Want to know the best John Saxon movies? How about the worst John Saxon movies? Curious about John Saxon box office grosses or which John Saxon movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which John Saxon movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well, you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
John Saxon (1935-2020) was an American actor. Saxon was known for his work in Westerns and horror movies, and for his role in the martial arts classic, Enter The Dragon (1973). Saxon appeared in movies in 7 different decades. His IMDb page shows 198 credits from 1954 to 2021. This page will rank John Saxon movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, cameos, and movies not released in North America theaters were not included in the rankings.
John Saxon 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 |
| 1963 | The Cardinal (1963) |  |
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| 1979 | The Electric Horseman (1979) | |
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| 1962 | Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) | |
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| 1960 | Portrait in Black (1960) |  |
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| 1984 | A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) | |
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| 1960 | The Unforgiven (1960) | |
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| 1959 | The Big Fisherman (1959) | |
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| 1987 | A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) | |
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| 1958 | The Reluctant Debutante (1958) | |
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| 1972 | Joe Kidd (1972) | |
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| 1956 | Rock, Pretty Baby! (1956) |  |
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| 1996 | From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) | |
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| 1958 | The Restless Years (1958) |  |
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| 1994 | New Nightmare (1994) | |
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| 1958 | This Happy Feeling (1958) | |
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| 1973 | Enter the Dragon (1973) | |
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| 1974 | Black Christmas (1974) | |
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| 1960 | The Plunderers (1960) | |
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| 1957 | Summer Love (1957) | |
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| 1956 | The Unguarded Moment (1956) | |
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| 1961 | Posse From Hell (1961) | |
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| 1969 | Death of a Gunfighter (1969) | |
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| 2008 | God's Ears (2008) |  |
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| 1966 | The Appaloosa (1966) | |
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| 1980 | Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) |  |
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| 1977 | Moonshine County Express (1977) | |
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| 1979 | Fast Company (1979) | |
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| 1994 | Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) | |
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| 2017 | The Extra (2017) |  |
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| 1980 | Running Scared (1980) | |
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| 1982 | Wrong Is Right (1982) | |
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| 1966 | Queen of Blood (1966) | |
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| 1962 | War Hunt (1962) | |
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| 1979 | The Glove (1979) | |
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| 1985 | Fever Pitch (1985) |  |
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| 1990 | Crossing the Line (1990) | |
John Saxon 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 any way you want.
- Sort John Saxon movies by co-stars of his movies.
- Sort John Saxon movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort John Saxon movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort John Saxon movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each John Saxon movie received and how many Oscar® wins each John Saxon movie won.
- Sort John Saxon 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.
| 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 |
| 2 | The Cardinal (1963) | John Huston & Burgess Meredith |
15.10 | 188.9 | 188.90 | 15 | 66 | 06 / 00 | 94.4 | |
| 1 | The Electric Horseman (1979) | Robert Redford & Jane Fonda |
81.90 | 351.7 | 351.70 | 7 | 64 | 01 / 00 | 93.7 | |
| 3 | Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) | James Stewart & Maureen O'Hara |
11.40 | 164.3 | 164.30 | 18 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 93.4 | |
| 6 | Portrait in Black (1960) | Lana Turner & Anthony Quinn |
10.00 | 156.2 | 156.20 | 23 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 87.4 | |
| 5 | A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) | Heather Langenkamp & Johnny Depp |
25.50 | 81.8 | 81.80 | 41 | 82 | 00 / 00 | 87.0 | |
| 7 | The Unforgiven (1960) | Burt Lancaster & Audrey Hepburn |
8.90 | 138.4 | 138.40 | 30 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 86.6 | |
| 8 | The Big Fisherman (1959) | Howard Keel | 8.60 | 154.0 | 154.00 | 26 | 50 | 03 / 00 | 84.3 | |
| 9 | A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) | Heather Langenkamp & Robert Englund |
44.80 | 123.5 | 123.50 | 24 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 83.7 | |
| 7 | The Reluctant Debutante (1958) | Rex Harrison & Kay Kendall |
4.40 | 79.8 | 153.00 | 53 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 82.7 | |
| 11 | Joe Kidd (1972) | Clint Eastwood & Robert Duvall |
17.20 | 109.0 | 109.00 | 24 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 82.4 | |
| 12 | Rock, Pretty Baby! (1956) | Sal Mineo & Fay Wray |
4.10 | 80.1 | 80.10 | 76 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 77.7 | |
| 13 | From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) | George Clooney & Harvey Keitel |
