R.I.P. Val Kilmer (2 Viewers)

[nolaspe]

 

[Madmarsha]

Ed Norton style meddling? "I'm the actor but I'm also going to direct and edit the film too"?

See also: Blake Lively ... allegedly.

 

[tenordas]

I think my Kilmer Mt Rushmore looks like this:

Tombstone
Willow
Real Genius
Top Secret

RIP

I don't see for a second how his performance as Jim Morrison in The Doors could possibly be left off the list of four best.

For me:

1. Tombstone
2. The Doors
3. Real Genius
4. Top Secret


And sorry, but I loathed Top Gun, never even finished it. IMHO, it was just a bad chick flick romance with plane fight sequences thrown in to keep people from realizing what they were sitting through.

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

I don't see for a second how his performance as Jim Morrison in The Doors could possibly be left off the list of four best.

Brilliant take.. and i agree .

And sorry, but I loathed Top Gun, never even finished it. IMHO, it was just a bad chick flick romance with plane fight sequences thrown in to keep people from realizing what they were sitting through.

Horrific take, and i could not disagree more .

 

[Optimus Prime]

It’s been ages since I’ve seen it but I remember really liking Thunderheart

 

[DaveXA]

RIP Kilmer. Loved his roles in a lot of movies. I won't get into the "he was an icon" debate because that's highly subjective. To each his own on that one. I just know that I almost always enjoyed watching him on film. That he's known to be a diva on set doesn't exactly surprise me, but he definitely had acting chops.

I knew he was having health issues, but dang, didn't realize it was that bad.

Losing both him and Hackman in a relatively short time is ugh. When childhood favorites are passing at this rate, oof.

 

[sfidc3]

I think any comparison with Ed Norton is kind of ridiculous on it's face....

Ed Norton does it all because he can, he actually writes.....

Also my friend's daughter went to HS with him in Columbia MD....according to her, he was a really nice guy....

 

[zeetes]

And sorry, but I loathed Top Gun, never even finished it. IMHO, it was just a bad chick flick romance with plane fight sequences thrown in to keep people from realizing what they were sitting through.

thank you.

 

[sfidc3]

thank you.

Thank you both.....I can't stand Cruise, he overacts every role, like a male Jane Fonda.....the only movie he didn't IMO (and the only one I really like) is Born on the Fourth of July.....great flick....

Also, I'm quite aware I'm in the minority on this one....can't help how I fell though....

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Thank you both.....I can't stand Cruise, he overacts every role, like a male Jane Fonda.....the only movie he didn't IMO (and the only one I really like) is Born on the Fourth of July.....great flick....

Also, I'm quite aware I'm in the minority on this one....can't help how I fell though....

Cruise is an excellent actor.. nay, he WAS an excellent actor .. the problem with Cruise is that for the last 20 or 25 years, he’s basically made nothing but action films where he is a glorified stuntman, with few exceptions.. but if anyone takes even one minute to scratch under the surface of the 80s and 90s flicks where Cruise was perceived to only play the “cocky young guy”- you would see that his performances were often quite subtle and nuanced, as in Rain Man where he goes from acting like a literal spoiled child , to being a caring, loving older brother to the autistic Raymond, in a little over two hours…. Or in Jerry Maguire, where he goes from being on top of the world, to hitting bottom and having to claw his way back up… we need more of that Cruise, and less of the hanging off the Burj Tower, moterocycle jumping over the whatever Cruise .

And also, yes Born on the Fourth, while a flawed movie- is his best performance .

 

[sfidc3]

Cruise is an excellent actor.. nay, he WAS an excellent actor .. the problem with Cruise is that for the last 20 or 25 years, he’s basically made nothing but action films where he is a glorified stuntman, with few exceptions.. but if anyone takes even one minute to scratch under the surface of the 80s and 90s flicks where Cruise was perceived to only play the “cocky young guy”- you would see that his performances were often quite subtle and nuanced, as in Rain Man where he goes from acting like a literal spoiled child , to being a caring, loving older brother to the autistic Raymond, in a little over two hours…. Or in Jerry Maguire, where he goes from being on top of the world, to hitting bottom and having to claw his way back up… we need more of that Cruise, and less of the hanging off the Burj Tower, moterocycle jumping over the whatever Cruise .

And also, yes Born on the Fourth, while a flawed movie- is his best performance .

I disagree but that's cool, we all have our own tastes.....

 

[St. Widge]

Don't really want to be that guy or speak "ill" of the dead

But reading articles and comments about Val Kilmer I'm reading things like Acting Icon, Legendary Actor, National Treasure

No offense meant but really?

He was a good actor who made good movies that I enjoyed and in my opinion had one legendary role (Doc Holliday)

But acting icon?

I said in the Gene Hackman thread that those terms were also assigned to him even though I had never heard him referred as such before

But Gene Hackman has exponentially more claim to those descriptions than Val Kilmer

Honestly, I think the only thing that kept Kilmer from being a "legendary actor" is that he didn't make that many movies in the grand scheme of things and he hasn't done a lot in recent years. He's only done like two "big" movies since 2000, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Top Gun: Maverick. But, he was great in every single role he played even if it was a bad movie. i.e. Batman Forever, The Saint, and Red Planet. His lack of movies probably has to do with his being difficult to work with and he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 so he likely hasn't been able to really work for the last 10 or so years.

He was amazing as Jim Morrison in The Doors and in The Ghost and the Darkness. And he had the range to be in things like Willow, Real Genius, Top Secret, and Top Gun.

Does that make him a legend or an icon? I don't know but he's certainly an actor that made me want to watch any movie he was in and an actor I have followed since I saw him in Top Secret when I was like 13.

 

[St. Widge]

Cruise is an excellent actor.. nay, he WAS an excellent actor .. the problem with Cruise is that for the last 20 or 25 years, he’s basically made nothing but action films where he is a glorified stuntman, with few exceptions.. but if anyone takes even one minute to scratch under the surface of the 80s and 90s flicks where Cruise was perceived to only play the “cocky young guy”- you would see that his performances were often quite subtle and nuanced, as in Rain Man where he goes from acting like a literal spoiled child , to being a caring, loving older brother to the autistic Raymond, in a little over two hours…. Or in Jerry Maguire, where he goes from being on top of the world, to hitting bottom and having to claw his way back up… we need more of that Cruise, and less of the hanging off the Burj Tower, moterocycle jumping over the whatever Cruise .

And also, yes Born on the Fourth, while a flawed movie- is his best performance .

IMO, Taps was Cruise's best performance.

Outside of that and Born on the 4th of July, he mostly just seems to be playing Tom Cruise as . . . Ethan Hunt, Pete Mitchell, Cole Trickle, Jerry McGuire, Cage, etc. He's in some really fun movies like Edge of Tomorrow, and the MI stuff but not really a great actor IMO because it seems that the vast majority of the roles he plays are made to fit his personality instead of him adjusting his personality to fit the role. That was even true in his early stuff like Risky Business, All the Right Moves, etc. He doesn't become the characters he plays, the characters become him.

 

[St.Dan]

We all have our favorite genres and such, but for me, The Doors was "peak Kilmer." He basically became Jim Morrison in that one.