138 John Hurt Movies, Ranked Best to Worst

Considered one of the greatest films of all time, this science-fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott is about space merchant vessel Nostromo whose crew respond to a distress call on their way back to earth. As a result they end up with a dangerous and aggressive extra-terrestrial creature on board.

The Elephant Man is based on the true-life story of Joseph Merrick, who is referred to as John Merrick in the movie. Dr. Frederick Treves discovers John, born with severe physical deformities, earning his living as the Elephant Man. The movie depicts John’s rise in high London society, his refined soul, and his tragic death.  

This biographical history drama film tells the story of Sir Thomas More, who supported King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church.

Directed by James McTeigue, V for Vendetta is based on the eponymous comic limited series written by Alan Moore. The movie, set in an alternate future where Britain is completely under the control of a totalitarian government, has V, a masked freedom fighter leading a revolution through destructive terrorist acts.  

In this 8th and final movie in the Harry Potter film series, Harry, Ron, and Hermione continue their search for the other Horcruxes - Lord Voldemort's secret to immortality – in an attempt to destroy him for forever. Much is at stake as the epic battle rages out at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

An American college student receives a four year prison term for trying to smuggle drugs out of Turkey. In the jail, he has to endure inhuman torture; but refuses to join an escape attempt because he believes that four years will pass swiftly. But as he nears the end of the term, he learns that his prison term has been extended to thirty years. 

Tim and Beryl Evans move into a new place for rent in West London, along with their infant daughter Geraldine. However, they are not aware of the fact that John Christie, the owner, is a serial killer. When Beryl is pregnant again, it causes an argument between her and Tim. Christie breaks up the argument, and offers to help Beryl terminate the pregnancy, pretending to be an expert. The couple agrees, and Christie eventually kills Beryl after sexually assaulting her. He informs Tim that she died from complications that resulted from the procedure.

Based on J.K. Rowling’s final novel of the ‘Harry Potter’ series, it is the first of the two-part finale of the movie series. The film follows Harry, Ron, and Hermione as they hunt for Horcruxes after Dumbledore’s death, while escaping Death Eaters, to destroy Lord Voldemort once and for all.  

Grace Mulligan is given refuge from gangsters by the people of Dogville, an American town, in exchange for doing small chores. But things take a darker turn when chores turn into torture and rape. When Grace finally accepts her identity of being the gang leader’s daughter she burns the town and its people to the ground. 

After committing a murder in self defense, fatally wounded William Blake is on the run, chased by a group of bounty hunters. He eventually meets an Indian called Nobody, who unsuccessfully tries to take out the bullet lodged close to his hurt. Dead Man focuses on their journey to the sea and how the Indian prepares Blake for his journey to the Spirit World.

Harry Potter, eleven-year-old orphan leading a dreary life with his aunt's family, learns that he is the child of two powerful wizards after he is invited into Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, the mirth of making new friends like half-giant Hagrid and classmates Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger is soon marred by facing his nemesis, Voldemort.

As hope in extraterrestrial life exploration dwindles, a SETI scientist stumbles upon a sequenced signal. She is faced with the challenge of deciphering the message under massive global scrutiny. This science-fiction drama is an adaptation of Carl Sagan's 1985 novel of the same name.

The Hit is a crime thriller film which tells the story of Willie Parker, a mobster in London, who decides to give evidence against his partners, to the police, after they give him a generous offer. However, years later, the kingpin whom he helped put away, hires a hitman to kidnap him and bring him to Paris for his execution.

Winston Smith, a low-ranking bureaucrat in the totalitarian Super-state Oceania’s Ministry of Truth, works on re-writing the history as per the omnipresent supreme leader Big Brother’s guidelines. He falls in love with Julia, who, like him, longs for freedom from the repressive regime. As they meet clandestinely, their illicit relationship flourishes. What would be the consequences if the ‘Thought Police’ captures them?

Shooting Dogs is a historical war drama film which takes us to 1994 Rwanda. It revolves around a Catholic Priest and an English teacher, who are stranded in a school, during the Rwandan genocide. They work together to help those who are in need of shelter.

The Proposition is a Western drama film, which tells the story of a notorious outlaw, who after being apprehended by a lawman, receives a proposition. He has to kill his older brother within nine days, or his younger brother will be executed. 

Starting from the events of the Old Testament to the Spanish Inquisition to the French Revolution, and lastly the future, this film explains the story of mankind in a comical way. 

