# what are Christopher Walken's biggest moments? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079 "2006-01-29T15:30:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/41 "2006-01-30T02:55:57Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > I beat you to it. 🙂 Dang, you sure did. Sorry about that! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/42 "2006-01-30T03:26:49Z")
I am reminded of a scene Walken did in “Last Man Standing,” an otherwise repulsive, disgusting movie. Walken plays the Mr. Joshua role, the bad guy’s invincible assassin. The first time he meets Bruce Willis, the hero, the two share a little dialogue, feeling each other out, the two alpha males in the room, but there’s a friendly admiration to it. It’s great acting, a great little scene in an otherwise terrible picture. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/43 "2006-01-30T04:05:30Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “Last Man Standing,” an otherwise repulsive, disgusting movie… an otherwise terrible picture. What makes you say that? I realize it was a remake of a remake based on a novella, but I still rather enjoyed the movie. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/44 "2006-01-30T04:44:09Z")
Another vote for Dead Zone (that look he gives Brooke whatsherface as he’s unbuttoning her sweater is melting) and At Close Range – which I’d love to see again but I’d rather eat glass (and should have put it in that thread) – I don’t think he’s ever been evil-er. His Continental guy on SNL is also a highlight. I think there’s a Walken SNL DVD. Gotta get that. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/45 "2006-01-30T05:03:19Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Another vote for Dead Zone (that look he gives Brooke whatsherface as he’s unbuttoning her sweater is melting) and At Close Range – which I’d love to see again but I’d rather eat glass (and should have put it in that thread) – I don’t think he’s ever been evil-er. > > His Continental guy on SNL is also a highlight. I think there’s a Walken SNL DVD. Gotta get that. Brook Adams, Married to Tony Shalhoub of Monk. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/46 "2006-01-30T05:37:21Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > What makes you say that? I realize it was a remake of a remake based on a novella, but I still rather enjoyed the movie. It was actually a remake of a remake. It’s more pointless than actually bad: fine for an hour and a half and a six-pack, but if you’re going to remake a Sergio Leone flick which was based on an Akira Kurosawa movie, you’d better bring something more interesting than Bruce Willis to the table. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/47 "2006-01-30T05:39:26Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > It was actually a remake of a remake. Nuts. That should have read “a remake of a remake of a remake”. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/48 "2006-01-30T05:57:51Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > Nuts. That should have read “a remake of a remake of a remake”. Hammett’s \*Red Harvest \* being the first, before the Kurosawa and Leone films, right? I knew of the novella (I have it), but I didn’t know there was a movie too. I mostly like _Last Man Standing_ for its dusty Western-gangster noir setting, more than anything else. And I generally like Bruce Willis and LOVE Walken, so I was guaranteed to enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/49 "2006-01-30T06:46:09Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Hammett’s \*Red Harvest \* being the first, before the Kurosawa and Leone films, right? I knew of the novella (I have it), but I didn’t know there was a movie too. Apparently not - although interestingly, IMDB says there _was_ a 1932 film originally slated to be called _Red Harvest_, but the title was changed when Hammett’s book came out. My mistake: three movies=two remakes. No wonder I failed maths. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/50 "2006-01-30T09:01:13Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > His deadpan cameo in **Mouse Hunt** , as the deranged rodent exterminator, who treats the mouse like Viet Cong and tries to think his way into its head to figure out what it will do next, is hilarious. I opened this thread to mention that role; It’s brief and perhaps not even crucial to the movie, but to me, it’s the distilled essence of Walken. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/51 "2006-01-30T10:21:56Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > I can’t think of any other song-and-dance men who are creepier, and that includes Depp and Mr. Brian Warner (aka Marilyn Manson). I can. Imagine, if you will, Burton had cast Michael Jackson. The weird thing is, I can even see it working. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/52 "2006-01-30T12:20:09Z")
From IMDB biography for Christopher Walken, Was George Lucas’s second choice for the role of Han Solo in Star Wars (1977) Worked briefly as a lion tamer in a circus at age 15. Manages to insert a little dance number into nearly all of his roles, no matter how small, scripted or not. ---
**Author:** ![Euthanasiast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Euthanasiast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euthanasiast)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/53 "2006-01-30T12:45:58Z")
agree with the scene in True Romance with he and Dennis Hopper. That was celluloid lightning! Also the scene with Slater and Oldman was hair raising. One of my favorite films. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/54 "2006-01-30T13:26:53Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > From IMDB biography for Christopher Walken,… > Was George Lucas’s second choice for the role of Han Solo in Star Wars (1977)… I think IMDB got wooshed on that one. I think someone saw Kevin Spacey’s “screen test” of Christopher Walken trying out for Han Solo and thought it was real. Or, is trying to put one over on the IMDB. Does that count as a favorite Christopher Walken moment? Because I think it is funny as hell (along with “Walter Matthau” as Yoda). ---
**Author:** ![Dubious\_Weasle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b782af/32.png) [@Dubious\_Weasle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dubious_Weasle)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/55 "2006-01-30T14:09:46Z")
I don’t think it ever actually aired but on the “Best of Walken” SNL DVD there’s a bit where he plays not-the-angel-of-death visiting a women on her deathbed in the hospital. He’s there to save her but she naturally freaks out because, well it’s Walken. Fantastic bit. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/56 "2006-01-30T15:39:40Z")
I read that Walken was one of the finalists for the role of Han Solo in a book long before the Kevin Spacey sketch on _Saturday Night Live_. It was in a book that gave a detailed history of the making of _Star Wars_. I’m pretty sure that Walken really did come close to being cast as Han Solo. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/57 "2006-01-30T17:07:55Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Was George Lucas’s second choice for the role of Han Solo in Star Wars (1977) > Worked briefly as a lion tamer in a circus at age 15. > Manages to insert a little dance number into nearly all of his roles, no matter how small, scripted or not. To [del]Bill Braskey[/del] Christopher Walken! ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/58 "2006-01-30T17:36:51Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > I read that Walken was one of the finalists for the role of Han Solo in a book long before the Kevin Spacey sketch on _Saturday Night Live_. It was in a book that gave a detailed history of the making of _Star Wars_. I’m pretty sure that Walken really did come close to being cast as Han Solo. My mind is trying to evaluate just how different the entire Star Wars saga would have been, but it’s tough. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/59 "2006-01-30T19:12:05Z")
Being the punchline of the sick joke “What is the opposite of Christopher Reeve?”? ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079/60 "2006-01-30T19:30:58Z")
I’ll also vouch for the goodness of _Last Man Standing_. I was one of maybe six people in the theater the day it opened. The movie was directed by Walter Hill, who always has something interesting going on. I snagged it on DVD for $7.50, I believe. I think they missed a bet in _Wedding Crashers_ by not letting Walken dance. Come on, that movie was rife with opportunities to do that. But I liked it anyway. Did anyone see the Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie _Sarah, Plain and Tall_? That was good, and a real departure from Walken’s usual creepy weirdo roles (which I love, don’t get me wrong). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-christopher-walkens-biggest-moments/342079.md?page=4)