Clint Eastwoodwould have probably still be a cinematic legend if he had only ever been an actor, as his role as “The Man With No Name” inSergio Leone’s Western trilogy ofA Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, andThe Good, The Bad, and the Uglywould be enough to make him one of the most important movie stars of all-time. Although Eastwood would go on tostar in several other great westerns, thrillers, and action movies (including the very popularDirty Harryfranchise), his work behind the camera solidified him as one of the greatest directors of all-time.
Eastwood has tackled a wide variety of areas of interest as a director, as he has created many revisionist Westerns,exhilarating action thrillers, and biographical films centered on real figures in American history. Here are the ten most thrilling Clint Eastwood movies, ranked.
10‘The Eiger Sanction’ (1979)
Starring Clint Eastwood and George Kennedy
The Eiger Sanctionis perhaps the closestEastwood ever got to playing James Bond, as he stars in this underrated espionage thriller as an American professor who moonlights as a powerful spy known for managing to get himself out of some particularly dangerous situations.
The Eiger Sanctionis best known for its incredible mountain climbing sequences,in which Eastwood’s character is forced to scale the side of a cliff in order to complete the mission assigned to him by the American government as part of a covert operation. Considering that Eastwood and his team did a majority of their own stunts on set, it’s a chilling sequence, especially for those that frequently experience vertigo when films get a little bit too real at times. Those who missedThe Eiger Sanctioncertainly need to check out one of Eastwood’s most underrated films.
The Eiger Sanction
Art professor and former government assassin Jonathan Hemlock is reluctantly pulled back into action by a mysterious agency. Tasked with identifying and eliminating a killer responsible for the death of a fellow agent, Hemlock joins an international climbing team on a treacherous ascent of the Eiger mountain. The mission is complicated by his suspicion that one of his teammates is the target.
Rent on Amazon
9‘Absolute Power’ (1997)
Starring Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman
Absolute Powerwas a timelypolitical thriller about corruption and conspiracythat felt particularly relevant amidst theBill Clintonadministration and its resulting scandals in the 1990s. Eastwood stars as a thief who ends up witnessing a crime committed by the President of the United States (Gene Hackman), forcing him to question what power he has to hold the Commander-In-Chief responsible for his crimes.
Absolute Powerdoes a great job at isolating Eastwood’s characterand showing that he is fighting against an oppressive system that is determined to silence him. Even for those that are generally not a fan of Eastwood’s personal politics,Absolute Poweris a great cat-and-mouse thriller that uses the genius notion of its premise to its advantage. The sheer intensity that Hackman brings to his villainous role makes the film even more exciting than it would have been otherwise.
Absolute Power
Luther Whitney, a master thief, witnesses a murder involving the President of the United States during a heist. As he becomes a target of a massive cover-up, Luther must navigate a dangerous web of lies and corruption, using his skills to expose the truth while staying one step ahead of those who want him silenced.
8‘Sully’ (2016)
Starring Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart
Sullyisbased on a incredible true storyof how Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) and his copilot Jeffrey Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) were able to successfully land a commercial plane filled with passengers on the Hudson River, saving the lives of everyone on board. The plane crash itself is as harrowing as Eastwood’s filmmaking can get, as it was evident that he put in the research to ensure that it felt as accurate as possible.
While the crash itself doesn’t take up the film’s entire running time,Sullydoes a great job at showing the feelings of anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder that both pilots experiencein the aftermath of what has easily been the most intense moments in their professional careers. As always, Eastwood’s visual storytelling, restrained camerawork, and use of sound mixing are simply top notch.
When pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger lands his damaged plane on the Hudson River in order to save the flight’s passengers and crew, some consider him a hero while others think he was reckless.
7‘Pale Rider’ (1985)
Starring Clint Eastwood and Carrie Snodgress
Pale Ridermade for one of the darker Westerns in Eastwood’s career, proving that he was capable of taking the genre in a revisionist direction when many other 1980s gunslinger filmsopted to take a more comical approach. Although Eastwood’s character inPale Rideris technically there to protect an innocent group of villagers, he’s not above using extreme flashes of violence in order to defeat his opponents; considering that he literally rides a white horse, some have assumed that it is an extended metaphor for the Biblical depiction of death.
Pale Ridermarked a major step forward for Eastwood as a director of Western cinema, as he reflected a more cynical version of America’s frontier era in which innocent people were forced to turn to morally bankrupt bounty hunters in order to protect themselves from even more dangerous threats.
Pale Rider
6‘High Plains Drifter’ (1973)
Starring Clint Eastwood and Verna Bloom
High Plains Drifteris perhaps themost important film that Eastwood ever made, as it was the second film he ever directed, and the first Western. Eastwood stars as a nameless “Stranger” who becomes intertwined within a local community’s plight, and reluctantly tries to protect them from a group of selfish villains.
