Kurt Russell is one of those actors who will probably never win an Academy Award, not even one of those special “Lifetime Achievement” awards they hand out when the Academy suddenly looks up and realizes, “Oh, shit! So-and-so has never won an Oscar?” He doesn’t take the right parts to be an Oscar-winning actor. While other actors are playing tortured poets or tortured soldiers or tortured gunslingers, Kurt Russell is always refreshingly angst-free. He’s the kind of guy who is always having fun, whether playing a super-hero or a fugitive or a trucker caught up in a struggle between ancient Chinese sorcerers, and he’s not afraid to let everyone know it.
And that’s what makes him an Unsung Hero. The sense of fun that Kurt Russell brings to every role he plays is infectious. While he’s on screen, you frequently find yourself smiling almost before you realize it; it’s something about his delivery, perhaps, the way that he drawls out each line with just enough of an accent to make you wonder whether he’s parodying John Wayne or whether he really talks like that. Or maybe it’s his body language, the way he seems to have just enough self-knowledge to play the Stallone-esque tough guy while letting the audience know he thinks it’s pretty silly, too. Or maybe it’s just the eyes. Watch Kurt Russell’s eyes when he’s on screen, and you’ll see it. He knows that this is a hell of a fun way to make a living.
Whatever it is, Kurt Russell makes movies fun. There has never been a movie so bad that it hasn’t perked up while Russell is on screen (“3000 Miles to Graceland” comes to mind)…and there have been a lot of cult classics that he’s made even better. “Escape From New York”, “The Thing”, “Big Trouble In Little China”, “Overboard”, “Tombstone”, “Stargate”, “Executive Decision”, “Sky High”, “Death Proof”…none of them art films, all of them what would probably be sniffed at by critics as ‘crowd-pleasers’, but all of them quite successful at pleasing crowds. Why? Because Kurt Russell’s in them. And he’s just damn fun to watch.
So let’s join together as geeks and give a big round of applause for Kurt Russell, an actor who knows that movies should be fun to watch.
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Go Kurt!
After reading this summation of Russell’s career, I find myself thinking he’s really the “A-list” equivalent of Bruce Campbell. And wondering how he’s missed out on mining the cult niche like Campbell’s been able to.
What about “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes”, “Now You See Him, Now You Don’t”, and “The Barefoot Executive.” Kurt Russell is awesome and is a definite candidate for the next Expendables.
I have several Kurt Russel films on DVD. I would say the closest he ever got to an angsty character was his role as Todd 3465 in Soldier.
Still an awesome role. He plays the main character and only speaks a total of 104 words.
Little-known fact: “Soldier” was intended by the screenwriter to be a non-canonical sequel to “Blade Runner”. Russell’s character is actually meant to be a Replicant like Roy Batty, doing the kind of work that Batty talks about but that we don’t see in the Ridley Scott film.
Dark Blue was pretty damn angsty.
Why would you wish the next ‘Expendibles’ on anyone? It really was a not-good movie. Genuinely not-good, not ironic or ‘so bad it’s good’.
He was pretty angsty in STARGATE (selected for suicide mission after kid killed himself with daddy’s gun) and SOLDIER (literally thrown on the scrap heap in favor of the next gen of tube-grown soldiers), not that either of those films were Oscar material.
He was also pretty angsty in ‘Tombstone’, what with all the adulterous lust for Dana Delany, and Powers Boothe killing his brother.
God, I love that movie.
He doesn’t take the right parts to be an Oscar-winning actor
Silkwood.
I agree! What’s also impressed me is the range of stuff he’s done over the years too. There are a lot of popular actors out there that have stuck to similar roles, and didn’t do so well with something outside their range. Kurt has done everything from very family Disney movies (Strongest Man in the World), to hard edge more serious movies (Escape, Soldier), and back again (Sky High) and all sorts of stuff in between (too many to name).
I also loved him in Deathproof, I hope he and Tarantino work together again.
There’s that scene at the end of “Miracle,” when Herb Brooks celebrates the US hockey win out in the hallway by himself. It’s so subtle and believable and true.
I think in Soldier there’s some reference to Tannhauser Gate or whatever that thing is that Rutger Hauer refers to at the end of Blade Runner.
Kurt Russell is awesome.
He took Sky High to another level. When he delivers the line “Let’s call them what they are… heroes”, I actually got a bit choked up because he SOLD that, dammit.
The Thing is among my favourite movies ever and Kurt has a lot to do with that… heck, the whole Carpenter/Russell trilogy is a high point as far as I’m concerned.
KURT RUSSELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kurt Russell got to play Jack Burton. Jack Burton. Given that honor, an Oscar seems…superfluous. Dustin Hoffman would trade in both of his Oscars with a smile on his face for the chance to play Jack Burton.
Kurt Russell is a magnificent pagan god.
