked to go the way of most child actors and not be able to move into being a bigger star. However that changed when he was cast by his friend John Carpenter. After being cast as Elvis in a John Carpenter's TV movie. He then got his big break theatrically after John Carpenter fought with producers in order to get him cast as Snake Plisken in Escape from New York. From there you can't talk about either of their careers without mentioning the other. The movie was a hit and launched his career as an adult actor. After that he was cast by John Carpenter again in his classic movie The Thing. Unfortunately The Thing was too extreme for audiences in 1982 and bombed in the box office.
After The Thing he did some less than notable movies including Swing Shift with Goldie Hawn until John Carpenter came calling again. Carpenter cast him as the lead in Big Trouble in Little China. Unfortunately Fox mishandled the movie badly and it wasn't a box office success. He did some forgettable movies until 1989 when he had a small box office hit with Sly Stallone in Tango and Cash.
He would then have his best decade in the 90's starting with Backdraft in 91. The movie was a huge hit and Rusell got a lot of great notices for his role as Stephen McCaffery. He had two minor hits with Captain Ron with Martin Short and Unlawful Entry with Ray Liotta. Then came Tombstone which was a huge hit followed by Stargate which was an even bigger hit. In 96 he returned to play Snake Plisken in Escape from LA which wasn't as successful. However is second movie in 96 Executive Decision was successful. Form there his career kind of faltered with Soldier, 300 Miles to Graceland and Dark Blue.
After this time period he mainly chose smaller roles in movies like Sky High, Death Proof and Miracle before eventually returning to the realm of big budget movies in Furious 7. Plus he banged Goldie Hawn for over twenty years so go him.
The Kurt Russell top 5:
1. Escape from New York: his most iconic role.
2. The Thing: Just a classic movie.
3.Big Trouble in Little China: He is great in this comedic role parodying himself.
4.Tombstone: Wonderful movie.
5. Backdraft: Still holds up to this day.
After The Thing he did some less than notable movies including Swing Shift with Goldie Hawn until John Carpenter came calling again. Carpenter cast him as the lead in Big Trouble in Little China. Unfortunately Fox mishandled the movie badly and it wasn't a box office success. He did some forgettable movies until 1989 when he had a small box office hit with Sly Stallone in Tango and Cash.
He would then have his best decade in the 90's starting with Backdraft in 91. The movie was a huge hit and Rusell got a lot of great notices for his role as Stephen McCaffery. He had two minor hits with Captain Ron with Martin Short and Unlawful Entry with Ray Liotta. Then came Tombstone which was a huge hit followed by Stargate which was an even bigger hit. In 96 he returned to play Snake Plisken in Escape from LA which wasn't as successful. However is second movie in 96 Executive Decision was successful. Form there his career kind of faltered with Soldier, 300 Miles to Graceland and Dark Blue.
After this time period he mainly chose smaller roles in movies like Sky High, Death Proof and Miracle before eventually returning to the realm of big budget movies in Furious 7. Plus he banged Goldie Hawn for over twenty years so go him.
The Kurt Russell top 5:
1. Escape from New York: his most iconic role.
2. The Thing: Just a classic movie.
3.Big Trouble in Little China: He is great in this comedic role parodying himself.
4.Tombstone: Wonderful movie.
5. Backdraft: Still holds up to this day.
02-05-17, 03:51 PM
#5
DVD Talk Hero
02-05-17, 04:41 PM
#7
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: The Kurt Russell appreciation thread
Lest we forget one of the funniest movies of all-time, Used Cars.
Kurt is one of those guys you can't help but like, on screen or off.
Kurt is one of those guys you can't help but like, on screen or off.
02-05-17, 04:45 PM
#8
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The Kurt Russell appreciation thread
To anyone who missed it, check out The Art of the Steal on Netflix. It's a fun little heist movie in a similar vein to the Ocean's flicks. Russell is great in it!
02-05-17, 06:57 PM
#10
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Re: The Kurt Russell appreciation thread
Kurt Russell is one of those rare actors in that I can watch literally any film in which he stars. He's commanding on screen without the ego, and he can deftly switch between tough bastard and comedic charm. Hell, he even got me to watch a Fast & Furious movie. Some of the greatest films I have ever seen star him.
And yes, Breakdown is the shit!
And yes, Breakdown is the shit!
02-05-17, 08:49 PM
#13
Re: The Kurt Russell appreciation thread
There's a terrific documentary on Netflix called The Battered Bastards of Baseball about Kurt Russell's father's minor league baseball team (which Kurt briefly played on). Highly recommended. His dad was a real interesting guy, and there is lots of archive footage of Kurt as a young man.
02-05-17, 09:48 PM
#16
DVD Talk Hero
02-06-17, 08:39 AM
#20
Re: The Kurt Russell appreciation thread
Decent actor with great screen presence. I like a bunch of stuff he's in. His underrated performance in Silkwood is pretty good. He was great hamming it up in the Hateful Eight.
02-06-17, 12:27 PM
#22
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Re: The Kurt Russell appreciation thread
Breakdown is white knuckle super suspenseful.
The little seen Dark Blue is a great film about police violence. Maybe more relevant now than ever.
Captain Ron is really funny.
The little seen Dark Blue is a great film about police violence. Maybe more relevant now than ever.
Captain Ron is really funny.
02-06-17, 06:18 PM
#23
Re: The Kurt Russell appreciation thread
There's a terrific documentary on Netflix called The Battered Bastards of Baseball about Kurt Russell's father's minor league baseball team (which Kurt briefly played on). Highly recommended. His dad was a real interesting guy, and there is lots of archive footage of Kurt as a young man.
02-06-17, 11:06 PM
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Re: The Kurt Russell appreciation thread
I think he might end up with a $2 billion year between Fate of the Furious and GOTG 2. It's pretty impressive when you consider he didn't have a movie that made $100 million until Vanilla Sky in 2001.