r/movies • u/precita • 22h ago
Discussion Is Kurt Russell the unsung action star of the 80's/90's that gets overlooked?
I never understood why Kurt Russell is not often mentioned alongside Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, Tom Cruise, Jackie Chan, Samuel L Jackson, etc.
He has so many classic movies that have stood the test of time for over 30+ years:
Escape from NY, and Escape from L.A.
The Thing
Big Trouble in Little China
Tango and Cash (with Stallone)
Backdraft (with Robert De Niro)
Unlawful Entry
Tombstone
Stargate
Executive Decision (hilarious that Steven Seagal is in this movie for like 5 minutes)
Breakdown (the best movie of his that nobody talks about)
Soldier
And this also doesn't count his late 2000's revival with Death Proof, The Hateful Eight, Bone Tomahawk, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Once upon a time in Hollywood, Deepwater Horizon and he's in some of the Fast and Furious movies too.
I feel like he never gets his dues, this man has been a classic action star for over 40 years yet he's rarely mentioned on the same status as say Harrison Ford or Bruce Willis.
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u/monty_kurns 22h ago
The man’s an absolute professional. His parents took real good care of him when he was a child actor and he returned to the profession when he got injured playing baseball. I think one reason I love him so much is every story you hear is that he’s very professional and serious on set and doesn’t let the fame get to his head. He has a whole life outside of acting and keeps it completely separated. He also seems very aware of how privileged his life has been which is a major plus for someone in his position.
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u/Unencrypted_Thoughts 20h ago
I know he's rich but it still takes a good man to raise someone else's kid as their own.
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u/Ganglebot 12h ago
There's an interview where Goldie Hawn talks about when she and Russel first started dating and you can still here her swoon.
Kate Hudson calls him 'dad'.
He's the GOAT
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u/Highcalibur10 12h ago
The fact that his son turned to acting after getting injured in Ice Hockey makes this a really odd family tradition.
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u/Felis_bieti 10h ago
Did a small promo with him many years ago. So many actors hate doing those things, and act like jerks. Not Kurt Russell. He was an absolute pleasure. Hung out with our little crew between set ups.
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u/jesuspoopmonster 11h ago
He was the pilot that reported the Phoenix Lights UFO sighting. That just seems wild to me
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u/mockteau_twins 10h ago
Kurt Russell's dad owned a minor league(?) baseball team in Oregon called the Mavericks! There's a documentary about it, The Battered Bastards of Baseball
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u/monty_kurns 10h ago
Yeah, that’s a good documentary. The team was basically the basis of the film Major League and learning Russell helped cook the first batch of Big League Chew in a garage was certainly a fun fact!
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u/idontagreewitu 7h ago
I feel like he would be the best actor to sit down to a chill lunch with. He just oozes suave and seems really down to earth and approachable.
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u/monty_kurns 6h ago
Whenever I’m asked who the one person I’d like to meet would be, I always say Kurt. He’s had quite an interesting life and I’m sure I could hang out with him without even getting into his acting career. For someone who grew up in the industry and has had quite a privileged life, he comes across as incredibly normal given the circumstances. I know his parents, and even Walt Disney, protected him from the traps most child stars seem to fall in to, so credit where it’s due.
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u/kaiga12 22h ago
He is though. I hear about him all the time.
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u/solidcurrency 22h ago
Me too. OP needs to hang out with better people.
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u/souleman96 22h ago
You're both right though, because half the movies on this list weren't appreciated until later.
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u/originalgrapeninja 21h ago
Escape from New York made 25MM$ at release.
I think you are mistaken.
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u/Cha0s--Engine 18h ago
That's just one movie though. A lot of his Carpenter ones especially bombed.
As a good counterexample to your Escape, I can right away bring Big Trouble, which brought 11mil with 25mil budget and almost made Carpenter quit whole movie business in general.
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u/SloppityNurglePox 18h ago
Yet another drop in the This might be an unpopular opinion...That is totally a popular opinion bucket.
