Want to know the best Steve McQueen movies? How about the worst Steve McQueen movies? Curious about Steve McQueen’s box office grosses or which Steve McQueen movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Steve McQueen movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Steve McQueen (1930-1980) became a major star in the early 1960s. During a 14 year time period he made classic movies like The Magnificent Seven, Bullitt, Papillon, The Sand Pebbles, The Towering Inferno and my favorite The Great Escape. By the middle of the 1970s he was no longer making movies.
In 1980 he released his final two movies Tom Horn and The Hunter. However at the age of 50 he passed away after a battle with cancer. Steve McQueen’s role in The Sand Pebbles was the only time he was nominated for an Academy Award®. He did receive 4 Golden Globe® nominations. Those films were Love With The Proper Stranger, Papillon, The Sand Pebbles and The Reivers.
His IMDb page shows 41 acting credits from 1953-1980. This page will rank 26 Steve McQueen movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Cameos, television appearances, straight to DVD movies and shorts were not included in the rankings.
Steve McQueen 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
1966
The Sand Pebbles (1966)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Actor Nom
1968
Bullitt (1968)
1963
The Great Escape (1963)
1974
The Towering Inferno (1974)
AA Best Picture Nom
1972
The Getaway (1972)
1973
Papillon (1973)
1963
Love with the Proper Stranger (1963)
1968
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
1969
The Reivers (1969)
1960
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
1965
The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
1966
Nevada Smith (1966)
Uncredited Role
1971
Le Mans (1971)
1959
Never So Few (1959)
1958
The Blob (1958)
1962
Hell is for Heroes (1962)
1961
The Honeymoon Machine (1961)
1972
Junior Bonner (1972)
1980
The Hunter (1980)
1980
Tom Horn (1980)
1963
Soldier in the Rain (1963)
1962
The War Lover (1962)
1965
Baby the Rain Must Fall (1965)
1959
The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery (1959)
1978
An Enemy of the People (1978)
1958
Never Love a Stranger (1958)
Steve McQueen 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 by Steve McQueen’ co-stars of his movies.
- Sort Steve McQueen movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost…(in millions)
- Sort Steve McQueen movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Steve McQueen 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 Steve McQueen movie received.
- Sort Steve McQueen 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 table very interactive
| 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 Sand Pebbles (1966) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Actor Nom |
Candice Bergen | 33.80 | 330.7 | 330.70 | 3 | 83 | 08 / 00 | 99.2 | |
| 3 | Bullitt (1968) | Robert Duvall | 54.30 | 446.7 | 446.70 | 2 | 87 | 02 / 01 | 98.9 | |
| 4 | The Great Escape (1963) | James Garner & Charles Bronson |
15.80 | 197.7 | 197.70 | 13 | 89 | 01 / 00 | 98.8 | |
| 2 | The Towering Inferno (1974) AA Best Picture Nom |
Paul Newman & William Holden |
114.80 | 662.1 | 662.10 | 2 | 69 | 08 / 03 | 98.3 | |
| 5 | The Getaway (1972) | Ali MacGraw & Directed by Sam Peckinpah |
54.50 | 345.9 | 345.90 | 7 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 96.9 | |
| 6 | Papillon (1973) | Dustin Hoffman | 68.20 | 415.3 | 415.30 | 4 | 75 | 01 / 00 | 96.6 | |
| 7 | Love with the Proper Stranger (1963) | Natalie Wood | 10.10 | 127.1 | 127.10 | 26 | 81 | 05 / 00 | 93.0 | |
| 8 | The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) | Faye Dunaway | 17.90 | 146.9 | 146.90 | 17 | 70 | 02 / 01 | 91.2 | |
| 10 | The Reivers (1969) | Sharon Farrell | 24.30 | 184.4 | 184.40 | 12 | 58 | 02 / 00 | 90.7 | |
| 9 | The Magnificent Seven (1960) | Yul Brynner & James Coburn |
