# Best 5 movie run ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789 "2014-07-22T23:18:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/21 "2014-07-23T01:37:11Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Tom Hanks did the following: > > League of Their Own > Philadelphia > Forrest Gump > Apollo 13 > Toy Story > That Thing You Do > Saving Private Ryan > > I know That Thing You Do isn’t that great, but it’s not bad and Saving Private Ryan is great. Yeah… I already said Tom Hanks, but that’s ok. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/22 "2014-07-23T02:51:23Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I’ll go with John Cazale, who’s entire career was an impressive 5-movie run: > > 1972 - The Godfather > 1974 - The Conversation > 1974 - The Godfather Part II > 1975 - Dog Day Afternoon > 1978 - The Deer Hunter I was going to mention him, but he wasn’t a leading actor in any of these as per the OP requirements. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/23 "2014-07-23T03:08:06Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I was going to mention him, but he wasn’t a leading actor in any of these as per the OP requirements. Yeah, but we got all the way to post #7 before somebody posted whatever the hell they liked and ignored the specifics in the OP. Isn’t that some kind of record? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/24 "2014-07-23T03:23:11Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Charlie Chaplin > > The Gold Rush > The Circus > City Lights > Modern Times > The Great Dictator > Monsieur Verdoux If shorts don’t count (and I don’t think they fit what the OP meant by a movie), then I’d knock off _ **Monsieur Verdoux** _ and start with _ **The Kid** _. > [@](#): > > But has anybody ever had five better movies in a single year than William Powell in 1936? I hoped I’d get to mention him. Dagnabbit. And Myrna Loy comes close, since she’s in 3 of those 5. And her other two movies (_ **Wife versus Secretary, Petticoat Fever** _) for 1936 I haven’t seen, but get decent IMDB ratings. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/25 "2014-07-23T04:35:56Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > Robert De Niro 1973-76 > **Bang the Drum Slowly > Mean Streets > The Godfather, Part II > Taxi Driver > 1900** Another good run for **De Niro** 1985-88: **Brazil The Mission Angel Heart The Untouchables Midnight Run** ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/26 "2014-07-23T04:59:49Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’d say that Ford doesn’t qualify based on what you listed. 4 yes, 5 no. ToD sucked monkey-balls. > > How about the Duke? > > The War Wagon (1967) > The Green Berets (1968) > Hellfighters (1968) > True Grit (1969) > The Undefeated (1969) > Chisum (1970) I’d say you had a “run” of just one really good movie in there (_True Grit_).😉 _The Green Berets_ was loathed by critics (Ebert gave it zero stars), as was _Hellfighters_. I doubt most of the others would appear on anyone’s 100 Best Movies List (or even 500 Best). ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/27 "2014-07-23T05:02:07Z")
Some old school: I think of Douglas Fairbanks. 1920 The Mark of Zorro 1921 The Nut 1921 The Three Musketeers 1922 Robin Hood 1924 The Thief of Bagdad ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/28 "2014-07-23T05:14:55Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’d say that Ford doesn’t qualify based on what you listed. 4 yes, 5 no. ToD sucked monkey-balls. > > How about the Duke? > > The War Wagon (1967) > The Green Berets (1968) > Hellfighters (1968) > True Grit (1969) > The Undefeated (1969) > Chisum (1970) True Grit was damn good, the others truly sucked. My nomination is Henry Fonda 12 Angry Men Juror #8 1956 The Wrong Man Manny Balestrero 1956 War and Peace Pierre Bezukhov 1955 Mister Roberts Lt. JG Douglas A. ‘Doug’ Roberts 1948 Fort Apache Lt. Col. Owen Thursday Meryl Streep for actress, although still of the night is a bit weak. Silkwood Karen Silkwood 1982 Sophie’s Choice Sophie 1982 Still of the Night Brooke Reynolds 1981 The French Lieutenant’s Woman Sarah / Anna 1979 Kramer vs. Kramer Joanna Kramer Let’s give Brando some credit too On the Waterfront Terry Malloy 1953 The Wild One Johnny Strabler / Narrator 1953 Julius Caesar Mark Antony 1952 Viva Zapata! Emiliano Zapata 1951 A Streetcar Named Desire Stanley ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/29 "2014-07-23T05:23:18Z")
I wonder if Sir Ian McKellen qualifies: X-Men (2000) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) X-Men 2 (2003) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) Emile (2003) appears in IMDB before The Return of the King, that was not a very successful movie, but while Emile was made in 2003 it was not released wide until 2004. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/30 "2014-07-23T10:24:32Z")
