# Greatest performances in history?



## Katsura (May 18, 2006)

Hello all  

I've been thinking some lately, about what the greatest performances I've seen where, and came up with 10 different performances in legendary films throughout the history. Here is my list :

*1: Al Pacino in The Godfather part I ;* I love how he acts in this film. Brilliant acting, and as I mentioned in another thread I made, when he is sitting at the table in the restaurant with the men he is supposed to murder -- he knows he has to go to the bathroom to get the gun, and he knows that killing them will change his life forever. And you see this amazing conflicting emotion just cross his face while he's sitting there -- it's absolutely mind boggling acting.

*2: De Niro in Raging Bull ;* What can I say? De Niro is a genius, he acts brilliant in this film. 

*3: Marlon Brando in The Godfather ;* I love his voice in The Godfather. He has this certain.. aura around his character. You get the feeling ''you simply don't fuck with this guy''.

*4: De Niro in Deerhunter ;* Deerhunter is legendary, and De Niro's acting is amazing. I can't describe what makes it so damned good, but it surely is.

*5: Anthony Perkins in Psycho ;* I still have nightmares about his smile  He's acting brilliant in Psycho, and the shower scene might be one of the most famous film-scenes ever

*6: Al Pacino and De Niro in Heat ;* I put them both into 6 because I can't compare the two of them in this film. They both did an acting worthy of being mentioned in this list, and the coffee-shop scene is my favourite scene of ALL time.

*7: Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan ;* Brilliant acting by Tom in this movie, and I fall in love with his emotions every time I watch it.

*8: Tim Robbins in Shawshank Redemption ;* This film gets to me each time I see it. Both Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman does one hell of a job in this film, and the chemistry the two of them have together is epic.

*9: Morgan Freeman in Shawshank Redemption ; Yes, Morgan deserves a spot here on this list. His work as Ellis Boyd 'Red' Re*dding is so good, and he has a certain thing with his face, and the way he speaks, that really touches me.

*10: Al Pacino in Scarface ;* Say what you want about Scarface, but Pacino delivers. Some say he's too racional (sp) and so on, but I feel that's the way Tony Montana was supposed to be. Credz to Pacino for this one.


*SO people, what are yours?*


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## Dirk Diggler (May 18, 2006)

Apart from the ones you've mentioned, off the top of my head:-

*Anthony Hopkins - The Silence of the Lambs*

*Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest*

*Joe Pesci - Goodfellas*

I'm sure I'll think of more later.


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## bluegender_2k (May 18, 2006)

Liam Neeson - Schindler's List

Marlon Brondo - The Godfather

Marlon Brando - On The Waterfront

Orsen Welles - Citezen Kane

Charles Bronson - Once Upon A Time In The West

Robet De Niro - Raginig Bull

Robert De Niro - King Of Comedy

Johnnny Depp - Ed Wood

Leadro Firmino - City Of God

Andy Serkis - Lord Of The Rings


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## Comic Book Guy (May 18, 2006)

Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal.


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## Dopefish (May 18, 2006)

peter o'toole - lawrence of arabia

there is no other.


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## CrazyMoronX (May 18, 2006)

Toshiro Mifune as Yojimbo.

Toshiro Mifune in anything!


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## Gambitz (May 18, 2006)

jackie chan - drunken master


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## Toiletnojutsu (May 20, 2006)

Rep for everyone in this thread except drunken master. But you get an E for effort  All of the movies mentioned above (except you know) are great preformances and should be watched by everyone.

Some roles pop into my mind right now. I refuse to put the in numerical order.

Harrison Ford in Raiders. He is every little child's feeling of adventure personified. How can anyone be cooler than Harrison Ford playing Indiana Jones. We all know how hard it is to play a real emotional character, but it's ten times harder to play cool without making it corny.

Edward Norton in Fight club. Need i say more? 

Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. He is the master of acting. Seriously. I can't find a single flaw in his style. He is teh real. 

Luke Wilson in Royal Tenenbaums. His role in the movie isn't that big, so I guess it isn't in the top ten acting preformances ever, but I just love him in this movie. 

Scarlett Johanson in Lost in Translation. *_______________* 

Christian Bale in The Machinist. 

Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. WE all know that Johnny is a genius. I just love his old movies when used to bury himself in his roles and play it to perfection. I don't remember how many months he spent with Hunter S Thompson before actually shooting the movie. But it was a long time. 

Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven. 

Jared Leto in Requiem for a Dream. 

Daniel Day-Lewis in The last of the Mohicans.

And many more. I'm tired now. 


> Liam Neeson - Schindler's List



Fucking seconded!

Edit: Lol, I almost forgot Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction.


