Want to know the best Anthony Hopkins movies? How about the worst Anthony Hopkins movies? Curious about Anthony Hopkins box office grosses or which Anthony Hopkins movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Anthony Hopkins movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which ones got the worst? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
I have received not one, not two but three requests to do a movie page on Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (1937-), best known as Anthony Hopkins. The first time I noticed Anthony Hopkins was in his role in A Bridge Too Far in 1977. In a movie loaded with stars, I thought his role as Colonel Frost was one of the best parts in the movie. His most famous role is playing Hannibal Lecter in the Silence of the Lambs trilogy. He has appeared in over 60 movies since 1968. He has received three Oscar® nominations for Best Actor (Silence of the Lambs, Remains of the Day, Nixon) and one Oscar® nomination for Best Supporting Actor (Amistad). He won the Oscar® for Best Actor in Silence of the Lambs.
His IMDb page shows over 135 acting credits since 1965. This page will rank 69 Anthony Hopkins movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies that were not released in theaters were not included in the rankings.
Anthony Hopkins Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Year
Movie (Year)
Rating
S
Year Movie (Year) Rating S
1991
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
AA Best Picture Win
AA Best Actor Win
1968
The Lion in Winter (1968)
AA Best Picture Nom
2017
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
1992
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
1998
The Mask of Zorro (1998)
1980
The Elephant Man (1980)
AA Best Picture Nom
2011
Thor (2011)
1977
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
2013
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
1992
Howards End (1992)
AA Best Picture Nom
2002
Red Dragon (2002)
1993
The Remains of the Day (1993)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Actor Nom
1994
Legends of the Fall (1994)
2001
Hannibal (2001)
2014
Noah (2014)
1978
Magic (1978)
2007
Beowulf (2007)
1997
Amistad (1997)
AA Best Supp Actor Nom
1993
Shadowlands (1993)
2020
The Father (2020)
AA Best Actor Win
2007
Fracture (2007)
1998
Meet Joe Black (1998)
1995
Nixon (1995)
AA Best Actor Nom
2019
The Two Popes (2019)
Netflix
AA Best Supp Actor Nom
1997
The Edge (1997)
2017
Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
2013
Red 2 (2013)
2005
The World's Fastest Indian (2005)
1984
The Bounty (1984)
1980
A Change of Seasons (1980)
1987
84 Charing Cross Road (1987)
2010
The Wolfman (2010)
2024
One Life (2024)
2001
Hearts in Atlantis (2001)
1992
Chaplin (1992)
1972
Young Winston (1972)
2005
Proof (2005)
1999
Titus (1999)
1969
Hamlet (1969)
1999
Instinct (1999)
2012
Hitchcock (2012)
1985
The Good Father (1985)
2022
Armageddon Time (2022)
2006
Bobby (2006)
1974
Juggernaut (1974)
1992
The Efficiency Expert (1992)
1978
International Velvet (1978)
2015
Kidnapping Mr. Heineken (2015)
Limited Release
1977
Audrey Rose (1977)
2023
Freud's Last Session (2023)
Limited Release
2003
The Human Stain (2003)
2022
The Son (2022)
Film Festival Circuit Only
2011
The Rite (2011)
2018
King Lear (2018)
Prime Video
2010
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010)
2004
Alexander (2004)
1988
The Dawning (1988)
1971
When Eight Bells Toll (1971)
1994
The Road to Wellville (1994)
1973
A Doll's House (I) (1973)
2015
Solace (2015)
1990
Desperate Hours (1990)
2002
Bad Company (2002)
1989
A Chorus of Disapproval (1989)
1996
Surviving Picasso (1996)
2003
Shortcut to Happiness (a.k.a. The Devil and Daniel Webster) (2007)
2019
Now Is Everything (2019)
2016
Misconduct (2016)
2009
The City of Your Final Destination (2009)
2016
Collide (2016)
2023
Rebel Moon: Part 1 A Child Of Fire (2023)
Netflix
Voice Only
1970
The Looking Glass War (1970)
1974
The Girl From Petrovka (1974)
1992
Freejack (1992)
2024
Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver (2024)
Netflix
Voice Only
1993
The Trial (1993)
2021
The Virtuoso (2021)
2011
360 (2011)
2007
Slipstream (2007)
1993
The Innocent (1993)
2006
All the King's Men (2006)
2020
Elyse (2020)
1996
August (1996)
2015
Blackway (2015)
Anthony Hopkins Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Anthony Hopkins movies by co-stars of his movies.
