Best gibson films... he act he direct...

[avstract]

Well this actor is a vesatile one! I lobe the movies he made and the movies that he is one of the casting.
Anyway my favorite movies by Gobson are Braveheart and Apocalypto! I guess these 2 movies are the best of all!
What's yours?

[PeteLeo]

For my money, his best work remains the original LETHAL WEAPON. I love it when he handcuffs himself to the would-be suicide who abruptly decides he wants to live when Mel jumps off of the building and when the lead Bad Guy says smugly, "There are no more heroes," just before Gibson bursts into the room carrying one dead Bad Guy and begins breaking necks right and left.

I also enjoy THE ROAD WARRIOR (U.S. title -- MAD MAX II in Australia) quite a bit. PeteLeo.

[hawk5ins]

(I really don't care for the person, Mel Gibson, a whole lot), My absolute favorite Gibson Movie has to be Gallipoli.

While it was more a charecter study than a War movie, it is one of my favorite War movies and easily one of my top 10 favorite (probably top 5) overall movies of all time.

Simply stated a flawlessly brilliant film. And IMO, Gibson's best acting job of his career.

Hawk

[TDKO]

Agreed....

As a person Gibson is very flawed (aren't we all)....

But for some reason every time the movie "Payback " is on cable I can't
resist......and cannot imagine anybody doing a better job in that role!

Gallipoli is one of his best

[Zevl]

The Year of Living Dangerously is, without a doubt my fave. Gallipoli is another excellent movie.

[KOJOE90]

Mad Max I & II or the only Gibson films I have really enjoyed to be honest.

[hagler04]

(I really don't care for the person, Mel Gibson, a whole lot), My absolute favorite Gibson Movie has to be Gallipoli.

While it was more a charecter study than a War movie, it is one of my favorite War movies and easily one of my top 10 favorite (probably top 5) overall movies of all time.

Simply stated a flawlessly brilliant film. And IMO, Gibson's best acting job of his career.

Hawk

Good call. Mostly unknown film but I saw it a few years ago and was literally wowed. Definetely one of the best anti-war pictures ever made.

Personally he seems like he has a few screws loose, but I'm usually a fan of his movies (though he of course had a few complete duds). Braveheart, the Lethal Weapon series etc. were all crowd-pleasing. Call me of poor taste, I even thought "Bird on a Wire" was mildly entertaining!

[Phillyfan]

not in many really bad movies. Give him credit for taking on hamlet. although I thought he was wrong for lead in maverick. movies I especially like, mad max 2, lethal weapon, payback, we were soldiers, and signs. also thought he did well as voice of rocky in chicken run. He has personal issues, which I don't care about since he's not comming over for dinner anytime soon. I'll take one of his movies over all of tom cruises movies anyday.

[Paulie W]

But for some reason every time the movie "Payback " is on cable I can't
resist......and cannot imagine anybody doing a better job in that role!

Lee Marvin, maybe!

[hawk5ins]

It's funny that you mention Tom Cruise here. There are a decent number of films Cruise has made that I enjoy. Didn't care for any of the Mission Impossibles, his gay vampire movie with Brad Pitt or his arrogant-not-so-bad-guy-who-finally-sees-the-light-and-overcomes-deepseeded-personal-issues-to-come-out-a-better-person-in-the-end vehicle that he has used umpteen times, also has worn on me (Top Gun, that Nascar movie, Rainman, Cocktail, etc.). But I do like the Firm. Alot. Laughed my head off at Ricky Business. Really enjoyed Collateral (though truth be told it's cause I'm a Micheal Mann fan) and tend to get sucked into the Minority Report whenever it's on. Same with A Few Good Men, even though that totally falls into the aforementioned "Top Gun theme" as well. And he did do some fine acting in Color of Money and Born on the 4th of July. So not ALL of his movies suck. But many do.

But getting to the Gibson comparison. Mel has made several very good movies. As a person, I don't think very highly at all about him. Now some may say that this is a politically based opinion. Well politics has something to do with it. But it mostly is becuase I think what we have seen of the man in the police blotters is really the true picture of him.

That said, I also think Tom Cruise is a complete whack job and that is based on his religion/Science Fiction, and not his politics. And I wish Brooke Shields would have taken a Post Partum moment and kicked the snot out him personally. What would that have been the equvilant of? Foster Tiger as far as Height went?

As a registered Democrat, one would think I would embrace Sean Penn, who probably is the best of the three actors. Penn is a brilliant actor. At Close Range, Falcon and the Snowman, Colors, State of Grace, Mystic River, 21 Grams. As an actor, there aren't many better.

But to paraphrase you Philly, I wouldn't want that guy at my dinner table anytime soon. He like the other two, is a bit over the top in their personal life agendas for my taste. Plus I think the over under is the Sorbet part of the meal, before or after he takes a swing at you.

I won't try to pretend to know any of these three, but from what I have seen, outside of their work on the Silver Screen, I would not want anything to do with any of them. But I do enjoy many of thier movies.

As far as the Flawed part of this goes with these guys..... I think I'm flawed. becuase to be perfect, means you have no flaws. But I do think there are degrees of being flawed. My degree doesn't quite reach getting pulled over drunk by the cops and asking what thier religious or ethnic background is and or make broadbrushed commentary about who started what wars or having a dad who thinks that the Holocaust never really happened.

