The Greatest Performance Ever

[jason statham]

Since there was a thread about the greatest actor ever, i thought of creating a greatest performance ever.

To me, i think that the greatest performance by an actor in a leading role is, no doubt, Robert De Niro as Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull. Period.

The runner-up for me would be Al Pacino in the first two parts of the godfather.

[< a c e >]

Since you haven't specified "hollywood", I would have to refer to a foreign movie, by the name of "BLACK". It's based on the Helen Kellar story.

The performance I'm talking about is of a tender li'l girl called Aisha. She acts as the young protagonist, Michelle. Now, reasons i chose this:
> Girl is below the age of 10.
>She is mind-blowing as she emotes the pains of a def/dumb/blind girl.
>She stood her ground, while sharing the screen with a Bollywood stalwart/legend, Amitabh Bachchan.
>Excellent performance. See it yourself.

In hollywood...it's the hardest thing to pick just one.

[bigred760]

(Shouldn't this be in the Best/Favorites/Worst/Whatever thread?)

-I was going to go with Pacino in the Godfather flicks as well.

[zeppelin]

Every time I watch On the Waterfront, I find something in Marlon Brando's performance that I never noticed before that makes it deeper, more complex, and more human than I realized. It's my favorite performance in movie history.

[Pulp_Joker]

Originally posted by zeppelin
Every time I watch On the Waterfront, I find something in Marlon Brando's performance that I never noticed before that makes it deeper, more complex, and more human than I realized. It's my favorite performance in movie history.

I agree with you on this. Brando projected so much in that film, and IMO, solidified his place as the greatest of all time in that film. Other great ones would be Brando in Godfather, Joe Pesci in Goodfellas (even though it is supporting, I love it), De Niro in Raging Bull, Nicholson in Cuckoo's Nest, Jodie Foster in Lambs, and one of my favorites is Joseph Cotton in The Third Man.

[Sigur509]

Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream
William Powell in The Thin Man
Tom Hanks in Cast Away
Bill Murry in Lost in Translation

[AngelinaJolieLover]

Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream ... heartbreaking perfectionhttp://www.filmweb.no/bilder/multimedia/archive/00005/Ellen_Burstyn_i_Requi_5729d.jpg

[AngelinaJolieLover]

http://www.americanphoto.co.jp/photosearch/Previews/CIN00325_340.jpg

Marilyn Monroe in Bus Stop

[AngelinaJolieLover]

Tom Wilkinson and Jessica Lange in Normal

http://www.tgcrossroads.org/images/news/normal.jpg

[Sigur509]

Originally posted by AngelinaJolieLover
Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream ... heartbreaking perfectionhttp://www.filmweb.no/bilder/multimedia/archive/00005/Ellen_Burstyn_i_Requi_5729d.jpg

DAMMIT.

If we were doing actor and actress, that would be my other vote. I can't believe I forgot about her powerfull performance.

[blk_flower]

this is a hard decision to make, there have been many great portrays in the past but I can't think of any that have completley moved me, but I tried and I have this list

1: Charlize Theron- monster
2: Glenn Close- fatal attraction
3: Edward Norton- american history x

[ilovemovies]

My all time favorite performances:

Denzel Washington in Malcolm X

Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump

John Travolta in Get Shorty

Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation

Rene Zellweger in Nurse Betty

Anthony Perkins in Psycho

Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs

Jodie Foster in Contact

Djimon Honsou in Amistad

Courtney Love in The People Vs Larry Flynt

I better stop. I could go on forever.