- Sort Anthony Hopkins movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Anthony Hopkins movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Anthony Hopkins movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Anthony Hopkins movie received.
- Sort Anthony Hopkins movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
- Use the sort and search buttons to make this a very interactive table.
R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Actual B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | B.O. Rank by Year | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | S |
1 | The Silence of the Lambs (1991) AA Best Picture Win AA Best Actor Win |
Jodie Foster | 130.70 | 334.8 | 698.40 | 4 | 91 | 07 / 05 | 99.9 | |
2 | The Lion in Winter (1968) AA Best Picture Nom |
Katharine Hepburn & Peter O'Toole |
28.60 | 235.2 | 235.20 | 10 | 88 | 07 / 03 | 99.6 | |
3 | Thor: Ragnarok (2017) | Chris Hemsworth & Mark Ruffalo |
315.10 | 378.6 | 1,026.60 | 8 | 85 | 00 / 00 | 98.3 | |
5 | Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) | Keanu Reeves & Gary Oldman |
82.50 | 214.4 | 560.70 | 15 | 73 | 04 / 03 | 97.4 | |
6 | The Mask of Zorro (1998) | Antonio Banderas | 94.10 | 216.3 | 575.30 | 18 | 73 | 02 / 00 | 96.4 | |
8 | The Elephant Man (1980) AA Best Picture Nom |
John Hurt | 27.90 | 115.8 | 115.80 | 28 | 88 | 08 / 00 | 96.1 | |
7 | Thor (2011) | Natalie Portman | 181.00 | 246.1 | 610.80 | 10 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 95.6 | |
9 | A Bridge Too Far (1977) | Sean Connery & Michael Caine |
56.80 | 274.4 | 274.40 | 9 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 95.1 | |
10 | Thor: The Dark World (2013) | Natalie Portman | 206.40 | 273.6 | 855.00 | 12 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 94.6 | |
10 | Howards End (1992) AA Best Picture Nom |
Emma Thompson | 26.10 | 67.9 | 67.90 | 48 | 88 | 09 / 03 | 93.3 | |
13 | Red Dragon (2002) | Edward Norton | 93.10 | 173.1 | 388.80 | 28 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 92.8 | |
12 | The Remains of the Day (1993) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Actor Nom |
Emma Thompson | 23.20 | 60.5 | 167.30 | 65 | 90 | 08 / 00 | 91.9 | |
14 | Legends of the Fall (1994) | Brad Pitt | 66.60 | 176.1 | 424.40 | 18 | 62 | 03 / 01 | 91.8 | |
12 | Hannibal (2001) | Julianne Moore | 165.10 | 315.0 | 671.00 | 12 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 91.1 | |
16 | Noah (2014) | Russell Crowe | 101.20 | 133.5 | 478.50 | 33 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 90.0 | |
18 | Magic (1978) | Ann-Margret | 29.50 | 135.8 | 135.80 | 21 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 88.1 | |
17 | Beowulf (2007) | Angelina Jolie | 82.30 | 128.9 | 307.70 | 33 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 87.5 | |
17 | Amistad (1997) AA Best Supp Actor Nom |
Directed by Steven Spielberg | 44.20 | 103.9 | 153.40 | 48 | 73 | 04 / 00 | 87.5 | |
19 | Shadowlands (1993) | Debra Winger | 25.80 | 67.3 | 67.30 | 59 | 84 | 02 / 00 | 86.7 | |
20 | The Father (2020) AA Best Actor Win |
Olivia Colman | 0.40 | 0.5 | 0.50 | 73 | 87 | 06 / 02 | 83.9 | |
22 | Fracture (2007) | Ryan Gosling | 39.00 | 61.1 | 143.10 | 70 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 79.1 | |
24 | Meet Joe Black (1998) | Brad Pitt | 44.60 | 102.6 | 328.50 | 45 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 75.7 | |
23 | Nixon (1995) AA Best Actor Nom |
Joan Allen | 13.70 | 33.9 | 33.90 | 98 | 73 | 04 / 00 | 75.2 | |
24 | The Two Popes (2019) Netflix AA Best Supp Actor Nom |
Jonathan Pryce | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 272 | 84 | 03 / 00 | 74.4 | |
26 | The Edge (1997) | Alec Baldwin | 27.90 | 65.5 | 101.70 | 74 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 71.3 | |
