The 15 Best Michael Madsen Movies, Ranked

The 1994 remake of "The Getaway" is a thoroughly strange movie, from its gratuitous sex scenes to the awkward chemistry between Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger — despite the couple being married in real life at the time. Madsen plays Rudy Travis, the violent partner of bank robber Doc McCoy (Baldwin), who double-crosses him and pursues him and his wife Carol (Basinger) for stashed loot. With all the unpredictable fury of a raw nerve, Madsen is riveting and injects life into an otherwise stale retread.

Madsen's best heel turns are when he plays antagonists who unabashedly embrace their dark side, and "The Getaway" provides us with a solid example. Far from a lone wolf, Madsen acts alongside Fran Carvey (Jennifer Tilly), a kidnapee-turned-love-interest — making their pairing a modern meditation on Bonnie and Clyde. Unlike Baldwin and Basinger's relatively joyless performances, Madsen and Tilly steal the show as the couple we find ourselves rooting for throughout its runtime.

Originally released in North America under the title "Renegade," the 2004 French western "Blueberry" brings a more psychedelic edge to the Wild West. U.S. Marshal Mike Donovan (Vincent Cassel) maintains the tenuous peace between settlers and the Indigenous population along the 19th-century frontier. Madsen stars as the villainous Wallace Sebastian Blount. Described in the film as a "white sorcerer," Blount gives Madsen one of his more unique antagonistic roles, opposing Donovan like the all-knowing specter at the end of a bad acid trip.

With its overlit cinematography and larger-than-life perspective on the West, Madsen gives "Blueberry" a grounding presence amidst all the outsized surrealism. "Blueberry" starts and stops in fits with uneven narrative pacing. But whenever Madsen is onscreen, it's all eyes on him. "Blueberry" practically feels like an arthouse western at times, but without the solid foundation that Madsen brings as Blount, the entire movie would feel aimless.

Reflecting on his career, Madsen revealed that he used to be neighbors with Pierce Brosnan during the latter's tenure as James Bond. Brosnan helped Madsen get cast in "Die Another Day." In the Bond film, Madsen plays Damian Falco, a no-nonsense official in the NSA who oversees his operative Jinx (Halle Berry) as she works with Bond to dismantle a North Korean plot to invade South Korea. While it's only a small supporting role in what would become Brosnan's swan song as 007, Madsen elevates what material he has — including squaring up with M (Judi Dench) over Bond temporarily going rogue.

"Die Another Day" is the Bond franchise at its most ludicrous, from an overreliance on offputting CGI effects, hilariously intrusive use of slow-motion, and the decision to have Bond infiltrate North Korea by surfing. Still, as outlandish as the proceedings get, Madsen plays Falco completely straight. He embodies American hubris in contrast to his more reserved counterparts in British intelligence. Plus, any movie with a Tarantino alum sharing scenes with Academy Award winner Dame Judi Dench must make any actor's highlight reel.

Looking at Madsen's wider body of work, a family-friendly coming-of-age story might imagine him playing a tamer version of the roles he typically plays in mature crime fare. However, 1993's "Free Willy" has Madsen portray a caring foster father, Glen Greenwood, who adopts his adolescent nephew Jesse (Jason James Richter). He raises Jesse with his wife, Annie (Jayne Atkinson). Glen and Annie support Jesse and his dreams — participating in releasing the captive Orca Willy, Jesse's friend, into the wild.

For many millennials (including myself), "Free Willy" was an introduction to Madsen's work, albeit one of the few family-friendly projects in his filmography. Glen could have easily been a generic '80s/'90s coming-of-age suburban dad, along for the ride with some insightful lines to advise the protagonist. Fortunately, Madsen digs into his against-type role, with an argument between Annie and Glen as a standout moment for Madsen's performance. The scene and its subsequent resolution are among Madsen's most subtly emotional in his career, underscoring Glen's commitment to his family. For those hoping Madsen hasn't lost his edge entirely, he does manage to get in a punch during the movie's climactic showdown.