Kurt Russel should get one of those lifetime achievement deals from where I’m standing. Tombstone is my favorite western and Escape from New York was great. Got me scared of that distant future of 1999.
Oh yeah, Lightly Frosted- Expendables was pure testosterone in a two hour film. Russel was in a buddy movie with Stallone and would work well as either another mercenary in the team or especially as a villain.
“I think in Soldier there’s some reference to Tannhauser Gate or whatever that thing is that Rutger Hauer refers to at the end of Blade Runner.”
Yep. There’s also a spinner or two on the junk planet.
Besides a successful run as a child actor that morphed into (briefly) teen heart throb (as Jonathan mentions in his post) before settling in on his adult roles, Russell also cut a credible pop music album: http://stax-o-wax.blogspot.com/search/label/kurt%20russell
Go Kurt. The combination of tough looking face but expressive eyes or something. Soldier wasn’t great, but for some reason I really enjoyed his minimalist performance in it.
Tombstone was fun, but I preferred Kevin Costner’s fearless “cold-hearted but principled” interpretation of the character. I wonder what Wyatt Earp was really like though.
And I did not know about the Bladerunner connection… cool.
Kurt also recorded the theme song to Big Trouble In Little China.
Speaking of which, one of the truly genius things about that movie is that Jack Burton never realised that he was the sidekick, rather than the hero of the movie.
Two words: “Used Cars”
I always get him and Pat Swayze confused. I am bad at movies.
“That’s just yellow primer.”
“While other actors are playing tortured poets or tortured soldiers or tortured gunslingers…”
Um, “Tombstone”? Did you miss the scene where Morgan got shot or something?
@Prodigal, re: BTiLC
“Speaking of which, one of the truly genius things about that movie is that Jack Burton never realised that he was the sidekick, rather than the hero of the movie.”
This cannot be said often enough.
AJ beat me to it, but his portrayal of Wyatt Earp in TOMBSTONE is full of angst. Hell, in the opening scene, Wyatt talks about having a guilty conscience. But, yeah Kurt kicks ass. Especially in Grindhouse’s Death Proof.
I was going to mention his early Disney movies, then I was going to mention Used Cars, but someone always beat me to it.
Was he the jungle boy on Gilligan’s Island? I seem to recall hearing that somewhere. That was pretty cool.
KURT RUSSELL FOR THE EPIC WIN! 🙂
All hail Kurt! I have decided I need a Kurt-a-thon in the near future.
Big Trouble
Deathproof
Sky High (sorbet)
Soldier
Escape from New York
Tombstone
YESSSSS
I freaked out a little bit ago, watching first-season Man From U.N.C.L.E. with some slash friends, and realizing that the little kid trying to set Napoleon Solo up with his mom is baaaaby Kurt Russell.
That U.N.C.L.E. episode also features Tura Satana (from FASTER PUSSYCAT KILL KILL)!
On the one hand, he’s definitely unsung in the way you describe. On the other, I looked at the post and thought, “Wait, there are people who don’t like Kurt Russell?”
I thought by this point his awesomeness was just universally accepted.
And let us not overlook the highly praised but lowly rated TV series THE TRAVELS OF JAIMIE McPHEETERS where Kurt played young Jaimie and Charles Bronson played the wagon boss. (We won’t hold the Osmond Bros. recurring role as a singing family traveling along with McPheeters against Kurt.)
When the rain is coming down in sheets as thick as lead, and the pillar’s of heaven quake, you know what ole’ Jack Burton says at a time like this? Well, ole’ Jack Burton says “Gimme your best shot. I can take it.”
You really want to save those crazy Swedes, huh.
Norwegians, Mac.
Soldier is my go-to title when the subject of “Brilliant Performances in Craptastic Movies” comes up. Most of the movie sucks hard enough to generate its own event horizon, but Russell is remarkable. His character is made entirely of hard edges and fear; Russell does almost nothing to make him softer or more likable, and it flat-out WORKS. It’s a ballsy, compelling performance, and if you like Kurt, I really would recommend the movie just to see what he does with the role.
And remember, if you save a five-year-old from a deadly venomous snake, you’ve protected him for a day. But if you teach the kid to defeat deadly venomous snakes himself….
I LOVE Kurt Russell and Tombstone in particular. It is an excellent movie that did not get nearly enough acclaim the year it came out. Also, as a side note, if Val Kilmer weren’t such a complete asshole, then he probably would have been nominated for his portrayal of Doc Holiday. Brilliant actor. Total cocksucker (and not in a good way…)
I think that Kurt Russell should have won an Oscar for his 1991 performance in Backdraft. When he died in that movie, it was so realistic and he was so convincing, I felt tears welling up in the corners of my eyes. He should be given a role that with the right actor (Kurt) would be guaranteed an Oscar. I know that with Mr. Russell’s talent and acting ability, he can act the crap out of any role whether it be funny or serious.
It actually took me a while to realize that Kurt Russell wasn’t in They Live. Which is a damn shame.