Redford followed The Candidate with Jeremiah Johnson, and The Way We Were, and The Sting, and The Great Gatsby – followed by a movie I obviously adore, followed by Three Days Of The Condor, and All The President’s Men, and A Bridge Too Far, and The Electric Horseman, and Brubaker, and The Natural, and Out Of Africa. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/31 "2014-07-23T12:25:49Z")
Dustin Hoffman had a pretty solid nine-movie run from 1973 to 1985, but then he unfortunately followed it up with _Ishtar_. (Ratings from [Rottentomatoes.com](http://Rottentomatoes.com)) 100% _Death of a Salesman_ Willy Loman – 1985 88% _Tootsie_ Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels – 1982 82% _Agatha_ Wally Stanton – 1979 88% _Kramer vs. Kramer_ Ted Kramer – 1979 100% _Straight Time_ Max Dembo – 1978 80% _Marathon Man_ Babe Levy – 1976 98% _All the President’s Men_ Carl Bernstein – 1976 100% _Lenny_ Lenny Bruce – 1974 92% _Papillon_ Dega – 1973 ---
**Author:** ![Heropsychodreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Heropsychodreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heropsychodreamer)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/32 "2014-07-23T12:36:13Z")
Brad Pitt had a nice run: Interview with a Vampire Legends of the Fall Se7en 12 Monkeys Sleepers He followed that up a few years later with another nice run: Fight Club Snatch The Mexican Spy Game Oceans 11 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/33 "2014-07-23T13:58:02Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’d say that Ford doesn’t qualify based on what you listed. 4 yes, 5 no. ToD sucked monkey-balls. No, no! That was brains. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/34 "2014-07-23T14:20:13Z")
I’d say that Leo DiCaprio has had a pretty solid 13-film run since 2002: \*The Wolf of Wall Street The Great Gatsby Django Unchained J. Edgar Inception Shutter Island Revolutionary Road Body of Lies Blood Diamond The Departed The Aviator Catch Me If You Can Gangs of New York \* Yes, \*J. Edgar, Body of Lies \*and _Blood Diamond_ weren’t huge successes, and _the Great Gatsby_ wasn’t a critical hit, but they were all high-quality movies directed by first-rate directors. I think that purely in terms of picking the right parts, Leo is the best at what he does in Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/35 "2014-07-23T14:25:32Z")
James Dean only had three but they were solid and classics; _Giant_ maybe less so than the first two. But Steve McQueen’s heyday was top dollar. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/36 "2014-07-23T14:35:42Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I don’t believe that any of those except Forrest Gump, Toy Story, and Saving Private Ryan were even popular. Apollo 13 could be said to be a decent flick, but it’s not more than that. > > Philadelphia was well-intentioned and had nice cinematrography, but it was dull and far from a classic. That Thing You Do falls into the same camp, with even less to recommend it. Hanks is barely in That Thing You Do and isn’t the lead or even the co-lead. He’s the main guy on the poster and DVD cover and directed it and all that but if you look on IMDB, he’s billed like 6th. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/37 "2014-07-23T14:49:03Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > I wonder if Sir Ian McKellen qualifies: > > X-Men (2000) > The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) > The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) > X-Men 2 (2003) > The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) > . True, but Lord of the Rings always feels like one movie to me, even though it has 3 different editors and somewhat different feels. He got into two great projects simultaneously, though, not an easy thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/38 "2014-07-23T14:56:50Z")
[nm] ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/39 "2014-07-23T15:06:15Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’d say that Ford doesn’t qualify based on what you listed. 4 yes, 5 no. ToD sucked monkey-balls. > > How about the Duke? > > The War Wagon (1967) > The Green Berets (1968) > Hellfighters (1968) > True Grit (1969) > The Undefeated (1969) > Chisum (1970) Despite what you might think of it artistically, ToD did make $180M and was the third highest grossing film of 1984. It only got beat by Beverly Hills Cop and Ghostbusters. The $180M was only $20M behind the much superior Last Crusade. Still a good run for Ford. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789/40 "2014-07-23T15:10:19Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > My nomination is Henry Fonda > > 12 Angry Men > Juror #8 > 1956 The Wrong Man > Manny Balestrero > 1956 War and Peace > Pierre Bezukhov > 1955 Mister Roberts > Lt. JG Douglas A. ‘Doug’ Roberts > 1948 Fort Apache > Lt. Col. Owen Thursday That’s good stuff. Fonda also had a nice run in the early 1960s: The Longest Day How the West was Won Spencer’s Mountain The Best Man Fail-safe [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-5-movie-run-ever/693789.md?page=1)