MovieChat Forums > On the Waterfront (1954) Discussion > Greatest Male Film Performances

Greatest Male Film Performances

posted 18 years ago by donscarface2
147 replies | jump to latest

Marlon Brando- On The Waterfront
Robert De Niro- Raging Bull
Marlon Brando- The Godfather
Al Pacino- The Godfather Part 2
Alec Guinness- The Bridge On The River Kwai
Humphrey Bogart- Casablanca
Jack Nicholson- One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Anthony Hopkins- Silence Of The Lambs
Gregory Peck- To Kill A Mockingbird
Kevin Spacey- American Beauty

My favourite actor of all time is Marlon Brando which is evident in my selection. Also, although Hopkins only appears for 16 minutes in Silence Of The Lambs, those 16 minutes are pure gold.

[–] royals794 16 years ago

All time favorite male performances (not necessarily the best, though some are, but just my faves):

Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Dustin Hoffmann and Tom Cruise in Rain Man
Matt Damon and Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting
Kevin Spacey in American Beauty
John Goodman and Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski (hands down, Walter isthe funniest movie character of all time)
Sasha Baron Cohen in Borat
Jack Nicholson in Chinatown
Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs
Joe Pesci in Goodfellas
Crispin Glover, Christopher Lloyd, and Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future (can you tell what my favorite movie is?)
Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction
Steve Buscemi in Fargo
Tim Robbins in Bull Durham
Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption
Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun (hilarious!)
Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein
Harvey Korman in Blazing Saddles
F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce in Amadeus

[–] metalcarnage 16 years ago

Add Daniel Day Lewis for There Will Be Blood

[–] wanted7590 16 years ago

Al Pacino - DOG DAY AFTERNOON (GREATEST), Scarface, Scent of a woman

De Niro - Taxi Driver , Deer Hunter

Brando - Apocalypse Now, Last Tango, a streetcar named desire

Nickholoson - As Good As it Gets, cuckoo's nest,a few good men

James Dean - Rebel without a cause

Dustin Hoffman - Midnight Cowboy, tootsie

Daniel Day Lewis - in the name of the father, gangs of NY

Edwart norton - primal fear

joe pesci - goodfellas

billy hayes - midnight express

malcolm mcdowell - a clockwork orange

Denzel Washington - American Gangster , Malcolm X

Adam Sandler - reign over me

tom cruise - born on the 4th of july, collateral

anthony hopkins - silence of the lambs, legends of the fall

brad pitt - fight club

johhny depp - pirates of the carribean

john cazale - dog day afternoon, godfather part II

sylvester stallone - rocky 1 (yes! it's the only character he could ever play and he did a good job)

[–] eric-1501 16 years ago

Don't forget Leslie Nielsen in "Airplane".

"Could be worse."
"Howwww?"
"Could be raining."

[–] In-a-Haze 16 years ago

Wow! No one has mentioned:

Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia!!!!!

[–] no-haya-banda 16 years ago

jack nicholson - the shining
clint eastwood - gran torino and good bad and the ugly
the dude - big lebowski
mr pink - reservoir dogs

i iwll think about others later

..dont try to get tough with a keyboard

[–] rami_11 16 years ago

1. On the Waterfront (1954), Marlon Brando
2. It's a Wonderful Life (1946), James Stewart
3. Casablanca (1942), Humprey Bogart
4. One Flew Over The Cuckoo' S Nest (1975) Jack Nicholson
5. Rebel Without A Cause (1955), James Dean
6. City Lights (1931), Charlie Chaplin
7. The Godfather (1972), Marlon Brando
8. The Godfather: Part II (1974), Al Pacino
9. The Maltese Falcon (1941), Humprey Bogart
10. Taxi Driver (1976), Robert De Niro
11. Dog day Afternoon (1975), Al Pacino
12. Midnight Cowboy (1969), Dustin Hoffman
13. Vertigo (1958), James Stewart
14. Fight Club (1999), Brad Pitt
15. American History X (1998), Edward Norton

[–] lookout2 16 years ago

In no particular order..

Paul Newman- The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof
Marlon Brando- On the Waterfront, The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Last Tango in Paris
Bruno Ganz- Der Untergang
Daniel Day-Lewis- There Will Be Blood, Gangs of New York, My Left Foot
Christian Bale- American Psycho
Robert DeNiro- Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Casino, Raging Bull, The Godfather Part 2
Lee Cobb- 12 Angry Men
James Stewert- Rope, Vertigo
Tom Cruise- Magnolia, Rain Man
Jack Nicholson- Cuckoo's Nest, As Good as it Gets
Leonardo DiCaprio- The Aviator
Kevin Spacy- American Beauty, LA Confidential
Brad Pitt- Benjamin Button
Peter Sellers- Lolita
Dustin Hoffman- Rain Man
Al Pacino- The Godfather Part 1/2/3, Dog Day Afternoon, Scent of a Woman
Russell Crowe- A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, The Gladiator, The Insider
Mickey Rourke- The Wrestler
Frank Langella- Frost/Nixon

So many great ones....

[–] dakedoom 16 years ago

just adding my two cents, i won't bother with either a list, or the compulsory rererementioning of any role from Brando, Pacino, Nicholson, DeNiro et al.

Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator
Christian Bale in The Machinist

[–] andrej_y 15 years ago

For me the best performance is Brando's in On the Waterfront (1954), but I cannot see how in 10 pages of responses Cagney has been mentioned only ONCE! Come on, he has so many movies to put on the list - The Public Enemy (1931), Angels With Dirty Faces (1938), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), White Heat (1949) to name a few ! He has to be the most underrated great actor of all time, if Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey (!) get mentions but Cagney doesn't. It is ridiculous in my book.

[–] lookout2 16 years ago

Tom Berenger- Platoon

You put this but no Newman... you are seriously flawed..

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[–] A-Town8814 16 years ago

Lead

Al Pacino- The Godfather Part II
Robert De Niro- Raging Bull
Marlon Brando- On the Waterfront
Liam Neeson- Schindler's List
Edward Norton- American History X
Peter O' Toole- Lawrence of Arabia
Dustin Hoffman- Midnight Cowboy
Morgan Freeman- The Shawshank Redemption
Denzel Washington- Malcolm X
Jack Nicholson- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Harrison Ford- Witness
Paul Newman- Cool Hand Luke
Robert Duvall- Tender Mercies
Gene Hackman- Mississippi Burning
F. Murray Abraham- Amadeus
James Stewart- It's a Wonderful Life

Supporting

Ralph Fiennes- Schindler's List
Tom Berenger- Platoon
William H. Macy- Fargo
Samuel L. Jackson- Pulp Fiction
Gene Hackman- Unforgiven
Joe Pesci- Goodfellas
Brad Dourif- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
James Caan- The Godfather
Robert Duvall- The Godfather
John Cazale- The Godfather Part II
Robert Duvall- Apocalypse Now
Denzel Washington- Glory
Morgan Freeman- Street Smart
Willem Dafoe- Platoon