Richard Forbush, a young London biologist, is more interested in girls than science. When assigned to study penguins’ colony in Antarctica, he reluctantly agrees only impress his latest fascination, Tara St. John Luke, a biology student. However, while studying the penguins, he truly becomes interested and tries for their betterment. When it is time to return, Forbush is a completely changed person. 

Based on Patrick Süskind's 1985 novel Perfume, the movie follows the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, an orphan with extraordinary sense of smell. He is obsessed with creating a perfect scent and to fulfil his ambition, he embarks on dangerous and ghastly quest which leaves 12 young girls dead. As panic spreads across the town, he sets out to get his final thirteenth scent.

Heaven’s Gate is an American Western drama film which revolves around Sheriff James Averill, of Jackson County, who gets involved in a a class war against Nathan Champion, a mercenary who has been supporting the rich cattle farmers in the area, while the poor immigrants are forced to live in terrible conditions.

After carelessly wasting their atmospheric air, Planet Spaceball’s crooked President Scroob decides to force neighboring Planet Druidia’s King Roland to share their atmosphere by ordering Dark Helmet to kidnap Roland’s daughter, Princess Vespa, on her wedding day. But space-pilot Lone Starr and his loyal half-man/half-dog ‘Barf’ come to help her. They need super powers of ‘The Schwartz’ to save Druidia. 

Anna, a wealthy French widow, sets out in her yacht in search of an old sailor friend she had known years earlier. Alan, a holidaying Englishman who has recently broken-up with girlfriend Sheila, joins Anna in her search. Some other enigmatic characters are also intrigued by her strange quest. Gradually, Alan gets attracted towards Anna, but will she forget her old love?

In 1933, while traveling through Alabama, Grace Mulligan and her father come across a plantation, ‘Manderley,’ where slavery still persists. Repulsed by the owner’s rules for the slaves, Grace intervenes. Although some of her suggestions backfire, but by harvest time, she succeeds in applying rules of democracy to white owners and black slaves. Eventually, it is Grace who learns the most from the experience. 

Bull McCabe has spent three decades tending to a rented field by the sea. However, the widow who owns it, decides to sell it. A rich American decides to purchase it to create a factory. McCabe tries to come up with a scheme, along with his son, so that he can still hold on to the land that he spent years caring for.   

At the height of Cold War, Control, the head of British intelligence, and experienced spy George Smiley, are forced to resign after an agent is killed during a mission to identify a Soviet spy within the organization. One year later, after new evidence emerges, Smiley is reinstated by a Cabinet official to seek out the high-ranking mole.

Immortals and married for centuries, vampires Adam and Eve live apart and feed only on pure human blood uncontaminated by the 21st-century environment. But when Adam starts contemplating ending his life, Eve rushes to his side. Together, they must find their place in modern society before it’s too late. 

After attempts to prevent global warming failed, a new ice age sets upon the earth. Meanwhile, the last of humanity, still divided by class, fights to survive on a circumnavigational train in 2031. Snowpiercer is based on a French graphic novel.

The second installment of Lars von Trier’s Depression Trilogy, Melancholia follows the two sisters Justine and Claire. The severely depressed Justine and the fearful Claire must come to terms with their destinies as a rogue planet named Melancholia heads on a direct collision course towards Earth.

Hellboy, his pyrokinetic girlfriend Liz Sherman, aquatic empath Abe Sapien, and Johann Kraus go up against the exiled elven Prince Nuada Silverlance. They eventually find a way to destroy him and stop his Golden Army but end up losing Princess Nuala, who sacrifices herself to save humanity. 

This biographical drama film tells the story of Bob Champion, a steeplechase jockey, who had been diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1979, when he was at the peak of his career. However, he manages to recover after he receives treatment, and he makes a comeback and wins the Grand National in 1981.

The Pied Piper is a fantasy drama film, which takes us to 1349 Germany, when the town of Hamelin is plagued by rats. They hire a wandering pied piper to lure the rats away. However, when they refuse to pay for his services, he hires the children of the town away. 

Although his coworkers and his girlfriend thinks that he is an honest man, Toronto bank employee Dan is actually a compulsive gambler, who even steals from the bank. He soon gets into a messy situation, leading to the largest one-man banking fraud in the history of Canada.

This biographical adventure drama film, tells the story of Rob Roy, who tries to transform his small town a much better place, by borrowing money to buy and herd cattle. However, the money gets stolen, and this forces him to become an outlaw. 