26 | Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) | Mark Wahlberg | 130.20 | 156.4 | 727.60 | 24 | 33 | 00 / 00 | 70.8 | |
28 | Red 2 (2013) | Bruce Willis | 53.30 | 70.6 | 196.30 | 66 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 70.7 | |
28 | The World's Fastest Indian (2005) | Diane Ladd | 5.10 | 8.6 | 30.80 | 162 | 79 | 00 / 00 | 69.5 | |
27 | The Bounty (1984) | Mel Gibson | 8.60 | 27.6 | 27.60 | 85 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 69.5 | |
31 | A Change of Seasons (1980) | Shirley MacLaine | 16.90 | 70.1 | 70.10 | 46 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 65.1 | |
29 | 84 Charing Cross Road (1987) | Anne Bancroft | 1.10 | 3.0 | 3.00 | 170 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 64.0 | |
32 | The Wolfman (2010) | Benicio Del Toro | 62.00 | 84.7 | 191.00 | 53 | 47 | 01 / 01 | 61.6 | |
32 | One Life (2024) | Helena Bonham Carter | 5.50 | 5.5 | 32.00 | 93 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 59.9 | |
33 | Hearts in Atlantis (2001) | Anton Yelchin | 24.20 | 46.1 | 59.00 | 91 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 59.2 | |
34 | Chaplin (1992) | Robert Downey Jr. | 9.50 | 24.7 | 24.70 | 97 | 62 | 03 / 00 | 55.3 | |
36 | Young Winston (1972) | Robert Shaw | 6.50 | 41.3 | 41.30 | 55 | 57 | 03 / 00 | 55.1 | |
35 | Proof (2005) | Gwyneth Paltrow | 7.50 | 12.7 | 23.90 | 157 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 54.2 | |
37 | Titus (1999) | Jessica Lange | 2.00 | 4.3 | 4.30 | 177 | 68 | 01 / 00 | 51.6 | |
38 | Hamlet (1969) | Nicol Williamson | 0.90 | 6.5 | 6.50 | 146 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 48.3 | |
39 | Instinct (1999) | Cuba Gooding Jr. | 34.10 | 72.7 | 78.20 | 59 | 46 | 00 / 00 | 48.0 | |
40 | Hitchcock (2012) | Helen Mirren & Scarlett Johansson |
6.00 | 8.1 | 31.90 | 142 | 65 | 01 / 00 | 46.9 | |
41 | The Good Father (1985) | Jim Broadbent | 0.40 | 1.3 | 1.30 | 169 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 46.5 | |
41 | Armageddon Time (2022) | Anne Hathaway | 1.80 | 1.8 | 3.20 | 109 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 42.5 | |
42 | Bobby (2006) | Shia LaBeouf | 11.20 | 18.4 | 33.90 | 154 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 40.8 | |
44 | Juggernaut (1974) | Richard Harris | 4.50 | 26.2 | 26.20 | 66 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 39.4 | |
46 | The Efficiency Expert (1992) | Russell Crowe | 0.20 | 0.5 | 0.50 | 202 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 38.3 | |
45 | International Velvet (1978) | Christopher Plummer | 2.20 | 10.2 | 10.20 | 111 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 36.0 | |
46 | Kidnapping Mr. Heineken (2015) Limited Release |
Sam Worthington | 0.10 | 0.1 | 4.10 | 337 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 35.6 | |
49 | Audrey Rose (1977) | Marsha Mason | 5.40 | 26.1 | 26.10 | 81 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 31.6 | |
49 | Freud's Last Session (2023) Limited Release |
Matthew Goode | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 292 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 29.8 | |
50 | The Human Stain (2003) | Nicole Kidman | 5.40 | 9.6 | 44.40 | 144 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 28.8 | |
52 | The Son (2022) Film Festival Circuit Only |
Hugh Jackman | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.20 | 325 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 28.2 | |
55 | The Rite (2011) | Colin O'Donoghue | 33.00 | 44.9 | 132.10 | 97 | 41 | 00 / 00 | 23.7 | |
54 | King Lear (2018) Prime Video |
Emma Thompson & Jim Broadbent |
0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 307 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 23.4 | |
54 | You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010) | Directed by Woody Allen | 3.20 | 4.4 | 46.80 | 150 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 22.8 | |