[Gian-Sergio]

Marlon Brando in ON THE WATERFRONT, THE GODFATHER, LAST TANGO IN PARIS, and APOCALYPSE NOW

Toshiro Mifune in SEVEN SAMURAI and RASHOMON

Uma Thurman in KILL BILL

Robert De Niro in RAGING BULL, THE GODFATHER PART II ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, THE KING OF COMEDY, TAXI DRIVER, MIDNIGHT RUN, MEAN STREETS, and GOODFELLAS

Peter Sellers in DR. STRANGELOVE OR:HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB

[AngelinaJolieLover]

ones I forgot:

Courtney Love - people vs. larry flynt
julianne moore - far from heaven
charlize theron - monster
angelina jolie - gia
judy davis - judy garland: me and my shadows
bernadette peters - pennies from heaven
frances mcdormand - fargo

[Hannibal21]

MALE
Orson Welles - Citizen Kane

FEMALE
Maria Falconetti - The Passion of Joan of Arc

[ElderPredator]

1. Jack Nicholson as the Joker (Batman)
2. Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone (The Godfather)
3. Ed Harris as Blair Sullivan (Just Cause)
4. Michelle Pfieffer as Catwoman (Batman Returns)
5. Robert De Niro as Sam Rothstein (Casino)
6. Frank Sinatra as Danny Ocean (Oceans 11)
7. George Clooney as Seth Gecko (From Dusk Till Dawn)
8. Samuel L. Jackson as Jules (Pulp Fiction)
9. Gary Oldman as Dracula (Bram Stoker's Dracula)
10. Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith (The Matrix)

Those are some of my favourites, not even close to all of them.

[SpacePuppet]

Robert Shaw doing the U.S.S Indianapolis speach.

[jaw2929]

Edward Norton in American History X

[VictimOfChanges]

Originally posted by SpacePuppet
Robert Shaw doing the U.S.S Indianapolis speach.

That, and when Jack dies in Titanic.

[Bonham]

George C. Scott ---Patton
Jack Nicholson ---The Shining
Brad Pitt -----Fight Club
Gary Oldman -----True Romance
Billy Crudup -----Big Fish (I'll admit, his performance in the final scene made me cry...that's impressive)

[jason statham]

I`m gonna add a few more :

Ray Winstone ( Nil by mouth ) - A great underrated actor
Ralph Fiennes ( The english patient ) - The movie was so-so but his performance was awesome
Kevin Costner ( Dances with wolves ) - shoot me, but i LOVE this guy.
James Gandolfini ( the sopranos ) - its a tv show, but his performance is worth mentioning.
Ray Liotta ( Goodfellas ) - This guy ROCKS.
Ewan McGregor ( Trainspotting ) - Just 1 reason why this movie is great
I`ll add a few more when later

Best supporting performance is Joe Pesci as Tommy in Goodfellas

[Kenji]

Greatest? Some main contenders (all-time, worldwide):

Robert De Niro in Raging Bull
Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box
Naomi Watts in Mulholland Dr
James Stewart in Vertigo
Zhang Ziyi in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Fred Astaire in Top Hat
Emilie Dequenne in Rosetta
Ana Torrent in Spirit of the Beehive
Kinuyo Tanaka in The Life of Oharu
Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs
Buster Keaton in The General
Liv Ullmann and Bibi Andersson in Persona
Chishu Ryu in Tokyo Story
Al Pacino in The Godfather 2
Leonor Silveira in Abraham Valley
Gene Kelly in Singin in the Rain
Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca
Nicole Kidman in Dogville

[daboy1da]

Honorable mention

7-Brad Pitts reaction when he finds out whats in the box.

[blk_flower]

Jack Nicholson-the shining
you look at his face on the cover and there's something about it still terrifying till today, it's as if he's not even an actor anymore.
http://moviestars.generic-joe.com/pictures/937356/shelleyduvall-shining.jpg

[AceD]

http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/universal_pictures/the_hurricane/denzel_washington/hurricane5.jpg

Denzel Washington as Rubin Carter in THE HURRICANE. I know that MALCOM X is generally regarded as his best performance, but I think his work is greater here. I also think the moive deserved the best picture Oscar, but was scoffed because of some innaccuracies.