Harry, a British student from a service-class family falls in love with Virginia, his professor's unhappy wife. But is it as easy as it seems?

Hellboy, a half-demon conjured as a baby by Grigori Rasputin on behalf of the Nazis and rescued by the Allies, works as a paranormal investigator with telepathic amphibian humanoid Abe Sapien and the beautiful pyrokinetic Liz Sherman. After the Mad Monk Rasputin returns 60 years later, Hellboy and his team become the unlikely savior of mankind.

When Poland is under communist rule, an exiled Polish theater director who is living in London prepares an abstract play which is meant to criticize the authoritarian Polish government. However, his son who lives with him has different views.

Following the assassination of US President John F Kennedy, his traumatized wife, fights through grief and trauma to regain her faith, in order to take care of her children, as well as define her husband’s historic tragedy. 

Caroline, a nurse, leaves behind her hospital job and signs up to work at a mansion as a private care giver for an old man, Ben who has suffered a stroke and is wheel chair bound. Caroline soon becomes sceptical of Violet, Ben’s wife, who she believes is a threat to him. The house itself has a terrifying past and is haunted by two spirits.

Sightseers is an adventure crime comedy horror film which tells the story of a man named Chris, who wishes to tour the world, along with his girlfriend Tina. They eventually set out on a holiday, but events start conspiring against them, and their holiday starts to take a very wrong turn.

After the Second World War, in an Austrian camp for displaced people, a British officer Giles Burnside discovers that his Russian interpreter, Janovic, is actually a deserter, who according to the regulations, should be executed. He offers to help him escape, but Janovic is not sure whether to trust Burnside.

Stephen Ward regularly employs beautiful young women for his parties to impress his influential friends in the British government. He is so impressed by one of them, an exotic dancer, that he invites her to live with him. Things get extremely complicated when it turns out that she has an affair with Britain’s Minister of War, as well as a spy working for the Soviet Union.  

During the Age of the Vikings, a space-craft crashes in Norway, bringing with it revenge-seeking alien soldier Kainan and ferocious creature, Moorwen. When Kainan realizes that the escaped Moorwen is creating annihilation wherever it goes, Kainan join forces with the Viking warriors. Combining their Iron Age armaments with his progressive technology, he sets out to abolish Moorwen, before it destroys the planet.

During 1820s, Davey Haggart abandons his military duties to follow in his father’s footsteps and turn a thief, despite the fact that his highwayman father was hanged for his crimes. But his childhood friend Annie is determined to transform him, though she reluctantly shields him from the authorities. When finally the law catches up with him, Annie needs to take a call. 

On his dying mother’s biding, Charlie Countryman travels to Bucharest where he meets beautiful musician Gabi, as promised to a co-passenger. As he falls in love with Gabi, Charlie learns about her ruthless, charismatic ex-husband, gangster Nigel, who has no intentions of relinquishing his hold over her heart. Despite her violence-filled dark world, Charlie resolves to protect her and win her over.

The Osterman Weekend is an action drama thriller film which tells the story of John Tanner, an outspoken TV personality, who has an annual tradition of going on a vacation with three of his friends. Things get complicated, however, when he learns that his friends are actually members of a Soviet spy network. He is soon approached by the CIA, who asks him to request his friends to defect.

The Limits of Control is a mystery crime thriller film which tells the story of a lone man, who is sent by two other men on a criminal mission to Madrid, Spain.

Set in 1957, pitting Indiana Jones against Soviet agents, the film—the fourth installment in the Indiana Jones series—became one of the highest-grossing films of 2008. It was praised for its visual effects, performances, and action scenes.

New York, I Love You is a romantic comedy-drama film, which revolves around the love life of several residents living in New York, the most loved and the most hated city in the World. 

A Montreal-based hitman comes home to find his wife missing and learns that his last kill may have something to do with her disappearance. Despite suspecting his next assignment in England to be a setup, he takes it up, convinced that it may lead him to his missing wife.

In Search of Gregory is a romantic mystery drama film which tells the story of Catherine Morelli, a young woman, who goes to attend the latest wedding of her father, Max. Her father wants to introduce her to a potential suitor named Gregory Mulvey.  When she fails to meet Gregory, her desire to know more about him becomes obsessive.

American mathematics student Martin transfers to Oxford with the hope of persuading a renowned philosopher to oversee his thesis. However, when a murder occurs, they both find themselves in a mathematical mystery.

