lots of people rightfully hailing the great gene hackman performances but let me say a word for his role as the villain in sam raimi’s THE QUICK AND THE DEAD. he brings so much genuine menace to the performance, it’s electrifying
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Love this movie. One of my favorite films as a teen. I think it was the first time I noticed Russel Crowe in anything. It was either this or Virtuosity. Also a gem lol
I was living in Marlboro Projects where some scenes of The French Connection were filmed. I remember going down and watching a bit of the chase scenes under the el. If you watch the background you'll see Lafayette H.S. going by a few times.
I still watch the movie whenever it's on.
There’s a book called “the guerilla film makers guide” that tells the story of how much a dick Hackman was to the British writer of quick & the dead for not being American. Not knocking him for it, it’s f**king hilarious. Good read.
When Mr. Hackman was 13, his father walked out on the family with an enigmatic wave of the hand to his son playing in the street. “I knew from the wave that he wasn’t coming back,” he once said….
I always feel like this is one of the most overlooked movies of the '90s. You've got an awesome Gene Hackman, Leo and Russell Crowe right on the cusp of superstardom, Sharon Stone credibly playing a badass, Keith David being great as usual, Sam Raimi really Raimi-ing all over the place...
He was the sun that all the rest of the stars orbited around in that flick. I don't know who else could've had that gravity to get the rest of those performances out of that extremely talented cast. They all played off of him
Just watched Absolute Power because of @unclearpod.bsky.social and conversely Hackman does such a great job making his character both vile and utterly pathetic.
The man really could do it all.
I agree. I think that movie is quite underrated.
It was way ahead of its time with Sharon Stone's portrayal of a strong female character who doesn't have to smile all the time, wear sexy clothes etc.
I saw it in the theaters. I fell in love with Russell Crow then.
I had to watch it as I'd gotten Hackmans autograph in the 1989 Loma Prieta earth quake.
I have never been a fan of westerns shows, but that was a truly underrated movie, I loved it enough to rewatch a few times over the years, brilliant performance.
One of the great things about Hackman, is that he brought it to basically everything he did, so there are a lot of movies that are better than you’d otherwise expect because he was so good in them.
I was just thinking this about Hoosiers today. That movie had no business being that good. And it was pretty much all him and the real performance he put in, even though he hated the film
I read that he kept disagreeing with David Anspaugh and then, he saw the finished product, turned his head to him and asked “how the hell did you do that?”
I think he was impressed with the direction and editing in the end!
I suspect he read the script and understood it was a mediocre story. But the finished project works so well, and pretty much all because of him. And you're right, the editing job of the film is fantastic
It was more than menace. There was layer upon layer that he didn't even allow you to see in a role. Sometimes it resulted in menace, and other times not.
But you were lucky to see even 10% of his character in any role he played. What was happening under the surface made him one of our best actors.
*A Bridge Too Far* is a great WWII movie. But if you, quite rightly, wish to remember Hackman’s brilliance, and you *haven’t* seen that movie, a word—don’t. Every actor has their struggles. And whenever I see Hackman now, I can’t un-see “the Gggeneral.”
I'm also going to throw in some love for his role in A Bridge Too Far, which is another one of those movies you watch and constantly recognize actors. Hackman's Polish accent is horrible, but if you can ignore it, his role as a war-weary and cynical general is great and it's a classic war movie.
Sad Hollywood doesn't make films like this anymore- great actors playing great characters without needing their own cinematic universe a $billion box office return.
The Unforgiven. I mean his character is so awful in that movie but he is such a scene stealer against some unbelievable actors! Also the best Lex Luthor!!!
He was good as Lex Luthor, a good comic book villain. But in the Quick and the Dead he plays a villain you’d find in real life. A sadist who uses his power and influence to control everyone and make them suffer. He plays it perfectly, cocky and condescending. By the end of that movie you hate him.
They played that movie ALL the time on HBO in the mid 90’s, so I saw it a bunch of times. Very underrated, very funny, and you’re right, his menace fairly radiated out of the screen.
It's a belter, a forgotten classic but has a cast that blows most out of the water, stone, de caprio, sinise, hackman, David, even henrickson is cool as fuck, one of Raimi's best....
