Samuel L Jackson names his five favourite movies of all time
It’s surprising, really, that the beloved American actor Samuel L Jackson has never won an Oscar, only being nominated on one occasion for his role in the Quentin Tarantino Palme d’Or success Pulp Fiction. Celebrated by fans and critics alike, Jackson is one of Hollywood’s adored stars, largely thanks to his spectacular filmography, which boasts collaborations with Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, George Lucas, Steven Soderbergh, Paul Thomas Anderson and many more.
Taking a career in front of the movie cameras in the 1970s, Jackson has been around Hollywood for longer than most people give him credit, dominating the screen over several decades. From that time, he classifies his role as the lowlife Mitch Henessey in Renny Harlin’s 1996 spy action thriller The Long Kiss Goodnight as his all-time favourite, dismissing more celebrated movies that made him a household name.
Yet, part of the reason that Jackson is such a beloved star is that he feels no different from the fans who consume his movies, often speaking about how much he adores spontaneously watching films when they appear on TV. During a conversation on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Jackson gave fans an insight into his personality, too, revealing his five favourite movies of all time.
Picking out a range of action flicks, Jackson chooses both Ryoo Seung-wan’s 2013 film The Berlin File and Gareth Evans’ 2011 classic The Raid, clearly having quite a fondness for martial arts cinema. While The Berlin File is lesser-known, Evans’ work is often considered one of the best modern action movies, inspiring a 2014 sequel and a forthcoming remake from Michael Bay.
Elsewhere, Jackson takes things back to basics, naming the Francis Ford Coppola movie The Godfather, a classic often heaped with grand praise. Starring Marlon Brando, Diane Keaton, Al Pacino and James Caan, Coppola’s film is an American odyssey that tells the story of Don Vito Corleone, the head of the mafia, who attempts to run his criminal organisation while trying to find a successor to his throne.
Taking things back to the action genre, Jackson names John Woo’s excellent Hard Boiled as his second pick, adoring the film for its camp aspects and bombastic approach to explosive cinema. Starring the celebrated Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-Fat, Hard Boiled follows the story of a tough cop who collaborates with an undercover agent to take down an evil mobster.
The final film to grace his list is the 1997 Bill Duke movie Hoodlum, which featured the likes of Laurence Fishburne, Tim Roth and Andy Garcia. Something of a cult favourite, although it didn’t make a massive splash at the time of its release, losing money at the box office, its story about Black gangsters in 1930 Harlem has gone on to thrill audiences across the globe.
Samuel L Jackson’s favourite movies:
- The Berlin File (Ryoo Seung-wan, 2013)
- The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
- Hard Boiled (John Woo, 1992)
- Hoodlum (Bill Duke, 1997)
- The Raid (Gareth Evans, 2011)
