Clint Eastwood Movies

Want to know the best Clint Eastwood movies?  How about the worst Clint Eastwood movies?  Curious about Bill Murray’s box office grosses or which Clint Eastwood movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Clint Eastwood movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

Clint Eastwood is one of my favorite movie stars. Eastwood started appearing in movies in the mid 1950s, he gained his first notoriety playing Rowdy Yates on the television show Rawhide from 1959 to 1964. During a break from Rawhide, Eastwood agreed to star in a low budget western that was being filmed in Italy called A Fistful of Dollars (1964). The movie was a huge hit overseas, as result Eastwood became a star playing the “The Man With No Name”. He returned in two more spaghetti westerns directed by Sergio Leone. My favorite Eastwood movie, the classic The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966) was the last of the trilogy.

In 1971 Eastwood played Detective Harry Callahan in the hit Dirty Harry. Dirty Harry turned Eastwood into a mega superstar. He would end up playing Harry Callahan in four sequels. During the 1970s and 1980s, Eastwood appeared in hit movie after hit movie. Having established himself as a solid investment, he talked Warner Brothers into letting him direct the movie Play Misty For Me (1971). The low budget movie turned into a success and the career of Clint Eastwood the director was launched. As Clint approached the age of 60, his movies were not receiving much box office success. Things looked like they were slowing down for him, when he starred, produced, and directed Unforgiven 1992. Unforgiven earned Eastwood his first Oscar® nomination for Best Actor, and Oscar® wins for Best Director and Best Picture.

Over the last forty years, Eastwood has appeared in less movies and concentrated on directing. In 2004 he starred, produced and directed Million Dollar Baby. This female boxing movie earned Eastwood his second-Best Actor nomination and won two more Oscars® for Best Director and Best Picture.  His IMDb page shows over 90 acting and directing credits since 1955. This page will rank Clint Eastwood movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, uncredited roles, cameos, and a handful of his pre-A Fistful of Dollars were not included in the rankings.

Clint Eastwood as "Dirty Harry" in 1983's Sudden Impact
Clint Eastwood as “Dirty Harry” in 1983’s Sudden Impact

Clint Eastwood Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

Newsweek photo

Clint Eastwood 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 Clint Eastwood movies by co-stars of his movies.
  • Sort Clint Eastwood movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Clint Eastwood movies by yearly domestic box office rank
  • Sort Clint Eastwood 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 Clint Eastwood movie received.
  • Sort Clint Eastwood 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.

Clint Eastwood Adjusted World Wide Box Office Grosses

My Personal Top Ten Clint Eastwood Movies in Alphabetical Order

1. A Fistful of Dollars (1964)….the movie that turned a television supporting player into a superstar movie actor

2.  The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966)….the last and best of the Sergio Leone spaghetti western trilogy

3.  In The Line of Fire (1993)….I re-watch this one about every other year….Clint and John Malkovich get better with each passing year

4. Kelly’s Heroes (1970)….this is closing in on 50 years old…but it is still a fun and entertaining movie to watch

5.  The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)…the first time Clint demonstrated that he could direct a classic movie

6. Paint Your Wagon (1967)…..I am not much of a musical person…..but I love watching his Clint/Lee Marvin musical

7. Play Misty For Me (1971)…. Clint made Fatal Attraction years before Michael Douglas did

8. Space Cowboys (2000)…Clint, Tommy Lee Jones, the late great James Garner and a Kelly Heroes’ reunion with Donald Sutherland…what more could you want from a movie?

9.  Sudden Impact (1983)….gotta include a Dirty Harry movie in this list…..my favorite of the 5 Dirty Harry movies

10. Unforgiven (1992)…. Clint’s masterpiece….gets better with each new viewing

Check out Clint Eastwood‘s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

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156 thoughts on “Clint Eastwood Movies”

  1. Just watched Joe Kidd for the first time in years. I do believe that the final 30 minutes are some of the dumbest 30 of any western I have ever seen. To jog your memory. Clint goes into the mountains….pulls one gun on John Saxon and his 15 men. Then brings all 15 men into town….when there were countless times they could have easily shot Clint. Then when he gets to town he lets Saxon’s crew go…..and Saxon, Clint, one Star Trek red shirt and the romantic lead take down Robert Duvall’s entire crew…..with only the Star Trek red shirt biting the bullet. That does not mention the part that Clint drives a train through town. I do not remember it being so dumb when I saw this as a kid.

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  2. What a relief when I saw Clint was your Top page today I immediately thought he died or he was on death’s bed. Glad that is not the case. As my web search says he is alive and well.