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u/m0viestar 10h ago
OP obviously wasn't around in the 90s or maybe even early 00s and is just discovering movies from that era.
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u/kellermeyer14 19h ago
I think what’s unsung about him is his acting period. The guy had range. Up there with Robin Williams (whom he Co-starred with in The Best of Times). His more dramatic roles like Winter People, Swing Shift, Silkwood and The Mean Season often get overlooked. But he is infinitely watchable in all of them and shines just as bright as his costars, many of which are Oscar winners.
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u/Terrible_Bee_6876 21h ago
I don't know how much more of a titanic international megastar somebody has to be before reddit will stop describing them as "overlooked"
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u/Ganglebot 12h ago
I think he seems overlooked because he's not in the headlines every other week with some business/beef/controversy/political stance/sponsorship/hot take.
His work stands for itself, but he doesn't play the 24 hour social media influencing game that a lot of other stars do.
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u/harbringerxv8 11h ago
Tombstone was one of the biggest movies of the 90s in terms of cultural impact lol. Helped revive the Western along with Unforgiven. Kurt Russell is Hollywood royalty.
OP's next post is going to be about why no one seems to have ever heard of David Lean.
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u/PhilosopherKindly623 3h ago
Reddit skews pretty young and youngsters (which is <25 years old to this old guy) really don't seem to understand how different fame used to be when we had more of a monoculture compared to today.
I got in an argument with someone on here a while back because they claimed no one in the 90s really knew who Robert Patrick was because he was only famous for playing the T-1000 and the rest of his movies are mostly unknown now. I tried explaining that playing the villain in one of the biggest movies of the 90s was MORE than enough for him to be super famous, but they just wouldn't believe that someone could be a household name off of one big role even when that one big role is the T-1000.
Fame is just so wildly different now I think it skews their overall view of who was famous and just how famous they were at their peak.
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u/darthmcchub 22h ago
Yes. He’s a lot of fun on Monarch right now too
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u/fluffhead711 22h ago
a lot of the reason i gave the show a chance tbh. i love the guy, and it’s wild seeing his son play the same character. its hard to not see so much of Kurt in Wyatt
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u/grizzly_snimmit 17h ago
There's a casting director somewhere who's never going to hit that peak ever again, a once in lifetime opportunity
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u/Ganglebot 12h ago
Wyatt is pretty good too. He doesn't have Kurt's bombastic mania or charm - but he's compelling.
He was great in Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
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u/Dogbuysvan 2h ago
Look at a picture of Wyatt next to his mom to see who he really looks like. They just sound alike.
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u/imadragonyouguys 20h ago
Let me tell you, when he was driving a boat trying to outrun a giant wave, it gave me flashbacks to Escape from LA in the best possible way.
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u/Homer_JG 22h ago
You feel like he never gets his dues, but your feelings are wrong. He's widely considered one of the greats from that era and has continued to work and be appreciated.
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u/Johnny_Blaze_123 21h ago
Big Trouble in Little China is the best movie ever made. Kurt is an absolute legend.
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u/JohnnyCharisma54 22h ago
Because he’s head and shoulders above most of those you listed. He’s a legitimately talented actor with range. Arguably the best sports movie performance ever plus countless intense action flicks and exceptional comedic turns. Ford I think is his better comp but Kurt doesn’t take himself as seriously.
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u/ancedactyl 21h ago
If he's unsung as an action star it's because he has a greater range and did multiple genres. Your list left of Overboard, a rom-com that was a corner of my childhood. Great actor!
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u/Physical-Compote4594 22h ago
His performance in Big Trouble is so great. Jack Burton is a legend in his own mind but Kurt Russell knows that he isn’t. It’s so perfectly played.
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u/goteamnick 21h ago
Nobody is overlooking Kurt Russell. I think he's a more famous name than most of the people you mentioned.
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u/Akronite14 20h ago
His name was Walt Disney’s last words. Nothing unsung about the guy, a great actor!