25.80 | 63.0 | 144.70 | 60 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 74.0 | |
| 14 | The Restless Years (1958) | Sandra Dee & Teresa Wright |
2.40 | 43.4 | 43.40 | 93 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 67.7 | |
| 15 | New Nightmare (1994) | Heather Langenkamp & Robert Englund |
18.10 | 47.8 | 47.80 | 80 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 65.7 | |
| 16 | This Happy Feeling (1958) | Debbie Reynolds & Curd Jürgens |
2.30 | 41.0 | 41.00 | 100 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 63.9 | |
| 14 | Enter the Dragon (1973) | Bruce Lee | 0.00 | 0.2 | 0.40 | 191 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 62.7 | |
| 17 | Black Christmas (1974) | Olivia Hussey & Margot Kidder |
2.60 | 16.2 | 16.20 | 96 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 61.6 | |
| 18 | The Plunderers (1960) | Jeff Chandler | 1.80 | 27.9 | 27.90 | 106 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 60.7 | |
| 19 | Summer Love (1957) | Fay Wray | 2.20 | 42.1 | 42.10 | 109 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 60.1 | |
| 21 | The Unguarded Moment (1956) | Esther Williams & George Nader |
2.60 | 50.4 | 50.40 | 124 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 58.6 | |
| 20 | Posse From Hell (1961) | Audie Murphy | 1.40 | 20.2 | 20.20 | 109 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 56.6 | |
| 22 | Death of a Gunfighter (1969) | Richard Widmark & Lena Horne |
2.60 | 19.5 | 19.50 | 84 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 53.8 | |
| 23 | God's Ears (2008) | Margot Farley | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 320 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 44.2 | |
| 24 | The Appaloosa (1966) | Marlon Brando | 3.50 | 34.3 | 34.30 | 70 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 41.0 | |
| 26 | Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) | George Peppard & Robert Vaughn |
11.00 | 45.6 | 45.60 | 69 | 50 | 00 / 00 | 38.5 | |
| 26 | Moonshine County Express (1977) | Susan Howard | 3.00 | 14.4 | 14.40 | 98 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 35.8 | |
| 27 | Fast Company (1979) | William Smith | 0.10 | 0.6 | 0.60 | 165 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 32.2 | |
| 27 | Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) | Eddie Murphy | 42.60 | 112.6 | 315.00 | 34 | 26 | 00 / 00 | 30.6 | |
| 28 | The Extra (2017) | Tyrone Power, Jr. | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 395 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 19.6 | |
| 29 | Running Scared (1980) | Judge Reinhold | 2.20 | 9.3 | 9.30 | 134 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 17.9 | |
| 30 | Wrong Is Right (1982) | Sean Connery | 3.60 | 13.1 | 13.10 | 103 | 48 | 00 / 00 | 15.5 | |
| 31 | Queen of Blood (1966) | Basil Rathbone | 2.20 | 22.0 | 22.00 | 93 | 44 | 00 / 00 | 13.5 | |
| 32 | War Hunt (1962) | John Saxon & Charles Aidman |
1.10 | 16.4 | 16.40 | 117 | 45 | 00 / 00 | 12.6 | |
| 33 | The Glove (1979) | Joan Blondell | 2.00 | 8.5 | 8.50 | 121 | 45 | 00 / 00 | 10.6 | |
| 34 | Fever Pitch (1985) | Ryan O'Neal | 0.60 | 1.9 | 1.90 | 162 | 42 | 00 / 00 | 5.5 | |
| 35 | Crossing the Line (1990) | Kenny Ireland & Liam Neeson |
0.10 | 0.2 | 0.20 | 224 | 38 | 00 / 00 | 3.3 |
Possibly Interesting Facts About John Saxon
1. Carmine Orrico was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1935.
2. Henry Willson (an agent) saw John Saxon’s picture on the cover of a detective magazine and immediately contacted the boy’s family in Brooklyn. With his parents’ permission, the 17-year-old Orrico contracted with Willson, and he was renamed, John Saxon.
3. John Saxon was proficient in Judo and Shotokan Karate.
4. John Saxon is an alumnus of Stella Adler Studio of Acting.
5. John Saxon was cast in 1973’s Enter The Dragon because he had a black belt in karate. Saxon on Enter The Dragon. The crew filmed fight scenes for eight days in a row. John Saxon recalled, “I got to tell you, after those eight days I had enough of doing a karate movie.”
Check out John Saxon’s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
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I always enjoying John Saxon in the movies. RIP. Thanks for the info.
Hey Bern1960. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on John Saxon. Sad news.
Sad news. R.I.P. John Saxon
Enter the Dragon is a huge favorite of mine, one of the few films I’ve watched well over 100 times on Super 8, VHS, DVD and Blu-ray (I never got into laserdisc). And I’ve watched it a number of times at the cinema in various double bills during the 1970s.
I’ve seen 12 of the 35 films on the chart. Favorites are – Enter the Dragon, A Nightmare on Elm Street 1 & 3, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, From Dusk Till Dawn, Joe Kidd, Beverly Hills Cop III and Battle Beyond the Stars.
I’ve also seen – The Plunderers, The Unforgiven, Wrong is Right and Queen of Blood.
A good tribute page Bruce. Vote Up!
Hey Steve. Thanks for checking out our John Saxon tribute page. I saw he had passed last night as I was getting ready for bed. What I thought was going to take a few minutes ended up taking hours to do. I have seen 11 of his movies…so you have me by 1. I suspect I saw The Glove….but since I can not remember a single detail about the movie…I did not include it on my tally count.
I have seen all of your favorties with the exception of Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. Nightmare 3 is one of the few horror movies I have seen in theaters. I made sure to include some added information on Enter the Dragon (just for you). Good information. Rest in peace John Saxon.
I was too young to see A Nightmare On Elm Street when it first came out, but I have very vivid memories of watching parts 1 and 3 with my older brother on our Beta machine. I knew when his character appeared in the movie I could open my eyes again. He was very comforting presence while I was sacred out of my mind. Rest In Peace.
Hey Tina S. Thanks for sharing your memory of watching Nightmare on Elm Street 3. I can see how Saxon got you to relax when he showed up in the movie. I like you preferred Saxon being on screen more than Freddy….lol. Thanks for checking out our John Saxon tribute page.
Sador has gone to a better place.
Another Battle Beyond The Stars fan makes a Saxon tribute appearance. I love that movie too…..but I admit…I had to look it up to understand your comment. Sodor has indeed gone to a better place.
R.I.P. John
Thank you Mike. RIP.