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  3. Hello Bruce,

    I am a big fan of the great Clint. I’ve seen 49 movies of the list. All the top 10, 14 of the top 15 and 38 of the top 40. My favorites are.. Lot of them. I love Clint as an actor and as a director. I think is one of the greatest director of all-time.
    But in France he knew success with the dollar trilogy (thanks to Sergio Leone, adulated in France), but because his role in Dirty Harry french critics hated him. They consider he was macho and fascist. I never say french critics are intelligents….
    And french people thought same things. So during the seventies to nineties, his movies were little success only (Unforgiven, one of my favorites western was a bomb in France !). His only one big success was A Perfect World, because Kevin Costner was very popular at the time.
    Then came Million Dollar Baby. Big critical and box office success, and Clint was rehabilitated in the heart of french. Since, almost all of his movies were box office success, even those were failures elsewhere like Invictus or Hereafter.

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    1. Hey Laurent…..49 Clint movies that is awesome….I assume he is a big star in France too. Highly recommend seeing Clint’s latest movie Sully….could get Clint another Oscar nomination….maybe not for director….but I see one for music…which he composed for this one. My tally is at 58….I have not seen his late 1950s movies, Breezy and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (which I have seen most of the movie….just fell asleep before that one ended…and I have never gone back to finish it. Surprised that it is Clint the director is the reason Clint is a star in France. Good stuff from the land of France about Clint….I found your comment very interesting…thanks for sharing your thoughts.

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    2. The Dollar trilogy was a big success in France, and in Europe as well.
      Most of French critics didn’t like Dirty Harry when it was released.
      Because of Dirty Harry, Clint was seen as a fascist during the 70’s era.
      But some French people like director Bertrand Tavernier or Pierre Rissient supported Clint Eastwood, and specially Don Siegel’s The Beguiled which was considered as a masterpiece.
      Many French critics changed their mind when they saw Honkytonk Man.
      This is perhaps the first time that Clint Eastwood was seen as a true artist.
      In 1985, Clint went to the Cannes Film Festival for the first time for Pale Rider, which was well received by critics and moviegoers.
      A few months ago, there was a tribute to Clint by the French Cinematheque, in where a retrospective of his filmography was organised.
      In 1988, he returned to Cannes with Bird, and in 1990, for White Hunter, Black Heart.
      French critics loved Unforgiven, A Perfect World, The Bridges Of Madison County, Mystic River,
      Million Dollar Baby, Letters From Iwo Jima, Gran Torino.
      Today, Clint Eastwood is respected as an actor and as a director.
      In France, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly remains the biggest box office hit of Clint, followed by A Fistful Of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, Gran Torino.

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      1. Hey Hocine….first of all….thanks for a great comment. Eastwood became a star overseas first…I bet very few Americans realize that we did not recognize Clint’s greatness until the rest of the world told us to pay attention to him.

        I agree with you about Bird….that was when I first started to realize just how talented he was as a director. Dirty Harry would probably be rated PG if it was released today…but I can see how people would dislike that one in the 1970s.

        86 years old and still growing struggle….with American Sniper and Sully being his biggest opening movies ever. Wow….The Good, The Bad, The Ugly is still his biggest hit…great stat…thanks again for stopping by and leaving a detailed comment.

        Reply

  5. Time for a confession, I used to be a big fan of Clint Eastwood, loved his films. But it’s been decades since I last saw a Clint Eastwood film at the cinema. Unforgiven was a fine western but it’s not one I watch often. The last Eastwood film I really enjoyed was probably The Enforcer, the 3rd Dirty Harry movie in 1976, I wasn’t impressed with Sudden Impact or The Dead Pool.

    Of his recent films I didn’t like Million Dollar Baby, J.Edgar or Mystic River, Gran Torino had it’s moments but I hated the ending. I haven’t seen Jersey Boys or Invictus.

    Time for a recount – there are 15 films on the list I haven’t seen which means I’ve seen 47 out of 62, that’s not bad, quite impressive actually, can you beat that Bruce? 🙂

    Problem with Sully is that I’ve seen the 2 minute video of the event on the news over and over and it’s available on youtube too. I know how it ends, there is no suspense.

    Voted Up!

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    1. Hey Steve…..Clint is disappointed in you for sure. At 86 he is still at the top of his game. 40 years since you last enjoyed a Clint movie…wow wow wow. I think when you see Sully (I am guessing in about 3 months) you will see that Clint and Tom put some suspense in the movie. 47? Wow Laurent has you beat with 49…not to mention me at 58. I have not seen his late 1950s movies, Breezy and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Of the movies you mentioned not liking or not seeing…I can tell you Sully is easily the best of the bunch. Aaron Eckhart is excellent in the co-pilot role. I do agree the ending of Gran Torino was pretty weak. Especially since all the bad guys had to do was drop a gun near his dead body and say he came at them…and in self-defense they killed him. As always…thanks for the comment and the visit.

      Reply

      1. I have seen 59 films of the list.
        I have never seen Francis In The Navy and The First Travelling Saleslady.
        But I have seen some Rawhide TV episodes, Ambush At Cimarron, Lafayette Escadrille, Away All Boats and Tarantula, The Witches (an Italian movie) !
        In France, Sully will be released on November 30th. So, I have to be patient.
        Clint Eastwood has arguably one of the best careers of American cinema.