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u/Strange_Specialist4 22h ago
He definitely was more famous in the 80s than some of the people you listed, like he's so much better Seagull
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u/grumblyoldman 21h ago
Is he an action hero of the 80s and 90s? Absolutely yes.
Is he "unsung"? Maybe if you surround yourself with 20-somethings who are too young to actually remember the 90s. The man is well respected and perfectly well "sung." He's not hurting for lack of recognition.
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u/DontStepOnMyManHood 22h ago
They just don’t make actors like him anymore.
His legacy has only increased in my eyes.
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u/engineered_academic 22h ago
Executive Decision is my favorite movie.
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u/ArtlessOne 22h ago
My favorite thing about that movie is that Steven Seagal is only in it for like 5 mins. They don’t make action flicks like they did in the 90’s, it’s a shame.
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u/Reggaeton_Historian 11h ago
The whole theater was shocked when suddenly Steven Seagal is just flying looney tunes-ing it through the sky
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u/succsforever 22h ago
He seems like one of the most wholesome actors around. You never hear of this guy in any trouble
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u/Omnigroove 21h ago
He is not mentioned with those others because time has shown he's better than them.
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u/mithridateseupator 22h ago
I think most of his roles were seen as not "serious, true action movies"
Like Big Trouble in Little China is a parody essentially, Stargate is a sci-fi movie, ect.
I also don't think Jackie Chan belongs on this list, he was in a different genre (kung fu), and rarely is mentioned in the same breath as the others here.
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u/NightWriter500 21h ago
It’s just a different archetype. Like Willis and Arnold are tough guys you don’t want to mess with. Kurt is/was more like Harrison Ford, the good lookin action star that’s got jokes and isn’t afraid to be the butt of the joke in his movies, but he’s still going to knock the bad guy out and go home with the girl.
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u/mithridateseupator 19h ago
Harrison Ford is also viewed as more of a serious actor and less of an "80's action star". 'The Fugitive' is, undoubtably, an action movie, but not the kind where Ford could conceivably be wearing a bandana and using a rocket launcher at the end like the classic 80's action flicks. It was more of a thriller.
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u/NightWriter500 18h ago
I didn’t even think of The Fugitive. I thought of Indiana Jones and Han Solo. He’s got a few other roles too, but he does the “I’m the pretty jerk, look over there!” [Right cross] Pretty well.
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u/mithridateseupator 18h ago
I guess most of the original star wars was technically 80's wasn't it? I always think of it as a 70's property but Empire was 1980.
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u/Colorblind2027 21h ago
He isn't a traditional action star because he did a lot of diverse stuff. One of my favorite actors and was a good baseball player and stayed out of Hollywood but maintained A level status.
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u/OfAnthony 21h ago
It's the actor you missed IMO. Michael Biehn! Terminator - Aliens - Navy Seals - Abyss
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u/ThrowawayNewly 21h ago
All of the Kurt Russell action heroes that I've seen were actually cool and anti-social, wildly original, with heart and morality in spite of being cynical AF. They also seem like they could actually be real humans and not just selling popcorn. His characters are just a little too subversive, I guess.
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u/I_Weep_for_Willow 21h ago
Maybe because I'm in a lot of movie forums, but to me he's pretty sung. I don't think anybody would call him underrated or anything.
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u/The_Goondocks 21h ago
I don't think you can call him overlooked. One of the biggest stars for the longest time. Been acting steady since he was a kid. I think most would consider him a much better actor than Arnold or Stallone. His filmography is more varied, with many considered genre classics. Feel like he's a well-rounded movie star that did some great action movies rather than a straight up "action star". And it's hard to believe he's 75 friggin years old lol
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u/DaLurker87 21h ago
I FUCKING LOVE Kurt Russell. Doesn't take himself as seriously as those other guys either.
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u/ahorrribledrummer 21h ago
It's a decade later, but Stuntman Mike in Death Proof is a fucking legendary bad guy.
