10 Best Ewan McGregor Movies, Ranked According to IMDb

With the release of Obi-Wan-Kenobi, Ewan McGregor is in the spotlight like never before. McGregor has had a long and celebrated career, but it was the prequel Star Wars movies that truly thrust him into the top tier of stardom. Now, with one of the most diverse filmographies to go along with his success with Star Wars, more and more people continue to fall in love with McGregor. Related: Obi-Wan Kenobi Becomes Most Watched Disney+ Original Series

Even if Star Wars helped introduce McGregor to a whole new world of fans, there are several different movies and performances that are just as significant and impactful to his career. With so much variety in the films he has done, several of these movies will have impacted his career in a different way. No matter what the circumstances, McGregor always delivered a performance to remember in his 10 highest-rated films according to IMDb.

10) T2 Trainspotting — 7.2

T2 Trainspotting, the long-awaited sequel to one of Ewan McGregor’s most iconic breakout movies, reaches number 10 on this list. Despite taking place 20 years later, T2 was able to bring back the feel and atmosphere that made the original Trainspotting so iconic.

By incorporating not only the happenings of the original story but also the 20-year layover between the two movies, T2 accomplished everything you could ask for from a sequel of this nature. No one ever expected or wanted them to recreate or even top the original Trainspotting, but T2 gave the fans everything they could have liked after the original while giving them a little extra with a story that is more powerful and emotional than people anticipated.

9) Beginners — 7.2

McGregor was certainly a beneficiary of playing alongside Christopher Plummer in an often whimsical but also deeply emotional portrayal of a relationship between a father and his son. The dynamic between the two stars of this movie carries the audience through an unconventional journey when an elderly father announces both that he has terminal cancer, as well as having a young male lover.

Oliver (McGregor) is forced to challenge his understanding of his father, while also embracing the idea that Hal (Plummer) is embracing his true self and living his life to the fullest with the final opportunities he will ever have.

8) Shallow Grave — 7.3

One of Ewan McGregor’s earlier projects gave him an opportunity to work with Danny Boyle and surely contributed to the relationship that led to several other projects on this list. Shallow Grave tests the friendship and composure of three roommates living together in Edinburgh Scotland.

The death of a new flatmate that possessed a large sum of money has the original three friends questioning their ethical decisions. Their friendship is truly put to the test when someone comes looking for the money, and the three friends have no one to blame but themselves.

7) Doctor Sleep — 7.3

Based on the work of Stephen King, Doctor Sleep takes place in the same universe as the horror classic The Shining. While Doctor Sleep does not quite live up to The Shining, it still offers a nuanced approach to a classic book by King.

Related: 10 Upcoming Stephen King Adaptations

Doctor Sleep is able to play on the connection to The Shining in order to add more intrigue for the long-time fans. That being said, it remains its own independent film and story as Dan Torrance (McGregor) is forced to take the role of protecting children, this time from the True Knot cult who prey on children to attain immortality.

6) The Impossible — 7.5

The Impossible is carried by a star-studded cast featuring McGregor, Naomi Watts and Tom Holland. This movie situates the family in a truly terrifying real-life occurrence when a destructive tsunami strikes the area where they are staying in Thailand for Christmas.

The family is forced to deal with the utter destruction that the tsunami creates, while also evaluating what can be done, and how life can be lived in the aftermath. Ewan McGregor does a phenomenal job of showcasing real-life trauma that could seem impossible to the average viewer.

5) Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith — 7.6

The third installment of the Star Wars prequels is one of the most heralded Star Wars movies, and certainly the favorite of the prequels. Revenge of the Sith brings about the culmination of the relationship between Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen).

Not only does this movie wrap up and bring together all that is set up in the prequels with Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) orchestrating the plan to take down the Jedi, but it also sets up everything that is to come with Dark Vader in the original Star Wars movies.

4) Moulin Rouge! — 7.6

Moulin Rouge! transports Ewan McGregor to Paris in 1899, where he is immersed in the underworld of drugs and prostitution. It is then a dangerous love affair with the star of the Moulin Rouge club that sends Christian (McGregor) spiralling out of control.

Christian tries his best to preserve the love affair he is having with Satine (Nicole Kidman), but when a Duke begins fighting for the love of Satine, Christian must overcome the greatest of odds or he will lose everything.

3) Black Hawk Down — 7.7

Black Hawk Down puts Ewan McGregor in unfamiliar territory, in a war film based on the true story of 160 elite soldiers dropped in Mogadishu in October of 1993. In their attempts to capture the top lieutenants of an opposing warlord, they find themselves in a deadly battle against more heavily armed Somalis than expected.

Black Hawk Down is a showcase of the versatility of McGregor who helps carry a truly deep, emotional and intense war film.

2) Big Fish — 8

Big Fish gave Ewan McGregor an opportunity to tell a story about storytelling. Given the nature of the stories Will Bloom (Billy Crudup) has been told by and about his father Ed Blood (Albert Finney and McGregor), he has never truly believed or understood the man his father actually was.

Related: 10 Fantasy Movies Worth a Second Look

Big Fish presents the life story of Ed to the audience as Ed envisioned it, and therefore the way he would have wanted his son to envision him. Big Fish shows the audience the importance of storytelling, and the power it can have on the people involved in the story, as well as the people being told the story.

1) Trainspotting — 8.1

Trainspotting is the dirtiest and most unforgiving movie on this list, which is a testament to how much this movie has resonated with all fans. Not only did it give Ewan McGregor an opportunity to showcase his talent to the world, but it brought the audience into a world that most will find outright disgusting.

Trainspotting tells the story of desperate drug addicts trying to fight several different kinds of battles that are keeping them trapped in a world that both physically and mentally strips away the good in people, leaving them desperate and on the edge of utter destruction. In Trainspotting, McGregor brings viewers to places they may not have even known existed, and in a twisted way gives affirmation for a proper life outside that world. Keep Reading: How the visual Language of ‘Trainspotting’ Pushes Viewers to “Choose Life”