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## Tsukiyomi (May 21, 2006)

Denzel Washington - John Q/Training Day

Tom Hanks - Forrest Gump/Big/Philadelphia

Al Pacino - Scarface/The Devils Advocate/Godfather Movies

Robert Deniro - Awakenings/Ronin


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## BladeofTheChad (May 21, 2006)

CrazyMoronX said:
			
		

> Toshiro Mifune as Yojimbo.
> 
> Toshiro Mifune in anything!




quoted for Truth...


Jim Carrey - Ace Ventura(sorry, but both of these movies just make me laugh out loud, and its all because of him...LIKE A GLOVE!

Gene Wilder- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory(sorry Depp) but you just suck compared to this man as Willy Wonka.

Johnny Depp- Pirates fo the Carribean(even if you hate the movie) Depp was just one helluva Cap'n Jack Sparrow.

Bruce Willis- Die Hard 1(Best action movie ever)


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## Hokage Naruto (May 21, 2006)

Clint Eastwood - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Gene Wilder - Blazing Saddles

Johnny Depp - Finding Neverland

Tom Hanks - Forrest Gump

Samuel L. Jackson/John Travolta - Pulp Fiction

Denzel Washington - John Q;Training Day

Bill Murray - Ghostbusters, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and Gorundhog Day

Morgan Freeman - Se7en

Stephen Chow - Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer


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## Slips (May 21, 2006)

Haley joal osment - Sixth sense , Bruce deserves some love for that movie too.

Keven Spacey - The usual suspects

Clint Eastwood - Unforgiven

Uma Thurman - Kill Bill 1/2

Ron perlman - Hellboy

Everyone in Sin city


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## Hyouma (May 21, 2006)

Mickey Rourke - Sin City

Bruce Willis - Last Man Standing/Unbreakable

Hayden Christensen - Star Wars Episode III Revenge Of The Sith

Brad Pitt - Meet Joe Black/Twelve Monkeys

Roberto Benigni - La Vita è Bella

Andy Garcia - Modigliani

Kevin Spacey - The Usual Suspects/K-Pax/American Beauty

Al Pacino - Devil's Advocate/Godfather/Heat 

Robert De Niro - Men Of Honor/Heat

Natalie Portman - V For Vendetta (hey there's got to be at least one woman)


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## BakaKage (May 21, 2006)

Slips said:
			
		

> Keven Spacey - The usual suspects



QFT!

Keyser Soze FTW

My other faves include:

Edward Norton - Fight Club

Tom Hanks - Forrest Gump

Russell Crowe - A Beautiful Mind


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## Gambitz (May 21, 2006)

> Rep for everyone in this thread except drunken master. But you get an E for effort  All of the movies mentioned above (except you know) are great preformances and should be watched by everyone.


what are u talking about jackie chan's performance in drunken master was brilliant and is known as hong kong's greatest


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## Keyser S?ze (May 21, 2006)

a lot of great performances mentioned already, not going to repeat, but i'd have to add 

johnny depp - pirates of the carribean (He is why the movie is so good)

Russell Crowe - Gladiator

Robert DeNiro - Casino

Joe Pesci - Casino


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## Ram (May 21, 2006)

tom hanks - forrest gump
excellent movie. he won an oscar for that.


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## BladeofTheChad (May 22, 2006)

midnight joker said:
			
		

> a lot of great performances mentioned already, not going to repeat, but i'd have to add
> 
> johnny depp - pirates of the carribean (He is why the movie is so good)
> 
> ...




pish, not going to repeat, eh? then you should have read my post


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## Bolliewolliepoepapas (Jun 8, 2006)

Jack Nicholson - As good as it gets



			
				bend_on_revenge said:
			
		

> Natalie Portman - V For Vendetta (hey there's got to be at least one woman)


To add another woman:
Cate Blanchette - Elizabeth


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## theCommanderCardinal (Jun 8, 2006)

Ben Kingsley's performance as the title character in "Gandhi". Unreal, I tell ya.s Also, the infamous Gregory Peck as Atticus in "To Kill a Mockingbird". Awesome.


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## Keme (Jun 8, 2006)

Vincent Price - Dragonwyck
Roberto Benigni - Life Is Beautiful
Michael Clarke Duncan - The Green Mile
Vivien Leigh - Gone With the Wind
Clark Gable - Gone With the Wind
Faye Dunaway - Mommie Dearest
Gene Tierney - Leave Her to Heaven
Steve McQueen - Bullitt
Gene Hackman - French Connection


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## Frieza (Jun 8, 2006)

Audrey Tautou- In anything but especially Dirty Pretty Things. Also the brown co-star(forget his name but he was even better)

Brad Pitt- Snatch

Morgan Freeman- In almost anything except Along Came a Spider. Well he was okay but the movie was horrible.


