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The Best Sam Neill Movies Everyone Needs To Watch At Least Once
The Best Sam Neill Movies Everyone Needs To Watch At Least Once
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Untertitel (209)
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Sam Neil had a film career any actor
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would be proud of. If you haven't seen
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these career highlights, you'll be doing
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yourself a favor to check them all out
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in tribute. Okay, you've probably seen
0:11
this one. It's a role that made Neil a
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household name and forever associated
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him with the role of paleontologist Dr.
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Alan Grant. But if you've somehow never
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seen Steven Spielberg's 1993 masterpiece
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Jurassic Park, get on it. The film
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revolutionized visual effects, and
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frankly, they're still pretty
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astonishing more than 30 years later.
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They eclipse even the latter films in
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the Jurassic franchise. But it's the
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human characters who are the heart of
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the story. Their mix of awe and fear of
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the clone dinosaurs at the title
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attraction really sell the premise.
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We'll never forget Gran's reaction to
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seeing living, breathing dinos for the
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first time.
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>> It's It's a dinosaur. Jurassic Park
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topped the domestic box office for 1993,
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raking in over $338
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million. It was also a critical darling
1:00
and Oscar favorite, winning prizes for
1:02
its visual effects, sound mixing, and
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sound effects editing. When the movie
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was re-released in 3D in 2013, Variety
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mused that the movie had only gained
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charm over the past two decades. 1993
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was a huge year for Neil. While he
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backed theaters that summer with
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Jurassic Park, he was also getting
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massive prestige film cred for his role
1:23
in The Piano. The awards mostly went to
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his co-stars Holly Hunter and Anna
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Pacquin, as well as director Jane
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Campion. But Neil is essential to the
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film's haunting, mesmerizing impact.
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Neil plays Alice Stewart, a frontiersman
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who brings his new wife Adah and her
1:40
daughter Flora to travel from Scotland
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to his home in the woods of New Zealand.
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Ada only communicates through her piano
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and feels no romantic warmth towards
1:48
Alistair. In retaliation, he sells the
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instrument to a farmer who has taken up
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many customs of the local Mouri tribes.
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The farmer agrees to sell it back to Ada
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one key at a time in exchange for an
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affair. When the two fall in love, it
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sends Alistair into a tail spin of
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jealousy. Roger Eert called the movie as
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peculiar and haunting as any film I've
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seen. He praised the performances,
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writing that Neil has a universe of fear
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and sadness behind his clouded eyes. The
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movie became the highest grossing ever
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at the time in New Zealand where it was
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shot and which Neil called home for most
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of his life. Neil was doing excellent
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work well before his 1993 breakout.
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Unfortunately, one of his most
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captivating performances was largely
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ignored when it hit screens in 1981.
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That's despite co-star Isabelle Ajani
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winning the best actress prize it can
2:39
for Andre Zulosk's possession. The film
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was actually banned in the UK and the US
2:44
release was heavily edited down from 124
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minutes to just 81. Yet it has gained a
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massive cult following since then thanks
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to a new restoration. Neil plays Mark, a
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spy who returns home to find his wife
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Anna is having an affair and wants a
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divorce. After taking a beating from his
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wife's lover, Mark hires a private
3:04
detective to follow her around. But as
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Anna's behavior becomes increasingly
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violent and bizarre, it becomes clear
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something more sinister has taken hold
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of her.
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>> You've hardened for the first time. You
3:18
look
3:20
vulgar to me.
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>> Response was decidedly mixed upon its
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original release, but contemporary
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critical and audience assessment has
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only grown stronger. The Chicago reader
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flatout declared it a masterpiece while
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Roger Eberts.com said the film remains
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one of the most grueling, powerful, and
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overwhelmingly intense cinematic
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experiences that you are likely to have
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in your lifetime. Another Neil outing
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that wasn't met with the warmest
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reception when it was released in 1995.
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John Carpenters's In the Mouth of
3:50
Madness has been reappraised as one of
3:52
Carpenters's best. That's thanks in
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large part to Neil's frightingly
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committed performance. Taking its
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inspiration from the works of HP
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Lovecraft, the film stars Neil as John
4:02
Trent, an insurance investigator hired
4:04
to track down horror novelist Sutter
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Kane.
