gene hackman
ben kingsley
jack nicholson
robert duvall
honorable mention:
anthony hopkins
Antonio Banderas
Denzel Washington
Christian Bale
Steve Buscemi
Most Underrated:
John Goodman
John Turturro
Jean Reno
Steve Buscemi
Most underrated of all time:
Jackie Gleason!
EditHappy, Dave?
Damn, swivel just beat me to the punch on Ben Kingsley, and PGA sneaks in there with Steve Buscemi -who is one of my favorites, but maybe not one of the best (did I almost agree with PGA? whew, that was close!).
Crap, I though I was going to be the first to mention Jack Nicholson, but swivel beat me to that too. Damn you swivel!
Official answers pending…
[quote]David Barr wrote:
Damn, swivel just beat me to the punch on Ben Kingsley, and PGA sneaks in there with Steve Buscemi -who is one of my favorites, but maybe not one of the best (did I almost agree with PGA? whew, that was close!).
Crap, I though I was going to be the first to mention Jack Nicholson, but swivel beat me to that too. Damn you swivel!
Official answers pending…[/quote]
haha yeah buddy ! elsinore and back bacon slowin’ ya down eh ?
[quote]StevenF wrote:
Bruce Lee [/quote]
LMAO, 20 yrs. not 40 yrs. 
[quote]swivel wrote:
gene hackman
ben kingsley
jack nicholson
robert duvall
honorable mention:
anthony hopkins
[/quote]
Ah, you’re going for the older generation. For pure acting talent in this group, I think Kingsley and Duvall stand out above the others. I always felt Jason Robards, though not terribly versatile, was underrated in his later years. In the same “somewhat limited, but good at what he does” category, Max von Sydow is one of my favorites.
To throw in another dead guy, Rod Steiger’s acting skill is sometimes overlooked because most of the characters he played were unlikable, and, he wasn’t all that likable either.
In the somewhat younger generation, Daniel Day Lewis and John Turturro both have incredible talent and range.
Unfortunately, talent doesn’t equal success. And, perhaps, too much believability in acting can cause an actor to go unnoticed. If we could replace some of today’s “movie stars” with talented actors who are stuck playing bit parts, popular movies would be much more enjoyable.
- Johnny Depp
- Anthony Hopkins
- Harrison Ford
- Denzel Washington
- Brad Pitt
I don’t believe I saw anyone mention Tom Hanks. Shame on all of you. Tom Hanks, Sean Penn, Daniel Day Lewis, Denzel, Nic Cage, Ed Norton, Kevin Spacey, Donald Sutherland, Russell Crowe, Duvall, Kingsley, and more are my list toppers for the past 20 years.
I didn’t see Clive Owen mentioned yet, so I thought I’d give him an honorable mention.
I haven’t seen one movie with him in it that I didn’t like.
The movie ‘Closer’ was particularly good.
Mickey Rourke, Woody Harrelson, Wes Snipes, Bruce Payne(villian in Pas 57), Stephen Dorff
1.Tom Hanks, who else could make you feel sad about a stupid volleyball?
2.Johnny Depp
3.Ray Liotta,his eyes alone can out act most
4.Jason Behr
- Anthony Hopkins
- Morgan Freeman
I thought this was for the last 20 years, not all time?
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
I thought this was for the last 20 years, not all time?[/quote]
Apart from Bruce Lee and Jackie Gleason, I think everyone mentioned has worked in the last ten years, and done substantial work in the last twenty.
[quote]irishrock wrote:
Steven Seagal
Who else could deliver lines like this from Under Siege 2: “You think this is being shot? This aint being shot.”
[/quote]
Other notable quotes from that movie.
“Normally I could whip this batter better but the rocking of the train is throwning off my rhythm”
“Now this I’m trained for”
Quite possible the worst actor in the worst movie of all time.
Viggo Mortenson
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Arnold
Michael Douglas
I’m utterly amazed no one menioned Good ole ass kickin Chuck Norris.
[quote]larryb wrote:
WhiteFlash wrote:
I thought this was for the last 20 years, not all time?
Apart from Bruce Lee and Jackie Gleason, I think everyone mentioned has worked in the last ten years, and done substantial work in the last twenty.[/quote]
I took last 20 years to mean actors who have made their first appearances in the last 20 years, not those who’ve been in movies like Duvall or De Niro.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
I took last 20 years to mean actors who have made their first appearances in the last 20 years, not those who’ve been in movies like Duvall or De Niro.[/quote]
The pickings are pretty slim there.
Christian Bale (American Psycho)
Brad Pitt (Se7en, Fight Club, Ocean’s Eleven, Troy)
Edward Norton Jr. (American History X, Fight Club, The Score, The Italian Job)
Nicholas Cage (The Rock, Con Air, Gone in 60 Seconds)
Arnold(get to the choppah,) Vin Diesel(I live my life a quarter mile at a time,) Dolph Lundgren(He is not man, he is machine,) and Steven Segal(nothing memorable enough to quote here.)