Gene Hackman’s 15 Best Movies, Ranked

The great actor Gene Hackman began acting in Pasadena plays back in the 1950s, eventually moving into television and film before exploding in popularity as Buck Barrow, brother of Clyde, in 1967’s masterful Bonnie and Clyde. His performance earned him an Oscar nomination, his first of five (he would win two of these, for The French Connection and Unforgiven). While the actor hadn’t appeared on-camera in 20 years, it was still a sad shock to learn that Hackman passed away today, Feb. 27, 2025. As such, we’re remembering the many great films that Hackman made even better.

‘The Poseidon Adventure’

The Poseidon Adventure is one of the great ‘disaster epics’ of the 1970s, coming from action-adventure producer Irwin Allen of The Towering Inferno and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Combining his large-scale approach with the sophistication and wit of Ronald Neame’s direction, top-notch visual effects, and an all-star ensemble was a winning recipe.

Drowning in Action

Gene Hackman leads a cast that also includes Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Shelley Winters, Roddy McDowall, and Leslie Nielsen. Hackman plays a strict, conservative Christian Reverend on the capsized ocean liner, trying to save a group of fellow passengers. His theological journey, combined with the grueling, wet physicality of the action, makes this one of Hackman’s best characters.

‘French Connection II’

French Connection II

4
/5

Release Date

May 18, 1975

Runtime

119 minutes

Director

John Frankenheimer

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While the sequel doesn’t live up to the legacy of the original The French Connection and its breakneck pace in the gritty streets of New York, The French Connection II is still a tough, grimy, edge-of-your-seat thriller. John Frankenheimer took his modern sensibilities and the psychedelic milieu of the 70s to create an unnerving psychological experience in The French Connection II.

Gene Hackman Goes Cold Turkey in a Painful Performance

Gene Hackman reprises his role as the tough-as-nails cop Popeye Doyle, but finds it hard to assimilate when he takes his penchant for rage to Marseilles. The performance and script see Hackman taken to the depths of hell as he battles the sadistic kingpin Carnier (Fernando Rey) and the expectations of the policemen who’re suspicious of his New York toughness. Hackman’s performance throughout his drug scenes is unforgettable.

‘Hoosiers’

Hoosiers

4
/5

Release Date

November 14, 1986

Runtime

114 minutes

Director

David Anspaugh

Hoosiers has been essentially canonized as one of the all-time great sports movies. It helped build a blueprint that so many later films would retread, so it may feel structurally familiar, but great performances and good writing cement it as one of the best.

An All-Time Underdog Classic

Based on a classic true story of underdog glory, Hackman stars as the grizzled coach of a high school basketball team as they enter the state tournament; his approach is very different from what the small town expects, and his temper explodes at points, but everything comes together in one of the most famous endings in sports movie history.

‘Crimson Tide’

Only a director like the late Tony Scott could create such a dizzying, energetic, and rollicking film inside the confines of a submarine. With nuclear annihilation on the brink and war seemingly on the surface, a naval captain and a young officer fight for the loyalty of their crew before their fates are met. Crimson Tide sees two generational talents go to verbal war. Gene Hackman plays opposite Denzel Washington in the tightly crafted war-thriller. The two go to philosophical and moral war with each other before the attempted mutiny begins; Denzel pins Hackman as a trigger-happy military hack whose jingoism could put their lives in danger.

Performances Built on Pure Energy

Scott’s ability to move the camera at rapid speed while bouncing the verbal quips around like ricocheted bullets creates electrifying, physical performances from its two leads. The intensity of Hackman’s delivery is matched by the audacious approach of his director, constantly shifting the volume and stakes to their highest degree.

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‘Eureka’

Eureka

4.5
/5

Release Date

May 1, 1983

Runtime

130 minutes

Director

Nicolas Roeg

Writers

Paul Mayersberg

Producers

Jeremy Thomas

Nicolas Roeg’s Eureka unfolds in surreal, hyperbolic, and profound ways. Gene Hackman takes the lead as a gold prospector whose desires and fate align in seismic proportions. Churning through the snows of Alaska, he bargains more than his body to find the gold that will give him wealth for life.

