Movies - TV
The 14 Best Val Kilmer Movies Ranked
By MATTHEW MONAGLE
14. Top Gun
While Val Kilmer only accepted the role of "Iceman" Kazansky in “Top Gun” out of contractual obligations, his performance oozed potential and future star power. Kilmer was, indeed, a perfectly calibrated foil for Tom Cruise, and his role in "Top Gun" opened many doors for him as an actor.
13. Top Secret!
Kilmer described "Top Secret!" as a painful transition from acting in the theater to acting in movies. In the film, he performed each of the songs on the soundtrack and served as a perfectly sincere (and charmingly generic) hero. "Top Secret!" shows that Kilmer is adept at being both the straight man and the class clown.
12. The Saint
Critics often compare "The Saint" to Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible," as both movies feature complex heists and plenty of disguises — but the better comparison might be to Martin Campbell's "GoldenEye.” Maybe Kilmer wearing plastic teeth and bad accents was proof that the Serious Artist™ was not so serious after all.
11. Red Planet
"Red Planet" is a thriller about a crashed ship and a killer robot, where Kilmer plays Robby Gallagher, a "space janitor" and engineer who is trapped on Mars when a terraforming expedition goes wrong. Rather than lean into the science of science fiction, however, the filmmakers opt for pulpy scares.
10. MacGruber
In "MacGruber," Kilmer takes a rare villainous turn as Dieter Von Cunth, but the film’s brilliantly stupid gags took audiences a decade to appreciate the comedy. Kilmer described his motivation for doing "MacGruber" as an opportunity to claw his way back into doing comedies after years of dramas.