        As a director, his best movies, in my opinion, are Unforgiven, The Outlaw Josey Wales,
        Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, Bird, Honkytonk Man, A Perfect World,
        The Bridges Of Madison County, Letters From Iwo Jima, High Plains Drifter, Gran Torino,
        Pale Rider, Bronco Billy, Play Misty For Me.

        As an actor, his best movies are The Dollar Trilogy, Unforgiven, Dirty Harry,
        The Outlaw Josey Wales, Million Dollar Baby, The Beguiled, Honkytonk Man,
        The Bridges Of Madison County, High Plains Drifter, Escape From Alcatraz, Gran Torino,
        Pale Rider, Thunderbolt And Lightfoot, Bronco Billy, Play Misty For Me, Tightrope,
        In The Line Of Fire, White Hunter, Black Heart, Heartbreak Ridge, Hang’em High,
        Sudden Impact, Magnum Force, The Gauntlet

        Reply

        2. Hey Hocine…very cool…we are both at 59 Clint movies watched. Sorry you have to wait so long to see Sully. There is one scene in the movie when Hanks is running in New York City and you see a movie ad for Gran Torino….so in one way….Clint makes a Hitch like cameo in Sully.

          You list some great Clint movies as your favorites….I agree with most of them….though I was not a huge fan of Bridges of Madison County….and I do not see Kelly’s Heroes on the actor side…..I love that movie..and seem to watch it every year or so. Thanks for some great Clint talk….it is greatly appreciated.

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          1. Hey Cogerson ! You’re absolutely right !
            I’ve read somewhere that in Sully, you can see a movie ad for Gran Torino and an other ad for Jersey Boys the play ! I hope that Clint will be back as an actor someday !

            Of course, Kelly’s Heroes is a good movie and I like it ! Very funny !
            Where Eagles Dare is also a good movie !
            After The Dollar Trilogy, Clint became a huge star in Europe but not in the USA.
            Not yet.
            He remained Rowdy Yates, his character in Rawhide, at the end of the 60’s.
            His agent told him and advised him to make big movies with others big names in Hollywood.
            Steve McQueen did the same with The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape before being the only star of his movies.
            It was when Clint was seen as a rising star in Hollywood !
            So, he made Where Eagles Dare, Paint Your Wagon and Kelly’s Heroes.
            He shared the screen with some well known actors such as Richard Burton,
            Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Don Rickles.
            Where Eagles Dare and Kelly’s Heroes were directed by Brian G.Hutton and released by MGM.
            Actually, Clint Eastwood wasn’t satisfied by the results. Artistically, I mean.
            He thought that it was a waste of time and money.
            The director didn’t have the final cut for Kelly’s Heroes.
            Director Joshua Logan didn’t have the final cut for Paint Your Wagon too.
            Clint Eastwood thought that Kelly’s Heroes should have been the best war movie of all-time. The script was very good but that’s not what we see in the film.
            MGM boss Jim Aubrey wanted to control everything and cut the movie.
            However, it remains very watchable and influenced some movies like
            David O.Russell’s Three Kings with George Clooney, and even Saving Private Ryan !
            Clint Eastwood was not satisfied by Paint Your Wagon too because of the same reasons. In this movie released by Paramount, he shared the screen with Lee Marvin and Jean Seberg.

            Clint Eastwood thinks that movies like Paint Your Wagon and Kelly’s Heroes would be much better if the studios bosses let the directors be.
            They couldn’t express their artistic vision.

            I think that his meeting with director Don Siegel was very important for Clint and influenced all his career.

            Clint Eastwood is very proud of movies like The Beguiled,
            Play Misty For Me, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Bronco Billy, Honkytonk Man, Bird, Unforgiven, A Perfect World, The Bridges Of Madison County, Mystic River,
            Million Dollar Baby, Letters From Iwo Jima because he expressed his own vision.
            All these movies are personal movies.

            Because of movies like Paint Your Wagon and Kelly’s Heroes, and thanks to Don Siegel, Clint was interested in making smaller movies, far away from the studios dictators.

            Dirty Harry was a great collaboration between Clint and Don Siegel.
            This big hit helped Clint to become independent artistically and financially.
            Clint became his own boss.

          2. Hey Hocine…wow….what a great educational Clint Eastwood comment. I agree with your comment 100%. I knew about the issues Paint Your Wagon had….but did not know the issues with Kelly’s Heroes. Clint’s rise to stardom is amazing…..and the fact that 60 years later that he is still a force in Hollywood is even more amazing. Sully looks like it will be a $100 Million hit….and seems to be an Oscar contender too. The Clint/Siegel partnership is not as well known as the Clint/Leon partnership…..but Siegel was probably more influential than Leone when it comes to Clint’s directing career….I love that Clint gave both men a shout out with a tombstone heading in Unforgiven. 🙂

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