Gene Hackman, now retired, was a major star of the late 20th century, straddling the worlds of edgy, artful cinema and blockbuster entertainment. His career spanned more than six decades and saw him playing a wide array of characters, though he specialized in hardened law enforcers and damaged antiheroes. At his best, Hackman could be intense and larger-than-life yet still believable.
Hackman’s body of work is stacked with classics, from The French Connection and Superman to The Quick and the Dead and The Royal Tenenbaums. These projects show off many different facets of the actor and prove his deep dedication to the craft. With this in mind, here are Hackman’s must-see movies, ranked.
10
‘Bonnie and Clyde’ (1967)
Directed by Arthur Penn
“We rob banks.” A groundbreaking movie in the New Hollywood movement, the mythical Bonnie and Clyde chronicles the infamous crime spree of the two young lovers (played by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway) during the Great Depression. Hackman turns in a great supporting performance as Clyde’s affable but reckless older brother, Buck. He’s energetic and charismatic, and also has great chemistry with Estelle Parsons, who plays his wife, Blanche.
This role would earn Hackman his first Oscar nomination and pave the way for the bigger parts that would follow. But he’s just one strong element among many in this movie, which crackles with sharp writing, striking visuals, stylized violence, and a daring sensibility. The rich cinematography, razor-sharp editing, and romanticized treatment of the tragic protagonists resonated with 1960s audiences. If it feels a little overdone, that’s only because the film has been imitated and ripped off so many times in the decades since.
Bonnie and Clyde
- Release Date
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July 18, 1967
- Runtime
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111 minutes
- Director
-
Arthur Penn
- Writers
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David Newman, Robert Benton, Robert Towne
9
‘I Never Sang for My Father’ (1970)
Directed by Gilbert Cates
“Death ends a life, but it does not end a relationship.” Hackman received another Oscar nod for his work here as Gene Garrison, a middle-aged college professor grappling with the impending death of his father, Tom Garrison (Melvyn Douglas). The film delves into the strained relationship between father and son, exploring themes of duty, resentment, and unspoken affection. The film is unique in Hackman’s filmography in that he plays a character who is weak, emotionally stifled, and seething with repressed frustration.
The actor does a great job of subverting his usual screen persona, making for a fascinating change of pace. Those who only know Hackman as gruff, tough, and no-nonsense should check it out. Some may find it to be a little too intimate and slow-paced, but the right kind of viewer will appreciate its subtle, restrained, and, above all, poignant portrait of family dynamics. I Never Sang for My Father is spare and bare-bones, clocking in at just 92 minutes but full of food for thought.
I Never Sang for My Father
- Release Date
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October 18, 1970
- Runtime
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92 minutes
- Director
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Gilbert Cates
- Writers
-
Robert Anderson
8
‘Night Moves’ (1975)
Directed by Arthur Penn
“I saw a Rohmer film once. It was kind of like watching paint dry.” Hackman leads this noir gem as Harry Moseby, a former professional football player turned private investigator. Hired to locate a runaway teenager, Delly Grastner (Melanie Griffith), Moseby’s search leads him into a labyrinth of deception and danger. Along the way, his quest morphs into an intricate, slow-burn odyssey, blending suspense with character-driven storytelling.
Moseby is much more layered and interesting than the average detective character in 1970s movies. He’s damaged and morally gray, seriously deficient in typical hero qualities like honor. While he has strong crime-fighting instincts, his emotional problems always threaten to blow everything up. Hackman brings the character vividly to life, delivering Moseby’s acid humor with visible glee. As a result, Night Moves becomes not just an engaging thriller but a bleak character study. Audiences at the time were lukewarm about this approach, but the film is now widely recognized as a masterpiece.
Night Moves
- Release Date
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February 27, 1975
- Runtime
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100 Minutes
- Director
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Arthur Penn
- Writers
-
Alan Sharp
7
‘Enemy of the State’ (1998)
Directed by Tony Scott
“In guerrilla warfare, you try to use your weaknesses as strengths.” This blockbuster action thriller features Will Smith as attorney Robert Clayton Dean and Hackman as his unlikely ally Edward “Brill” Lyle, a reclusive former NSA operative. After Dean inadvertently receives evidence of a politically motivated murder, he finds himself targeted by a rogue intelligence official (Jon Voight). Brill assists Dean in navigating the pervasive surveillance and high-tech espionage threatening his life.
Here, Hackman appears to be riffing on his character from Francis Ford Coppola‘s The Conversation, but without coming off as boring or repetitive. In fact, he pretty much outclasses everyone else, his quiet intensity frequently stealing the scene. The movie itself is occasionally a bit farfetched, and the plot sometimes veers into generic territory, but the stars are endlessly watchable. Tony Scott‘s fast-paced direction also keeps things moving along briskly, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer‘s input shows through in the glossy action sequences.
6
‘Crimson Tide’ (1995)
Directed by Tony Scott
“We’re here to preserve democracy, not to practice it.” Another Tony Scott hit, Crimson Tide sees Hackman commanding the screen as Captain Frank Ramsey, the commander of the nuclear submarine USS Alabama. Amid escalating tensions with Russia, Ramsey clashes with his new executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Ron Hunter (Denzel Washington), over a partial order that could launch nuclear missiles. Scott crafts this juicy premise into a claustrophobic, high-tension thriller.
