Is Tom Cruise the Greatest Movie Star of All Time?

[Foo]

Btw, I am not shitting on Ford. He is a huge star in his own right.

Nowhere near as prolific as Cruise with some stinkers right in his prime like Mosquito Coast, Regarding Henry, and Sabrina.

[DancesWithWerewolves]

Mosquito Coast might've stunk at the box office, but Ford did get acclaim for his performance (and a Golden Glob nod), and the movie's well liked (when people finally got around to seeing it). It was definitely a movie outside of his comfort zone.

[Foo]

Mosquito Coast might've stunk at the box office, but Ford did get acclaim for his performance (and a Golden Glob nod), and the movie's well liked (when people finally got around to seeing it). It was definitely a movie outside of his comfort zone.

Oh sure, more speaking to his level of stardom. Tom Cruise as a bartender, Tom Cruise as a sports agent, Tom Cruise as a Vampire, etc. all made bank. You could not stick Cruise's face on a poster in his prime with a critically acclaimed performance and have it bomb like Mosquito Coast.

If you look at the stuff that could have essentially been his Mosquito Coast, like Born on the 4th of July, Eyes Wide Shut, and Vanilla Sky, it is remarkable how much money they made. Vanilla Sky pulling in $200M 15 years ago is unreal. I am a Cruise mark and that shit bored me to tears.

[Jason]

Only counting starring roles so something like the excellent Outsiders wouldn't count.

1. Jerry Maguire
2. Days of Thunder
3. Interview with the Vampire
4. Top Gun
5. Collateral
6. Minority Report
7. Cocktail
8. Risky Business
9. Mission: Impossible
10. Rain Man

41. lolJack Reacher

Quit going out of your way to hate on that movie.

[Jason]

To directly answer the question of this thread, though. As far as opinion is concerned:

Bill Paxton is the greatest movie star of all time. Never a dull moment with him. Ever. I'd always maintained he was one of the most underrated actors in history, but it wasn't until he died that I realized he was far and away my favorite.

My answer is Bill Paxton.

[zombie]

To directly answer the question of this thread, though. As far as opinion is concerned:

Bill Paxton is the greatest movie star of all time. Never a dull moment with him. Ever. I'd always maintained he was one of the most underrated actors in history, but it wasn't until he died that I realized he was far and away my favorite.

My answer is Bill Paxton.

if we're going opinion and not bankability, then cruise would lose to a long list of actors.

[Jason]

Well, since he was there for ground zero for Star Wars, and it was predicted to bomb hard, you can't really say it banked on just being Star Wars Everyone loved Han, lol. It made him a star. I don't think the Indiana Jones series would've taken off like it did with Tom Selleck in the lead either like originally planned.

Would probably agree.

But the again I also wouldn't have thought that casting Hal from Malcolm in the Middle to play meth kingpin Walter White in Breaking Bad would've been a good idea, either. :p

[Jason]

To directly answer the question of this thread, though. As far as opinion is concerned:

Bill Paxton is the greatest movie star of all time. Never a dull moment with him. Ever. I'd always maintained he was one of the most underrated actors in history, but it wasn't until he died that I realized he was far and away my favorite.

My answer is Bill Paxton.

if we're going opinion and not bankability, then cruise would lose to a long list of actors.

I'm just answering the question directly. "Greatest Movie Star of All Time".

[Jason]

Well, since he was there for ground zero for Star Wars, and it was predicted to bomb hard, you can't really say it banked on just being Star Wars Everyone loved Han, lol. It made him a star. I don't think the Indiana Jones series would've taken off like it did with Tom Selleck in the lead either like originally planned.

One thing about Star Wars is that the "Jedi" invoked in the title of them is not him.

'jedi" was only used in a title, after two films were already successful.

Even then, Han is still the most popular protagonist in the series, even when he wasn't written to be the main hero. That has everything to do with the Ford mojo, which is weird because off screen the dude is boring as fuck.

Didn't he say he hated his character?

[zombie]

To directly answer the question of this thread, though. As far as opinion is concerned:

Bill Paxton is the greatest movie star of all time. Never a dull moment with him. Ever. I'd always maintained he was one of the most underrated actors in history, but it wasn't until he died that I realized he was far and away my favorite.

My answer is Bill Paxton.

if we're going opinion and not bankability, then cruise would lose to a long list of actors.

I'm just answering the question directly. "Greatest Movie Star of All Time".

yeah, fair enough. i took it to be about bankability, not personal opinion. my favorite actor is probably brad pitt.

[Jason]

Not that he's my favorite or anything, but Ryan Gosling kind of snuck up on me. I've been a fan of his for a few years and didn't actually realize it until a couple months ago when I actually thought about it. :p

[Foo]

Not that he's my favorite or anything, but Ryan Gosling kind of snuck up on me. I've been a fan of his for a few years and didn't actually realize it until a couple months ago when I actually thought about it. :p

Fracture made me like him. He is in his share of boring and borderline unwatchable shit though.

[DancesWithWerewolves]

Mosquito Coast might've stunk at the box office, but Ford did get acclaim for his performance (and a Golden Glob nod), and the movie's well liked (when people finally got around to seeing it). It was definitely a movie outside of his comfort zone.