As a musical biopic, "The Doors" is a mixed bag. Additionally, the surviving members of the real-life band were unhappy with Oliver Stone's handling of their story (via For What It's Worth). But for all the creative liberties taken with the rise and fall of Jim Morrison (Val Kilmer), there is a stylishly surreal look at the California band and their impact on pop culture. Madsen plays Morrison's actor friend Tom Baker, who joins him through his hedonistic binges as he contends with growing fame.

Tom Baker doesn't play a particularly huge role in "The Doors," serving as (a sort of) an enabler for Morrison's worst impulses while the star skyrockets into the spotlight. Compared to Kilmer's larger-than-life performance as Morrison, Madsen brings a more grounded edge, leaning into his acting strengths. He brings a refreshingly down-to-earth contrast to the mobster roles that make up his career. "The Doors" is not without its glaring flaws, but thankfully, Madsen is not one of them in a strong pre-"Reservoir Dogs" supporting role.

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Madsen reunited with Tarantino for 2015's "The Hateful Eight," playing the ornery cowboy Joe Gage among eight travelers snowed in at a stagecoach station. Bounty hunters Marquise Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) and John Ruth (Kurt Russell) pass through with wanted woman Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Those at the station are suspected to be in Domergue's gang. With the blizzard intensifying overnight, "The Hateful Eight" plays out like a slow-burn horror movie, dialing up the suspense before its inevitably blood-soaked finale.

"The Hateful Eight" deliberately positions Gage as the culprit in its Wild West whodunit early on, with Madsen and Russell sharing a particularly solid scene together as Ruth voices his suspicions. Once the cat is out of the bag that virtually everyone is in league with Domergue, Madsen seamlessly shifts into outlaw mode, relishing the chance to finally indulge in Gage's murderous impulses when his true colors are shone.This is apparent during a flashback of the gang wiping out the owners of the station ahead of Warren and Ruth's arrival, with Gage methodically killing a helpless stagecoach driver in one of Madsen's most chillingly understated scenes.

With all due credit to filmmaker Mike Newell, "Donnie Brasco" is the greatest Martin Scorsese movie not directed by him. His film seamlessly fits into crime stories Scorsese has crafted. Johnny Depp stars as Brasco, an undercover FBI agent who infiltrates the mob and befriends its veteran and unappreciated enforcer, Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino). Madsen stars as Sonny Black, a rising mob figure, whose ascent drives Lefty into unwittingly helping Brasco obtain more vital information about the organization's criminal activities.

Madsen's character delivers the intimidating counterpoint to the father-son dynamic struck up by Depp and Pacino, which makes up the narrative's emotional core. As the audience, we know Brasco is using Lefty and betraying his trust to complete his assignment. Still, the two form a genuinely tight bond across the film. Contrasting that is Black's rise to power: Madsen brings unwavering intensity as Black. His character has any threat to his control over the mob eliminated. Depp and Pacino's performances elevate "Donnie Brasco," but Madsen's Black personifies the film's looming sense of danger and consequences.

While "Reservoir Dogs" doesn't feature Madsen's most complex or nuanced performance, it's rightfully the one that has and will continue to define his career. Starring as the sadistically homicidal Mr. Blonde, Madsen's professional association with Tarantino began with this 1992 crime movie. In Tarantino's feature directorial debut, Blonde and his crew assemble to rob an L.A. jewelry store, unaware that an undercover cop has infiltrated their group, setting them up to fail.

For all the paranoia that drives "Reservoir Dogs," Blonde is a character that never visibly loses his cool. He's unfazed by being accused as the traitor or of the group's dire circumstances. Left to watch over a captured police officer, Madsen channels Blonde's calmness into a twisted torture scene that stands among the most infamous sequences in a Tarantino movie — thanks to how Madsen cruelly sells it. Tarantino has since turned to Madsen whenever he needs an understated heavyweight. Madsen has evoked variations on Blonde into many of his subsequent roles.

There was Michael Madsen before starring in "Reservoir Dogs" and Michael Madsen afterward. Over 30 years later, the film looms large over his filmography, a testament to his chilling work.