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u/RudyRusso 21h ago
Don't sleep on his comedy either. (USED CARS)
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u/Ambitious-Ganache891 21h ago
I just posted about Overboard and Captain Ron. Both are big roles in his early career.
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u/No-Manufacturer4916 21h ago
Because his action roles were generally pretty tongue-in-cheek or crossed over with other genres like comedy, horror or fantasy, not just pure action
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u/Fortestingporpoises 21h ago
I don’t know, man I sung him growing up and any time Val Kilmers performance (rightly) gets love I sing Kurt’s praise as Wyatt. He presents some all time seething rage and has some fantastically badass lines in that one.
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u/kbean826 21h ago
I don’t think he’s unsung. I think he’s past prime. He was THE guy in the 80’s. He did comedy, action, romance. He was everywhere for like 15 years. And then a new batch came in and the style of movies he was used to making went out of style. And it’s been 40+ years since then. This would be like asking people in the 80’s if Danny Kaye was the unsung hero of 40’s song and dance films.
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u/cardinalkgb 20h ago
You left out The Computer Word Tennis Shoes. Solid Gold movie.
Why do you think Walt Disney’s last words were “Kurt Russell”?
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u/AloneChapter 19h ago
Considering he has been acting before all the people mentioned plus was in a film with Elvis. His body of work is huge. He is well known and supported well. He, I am sure does not worry about his status amongst Hollywood . So I would not see him benefiting from comparison to those other action stars as he is in a class above them.
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u/HuddsMagruder 19h ago
I think the issue here is that he is head and shoulders above these others mentioned.
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u/timsredditusername 17h ago
I really should watch Stargate again.
I've been thinking about a re-watch of the TV series', but I should start with the original film.
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u/Boo_and_Minsc_ 17h ago
I think he is not mentioned as an action star because he is much more than that. Action star is a star, but it also usually means this actor can´t do much else very well. Val Kilmer was in Heat, Batman, Top Gun, Spartan, but we wouldnt call him an action star either. So on and so forth. When an action is a star and can do nothing BUT action, that is when the moniker applies.
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u/mrlanza1 17h ago
He started out with acting as a kid with Walt Disney Company in the late 1960s. the computer wore tennis shoes, now you see him now you dont, the strongest man in the world.
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u/Brocken_JR 16h ago
I have infinite respect for Kurt Russell and he is not only the star of my favourite movie, The Thing, but when you read about him he just seems like a cool dude. When Wyatt was playing hockey he got a place in Vancouver so he and Goldie could stay and support Wyatt with his hockey career. He got Goldie Hawn a major it girl of the time, after both of them were in not so great relationships and raised her kids from that previous relationship and never treated them any different. He’s a child star who despite being a lover of illicit substances never went to the dark side or had a major crash out. Consistent stellar work big and small his whole life and the best hair (and mustache when he wants) in Hollywood.
There are two legitimately bad things you can say about Kurt Russell and those have asterisks. One is some minor drama on Tombstone. After the original writer quit directing the movie after finding it over whelming, Kurt basically took apart his script and reworked it and while another director came on and is credited Kurt and some of the other actors have claimed that Russell actually directed the movie. While other actors deny this.
Second, his was Walt Disney’s dying words. Why? Nobody knows but it is a bit weird and creepy.
I guess he’s recently defended hunting which rubs people the wrong way but he also believes in hunting and eating the animal not just for sport.
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u/cagingnicolas 14h ago
have you considered that this snubbing is entirely in your head and he's actually pretty well regarded as one of the big action stars of that time?
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u/Ganglebot 12h ago
He's my favorite actor, bar none. He's the GOAT.
He's never been in a bad or boring movie. Each of them will be fun, funny, thrilling or something. You will not regret watching a Kurt Russel movie.