An Interior Performance Defined by Capital

It’s a tricky performance as Hackman has to battle the rage of fending off a couple of gangsters — Mickey Rourke and Joe Pesci, a dynamic duo — and the greed and paranoia of his inner life. It is a performance that yields all the power of the universe as it feels like everyone in the film only exists in relation to his wealth. The film was a failure upon release, but worth checking out as it plays to all of Hackman’s strengths as an actor.

‘Heist’

Heist

4.5
/5

Release Date

November 9, 2001

Runtime

109 Minutes

Director

David Mamet

Writers

David Mamet

Gene Hackman was born to read David Mamet dialogue. The great screenwriter and playwright, known for Glengarry Glen Ross and American Buffalo, creates anxious men who try to quick-talk their way out of failure, and Hackman is perfect at it in Heist.

A Great Cast Spits Cool Dialogue

One of the most underrated crime thrillers of the last few decades, Hackman stars as a leader of thieves whose trouble only grows when he’s basically forced to pull another heist in order to get paid for the last one he botched. Hackman is phenomenal alongside Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ricky Jay, Patti Lupone, and Sam Rockwell.

‘The Royal Tenenbaums’

Wes Anderson is a director who often tells stories of dysfunctional families, but none got to the emotional core of its awful patriarch quite as Gene Hackman did as Royal Tenenbaum. A distant father whose years away created psychological damage is seen across the film through his large family. Hackman’s intense persona also bled through tension on the set of The Royal Tenenbaums, as numerous reports recounted Hackman borderline bullying Anderson and getting into many arguments.

Gene Hackman’s Last Great Movie

The dysfunction on-screen became palpable off it, but none more so than with son Richie Tenenbaum (Luke Wilson) in one of Anderson’s most emotional set pieces to date, in a stunning slow-motion, blue-tinted shot where Richie attempts to take his own life. Even still, the portrayal of a father figure lacking self-awareness for the damage he caused his family was the glue somehow holding the large Anderson ensemble together. It’s a lived-in, funny, rascaly, and melancholic performance.

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‘The French Connection’

Aanti-hero cop Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle is a linchpin of the 1970s and earned Gene Hackman his first Oscar, just as French Connection became a defining film of the decade and earned the Academy Award for Best Picture. Hackman’s intensity went head-to-head with newfound auteur William Freidkin’s renegade direction. The two formed a perfect alchemy that brought the gritty streets of New York to life.

The French Connection is, in many ways, the first modern cop thriller, refusing traditional stylization in favor of a more cinema-vérité style that puts viewers in the audience seat. And literally, too, with one of the greatest car chases ever filmed. Having to handle the criminals and nasty gangster life, The French Connection is an American classic.

‘Downhill Racer’

Downhill Racer

5
/5

Release Date

November 6, 1969

Runtime

101 Minutes

Director

Michael Ritchie

One of the most unsung films of the Hollywood New Wave, Downhill Racer is a masterpiece of introspection and psychoanalysis. While Robert Redford deservedly gets most of the credit for his painfully complicated characterization of a skiing champion whose very soul has frozen over, Gene Hackman gives a perfect performance as well.

Mastering a Supporting Character

The film may be a character study of Redford’s David, but Hackman is incredible as an increasingly stressed coach having to continuously inspire, placate, and bullsh*t others while his own emotions tie in knots.

‘Superman’

Superman

5
/5

Release Date

December 15, 1978

Runtime

143 Minutes

The father of the modern superhero movie, 1978’s Superman remains one of the most influential films of the genre while also standing tall as an all-American classic. Everyone knows the story, but this version of the tale brought together some of the best and most accessible work of numerous great artists.

The Iconic Lex Luthor

Just think about the names involved here. There’s the now-iconic John Williams score, the pitch-perfect characterization and physicality of Christopher Reeve, the entertaining and epic direction from Richard Donner, the purely cinematic images from 2001: A Space Odyssey cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth, and the excellent supporting cast (Marlon Brando, Margot Kidder, Jackie Cooper, Ned Beatty, Terence Stamp, Susannah York, Trevor Howard, Glenn Ford, and, of course, Gene Hackman as the infamous Lex Luthor. Hackman’s depiction is more grounded than most, almost like a ’70s swinger and a wealthy yuppie who is compelled to a pissing contest with the Man of Steel. He returned in the sequel and remains arguably the best Lex Luthor ever put to film.