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## theCommanderCardinal (Jun 14, 2006)

> Andy Serkis - Lord Of The Rings



Yeah, baby! Serkis also was King Kong! That guy SO deserves the Cyber- Actor Award- he kicks giga-ass!


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## BladeofTheChad (Jun 14, 2006)

i loved Sean Astin in Lord of the Rings, Sam is the best character ever...


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## graysocks (Jun 16, 2006)

Anything Johnny Depp does is always top notch. He often dragged bad films (Charlie and the chocolate factory) up with his performance alone.


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## theCommanderCardinal (Jun 16, 2006)

BladeofTheImmortal said:
			
		

> i loved Sean Astin in Lord of the Rings, Sam is the best character ever...


Yeah, he really did a super job as Sam. And I admire Serkis for his willingness to delve into the possible emotional roots of a schizoid psychopath, to don pale green and blue spandex, and flop around on the rocks of a just-thawed , freezing stream four times in a row for a five-second film cut! Truly awesome actors were in LOTR-and they all played off each other wonderfully. That was the best acting in it!


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## Slug (Jun 16, 2006)

i cannot believe this was mentioned yet... entire cast of seven samurai and beat takeshi in battle roayle


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## Twizted (Jun 16, 2006)

I have a few:

*Al Pacino* in *The Devil's Advocate*
*George C. Scott* in *Patton*
*Jack Nicholson* in *The Shining*
*Joaquin Phoenix* in *Gladiator*

Plus a bunch that others already named.


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## Katsura (Oct 11, 2006)

I have to say I was impressed by Hugo Weaving's acting in V for Vendetta as well. Though not legendary, it was definitely good. (Yes he was wearing a mask, but his voice was just...)


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## Bear Walken (Mar 21, 2007)

I knew there was thread on performances somewhere. So bump  

There's one that always leaves me going "damn!" And that one I speak of is Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday from Tombstone.


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## Spanish Hoffkage (Mar 21, 2007)

Javier Bardem in Before night falls


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## Violent-nin (Mar 21, 2007)

Well since some of the ones I would have said have already been posted numerous times before. So I don't want to repeat them I'll just list one or two. 

Christian Bale - American Psycho

Brandon Lee - The Crow


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## Catterix (Mar 21, 2007)

*Laurence Olivier* Outside of real film fans, no one nowadays really know him; he seems to be forgotten as he was rarely in Blockbusters of the time, but more just in brilliantly written films (Excluding Clash Of The Titans) but he was one incredibly skilled actor, just so classy, every film he did he did brilliantly, and I really do mean brilliantly.

If you want to become an actor - learn from this man, Marathon man, Dracula, a Bridge too far... Any film he did, he played whatever role he was given fantastically, one could be a snarling villain, the next a soppy romantic; he was just amazing.

Definitely worthy of the title "Sir Laurence Olivier".


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## exena (Apr 9, 2010)

A bit "boy-heavy" your answers. My ones differ from yours quite a lot.

*Sarala* in *Water*
*River Phoenix* in *Stand By Me*
*Natalie Portman* and *Clive Owen* in *Closer*
*Jamie Bell* in *Billy Elliot*
*Robert Downey Jr.* in *Tropic Thunder*
*Nicolas Cage*, *Bridget Moynahan* and *Jared Leto* in *Lord of War*
*Ewan McGregor* in *Trainspotting*
*Maria Lundqvist* and *Michael Nyqvist* in *Mother of Mine*

And
I love Jeremy Irons voice-acting in The Lion King. Serious!


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## Dante (Apr 9, 2010)

Most of mine are already posted, I would add

Robert De Niro in Taxi driver
Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands


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## Parallax (Apr 9, 2010)

Gregory Peck's portrayal of Atticus Finch is still one of the finest performance's I have ever seen, and my personal favorite.  He really captured everything about him that was given in the book.  A true definitive performance and the finest portrayal of a good man trying to do what was right in the face of injustice.


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## Koi (Apr 9, 2010)

Wow, unless I missed any, the Theater has surprised me thus far-- no wanking for Heath's Joker.  Phew.

Has anyone mentioned Brando in On the Waterfront?


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## Chee (Apr 9, 2010)

Koi said:


> Wow, unless I missed any, the Theater has surprised me thus far-- no wanking for Heath's Joker.  Phew.
> 
> Has anyone mentioned Brando in On the Waterfront?



Most of this thread was active in 2007.

If it was active in 2008, yea, there would be tons.


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## Comic Book Guy (Apr 9, 2010)

Since we're in '09:

Ledger in The Dark Knight.

Rourke in The Wrestler.


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## Golden Witch (Apr 9, 2010)

Jamie Bell-Billy Elliot
Humphrey Bogart-Casablanca
Hugo Weaving-Matrix


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## Sasuke_Bateman (Apr 9, 2010)

Probably me everytime I've had sex.