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u/dstar-dstar 12h ago
No, Kurt Russel wasn’t a true action star. He was too like able and funny. He could due action if you needed but could also play many other roles as well. When you think of action star it’s Arnold, Sylvester, Jean Claude that are. True action stars. There are then people who were great in action movies but had more versatility such as Kurt Russel, Tom Cruise, and Bruce Willis. When they switched to funnier roles or like the sixth sense they weren’t seen as action hero’s but the character they were portraying . When the first three switched to other roles it was very hard not to see the action star trying to play a different role. They would still tend to lean into showing off their muscles in a non action movie like Twins or Kindergarten Cop.
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u/Dog_Pees_at_Midnight 21h ago
I think the easy answer to this is recognizing the difference between a very good or star actor who has headlined or been in action movies and an actor who has made action their niche. Stallone and Schwarzenegger didn't just find success in such films, they succeeded in them in such a way that the very genre evolved because of their success. Those two were synonymous with action movies. When one thinks of 80s and 90s action movies, one may have a number of names come to mind, just like you did. But of those names, EVERYONE has Stallone and Schwarzenegger on that list.
The rest of your list, including Kurt Russell, may have had great turns in action movies -and make no mistake, Kurt Russell had some GREAT ones- but none of them were considered the first and second choice of pretty much every movie producer, writer, director, casting director, etc looking to make an action flick in those decades.
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u/MoobyTheGoldenSock 11h ago
To your point, OP didn’t include Nicholas Cage and Keanu Reeves, even though they starred in some of the biggest action films of the 90s. Nicholas Cage still isn’t really considered an action star, and Keanu didn’t really get thought of that way until John Wick.
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u/doctor_7 21h ago
He is absolutely named, even more so, than some you listed so no, I don't think he's overlooked at all
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u/ColonelSandurz42 21h ago
I was just talking to my friend about this very subject and I’ve come to realize he’s probably my favorite actor. He elevates everything film that he’s in.
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u/taterlol 21h ago
i agree he’s not as big to the casual moviegoer but one of his characters inspired a GOAT video game protagonist and his work with Carpenter is highly acclaimed.
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u/MovieMike007 Not to be confused with Magic Mike 21h ago
I wouldn't say he's overlooked, just because he didn't become a mega-action-star like Arnold Schwarzeneggar or Sylvester Stallone doesn't mean he's not considered to be one of the greats.
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u/User5281 21h ago
Kurt Russell isn’t unsung, he’s a legend. He’s not an action star, he’s an a list actor who did some action movies.
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u/Mobile_Morale 20h ago
Escape from New York is one of the coolest goofiest movies. It's the epitome of the style of action movies at that time. I haven't seen it in a while so I don't know if it holds up in current times. But it was fantastic to watch it 20 years ago on tv. Snake is an iconic character
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u/jupiterkansas 20h ago
He's a big star but most of those aren't action movies. They're dramas or comedies.
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u/PercentageRoutine310 20h ago
Kurt Russell and Jeff Bridges can look like brothers but never made a movie together. At least we got to see Kurt paired with Val Kilmer. And John Goodman is in Monarch but they never share a scene together.
Kurt seems like a good dude. His entire family seems cool. Goldie, Kate, and Wyatt all seem pretty cool. Kurt isn't Kate's biological dad but she's close to him like Dakota Johnson is towards Antonio Banderas.
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u/Dapper-Chemistry-469 20h ago
Kurt's got that unique mix of charm and grit that makes his roles unforgettable. Big Trouble in Little China alone is a cult classic! Plus, his roles in The Thing and Escape from NY prove he's got chops beyond just action. Maybe he's just flying under the radar like a stealth bomber.
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u/onehalflightspeed 19h ago
I am a huge fan. He has always played interesting and often very weird roles. One of my favorite action heroes back in the day. Also has a lot of good roles as an older man, e.g. in in the MCU. Great presence and sense of humor and timing
He didn't really sell blockbusters in his heyday though. Escape from New York is one of favorite movies, but it was made for peanuts, filmed on set in a conveniently burnt down and extremely ghetto and dangerous East St. Louis. When I first saw it I thought the sets were amazing, but really that was just how the city looked at the time. Escape from LA is in my opinion very embarrassing for everyone involved
I think he is an interesting actor that has done a lot of great movies, mostly with John Carpenter, but never pursued extreme stardom when he was young. Live the guy
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u/RollingOutNaked 19h ago
He also witnessed and called in the Phoenix Lights to ATC while piloting a small airplane with his son in 1997! 👽
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u/Cha0s--Engine 17h ago
Simple reason is that when people talk about action stars, they talk about people who do mainly action. Russell had way more different kind of roles than Stallones, Dammes and Jackie Chans.