‘Bonnie and Clyde’

Bonnie and Clyde

5
/5

Release Date

July 18, 1967

Runtime

111 minutes

Director

Arthur Penn

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The first Oscar nomination for Gene Hackman just as the new era for Hollywood was underway. Bonnie and Clyde was like a shot of adrenaline for the industry at the time, bringing the youthful anarchy, shocking violence, wild jump cuts, and sexy style of the French New Wave to Hollywood. It was a major moment in film history and in Gene Hackman’s career.

A Charismatic Trash-Talker

Having the trouble of playing what should be the least likable of the bunch, getting picked up in the middle of the gang’s crime spree, Hackman plays the trash talker who no one is impressed by. Showing a knack early, for bringing some sense of charisma, swagger, and obnoxious shit-heel behavior. Hackman set a precedent that would follow a career of incredible performances.

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‘Scarecrow’

Scarecrow

5
/5

Release Date

April 11, 1973

Runtime

112 minutes

Director

Jerry Schatzberg

Writers

Garry Michael White

Producers

Robert M. Sherman

An underrated gem from the new wave of American cinema in the early 70s, Scarecrow teamed Al Pacino with director Jerry Schatzberg after their success with Panic in Needle Park. Schatzberg captured that same hot-blooded energy with gleeful abandon, and Gene Hackman was the perfect companion for the budding superstar. The two played off each other as drifters who needlessly argued and chased their desires on an endless road trip.

Gene Hackman & Al Pacino

Hackman was perfect as he improvises reactions, playing loosely with the character as he and Pacino find each other on-screen. His audacious approach to acting imbues the character with the classic Hackman sheen of grit, but also, as his love for Pacino’s character grows, the heart and soul of the picture become imbued with Hackman’s uncanny ability to bring humanity to every role.

‘Night Moves’

Night Moves

5
/5

Release Date

February 27, 1975

Runtime

100 Minutes

Director

Arthur Penn

Night Moves is a film that would shape the rest of Gene Hackman’s career. An initial commercial failure led Hackman to take fewer chances and opt to make more mainstream films (albeit with a high success rate). Hackman strayed from pursuing the lean character work he did in Night Moves, which is one of his subtlest, most intense performances and a masterpiece of the ’70s.

A Neo-Noir Masterpiece

Hackman plays a hardened private eye, looking to wrestle with what he has left of his personal life as he navigates the shoddy waters of Hollywood before being transported to the muddy swamps of Florida. Hackman does incredible work as the mystery all but appears to be background noise for him to discover himself and then concludes with an earth-shattering finale: a death-defying plane chase on par with Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest. Night Moves takes the trappings of noir and flips them inside out.

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‘Unforgiven’

Unforgiven

5
/5

Release Date

August 7, 1992

Runtime

130 Mins

Clint Eastwood’s revisionist Western Unforgiven, where he takes apart the lone gun persona he played across decades, was a staggering career work of genius. However, Gene Hackman’s performance as the abusive sheriff stole the show. Hackman bought his seasoned grit and hardness to the role that helped win him his second Oscar.

A Rare, Nasty Villain

Hackman was at his most sadistic playing the nasty sheriff Bill Daggett. Banning guns from his town and dishing out daily beatings, his violence as a sheriff brings in the retired killer of Eastwood to a memorable final showdown. Hackman always had the tough-as-nails persona in his roles, but this was him at his villainous worst.

‘The Conversation’

Gene Hackman’s run in the 1970s hit a peak in 1974. Francis Ford Coppola casually made another masterpiece in the middle of making the first two Godfather films, this time with Hackman at the center. The Conversation sits atop the mountain of his long, storied career. Playing Henry Caul, a surveillance expert caught up in a mystery that brings up memories of his past, Caul begins to unravel.

A Masterfully Paranoid & Lonely Performance

In a performance riddled with guilt, paranoia, and anxiety, Hackman matches Coppola’s direction at every pitch and frequency. Hackman succumbs to the weight of destroying a sense of privacy within a relationship, but also losing any sense of privacy within himself, as his past destroys his psyche. Hackman captured the embrace of these technologies that made it possible to listen to and observe from a distance with a tragically human performance.