"Flawed" is just a bit too PC for me. Gibson isn't "flawed". He's more than just a bit Flocked in the head if you ask me. But he's a very good actor. Doesn't exscuse or make up for his vile personal viewpoints. But he has made some movies that I do enjoy very much.

Gallipoli, being at the top of the list of any of the aforementioned actors works that I have mentioned here.

Hawk

[TKO11]

Finally, someone mentions a movie in this thread that I think was utterly brilliant. Hawk - "State of Grace" is in my personal top 5. Many seem to think that Gary Oldman is some kind of superstar actor - I can take him or leave him. EXCEPT in "State of Grace". He was BORN to play that role. Everyone in that movie shone; Penn, Wright, Oldman, Harris, Reilly... What a frickin' great movie.

Of course, it might be because I'm Irish. That dust-up they all had while shaking down the pub owner for the cases of whisky - I've been in several situations just like that, where you and your boys end up fighting each other more than the guys you came to fight. Love the Irish. And Oldman standing back yelling, "Fuck you. Shut up! No, you shut up. Fuck you!" I was on the floor.

[Phillyfan]

Lee Marvin, maybe!

charles bronson or steve mcqueen would have been good also. I think gibson might be this generations bronson.

as for tom cruise. I just can't stand the guy. I think he deserves too much credit and gets too much money and respect for his ability. risky business was good. Other than that, he had great supporting cast that saved some of his other movies. kelly mcgillis and the jets in top gun, hoffman in rainman, nicholson in a few good men, ken watanabe in the last samurai. He has too high a pitched voice so when he screams out a serious line, its laughable. it seems the rest of his movies become more about tom cruise than they do about the story. Mission impossible had nothing to do with the original except for the name and soundtrack. It was more like the Tom Cruise movie 1,2,and 3. Cruise does not make a movie better, he takes away from a movie.

I don't mind sean penn. Its funny, I'm reading john leguizamos auto and he describes certain actors like sean penn and al pacino that are boring in real life, yet dynamite on the screen. Method actors that become immersed in their roles.
Brad Pitt is a very good actor, rarely in a bad movie. Everyone wants him to fail, yet he helps make a movie. I even enjoyed Troy although everyone gave it a bad rap.
Forrest whittacre is another very good actor. In the last king of scotland, you see idi amin on the screen, not whitacre.
Tom Hanks. I think only hanks could have done forrest gump and castaway.
I just don't get the same feeling about cruise.

[Phillyfan]

Here's a funny line from leguizamos book. He's talking about the writer of carlitos way. He used to be a judge in NY. They called him the time machine because he always sent you away for a long time. Anyway , he says to one perp, "you're parole officer hasn't even been born yet".

[TKO11]

Phillyfan - you're not the only one down on Cruise, but I don't get why so many people disregard him as an actor. Yes, he's a nutjob in his life, but I couldn't give two shits about how he is in life - mainly because I don't know him. It might bother me if he lives next door, but since he doesn't....

I find him tremendously versatile. He can play a complete shithead ("Color of Money", "Rain Man", "Collateral"), the good ol' boy trying like hell to succeed with all the odds against him ("Far and Away", "Jerry Maguire"), or even a 'lost soul' ("Magnolia", "Eyes Wide Shut" - which incidentally I thought was astounding, even though everyone else hates it). He is a very talented actor.

I can take or leave his action movies and his so-called "blockbusters", but he can really deliver a performance. But because he's a pretty boy and real-life tabloid fodder, I think he's terribly unappreciated. I think that, much like a John Wayne, his popularity works against him when people rate his work, but that as time goes on people will see that he's been chewing the scenery all along.

[hagler04]

Phillyfan - you're not the only one down on Cruise, but I don't get why so many people disregard him as an actor. Yes, he's a nutjob in his life, but I couldn't give two shits about how he is in life - mainly because I don't know him. It might bother me if he lives next door, but since he doesn't....

I find him tremendously versatile. He can play a complete shithead ("Color of Money", "Rain Man", "Collateral"), the good ol' boy trying like hell to succeed with all the odds against him ("Far and Away", "Jerry Maguire"), or even a 'lost soul' ("Magnolia", "Eyes Wide Shut" - which incidentally I thought was astounding, even though everyone else hates it). He is a very talented actor.

I can take or leave his action movies and his so-called "blockbusters", but he can really deliver a performance. But because he's a pretty boy and real-life tabloid fodder, I think he's terribly unappreciated. I think that, much like a John Wayne, his popularity works against him when people rate his work, but that as time goes on people will see that he's been chewing the scenery all along.

I have to agree, I think he's a tremondously under-rated actor. His part in Born on the 4th of July was incredible . . .an excellent job. Movies like Color of Money, Cocktail, and Top Gun aren't works of art, but hell they were entertaining, and Cruise was cocky without ever rubbing me the wrong way (and they guy's so tiny how could I ever be that jealous? ) Jerry Maguire remains probably the greatest mixture of sports/romantic comedy put on screen.
Much of his work is classic Hollywood escapism. For most people, that's what the movies are all about.

[Phillyfan]

I can't really escape into his movies because it seems they revolve more around him than they do the story. . Some actors, tom hanks, edward norton, wesley snipes, paul giammatti, I like, other actors, tom cruise, nick cage, stallone, aren't believable to me. They don't pull me in.
Paul Giamatti has grown by leaps and bounds from the howard stern movie to his latest with edward norton, the illusionist. A versatility I don't get from cruise. just a personal preference.