One of the biggest stars of the 80's, he first became somone to watch in 1983. That year he appeared with both Gene Hackman in the underrated Uncommon Valor with Gene Hackman and The Outsiders with a who's who of soon to be famous actors. This led to a role in Red Dawn which also featured a who's who of young actors.

In 1987 after achieving notoriety from his role in the TV series North and South he had his most famous movie Dirty Dancing which made him a superstar. His second movie in 1987, Steel Dawn was much less successful, however I have a soft spot for it.

Not wanting to just be known as a romantic lead, in 1989 he had the next big hit of his career. Road House did for him with men, what Dirty Dancing did for women. He also appeared in a much less memorable movie Next of Kin that deserves to have a bigger cult following. If for no other reason than it features Helen Hunt, Ben Stiller, Adam Baldwin and Liam Neeson before they were stars. Oh and a shoot out between rednecks and the mafia in a cemetery and a bus full of poisonous snakes.

1990 had the biggest hit of his career by starring in Ghost with Demi Moor which was the top grossing movie in 1990. Again not wanting to be typecast as a romantic lead he then had another action hit in 1991 with Point Break.

Then his career died. In his book he said that he wasn't getting the type of roles he wanted so he decided to have a fun time killing his career. City of Joy, Father Hood, Tall Tale, Three Wishes and Too Wong Foo which saw him dress in drag all flopped, though he did get a Golden Globe nomination. Trying to return to the action genre flopped as well as Black Dog under performed and Letters from a Killer went straight to video.

After that, he mainly did independent movies such as Waking up in Reno, George and the Dragon, Donnie Darko and doing a cameo in Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. He finished up his career by doing TV work, before he died in 2009.

I personally think he was always underrated. He could do comedy, he could do action, and he could do romance and be believable in all types of roles. He also had a toughness that made men want to watch him, and a softness that made women want to.

The Patrick Swayze 5:
1.Road House
2. Point Break
3/ Red Dawn
4. Dirty Dancing
5. Ghost

Honorable mentions: Black Dog and Next of Kin.

There are still several Swayze movies I haven't seen Red Dawn, Next of Kin, and Donnie Darko. So my favorites are probably no surprise to anyone here.
1. Road House
2. Point Break
3. Ghost
4. Dirty Dancing

Road House is a veritable escapist classic. Next of Kin is pretty poor. Those are the only films of his I have seen, but by most accounts he was an extremely nice guy.

Love Patrick Swayze.

The Outsiders
Red Dawn
Dirty Dancing
Road House
Ghost
Point Break
To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
Donnie Darko
11:14
Keeping Mum

Not a lot of his movies received much critical praise, but he's made some incredibly watchable movies. Especially in the late 80's/early 90's.

I have Steel Dawn and Next of Kin, have a soft spot for both. The only other movie of his I really liked, even if I don't own it (yet), is Road House. He was a good actor, his death was tragic.

I recently re-watched Road House, and he is just so cool in that movie. The line "I used to fuck guys like you in prison" always makes me laugh, and then the Macgruber throat rip at the end caps it off.

I checked my collection and I have five Swayze movies. He was a great actor. And his SNL Chippendale's performance is legendary. He just has a much, much better body.

Interestingly, a lot of his movies get remade. The only one on that list that hasn't is Ghost... there's a Road House remake in the works.

Too late:



This is hilarious:

Cam Lindsay of Exclaim! wrote that "it was better to ignore the sequel and simply rewatch the original instead."

If we're talking about the Rhonda Rousey remake, I would be shocked if that ever gets made at this point

I watched Roadhouse twice this weekend! While not the greatest actor, he had great charisma and was enjoyable whenever he was onscreen. This thread reminds me I need to watch Next of Kin again.

Road House is a classic!

Just bought Ghost on VUDU and watched it last weekend.

Re-watched Road house over the weekend, since my wife had never seen it. Still classic, and she enjoyed it as well.

I really liked Swayze. He seemed like a genuinely good guy off the screen.

I was really sad when he got sick and then died from the pancreatic cancer. He seemed like the epitome of physical fitness. But, I know he had has vices that may have contributed to his later health problems. I know he was a heavy chain smoker and even until he died, he was seen smoking.

He had a few fun projects over the years, but if I had to pick my absolute favorite, it would be Ghost.

I first discovered him watching the ABC miniseries North and South back in the early 80's (probably most here never saw it) and he was fantastic as the lead character Orry Main. He had really hot chemistry in that with Leslie-Ann Down.

^Watched North/South for school.

Skatetown U.S.A, guys. That one is so good, it's banned!

Only seen Ghost, Point Break, and Youngblood. I still enjoy all three immensely.

Guy can croon too with the hit: She's Like the Wind.

Ghost is a great movie and Point Break is fun as hell!

I have a soft spot for Dirty Dancing. That came out when I was in High School and saw it a couple times with my first girl friend.

Also, She's Like the Wind is a smoooooth song!