Oh sure, more speaking to his level of stardom. Tom Cruise as a bartender, Tom Cruise as a sports agent, Tom Cruise as a Vampire, etc. all made bank. You could not stick Cruise's face on a poster in his prime with a critically acclaimed performance and have it bomb like Mosquito Coast.

If you look at the stuff that could have essentially been his Mosquito Coast, like Born on the 4th of July, Eyes Wide Shut, and Vanilla Sky, it is remarkable how much money they made. Vanilla Sky pulling in $200M 15 years ago is unreal. I am a Cruise mark and that shit bored me to tears.

I'm not old enough to remember, but it also seems like one those movies that wasn't advertised much. I only discovered it about a decade ago, like some lost treasure.

I liked Vanilla Sky, didn't find it boring at all. Never felt the need to repeat though.

[Foo]

Would also like to submit Cruise in Collateral and Interview with the Vampire as the antagonist. How many stars have such hits as antagonists?

[DancesWithWerewolves]

Well, since he was there for ground zero for Star Wars, and it was predicted to bomb hard, you can't really say it banked on just being Star Wars Everyone loved Han, lol. It made him a star. I don't think the Indiana Jones series would've taken off like it did with Tom Selleck in the lead either like originally planned.

One thing about Star Wars is that the "Jedi" invoked in the title of them is not him.

'jedi" was only used in a title, after two films were already successful.

Even then, Han is still the most popular protagonist in the series, even when he wasn't written to be the main hero. That has everything to do with the Ford mojo, which is weird because off screen the dude is boring as fuck.

Didn't he say he hated his character?

He hated how his character got treated in Return Of the Jedi, and legitimately thought if Han died in Empire it would've been a better impact, especially since he knew Lucas didn't have anything else for him to do, he was feeling unimportant to the saga (again, funny since he's always the most popular of the heroes). I don't recall him saying he actually hated the character.

[DancesWithWerewolves]

Would also like to submit Cruise in Collateral and Interview with the Vampire as the antagonist. How many stars have such hits as antagonists?

Travolta? Well, he tried anyway, other than Face/Off I don't think he had any other hits as a villain.

[DancesWithWerewolves]

Not that he's my favorite or anything, but Ryan Gosling kind of snuck up on me. I've been a fan of his for a few years and didn't actually realize it until a couple months ago when I actually thought about it. :p

The Nice Guys is awesome. Shame it didn't do better.

[DancesWithWerewolves]

To directly answer the question of this thread, though. As far as opinion is concerned:

Bill Paxton is the greatest movie star of all time. Never a dull moment with him. Ever. I'd always maintained he was one of the most underrated actors in history, but it wasn't until he died that I realized he was far and away my favorite.

My answer is Bill Paxton.

if we're going opinion and not bankability, then cruise would lose to a long list of actors.

I'm just answering the question directly. "Greatest Movie Star of All Time".

yeah, fair enough. i took it to be about bankability, not personal opinion. my favorite actor is probably brad pitt.

Just simply bankability, Cruise holds very strong for the late 80's and through the early 00's. Not that his movies makes the most, just that they made a great amount frequently. A twenty year span is nothing to scoff at, unless you a hater.

[Foo]

To directly answer the question of this thread, though. As far as opinion is concerned:

Bill Paxton is the greatest movie star of all time. Never a dull moment with him. Ever. I'd always maintained he was one of the most underrated actors in history, but it wasn't until he died that I realized he was far and away my favorite.

My answer is Bill Paxton.

if we're going opinion and not bankability, then cruise would lose to a long list of actors.

I'm just answering the question directly. "Greatest Movie Star of All Time".

yeah, fair enough. i took it to be about bankability, not personal opinion. my favorite actor is probably brad pitt.

Just simply bankability, Cruise holds very strong for the late 80's and through the early 00's. Not that his movies makes the most, just that they made a great amount frequently. A twenty year span is nothing to scoff at, unless you a hater.

The last two Mission Impossibles have been huge as well.

[DancesWithWerewolves]

To directly answer the question of this thread, though. As far as opinion is concerned:

Bill Paxton is the greatest movie star of all time. Never a dull moment with him. Ever. I'd always maintained he was one of the most underrated actors in history, but it wasn't until he died that I realized he was far and away my favorite.

My answer is Bill Paxton.

if we're going opinion and not bankability, then cruise would lose to a long list of actors.

I'm just answering the question directly. "Greatest Movie Star of All Time".

yeah, fair enough. i took it to be about bankability, not personal opinion. my favorite actor is probably brad pitt.

Just simply bankability, Cruise holds very strong for the late 80's and through the early 00's. Not that his movies makes the most, just that they made a great amount frequently. A twenty year span is nothing to scoff at, unless you a hater.

The last two Mission Impossibles have been huge as well.

And that's all he's got in the last several years, mostly everything else winds up tanking (under 100 Million I'm going by, blame Headward for setting that bar). I mentioned his MI movies still do good. Edge of Tomorrow just barely limped to 100 million.

That said, I didn't realize Lions for Lambs tanked that hard. I knew it didn't do well, but only 15 million? Ouch.