The stars and director build ably on the taut script by Michael Schiffer, featuring uncredited additional writing by Quentin Tarantino. The showdown between Hackman’s old-school, hawkish commander and Washington’s more measured, by-the-book executive officer is nothing short of riveting. Their ideological clash—heightened by an urgent countdown to potential armageddon—relentlessly ratchets up the suspense. While the leads do most of the heavy lifting, they are assisted by a strong supporting cast, including Viggo Mortensen and James Gandolfini.
Crimson Tide
- Release Date
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May 12, 1995
- Runtime
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116 Minutes
- Writers
-
Michael Schiffer
5
‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ (2001)
Directed by Wes Anderson
“I know I’m going to be the bad guy on this one.” On the complete opposite end of the cinematic spectrum is The Royal Tenenbaums, one of Wes Anderson‘s quirkiest and most poignant movies. Hackman appears as Royal Tenenbaum, the charmingly manipulative patriarch of a dysfunctional family of former child prodigies. He fakes a terminal illness in a desperate attempt to reconnect with his estranged children, played by Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, and Gwyneth Paltrow.
In this one, Hackman is kind of like a Wes Anderson version of Logan Roy. He’s crass and irresponsible, far from a good guy, but not a villain. He’s human. Royal looms over the whole film, managing to provide just the right amount of realism and seriousness alongside the whimsy. In fact, the director had Hackman in mind for the character from the get-go, saying, “It was written for him against his wishes.” The result is one of the best characters in Anderson’s filmography.
4
‘Mississippi Burning’ (1988)
Directed by Alan Parker
“You know, if I were a Negro, I’d probably think the same way they do.” Hackman leads Mississippi Burning as FBI agent Rupert Anderson, a seasoned investigator sent to Mississippi to probe the disappearance of three civil rights activists. Paired with the more methodical agent Alan Ward (Willem Dafoe), Anderson relies on his instincts and old-school tactics to navigate the racially charged tensions of the Deep South.
The movie’s historical revisionism courted some controversy, but overall, it remains a strong piece of cinema, practically dripping with menace and paranoia. Hackman is a key reason for its success. He fleshes out his character considerably, imbuing him with just the right mix of charm, wit, and steel-eyed intimidation. Most of all, Anderson is fully believable as a man with a relentless drive to see justice done. While Dafoe is great, too, and Frances McDormand is memorable as the sheriff’s wife, the movie once again belongs to Hackman.
Mississippi Burning
- Release Date
-
January 27, 1989
- Runtime
-
128 minutes
- Director
-
Alan Parker
- Writers
-
Chris Gerolmo
3
‘Unforgiven’ (1992)
Directed by Clint Eastwood
“We all got it comin’, kid.” Clint Eastwood‘s Western swan song Unforgiven focuses on William Munny (Eastwood), who is lured back into violence by the promise of a bounty on two men who disfigured a sex worker. After Munny and his companions arrive in town, they face the brutal and sadistic law enforcement of Little Bill Daggett (Hackman), the ruthless sheriff of Big Whiskey, Wyoming. Bill is the inverse of Agent Anderson, ruling with an iron fist and a warped sense of justice. The performance earned Hackman the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
Unforgiven is one of the best entries in its genre, effortlessly balancing artistry and commercial appeal, featuring gunfights, moral ambiguity, and historical reckoning in equal measure. In this regard, it does an impressive job of demythologizing the Western, stripping back the fantastical elements and returning it to reality. While it’s probably overlong, simply seeing Eastwood and Hackman together is worth the price of admission.
2
‘The French Connection’ (1971)
Directed by William Friedkin
“All right, Popeye’s here! Get your hands on your heads, get off the bar, and get on the wall!” Bonnie and Clyde proved Hackman’s acting chops, but The French Connection made him a star. He helms this legendary thriller as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, a relentless and morally ambiguous New York City narcotics detective obsessed with bringing down a French drug cartel. With his partner, Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider), Doyle follows a trail of corruption that culminates in an electrifying car chase—one of the most famous in movie history.
Hackman and William Friedkin made for a formidable actor-director team-up, with the former’s rough-edged performance perfectly complementing the latter’s realistic, almost documentary-like storytelling. Funny enough, Hackman only got the part because Paul Newman was too expensive, yet he proved to be fantastic, just the right amount of raw and intense. The performance rightly won him the Oscar. The film was quickly canonized as a classic and has since been cited as a favorite by everyone from Steven Spielberg and Brad Pitt to Akira Kurosawa.
1
‘The Conversation’ (1974)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
“He’d kill us if he got the chance.” Hackman delivers his most haunting performance in this Francis Ford Coppola gem as Harry Caul, a solitary and obsessive surveillance expert. The plot kicks into gear after Harry records a seemingly innocuous conversation between a young couple that ensnares him in a deadly conspiracy. As his paranoia grows, Caul struggles to distinguish between professional detachment and personal responsibility. Slowly, his mind begins to unravel.
Coppola made The Conversation in between The Godfather Part I and Part II, which is probably why it was a little overshadowed at the time. It lacks the grandeur of Coppola’s mob tales but stands out in its own way with its slow-burn storytelling, ambiguous plot, eerie sound design, and piercing study of privacy and guilt. It was well-suited to post-Watergate public sentiment and has only grown more relevant in an age of surveillance capitalism and ever-watchful algorithms.
The Conversation
- Release Date
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April 7, 1974
- Runtime
-
113 minutes
- Director
-
Francis Ford Coppola
- Writers
-
Francis Ford Coppola