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## Lamb (Apr 10, 2010)

John Malkovich in _Ripley's Game_. I know Tom Ripley might leave some people with a sour taste in their mouths after seeing the horrid mess that was _The Talented Mr. Ripley_. However, I would venture that John Malkovich's portrayal of the character was so dead on that all past indiscretion has been absolved.

Meryl Streep in _Angels in America_. For being one of the best cast and best acted mini-series of all time, even I'm surprised how easy it is for me to consider Streep's performances the best thing about it. Between her portrayal of a rabbi (one so convincing that I didn't know it was a female, let alone her until I saw her listed in the credit) and a mormon mother trying to not deal with the fact that her son is gay, this would have been a pretty brilliant performance. But what really puts the performance in the legendary category is her portrayal of Ethel Rosenberg. God damn, even writing about _Angels in America_ makes me hard.

Henry Fonda in _On Golden Pond_. Better than his performance in _Once Upon a Time in the West_ (which is certainly no small feat).

Gene Hackman in _Unforgiven_ and _The Conversation_. It is impossible for me to choose between these two films, so instead I'll say his performance in _Young Frankenstein_.

Martin Balsam in _A Thousand Clowns_. It's tragic that Balsam was never a big name actor, sure he acted, but he was always shifted to a character part, never allowed to excel as an actor. However, in _A Thousand Clowns_, his character, albeit minor, has to deliver a line so powerful that we the viewer have to believe it will get Murray Burns to stop being a bum and decide to work his hardest in order to be allowed to keep Nick with him. And he does it flawlessly.

Paul Newman in _The Verdict_. Sometimes I think there is a lot to be said for the direction of this film in how we perceive Newman's acting skill. Then I realize I'm thinking about Paul Newman, the greatest actor of the 20th Century and all other thoughts are set aside.

Orson Welles in _The Third Man_ and _Touch of Evil_. _The Third Man_ exists as a film that really wouldn't have worked if it hadn't been for that one scene where we first see Orson Welles, and suddenly, even before they say it, you know he's the man this film has been centered around all along. _Touch of Evil_ is a film that probably could have worked without Welles, but Welles is just so brilliant in it that that thought should have never been thought, and you didn't just read that last line.

Peter Seller in _Lolita_. Peter Sellers was never a very good actor. He was funny, he was versatile, but he wasn't someone you'd really think of as an actor, more of a comedian, who isn't funny in real life and acts. However, he really did steal _Lolita_ with his portrayal of Claire Quilty. And the fact that Kubrick let him steal the film (which he did since almost all of the Claire Quilty stuff wasn't in the book or the screenplay but added by Sellers) is a testament to Kubrick's ability to recognize a performance. And if you question Kubrick, you aren't American.

Joe Don Baker in _Edge of Darkness_. Note, this is the BBC television miniseries, not the film. The final episode. Watch it.

Nick Nolte in _Mother Night_. _Mother Night_ is my favorite Vonnegut novel. Nick Nolte is so good, that I accept him whole-heartedly as my mental image of what Howard Campbell should look like, sound like, and act like.


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## Parallax (Apr 10, 2010)

I really loved Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood, even if that's a boring pick.  Still can't help but think it's fucking amazing.


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## Deaf Ninja Reaper (Apr 10, 2010)

Kevin Spacey in Se7en (Man, even if he was only in this excellent film for just 20 mins or more, he still made this film his own! Truly creepy psycho.)

Al Pacino in Scarface (Say hello to my little toy! No more to say...)

Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men - (His weird hairstyle & his unusual weapon STILL scares the hell out of me. )


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## Alice (Apr 10, 2010)

Nicole Kidman
Julianne Moore
Meryl  Streep


"The Hours"


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## blackbird (Apr 10, 2010)

Johnny Depp - PotC: Curse of the Black Pearl
Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Jamie Foxx - Ray
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Denzel Washington - Malcolm X
Daniel Day Lewis - Gangs in New York/There Will Be Blood 



Hyouma said:


> Hayden Christensen - Star Wars Episode III Revenge Of The Sith


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## Chee (Apr 10, 2010)

Daniel Day Lewis in every single movie he's in. 

And Sharlto Copley in District 9, mostly to the fact that he improvised everything and he's hot. :ho


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## Parallax (Apr 10, 2010)

Everyone fawns over Pacino's, De Niro's, and of course Brando's performance in The Godfather Part I and II, and rightfully so.  However I still feel that Robert Duvall and especially John Cazale's performances are wrongfully overlooked.  They're both terrific and nuanced performances of incredible skill, especially Cazale's in Part II.


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## Al-Yasa (Apr 10, 2010)

Toshiro Mifune as Yojimbo.


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