High Plains Drifterwas deeply inspired by the work that Leone had done on the “Dollars trilogy,”but managed to get much more graphically violent with its intense depictions of murder and torture. While certainly not for the faint of heart,High Plains Drifterindicated that Eastwood was not interested in looking back at America’s past with rose-tinted glasses, and was willing to engage with the complexities of history. This bold, introspective approach to the material has been what has differentiate him from other filmmakers that attempt to work in multiple genres.
High Plains Drifter
A gun-fighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago and is hired to bring the townsfolk together in an attempt to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.
5‘Mystic River’ (2003)
Starring Sean Penn and Tim Robbins
Mystic Riveris one of thegreatest murder mystery thrillers ever made, proving that Eastwood’s creative genius was not restrained to the western genre.Sean Pennwon an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Jimmy, a Boston criminal who becomes outraged when his daughter (Emmy Rossum) is found murdered. Although his childhood friend, detective Sean Levine (Kevin Bacon), offers to help look into the case, Jimmy begins to suspect that his other friend Dave Boyle (Tim Robbins) is responsible because he has not been honest about his whereabouts during the night in question.
Mystic Riverlooks at how paranoia and vengeance can lead to violent situations that spiral out of control, and deals with intense issues like police corruption, generational conflict between families, sexual abuse, and other topics relating to mental health and the lack of treatment.
Mystic River
The tragic murder of a 19-year-old girl reunites three childhood friends still living in Boston–the victim’s gangster father, a detective, and the disturbed man they both suspect of killing her.
4‘The Outlaw Josey Wales’ (1976)
Starring Clint Eastwood and Chief Dan George
The Outlaw Josey Walesis both an epic Westernand a great war film, as Eastwood starred in the titular role of a Confederate soldier who seeks vengeance upon those who served the Union in the aftermath of the war’s conclusion in 1865. Unlike other popular revenge films likeJohn Wickor theKill Billduology, Wales’ anger isn’t directed at just one person; he simply wants to become a one-man army.
The Outlaw Josey Walesis one of Eastwood’s most action-packed films, but it also marked one of the rare instances where he wasn’t playing a clear-cut hero. Eastwood’s ability to give charismatic performances that forced his audiences to second guess whether or not they should actually be rooting for him is one of the reasons why has continued to make interesting films for well over six decades.
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Missouri farmer Josey Wales joins a Confederate guerrilla unit and winds up on the run from the Union soldiers who murdered his family.
3‘American Sniper’ (2014)
Starring Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller
American Sniperis the biggest hit of Eastwood’s career when it came to the box office,as he took over the project fromSteven Spielbergand ended up turning it into one of the biggest R-Rated movies ever made.American Sniperis based on the true story of Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), an American soldier who broke records with the amount of confirmed kills he racked up amidst his experience in the Gulf War conflicts.
American Sniperis a harrowing depiction of the challenging decisions that soldiers are faced with in the thick of combat, and does a good job at examining the realities of post traumatic stress disorder. It also marked Eastwood’s first collaboration with Cooper, who also produced the film, and would go on to co-star with him in the underrated crime thrillerThe Mulea few years later.
American Sniper
2‘Play Misty For Me’ (1971)
Starring Clint Eastwood and Jessica Walter
Play Misty For Mewas a very interesting directorial debut for Eastwood, as it was an intense psychological thriller thatteetered on the edge of being pure horrorat points. Eastwood stars as a popular radio DJ who is obsessed with a psychotic fan (Jessica Walter), who begins stalking him. While obviously the notion of radio stations and DJs is now somewhat antiquated, the concept of a fan feeling like they are “owed” something by the figure that they admire is particularly relevant when considering the ways in which celebrity culture has evolved.
Although she is best known for her more comedic performances onArrested DevelopmentandArcheramong many other films and shows,Walters is absolutely terrifying inPlay Misty For Me, as there is never any doubt that she poses a serious threat to Eastwood’s character’s life and reputation.
Play Misty for Me
1‘Unforgiven’ (1992)
Unforgivenis one of the greatest Westerns ever made, and certainly among thedarkest films that ever took home the Academy Award for Best Picture.Eastwood has played his fair share of morally dubious characters, butUnforgivensaw him in even darker territory with the role of William Munny, a former gunslinger who is brought out of retirement by his former partner Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman) in order to take down the corrupt sheriff known as “Little Bill” (Gene Hackman).
Unforgivenshows the true inability of violent men to redeem themselves, as is evidenced by a shocking final bar shootout in which Munny ruthlessly murders many people. It is without any doubt the single most cynical film that Eastwood has ever directed, and serves as a searing deconstruction of the ways in which Western films mythologize violent people who shouldn’t be praised as heroes.
Unforgiven
Retired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job with the help of his old partner Ned Logan and a young man, The “Schofield Kid.”