6.40 | 100.4 | 546.80 | 44 | 85 | 01 / 00 | 90.5 | |
| 11 | The Cincinnati Kid (1965) | Edward G. Robinson & Ann-Margret |
9.70 | 102.8 | 102.80 | 27 | 79 | 00 / 00 | 88.3 | |
| 12 | Nevada Smith (1966) Uncredited Role |
Karl Malden & Brian Keith |
13.80 | 134.8 | 134.80 | 23 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 87.4 | |
| 13 | Le Mans (1971) | Siegfried Rauch | 16.70 | 108.9 | 108.90 | 18 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 82.8 | |
| 14 | Never So Few (1959) | Frank Sinatra | 8.40 | 151.4 | 151.40 | 27 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 82.2 | |
| 16 | The Blob (1958) | Aneta Corsaut | 6.00 | 107.8 | 107.80 | 42 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 79.6 | |
| 15 | Hell is for Heroes (1962) | James Coburn & Bob Newhart |
3.70 | 53.4 | 53.40 | 65 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 79.2 | |
| 18 | The Honeymoon Machine (1961) | Jim Hutton | 5.10 | 74.9 | 74.90 | 45 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 70.9 | |
| 17 | Junior Bonner (1972) | Directed by Sam Peckinpah | 5.60 | 35.4 | 35.40 | 61 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 70.5 | |
| 19 | The Hunter (1980) | Eli Wallach | 19.30 | 80.2 | 80.20 | 36 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 69.1 | |
| 19 | Tom Horn (1980) | Linda Evans & Slim Pickens |
10.20 | 42.4 | 42.40 | 71 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 66.6 | |
| 21 | Soldier in the Rain (1963) | Jackie Gleason | 2.70 | 34.1 | 34.10 | 73 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 65.9 | |
| 22 | The War Lover (1962) | Robert Wagner | 3.10 | 45.2 | 45.20 | 76 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 61.6 | |
| 23 | Baby the Rain Must Fall (1965) | Lee Remick | 3.50 | 37.1 | 37.10 | 71 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 46.9 | |
| 25 | The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery (1959) | Crahan Denton | 2.10 | 37.6 | 37.60 | 107 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 43.0 | |
| 24 | An Enemy of the People (1978) | Charles Durning | 0.10 | 0.5 | 0.50 | 160 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 40.4 | |
| 26 | Never Love a Stranger (1958) | John Drew Barrymore | 1.20 | 21.3 | 21.30 | 131 | 43 | 00 / 00 | 12.3 |
Famous Steve McQueen miscues.
1. When offered his role in The Blob, he had two choices. (1) Three thousand dollars for his performance or (2) 10% of the profits. McQueen took the three thousand dollars. The Blob was an unexpected hit. Costing McQueen millions of dollars.
2. Turned down the lead male role in Breakfast At Tiffany’s.
3. Turned down the chance to be in Frank Sinatra’s Ocean’s Eleven.
4. Turned down the chance to be the Sundance Kid, in Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. He wanted to be higher billed than Paul Newman.
5. Turned down the lead male role in Apocalypse Now.
6. Turned down the lead male role in Close Encounter of the Third Kind.
7. Turned down the lead male role in The French Connection.
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I wish he would have lived longer
Hey Kelly….I agree…if he would have taken care of himself…he might still be around and be Hollywood royalty these days
I loved Junior Bonner….surprised it is so far down the list
Hey Yankees Rule….Junior Bonner just died at the box office…and that certainly did not help its score.
“The Towering Inferno,” “The Great Escape,” and “The Magnificent Seven” are some of my favorite flicks. Every once in a while you can catch them on AMC or Turner Classic Films.
Hey Hemadi….he did not really make a ton of movies…but the ones he made seem to be in heavy rotation on tv.
McQueen was and is the man
@Tree….I agree 100%
It’s a shame he died so young. He was a big star!
@Rob….a damn shame….now that I am almost 50 myself…it seems even more of shame