The evil King Hyperion is ravaging through Earth with his ruthless army to find the legendary Epirus Bow with the aim of defeating the Gods by releasing the Titans imprisoned beneath Mount Tartarus. While Zeus is against interfering in mortal affairs, he mentors the brave peasant Theseus who, assisted by Oracle priestess Phaedra, is mankind's last hope.

Greek demigod Hercules, haunted by his tragic past, now leads a band of mercenaries consisting of five loyal followers, and takes any job offered for gold. However, when he is approached by King Cotys of Thrace and his daughter Ergenia to train an army of blood-thirsty soldiers, he must seek out the little conscience left within him.

The life and career of Bill Hickok, legendary gunman, is shown in flashbacks, narrated by his friend Charley Prince at Hickok’s funeral.  

A fisherman leaves to fight with the Greek Army against the Italians, during the Second World War. However, during this time, his fiancée starts to fall in love with the local Italian commander.

Colin Diamond is a successful car salesman who suffers an emotional breakdown after finding out that his wife is having an affair. His friends convince him to kidnap his wife’s lover, and then torture and kill the man. They also agree to help him in his mission, hoping that they can help him restore his wounded ego.

After killing someone from a rival gang, Pinkie Brown, enforcer of his gang, befriends Rose, a young waitress as she had witnessed the gang’s activities. His intention is to keep an eye on her, so that she doesn’t give any evidence against him. Over time, she begins to fall in love with him, and they get married. However, Rose’s employer, decides that he needs to save the girl from the gangster, with whom she has made the mistake of getting married.

When a series of murders occur in the gay community, a heterosexual police detective, who is quite popular with the ladies, is assigned to go undercover with a homosexual police clerk, pretending to be a couple.

King Ralph is a romantic comedy film which tells the story of an ordinary guy Ralph, who just loses his job as a lounge singer. However, he is soon informed that he has royal blood, and since the Entire British Royal Family was recently killed in an accident, he decides to make a claim for the throne.

Lost Souls is a horror thriller film which revolves around a prediction by a priest, stating the devil is going to take human form. A group that has been investigating this matter, starts to believe that the man who will be possessed is going to be Peter, a writer studying serial killers.

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues is a western romantic comedy drama film which tells the story of Sissy Hankshaw, a woman who has been hitchhiking through the US from a young age. Her life takes a turn when she becomes an advertising model, shortly after which her agent sends her to his ranch in California, for shooting a commercial. There, she develops a friendship with Bonanza, one of the cowgirls.

Adapted from the novel by Richard Adams, this adventure drama film tells the story of two dogs who escape from a research laboratory, but they are hunted, as they possibly carry a deadly disease.

With a hope to escape destruction by human developers and in order to save their community, a colony of rabbits, which are led by Hazel and Fiver, seek out a safe place to establish a new warren.

Frodo is a young hobbit, who finds the One Ring which belongs to Dark Lord Sauron. Therefore, he begins his journey with eight companions to Mount Doom, the only place where this ring can be destroyed to end Sauron’s reign over Middle-earth.

The film, set in the Middle Ages, follows aspiring warrior Taran, who is entrusted with magical oracular pig Hen Wen that knows the way to Black Cauldron which can create a mammoth army. Wicked Horned King, who wants to conquer the world, kidnaps Hen Wen. Taran, with brave Princess Eilonwy and other friends, must find the Cauldron before Horned King can seize it.  

Based on a well-known story of the same name, Thumbelina is an animated fantasy romantic musical film which revolves around Thumbelina, a thumb-sized girl, who wants to befriend someone her own size. Her life takes a turn she meets Cornelius, a fairy prince, and falls for him.

In the Hundred Acre Wood, everyone is busy in preparing for the winter, but Tigger causes destruction unintentionally. When his friends reprimand him, Tigger starts looking for a clan which he can call his own.

A sea turtle travels the world over a period of fifty years. He sees the repercussions of global warming and other environmental threats which have started taking their toll on Earth.  

A squad of Ultramarines responds to a distress call from a distant planet. They attempt to get in touch with the Imperial Fists who were stationed there. However, they do not receive any answer from them. They decide to investigate what actually happened, suspecting that an unknown enemy is behind this.

During the time of the Second World War, a pigeon named Valiant wants to help the Allied Forces as they prepare for the D-Day invasion. Meanwhile, most of the carrier pigeons were being decimated by Von Talon, a German falcon. The Royal Homing Pigeon Corps decides to accept Valiant as part of their team, and sends him on a dangerous mission.