which decade was his best decade ?
i'd say 90's
shareYeah I’d say the 90s as well.
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MovieChat Forums > Kurt Russell Discussion > which decade was his best decade ?
1980s man, come on. It's not even close
Escape from New York
The Thing
Big Trouble In Little China
Overboard
Tango & Cash
I agree. That was his golden age. Same thing with Harrison Ford.
shareIf we're taking box office success into account, it has to be the 90s. Most of his biggest hits came out that decade: Backdraft, Unlawful Entry, Tombstone, Stargate, Executive Decision, Breakdown all grossed over $50M each in the domestic box office. They were also all damn good movies as well.
shareMaybe money-wise, but other than Stargate, none of those are great films. Meanwhile, his body of work in the '80s includes several classics.
shareYou didn't like Tombstone or Breakdown? Both were among his most critically acclaimed films, and a lot of people have Tombstone as their absolute favorite of his movies. And all the movies I listed, except Stargate, have positive rotten tomatoes scores.
I agree his biggest cult classics were from the 80s, but I think the 90s easily had the more consistent combination of commercial and critical success.
I think both are good films, but when I think of his iconic roles, The Thing, Escape From New York, and Big Trouble in Little China are what come to mind. He's made many, many good movies, and several great ones, besides those three, but I'd argue that those are his defining roles.
shareI fully agree that Kurt's most iconic roles were in the 80s. But he also had a lot of forgettable movies in that decade sandwiched in between those roles that didn't get particularly good reviews or make much money.
The 90s just had more consistency across the board in both quality and box office, and for that reason, I think it's his best decade. Personally speaking, with the exception of Captain Ron, I've probably seen each of his 90s movies at least three times and some a lot more. While I've seen The Thing and BTILC several times each and Escape From New York a few times, most of his 80s filmography were movies I've only seen once with no desire to ever watch again.
" Backdraft, Unlawful Entry, Tombstone, Stargate, Executive Decision, Breakdown "
None of those are in the same league as those 80s movies in the previous post
That's not my argument. What I'm saying is that he had greater box office success and consistent quality movies in the 90s than he did in the 80s and for that reason, the 90s was his best decade. The poster listed five movies of his from the 80s, two of which I agree are absolute classics (The Thing and Big Trouble in Little China). But Kurt also appeared or starred in a lot of forgettable or mediocre movies in the 80s. Movies like Winter People, The Mean Season, Swing Shift, The Best of Times, and Tequila Sunrise made no impression on either the critics or audiences and are just pretty much forgotten about these days. And as much as I love The Thing and Big Trouble in Little China, they both flopped at the box office.
Taking into account a combination of quality, acclaim, and box office success, I would say the 90s tops the 80s for Kurt.
yes!
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Spot on Kompressor.
81-90
shareHe was born in 1951 apparently so it would be the 1970s.
shareHe broke in the 80s, but the 90s is where he went berserk.
1980 Used Cars Rudy Russo
1981 Escape from New York Snake Plissken
1981 The Fox and the Hound Copper (voice)
1982 The Thing R.J. MacReady
1983 Silkwood Drew Stephens
1984 Swing Shift Lucky Lockhart
1985 The Mean Season Malcolm Anderson
1986 The Best of Times Reno Hightower
1986 Big Trouble in Little China Jack Burton
1987 Overboard Dean Proffitt
1988 Tequila Sunrise Nick Frescia
1989 Winter People Wayland Jackson
1989 Tango & Cash Lieutenant Gabriel Cash
1991 Backdraft Stephen McCaffrey / Dennis McCaffrey
1992 Unlawful Entry Michael Carr
1992 Captain Ron Captain Ron Rico
1993 Tombstone Wyatt Earp
1994 Forrest Gump Elvis Presley (voice) Uncredited cameo[2][49]
1994 Stargate Colonel Jonathan "Jack" O'Neil
1996 Executive Decision Dr. David Grant
1996 Escape from L.A. "Snake" Plissken Also writer and producer
1997 Breakdown Jeff Taylor
1998 Soldier Todd 3465
His movies are all overlooked because they're so relentlessly manly and heaped in mountains of girl cum.
shareWow that's 2 decades of outstanding work by Russell!
shareGlad to see Used Cars mentioned. Launched Kurt Russell for the 80s and showed comedy chops nobody knew he had. Hilarious cult classic...from Zemickis with Spielberg producing.
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Snake Plissken and MacReady.
The 80s of course. But I love seeing him as a child actor on all the old 60s Western shows.
shareHe retired. His background is a family of immigrants, and a very difficult time.
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