55 | Alexander (2004) | Colin Farrell & Angelina Jolie |
34.30 | 59.5 | 290.40 | 81 | 38 | 00 / 00 | 22.3 | |
56 | The Dawning (1988) | Hugh Grant & Trevor Howard |
0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 274 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 20.6 | |
57 | When Eight Bells Toll (1971) | Jack Hawkins | 1.40 | 9.4 | 9.40 | 142 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 20.4 | |
58 | The Road to Wellville (1994) | John Cusack | 6.60 | 17.3 | 17.30 | 135 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 19.1 | |
59 | A Doll's House (I) (1973) | Claire Bloom | 1.90 | 11.4 | 11.40 | 126 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 19.0 | |
60 | Solace (2015) | Colin Farrell | 0.10 | 0.1 | 30.20 | 301 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 18.1 | |
62 | Desperate Hours (1990) | Mickey Rourke | 2.70 | 7.0 | 7.00 | 134 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 17.2 | |
62 | Bad Company (2002) | Chris Rock | 30.20 | 56.1 | 122.60 | 89 | 35 | 00 / 00 | 16.3 | |
63 | A Chorus of Disapproval (1989) | Jeremy Irons | 0.20 | 0.6 | 0.60 | 192 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 15.5 | |
64 | Surviving Picasso (1996) | Julianne Moore | 2.00 | 4.9 | 4.90 | 182 | 50 | 00 / 00 | 15.3 | |
65 | Shortcut to Happiness (a.k.a. The Devil and Daniel Webster) (2007) | Alec Baldwin & Dan Aykroyd |
0.10 | 0.2 | 0.20 | 248 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 14.5 | |
66 | Now Is Everything (2019) | Ray Nicholson | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 348 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 14.4 | |
67 | Misconduct (2016) | Al Pacino & Julia Stiles |
0.10 | 0.1 | 2.60 | 369 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 13.7 | |
69 | The City of Your Final Destination (2009) | Charlotte Gainsbourg | 0.50 | 0.7 | 1.90 | 224 | 50 | 00 / 00 | 13.2 | |
70 | Collide (2016) | Ben Kingsley | 2.30 | 2.8 | 6.00 | 197 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 12.3 | |
71 | Rebel Moon: Part 1 A Child Of Fire (2023) Netflix Voice Only |
Djimon Hounsou | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 240 | 48 | 00 / 00 | 10.9 | |
72 | The Looking Glass War (1970) | Ralph Richardson | 1.70 | 11.6 | 11.60 | 116 | 44 | 00 / 00 | 10.6 | |
73 | The Girl From Petrovka (1974) | Goldie Hawn | 2.40 | 13.6 | 13.60 | 102 | 43 | 00 / 00 | 10.2 | |
74 | Freejack (1992) | Emilio Estevez | 17.10 | 44.5 | 44.50 | 72 | 33 | 00 / 00 | 10.0 | |
74 | Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver (2024) Netflix Voice Only |
Sofia Boutella & Cary Elwes |
0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 206 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 9.9 | |
76 | The Trial (1993) | Kyle MacLachlan & Jason Robards |
0.10 | 0.3 | 0.30 | 222 | 46 | 00 / 00 | 8.5 | |
76 | The Virtuoso (2021) | Abbie Cornish | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 203 | 44 | 00 / 00 | 6.5 | |
77 | 360 (2011) | Rachel Weisz & Jude Law |
0.10 | 0.1 | 5.60 | 241 | 43 | 00 / 00 | 5.9 | |
78 | Slipstream (2007) | Directed by Anthony Hopkins | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 303 | 42 | 00 / 00 | 5.3 | |
79 | The Innocent (1993) | Isabella Rossellini | 0.50 | 1.4 | 1.40 | 201 | 41 | 00 / 00 | 4.9 | |
80 | All the King's Men (2006) | Sean Penn | 7.20 | 11.8 | 15.50 | 171 | 37 | 00 / 00 | 4.8 | |
81 | Elyse (2020) | Lisa Pepper | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 187 | 41 | 00 / 00 | 4.4 | |
82 | August (1996) | Leslie Phillips | 0.10 | 0.2 | 0.20 | 253 | 38 | 00 / 00 | 3.0 | |
83 | Blackway (2015) | Julia Stiles | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 225 | 36 | 00 / 00 | 2.3 |
Steve’s Anthony Hopkins You Tube Video
Check out Anthony Hopkins’s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.