[MickeyKnox]

Robert De Niro- Raging Bull
Ray Winstone- Scum
Edward Norton- American History X
Martin Sheen- Apocalypse Now
Ellen Burstyn- Requiem For A Dream

[Sheriff Wydell]

Robert De Niro's performance in Taxi Driver
and
Martin Sheen's performance in Badlands

[CreeperBEATNGU]

Jim Caviezel in The Passion of the Christ.
Not only for the perfect job he did of conveying both the physical and emotional suffering throughout the film, as well as giving off a sense of warmth and conviction in the flashback scenes, but for all he had to go through during filming that would've caused 9 out of 10 actors to say "here's your paycheck back, I'm going home!"...
Being struck by lightning, being lashed for real accidentally during the scourging sequence, severe back pain to the point where a chiropractor needed to be brought on set specifically for him, a dislocated shoulder, pneumonia...
Not to mention the countless hours of make-up prosthetics and having to learn 2 dead languages for the part.

[FilmKing2000]

Male:

Peter O' Toole in Lawrence of Arabia and Ben Kingsley in Gandhi.

Female:

Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream.

[Backstabba]

Supporting role - Denzel Washington (Glory)
Main role - Edward Norton - Fight Club

[Trifid]

Far too many performances to choose from, but if I were cornered...

Male:
Marlon Brando: On The Waterfront

Female:
Meryl Streep: Sophie's Choice (but you can take your pick)

[Brando @$$ Fat]

I cannot say with a straight face that I know the answer to this question. However, there are five performances that I have been able to narrow it down to.


Marlon Brando, ON THE WATERFRONT
Dustin Hoffman, MIDNIGHT COWBOY
Robert De Niro, RAGING BULL
Ben Kingsley, GANDHI
Daniel Day-Lewis, MY LEFT FOOT

[Buck Turgidson]

Originally posted by Trifid
Meryl Streep: Sophie's Choice
It towers above all others, irrespective of gender.

[mikemuncer]

Male - Anthony Hopkins in Silence Of The Lambs

Female - Jodie Foster in Silence Of The Lambs

Other worthy mentions:

Uma Thurman in Kill Bill
Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction
Kevin Spacey in American Beauty, Se7en & The Usual Suspects
Fracnes McDormand in Fargo
Jack Nicholson in The Shining

[SweetEnLow]

http://www.sankei.co.jp/mov/jpeg97/12/slingblade.jpeg

Billy Bob Thornton - Slingblade

http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/lions_gate_films/american_psycho/christian_bale/psycho2.jpg

Christian Bale - American Psycho

Anthony Hopkins - Silence Of The Lambs

Jack Nicholson - The Shining

Henry Fonda - The Grapes Of Wrath

[TylerDurden182]

Can't believe this hasn't been mentioned.


James Dean- Rebel Without A Cause

[jedimaster81]

Robert De Niro in Raging Bull
Joe Pesci in GoodFellas
James Stewart in Vertigo
Harrison Ford in The Mosquito Coast
Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West
Al Pacino in The Godfather
Elisabeth Shue in Leaving Las Vegas

just to name a few.

[FilmKing2000]

Originally posted by TylerDurden182
Can't believe this hasn't been mentioned.


James Dean- Rebel Without A Cause

Thank you so much for reminding me.

Also on my mind is Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire, Edward Norton in Primal Fear, and Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird.

[The Heart Collector]

Originally posted by VictimOfChanges
That, and when Jack dies in Titanic.

that took balls to post.

[raging_bull]

De Niro - Raging Bull, Taxi Driver
Denzel - Malcolm X

[redorblue01]

Originally posted by SweetEnLow
http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/lions_gate_films/american_psycho/christian_bale/psycho2.jpg

Christian Bale - American Psycho

[thebrodyman]

I couldn't have said it better

Originally posted by CreeperBEATNGU
Jim Caviezel in The Passion of the Christ.
Not only for the perfect job he did of conveying both the physical and emotional suffering throughout the film, as well as giving off a sense of warmth and conviction in the flashback scenes, but for all he had to go through during filming that would've caused 9 out of 10 actors to say "here's your paycheck back, I'm going home!"...
Being struck by lightning, being lashed for real accidentally during the scourging sequence, severe back pain to the point where a chiropractor needed to be brought on set specifically for him, a dislocated shoulder, pneumonia...
Not to mention the countless hours of make-up prosthetics and having to learn 2 dead languages for the part.