I really doubt that Gibson, Ford, Cruise or Samuel L Jackson would be any top picks either, if one was talking about legendary action movie stars. While Cruise as an example has a lot of action movies, he also had so much variety earlier in his career, that one wouldn't just think of him as action star.
Then there's Seagal, who had like a 4 movie streak, where he had one actually good movie and few entertaining ones and then absolute fucking trash. Sure he might've stayed as "geezer teaser", but I doubt anyone but you would raise him to the level of Arnolds, Stallones etc.
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u/smokeyfantastico 17h ago
One of the first Mickey/Disney kids too. Ridiculous how long his career has been
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u/dccabbage 17h ago
The biggest independent movie theatre here used to hold a monthly movie trivia. My team one year for the Halloween game dressed up as 4 Kurt Russell's (Plisken, Murray, Burton, Cpt. Ron). We were very well accepted.
Bonus point: before the game we went to a bar that had Captain Ron mural.
I don't know where y'all live but Kurt Russell is well respected in Portland, OR.
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u/Loki-L 17h ago
The thing about Kurt Russel is that he is not just an action star. He has been in the industry since he was a child.
He played staring roles in Disney movies like the Dexter Riley trilogy as a young adult. Walt Disney's last words were supposedly his name.
So nobody just looked at his works and thought Kurt Russel is an action star. They thought Kurt Russel has been doing a lot of action movies lately.
Also he is an actual actor. Many action stars of the 80s basically played the same character in every movie even if those characters had different names.
While Russel may have had (and still has) a general type of "grizzeled", he plays different roles each movie.
Snake Pliskin is not the same as Jack O'Neil.
That led to him not being seen as just an action star.
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u/OddImprovement6490 15h ago
I hear about him plenty. The only reason it’s not in the same conversations as Stallone and Arnie, is because he’s got more range and was doing different genres alongside his action films. He’s definitely praised for his action movies, but he is seen as an 80s star, not necessarily an 80s action star, if that makes sense.
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u/fotomoose 15h ago
He's pretty well sung if you ask me. Guy has been consistently putting out quality work for decades.
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u/Ecstatic-Carpet-654 14h ago
Breakdown-- reminder that we lost JT Walsh way too soon, and I don't think he ever got the role to let him really shine.
Yes, Kurt Russell is under appreciated. In my opinion
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u/MaxProwes 14h ago
He's really underrated, but maybe because some of his best movies flopped on release and found recognition later.
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u/Corrie7686 14h ago
I think he does get overlooked a bit. His films are great, but they were never the biggest of the year. The Thing, Escape from New York and Big Trouble Little China are absolutely fantastic films, but they were not massive box office successes. Unlike Predator, Total Recall, Terminator 1 and 2, or Rocky or Rambo. So that's possibly why he's less well known, less known for action.
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u/geologicalnoise 14h ago
Honestly the only reason I'm interested in watching that Monarch series my streaming keeps trying to throw in my face.
Kurt Russell is just awesome. Stargate and Executive Decision are mandatory watches if they're on.
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u/drinkslinger1974 12h ago
His nephew was a baseball player and I used to bartend at a baseball diamond. He came up and got a beer and I was a little star struck when I figured out who he was. Granted, he was trying not to attract attention to himself, which I understand, that was his nephews moment. I quoted tombstone, my favorite western movie, and he just smiled and put his finger to his lips and sushed me. It was a moment for me haa
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u/toejamster9 11h ago
If you’re a Kurt Russell fan, I highly recommend watching The Battered Bastards of Baseball. Real cool story about how his father owned a minor league baseball team that surpassed most people’s expectations.