For comments….all you need is a name and a comment….please ignore the rest.
Anthony Hopkins is the # 16 most connected actor of the 1990’s and the #31 most connected of the 2010’s.
Happy 81st birthday to Sir Anthony Hopkins
Thanks Flora….81? He is doing very well at 81….hope we can all be doing as well, when we reach that age.
SIR ANTHONY HOPKINS VIDEO. ENTRIES 50-26 Best POSTERS for me are (1) Transformers (2) Road to Wellville (3) Collide (4) The Wolf Man (5) Eight Bells Toll (6) Audrey Rose (7) foreign language one for Solace (8) Surviving Picasso**(9) Noah (10) 1st one for Red Dragon (11) both for Beowulf and (12) 1st one for Juggernaut
**COINCIDENCE Sir Tony always spoke highly of Brando and at one stage Marlon was scheduled to play Picasso but the project fell through.
ENTRIES 1-25. For my money the most pleasing POSTERS are (1) Hamlet (2) Mask of Zorro (3) 1st one for Titus (4) 1st one for The Bounty [I don’t think I have ever seen Tony’s Bligh/Gibson’s Christian (5) the World’s Fastest Indian (6) Thor Dark World (7) ALL for Thor Ragnarok (8) 2nd for Howard’s End (9) both for Elephant Man and (10) Lion in Winter
My pick of the STILLS over the entire video is as follows (1) Transformers (2) with Robert Morely (3) The Rite (4) Red 2 (5) Magic (6) 2 for Hitchcock (7)Amistad (8) Thor (9) Nixon (10) The Bounty (11) in Alucard [in this still, with the beard Tony looks remarmakly like Brando’s Sir William Walker in 1969’s Quiemada] (12) The Elephant Man (13) Lion in Winter and (14) ever iconic as Dr Lecter.
You and The Work Horse have almost a full house agreeing on 5 of Sir Tony’s 6 best reviewed movies. In his 6 Bruce goes for Thor Ragnarok whereas you prefer Shadowlands. I haven’t seen Ragnarok but Shadowlands is a respectable top 6 entry. I thought your video was one of your best and well worth 98.5%.
Hey Bob….good breakdown of Steve’s video and Sir Anthony’s career. This is actually one of the oldest pages out there. One of my buddies suggested this page when we were first starting out at Hub Pages. He has been pretty busy over those last 8 years…and we have had to update this page many times as he keeps making movies. Ragnarok is pretty good….though Hopkins’ part is pretty small…after 20 minutes of the movie he will never be seen again. Good to know Steve and I see closely the same think in our rankings. Thanks for putting the comment on both pages. You are the man.
For virtually quarter of a century before he played Hannibal Lecter Sir Anthony Hopkins had been consistently turning in fine performances and for example earned a BAFTA nomination for 1972’s War and Peace, secured a Golden Globe nomination for Magic in 1978, won an Emmy award for playing Hitler in 1981’s The Bunker, and also won an award at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1987 for 84 Charing Cross Road
Sir A’s net worth is said to be $160 million. Overall IMDB credits him with 50 acting awards and 63 nominations and ranks him 8th in its self-proclaimed “Ultimate” list of the 100 greatest actors of all time, above even Tracy and Olivier. The Top 10 in ranked order
1/Jack Nicholson
2/Marlon Brando
3/Robert DeNiro
4/Al Pacino
5/Daniel Day-Lewis
6/Dustin Hoffman
7/Tom Hanks
8/Sir Anthony Hopkins
9/Paul Newman
10/Denzel Washington
SELECTED OTHERS IN RANKED ORDER
11/Spencer Tracy
12/Lord Olivier
14/Sir Maurice Micklewhite
32/Gregory Peck
43/Cary Grant
88/Chuck Heston
89/Gene Kelly
Good list Bob. Not thinking many people are going to have Anthony Hopkins ranked that high. So kudos to IMDb for listing him that high. He did not make my Top 50 in our book. He does get a few mentions in that book. Looks like Sir Anthony did a good job of investing his money…..that is a pretty hefty number when looking at his net worth. Good stuff.