[Rick-James]

KURT RUSSELL

AS

JACK BURTON

IN

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA!!!

[SweetEnLow]

Robert De Niro - Cape Fear

[krazy drako]

Everything that has been mention I can agree with one way or another. The one that sticks out to me that hasn't been mentioned was Henry Fonda in 12 Angry Men.:D

[floydtheater07]

Liam Neeson as Oscar Schindler in "Schindler's List" was amazing.

But above all else, Paul Newman in "Cool Hand Luke".

[ThirdOuting]

Glad I found this, pointless posting a new thread when you can resurrect one!

Robert De Niro-Taxi Driver
Anthony Perkins-Psycho
Marlon Brando-On The Waterfront
John Hurt-The Elephant Man
Paul Newman-Cool Hand Luke
Ray Winstone-Nil By Mouth
Dennis Hopper-Blue Velvet
Lana Turner-The Postman Always Rings Twice
Malcom McDowell-A Clockwork Orange
Paddy Considine-Dead Man's Shoes
James Stewart-Harvey
David Thewlis-Naked

[Antonio]

MALE
I couldn't decide between two Marlon Brando performances, so for me its a tie between Stanley Kowalski in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and Terry Malloy in ON THE WATERFRONT.

FEMALE
Another tie: Bette Davis as Margo Channing in ALL ABOUT EVE, and Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE.

[Monotreme]

The single, greatest acting job of all time? That's a tough one. But I'm gonna have to go with...

http://www.faz.net/imagecache/%7BC20A312B-891E-411A-B0E4-57F48E3A96C8%7Dpicture.jpeg

[dalomini]

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Film/Pix/gallery/2002/07/17/ragibull.jpg

This is without question in my book. Absolutely breathtaking.

[Le_Big_Mac]

http://www.msu.edu/user/svoboda1/taxi_driver/pictures/pow.jpg

[krazy drako]

Originally posted by Rick-James
KURT RUSSELL

AS

JACK BURTON

IN

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA!!!

Hell Yeah!!!!!


No one mentioned Gregory Peck as Atticus Fitch in "To Kill a Mocking Bird".

[vincent2]

B Del Toro- Traffic
Uma Thurman- Pulp Fiction
Sean Penn- Mystic River
Bobby D- Mean streets
Annette Benning- American Beauty

[Gordon]

Originally posted by Hannibal21
MALE
Orson Welles - Citizen Kane

FEMALE
Maria Falconetti - The Passion of Joan of Arc


YES.

[HHHLovesMovies]

AL PACINO, SCARFACE
Jack Nicholson, As Good As It Gets
Sharon Stone, Casino
Robert DeNiro, Raging Bull
Bill Murray, Lost In Translation
Sean Penn, Carlito's Way
Joe Pesci, Goodfellas
Kathy Bates, Misery
Kevin Spacey, American Beauty
Charlize Theron, Monster

[Pride]

Christian Bale - The Machinist

Orson Welles - Citizen Kane

and go ahead and laugh at this one but Johnny Depp - Secret Window. No matter how many times I watch this, I always see something subtle and new in his performance.

Jack Nicholson - The Shining

Al Pacino - The Godfather Trilogy

Daniel Day Lewis - Gangs of New York


Im sure I missed some really important ones, but these are the ones that come to me off the top of my head

[Big Daddy]

The Best - DeNiro in Raging Bull

My favorite - Daniel Day Lewis in Gangs of New York

[Dorothyofoz]

Originally posted by AngelinaJolieLover
Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream ... heartbreaking perfectionhttp://www.filmweb.no/bilder/multimedia/archive/00005/Ellen_Burstyn_i_Requi_5729d.jpg

Incredible performance. It still bothers me that Julia Roberts won the Oscar for Erin Brokovich instead of Ellen Burstyn. There's no question she deserved it.