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Do you read Sutter Kane?
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What? Kane's work is hugely popular and
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seems to drive everyone who reads it
4:15
insane. Trenton editor Linda Styles
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tracked the writer down to a small New
4:20
England town which closely resembles the
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supernatural world of Kane's novels.
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Before long, Trenton Styles are driven
4:26
into the author's psyche shattering
4:28
mindscape. The Chicago reader was among
4:31
the film's initial defenders, calling it
4:33
Carpenters's scariest outing. The Austin
4:36
Chronicle praised Neil's performance,
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Carpenter's sense of mood, his smart use
4:40
of the widescreen format, not to mention
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all the mutations, special effects, and
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the hilariously self-reflexive finale.
4:48
If you've never heard of 1988's A Cry in
4:50
the Dark, you've at least heard a parody
4:52
of it if you're a Seinfeld fan.
4:54
>> Maybe the dingo ate your baby.
4:56
>> Yes, a dingo seemingly eats Merryill
4:58
Streep's baby in this one. And that may
5:00
sound ridiculous, but Streep and Neil
5:02
both earned praise for their
5:04
performances in this courtroom docu
5:06
drama. It tells the true story of Lindy
5:08
and Michael Chamberlain, an Australian
5:10
couple whose infant daughter disappears
5:12
while they're on vacation in the
5:14
outback. Lindy swears to have witnessed
5:16
a dingo carrying their baby off in the
5:18
night. Yet, her icy demeanor and a
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mountain of circumstantial evidence
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cause people to suspect she actually
5:24
killed her own child. Prejudice against
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the couple's religious beliefs and media
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sensationalism only fuel public
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speculation. Critics praised the film,
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which brought Stre many Oscar
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nominations. Although it reminded him in
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some ways of a TV movie of the week,
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Vincent Cami of the New York Times
5:41
thought A Cry in the Dark was a step up,
5:43
largely thanks to Street and Neil's
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performances. Rita Kempley of the
5:47
Washington Post agreed, writing that
5:49
Neil was quite good as a humble,
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bewildered sort who finally breaks under
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cross-examination.
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Neil never really slowed down, racking
5:57
up credits right up until the end. One
5:59
of his most notable late career roles
6:01
was in a 2016 comedy made in New Zealand
6:04
by then upandcoming director Tika Whiti.
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Hunt for the Wilder People centers on
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young Ricky Baker, an abandoned juvenile
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delinquent who's taken in by his foster
6:13
parents, Neil's Hector, and Bella. When
6:16
Bella dies, Ricky fakes his own death
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and makes a run for the woods. Hector
6:20
tracks him down, but he breaks his
6:22
ankle, stranding them in the wilderness.
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The police conclude Hector has abducted
6:26
Ricky, and the odd couple must work
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together to avoid capture.
6:30
>> Uncle, you're basically a criminal now,
6:32
but on the bright side, you're famous.
6:34
>> The film earned near universal praise
6:36
from critics who loved its tonal balance
6:39
and performances. Variety called it a
6:41
pleasing comedy adventure and praised
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Neil's casting. Time lorded the cranky
6:46
charisma of the performers. Critics
6:48
didn't like Event Horizon when it came
6:50
out in 1997, but like so many of Neil's
6:53
starring vehicles, this Paul WS Anderson
6:56
directed sci-fi horror flick has
6:57
undergone some re-evaluation. Fans are
7:00
still clamoring for a director's cut
7:02
given that the theatrical release was
7:04
rushed through post-prouction. Set in
7:06
2047, Event Horizon stars Neil as Dr.
7:09
William Weir, designer of the title
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spacecraft, which mysteriously
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disappeared and reappeared through a
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black hole. We and the crew of a rescue
7:17
vessel explore the ship in search of
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survivors. They discover something
7:21
sinister has come back with the ship. As
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the crew starts getting picked off one
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by one, Dr. Weer begins acting very
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strangely, calling his motives into
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question. Event Horizon was a box office
7:32
failure, but it has gained a cult
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following, leading many reviewers to
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give it a second look. Perhaps that
7:38
elusive director's cut will emerge from
7:39
the black hole one day.