It would be interesting to write something examining how his later roles buttressed younger actors giving them a foundation they might not have gotten from “older Hollywood”
People hate me for this, but TQATD is one of my favorite movies and it's all Hackman. When he tells Keith David, "tomorrow, I'm going to make an example of you" it sends shivers down my spine. Is it a great movie? No, but it's hella enjoyable.
Big fan of Gene Hackman. Loved his performance in Mississippi Burning, Crimson Tide, The French Connection. But I haven't seen that one. Going to do it ASAP
He's so Good in this. Every scene he is in, he dominates the screen with subdued menace. It may be my favorite villain in a film. Definitely at the top.
I love watching evil incarnate because it warns and teaches us how NOT to be a completely evil and vile person, and yet exposes us to the reality that there are many of those who walk amoung us.
To the poster in this thread calling out Tobin Bell (I can't find you again!) - I had no idea he was the Saw guy! I'm not a horror aficionado, so I don't think I've seen him in anything else. Just watched his sizzle reel on IMDB and I'll be chasing down more of his movies. Thank you!
He always had something going under his skin making him so relatable. He projected whatever it was that drove his character. Great actors can do that. Yes, he was evil in that role.
I live 10 or 12 miles from where he and his wife were found in a semi-remote area of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, northeast of Santa Fe. I sure hope our county sheriff's department does a better job with this investigation and they did with the embarrassing Alec Baldwin "Rust" investigation.
Hackman was just as brilliant in "Get Shorty" as the not-too-bright low-budget film producer, Harry Zimm, replete with cheesy capped teeth. Well worth your time.
He was the greatest actor of his time. I loved him in The Quick & The Dead. Also Enemy Of The State was really good. I'm watching Get Shorty right now. Elmore Leonard & Gene Hackman doesn't get any better than this. Get Shorty is one of my favorite movies of all time
Gene Hackman was the master of playing a sleazy, hateful character and making you CARE about them as a human being. My favorite performance of his was in The Firm. His character, Avery Tolar, was a sleazy and corrupt lawyer who is drooling over young Abby McDeere. At the end even Abby cared.
His superb performance as a middle-aged man coping with his difficult widower father (Melvyn Douglas) in 1970’s “I Never Sang For My Father.”Hackman was again paired with the underrated Estelle Parsons; she’d played his wife 3 years earlier in “Bonnie and Clyde”; she played his sister in this film.
I’d like to mention one of his lesser-known TV roles: as young newspaper reporter “Mr. Jasper” in the 1963 “Naked City” episode “Prime of Life,”which dealt with the death penalty. Jasper is literally sickened when his job compels him to witness an electrocution at Sing Sing. Hackman was superb.
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I still watch the movie whenever it's on.
When Mr. Hackman was 13, his father walked out on the family with an enigmatic wave of the hand to his son playing in the street. “I knew from the wave that he wasn’t coming back,” he once said….
It’s just impossible.
Truth is I don't think he was capable of a bad performance.
The man really could do it all.
It was way ahead of its time with Sharon Stone's portrayal of a strong female character who doesn't have to smile all the time, wear sexy clothes etc.
We were looking for something to watch tonight.
And that ought to do.
With due regard to Gene Hackman:
One of the best.
Take care.
I had to watch it as I'd gotten Hackmans autograph in the 1989 Loma Prieta earth quake.
RIP Gene Hackman
Little Bill in the Unforgiven
I think he was impressed with the direction and editing in the end!
You can find a bad performance from the usual great actors, but he’s not one of those.
But you were lucky to see even 10% of his character in any role he played. What was happening under the surface made him one of our best actors.
(Are Barry pepper, Scott caan and friends the intelligence doge bros?!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wM8RREueMQ
may he RIP
Russel Crowe
Leonardo DiCaprio
Gene Hackman
Sharon Stone
Gary Sinise
Keith David
Lance Henriksen
Woody Strode
Tobin Bell
I'm probably missing some.
The final scene is *French kiss*!!
he has nothing a worry about
Shoots
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxA6UiYMs1084umVnx1jrbRjJ8nxogMeAy?si=sBIGZfjUAINqg2Rj
“I’ve always been lucky when it comes to killing folks, and now I’m here to kill you, Little Bill.”
What an actor.
Still, the actor’s actor. RIP.
I’ve been terrified to have sex with him after Absolute Power