The Best Bad Nicolas Cage Movies Ranked
Nicolas Cage movies range from ‘what the heck did I just watch?’ to amazing award winning dramas. These fall in the first category.
America’s favorite actor has made some amazingly awesome movies in the last 39 years. Nicolas Cage has made some genuinely great movies (he’s an Oscar winner, after all), including an unforgettable performance in a John Woo classic and that Robert Bierman vampire satire. These aren’t those. These are his most magnificent performances. One of them is so perfect it has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
With the release of Renfield on digital today it’s a good time to revisit the classics. I present a ranking of his most Nic Cage-esque performances. All are gems for folks that enjoy bad cinema and Cage’s unique style.
There may be spoilers in the videos.
Snake Eyes
“This is fight night and I am the king.”
An offbeat detective witnesses the Secretary of Defense’s assassination at a boxing match he’s attending with a friend (who happens to be a Navy Commander). The guilty party is revealed halfway through the movie, and it just slides out from under itself from there. Cage’s signature non-stop over the top performance in this tangled preposterous mess is a sight to behold. Director Brian DePalma was trying for something revolutionary and got total bonkers instead.
Wicker Man
“Step away from the bike!”
A remake of the 1970s folk horror classic with Christopher Lee. A lawman travels to a secluded island. It happens to be run by a cult. Things don’t go well for the lawman. There are bees. Bees! So many bees! And yelling. So much yelling! Plus one of the most memorable sucker punches from a guy in a bear suit in film history.
via Lionsgate
Drive Angry
“Even in Hell there is compassion.”
In this grindhouse flop, Satan’s right-hand man chases John Milton (who has escaped hell to rescue his infant daughter from a cult… of Satanists). There’s bad hair, bad one-liners, destruction of innocent cars, and horrid fake southern accents. It’s like Ghost Rider, but without Marvel and motorcycles. It does have some nice muscle cars, though.
Primal
“Take it easy with my cat!”
Cage plays an eccentric big game hunter and animal smuggler named Frank. He’s stuck on a boat with deadly wild animals, a dangerous mercenary/international criminal, and Famke Janssen. The criminal gets loose and Frank has to catch him using his hunting talents. Hunting the world’s most dangerous game in a tin can. The CG animals that look half-rendered most of the time are hardly the worst of it.
via Lionsgate
Season of the Witch
“Whomever slays the most men drinks for free.”
Two knights return home from the crusades to find their town cursed by a plague and are tasked by the church to take the witch responsible to a monastery to be dealt with. It also stars Ron Perlman, Claire Foy, more questionable accents, and terrible CG. It really wants to be deeper and scarier than it is. The second time I saw it I didn’t realize I’d already seen it till half way through.
The 0% Rotten Tomatoes Score Goes To… Deadfall
“You filthy, double crossing, little f’ing filthy, double crossing, filthy, f’ing goddamn f’ing filthy little RAT!”
Directed by Nic’s brother. A con-artist accidentally kills his father (who was a con-artist) then goes searching for his father’s twin brother (who is also a con-artist), and stuff happens. Also stars Michael Biehn, Charlie Sheen, James Coburn, and Peter Fonda. Don’t bother with the movie; here are the highlights. Oh, and you can catch Cage as Eddie King again in 2017’s Arsenal if you so choose.
Cage’s filmography is vast and varied; this is only a sampling of the best of the magnificently bad. Here’s the actor speaking about his better performances and you can check out the AMA he did. The man is a walking encyclopedia of film history. He really loves what he does and puts everything into all of his performances.