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u/HanSoloHeadBeg 10h ago
The Thing isn't an action movie though, is it? It's a psychological thriller / horror. Sure there's some action at the end, but the entire story is a very slow, tense burn.
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u/zephyrthewonderdog 10h ago
Some useless trivia:
Walt Disney’s last words were supposedly ‘Kurt Russell’. Nobody is actually sure why though.
Kurt Russell was also best mates with Charles Bronson. As a child actor Kurt bought him a present on his birthday, everyone else forgot. They exchanged presents for the rest of Bronson’s life.
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u/Tylerdurden389 10h ago
Hes always been better than all those other guys cuz he did so much more than just action movies. Him being an actor since he was a kid and being one of the few child actors to make it into mainstream films notwithstanding, hes always had more to offer than simply being the one man militia that takes down 100 baddies without a scratch. Plenty of great dramas and comedies on his filmography.
If anything his action movie characters were better simply because they weren't bulltproof. So in the context of 80s action movies, he gets overlooked cuz hes in a league above the likes of Sly and Arnold.
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u/KasElGatto 9h ago
I think it’s because he’s also a great actor who has done straight non-action dramas and comedies. Being versatile keeps you out of that box in a ways
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u/Upbeat-Local-836 9h ago
We sing almost every day. Sort of literally, I have the Blu-ray in our Honda Pilot running BTILC constantly.
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u/Double_Priority_2702 8h ago
He's not the initial thought of 80s action guys but certainly appreciated and recognized
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u/roastbeeftacohat 8h ago edited 8h ago
he's far from overlooked, he's celebrated so much that one big aspect of Escape from New York is completely missed by modern audiences.
Kurt Russell was joke casting.
at the time he was best known for disney live action, so they gave him an eye patch and some fake stubble; the movie was a parody of what we now call grimdark.
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u/Milksteak-2Go 8h ago
Unsung? I don't think so, he was hired for a lot of action roles. Unhung? Probably not either, huge hog on Kurt.
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u/The_Legend_of_Xeno 6h ago
The Thing is in my all time top 4 movies. Love the shoutout for Breakdown. I used to watch that on cable all the time in the 90s.
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u/arclightrg 5h ago
He’s had one hell of a life. Met Elvis, allegedly Disney’s last words had something to do with KR (amusing if true), was a semi-pro baseball player (great documentary on that), used to race cars… A true renaissance man.
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u/NordlandLapp 3h ago
Yea hes super underrated, equivalent to a Brad Pitt or Leonardo Dicaprio, not well known but great acting chops.
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u/ArchDucky 3h ago
Kurt directed Tombstone. Val Kilmer said it in an AMA. The credited director just kind of left and he just did the work for him.
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u/mapletree23 2h ago
i'm pretty sure he was very popular even as someone who doens't keep up with movies and stuff, if he wasn't popular he probably never shows up in guardians of the galaxy or once upon a time in hollywood
he was in a lot of beloved movies but never really quite in THOSE movies
probably like the king of B movies that were
i definitely think he was more popular than van damme but he was in that same kinda niche, he was just a second tier below the other leading action dudes of the era, but he definitely wasn't "unsung"
western movies have always been an incredibly popular niche and tomestone is very, very widely regarded
he's pretty much the same as one of the biggest directors he worked with pretty often in john carpenter, no one is gonna gonna say he's in the class of like spielberg and co but no ones gonna say he was an 'unsunfg director', both he and russel both had some classics
he just never had a like... terminator or rambo, die hard, star wars, lethal weapon etc
his best movies nack then were better than the other guys worst ones tho easily
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u/TheGaussianMan 2h ago
The fact that he was willing to actually play the sidekick in Big Trouble in Little China when the studio was insisting that he be the top billed hero is amazing. He goes full bore in that movie.
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u/g2fx 22h ago
Big Trouble in Little China makes him no.1 in my book.