Hi Bob, thanks for the review, generous rating, info trivia, star chart, always appreciated. Glad you liked the video, posters and stills.
I was planning to make this a top 40 but there were too many interesting movies to leave out regardless of the ratings, so it morphed into a top 50.
Is that list in your post voted for by IMDB members? It’s interesting that Robert De Niro’s 15 years worth of low grade comedies hasn’t affected his standing as a great actor.
I watched The Bounty recently, along with the Clark Gable and Brando versions. The 1984 edition is the least impressive of the three but does contain Anthony Hopkins as an increasingly psychotic Bligh, screaming at Mel Gibson’s Christian for no good reason. Christian eventually flips too and we’ve seen how crazy Gibson can get from the Lethal Weapon series.
In this version of The Bounty Bligh and Christian are friends before the voyage starts which is fairly accurate since they already knew each other historically. Plus there’s a happy ending for Bligh as he’s exonerated of any blame for the mutiny and commended for making that long voyage to an English port in a small open boat.
6 Hopkins movies scored 10 out of 10 from my sources, which also happens to be the top six movies on my chart –
The Silence of the Lambs
The Lion in Winter
The Elephant Man
The Remains of the Day
Howards End
Shadowlands
Two more scored 9 – Bram Stoker’s Dracula and 84 Charing Cross Road. 8 more scored 8 out of 10.
Lambs tops the charts at IMDB and Rottern Tomatoes and on Bruce’s UMR and critics charts too. Thor Ragnarok is his biggest grosser.
Hopkins on Laurence Olivier – “He was a pretty colorful personality. He had tremendous drive, and ambition, and was a real force. A very nice guy and a titanic talent. His sort of talent has, in the eyes of cynics, become rather unfashionable. There are people who knock Olivier quite often, but not a single one of them could ever touch him in terms of talent. I thought he was an extraordinary man.”
Hopkins on Brando – “He was fascinating to watch, he could do anything. It was the ‘screw you’ attitude. That takes tremendous courage or tremendous folly.”
“I think the first British actor who really worked well in cinema was Albert Finney. He was a back-street Marlon Brando. He brought a great wittiness and power to the screen. The best actor we’ve had.”
“Over the years I worked with a couple of younger actors who reminded me of myself. I like bad boys. I worked with Russell Crowe in Australia before he became a star. Russell is a bad boy. I think he is terrific. Richard Burton was a bad boy, but he shook the rafters of the world. I think it is good to be bad – I was bad all my life. I still am.”
“How do you play Hannibal Lecter? Well just don’t move. Scare people by being still.”
HI STEVE Thanks for your feedback on my Sir Tony posts and for the background information on the Hopkins/Gibson Bounty. I personally have not seen any explanation from IMDB as to how they arrive at the selections for their ranking lists and the orders of merit.
They seem to update them periodically. The previous [ie pre 2012 one] had ole Mumbles No 1 and Nicholson No 2. However it is in a way fitting that those two great pals in real life should be jostling each other for the top spot.
I’m sure though that those in the Top 10 of the 2012 list would appear on ANY list that named 100 actors with only the ranking placings and order varying.
Interest quotes from Sir Tony about fellow Greats Olivier and Brando. I think that Tony has a point when he compares Finney with Mumbles as I could have quite seen Marlon doing an American version of Albert’s Arthur Seaton from Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.
I’ve said before on this site that I saw Sir Anthony given an interview in which he raved about Brando, saying something along the lines of “I watched The Young Lions recently and was magnetised by Brando and asked myself ‘Where do they come from these special people who seem to appear amongst us once or twice in one’s own lifetime as if from nowhere?’”
One of those critics like The Master, who can see deeper things than mortals like you and me, insisted Mumbles’ influence on Tony was of such magnitude that “Without Brando there would have been no Anthony Hopkins.”