The world lost one of the best actors in the history of the form this week, leading people everywhere to chime in with the Gene Hackman movie (or movies) they planned to watch in his honor. The truth is that you could watch two dozen Hackman movies and rarely see the same choices made twice. He had one of the most impressive ranges in the history of film, segueing from comedy to drama to thriller and back again. He also got started relatively late (he was 34 when he made his debut) and retired abruptly just over 20 years ago, but he left us with one of the most impressive catalogues of any actor in movie history. Let us help you watch a Gene Hackman movie this weekend. We’ve listed all of them below in chronological order of release and highlighted a few of our favorites from his vast filmography.
Note: Unless a title is labeled “unavailable,” it’s likely on VOD, too. If it says “VOD,” it’s only on VOD — usually for a rental cost of $2.99 or $3.99.
Lilith — VOD
Hawaii — Screenpix
Banning — Unavailable
A Covenant With Death — VOD
First to Fight — Plex
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Bonnie and Clyde — VOD
Hackman’s breakthrough was in a film that shifted the landscape with its depiction of violence and earned ten Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Widely recognized as one of the best films ever made, Hackman is unforgettable in this one as Buck Barrow, older brother to Warren Beatty’s infamous Clyde. He landed his first of five Oscar nominations for this one.
The Split — VOD
Riot — Unavailable
The Gypsy Moths — WatchTCM
Downhill Racer — Kanopy
Marooned — VOD
I Never Sang for My Father — VOD
Hackman earned his second Oscar nod for this adaptation of the beloved 1968 Broadway play of the same name by Robert Anderson. Opposite Melvyn Douglas as his demanding father, Hackman is vulnerable and unforgettable in a part that truly made it clear he was going to be one of the key performers of his generation.
Doctor’s Wives — Unavailable
The Hunting Party — Prime Video
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The French Connection — VOD
William Friedkin directed Hackman to his first Oscar for acting in a film that also won the director an Oscar and took home Best Picture, something that feels nearly impossible today. Any list of the most memorable film cops of all time that doesn’t include Popeye Doyle isn’t worth reading.
Prime Cut — Unavailable
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The Poseidon Adventure — Starz
Hackman hysterically referred to this one as a “money job” — a project he did to pay the bills — but it became a true phenomenon, arguably the definitive disaster movie. It was the highest grossing film of 1973, a reminder that Hackman could carry a blockbuster as easily as he did a small drama. It still rips a half-century later.
Cisco Pike — Prime Video
Scarecrow — WatchTCM
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The Conversation — Paramount+, Prime Video, Kanopy
Francis Ford Coppola directed Hackman to arguably his career-best work in this study of paranoia following a surveillance expert who may have stumbled on to the planning of a murder. Nominated for Best Picture, it was largely underrated compared to other films of its era for at least a generation, but its reputation seems to improve with every viewing. This one is a flat-out masterpiece, anchored by one of the best performances by anyone, ever.
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Young Frankenstein — Unavailable
The same year Hackman embodied the gritty truth of The Conversation, he pivoted completely and took on an unforgettable supporting role in this Mel Brooks masterpiece. Hackman’s comic timing is perfect as a blind man who encounters Peter Boyle’s monster.
Zandy’s Bride — VOD
French Connection II — Fubo
Lucky Lady — Unavailable
Night Moves — WatchTCM
Bite the Bullet — Fubo, Plex
The Domino Principle — Hoopla, Plex
A Bridge Too Far — Fubo, MGM+
March or Die — Prime Video
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Superman — Max
Lex Luthor! Of course, Hackman played the iconic DC supervillain in three films, but he was never better at it than in the original, playfully sketching Luthor as a goofy megalomaniac, someone who got joy from his dreams of world domination. Hackman doesn’t lean too hard into cartoonish villainy, never taking Luthor too seriously, which makes him an even more effective bad guy. He knew superhero movies should be fun. Don’t you wish more people remembered that today?
Superman II — Max
All Night Long — Unavailable
Reds — Hoopla
Under Fire — Prime Video
Uncommon Valor — Paramount+, Hoopla
Eureka — Prime Video, Hoopla, MGM+
Misunderstood — Unavailable
Twice in a Lifetime — Unavailable
Target — Hoopla
Power — Kanopy
Hoosiers — VOD
No Way Out — Fubo, MGM+
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace — Max
Bat*21 — Unavailable
Split Decisions — Starz
Another Woman — Fubo
Full Moon in Blue Water — Fubo, MGM+
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Mississippi Burning — The Roku Channel, Hoopla, Pluto TV, Kanopy
One of Hackman’s more controversial films feels pretty problematic now for the manner in which it tells the story of Black civil-rights workers through the eyes of the white FBI agents investigating the case, but that doesn’t change how incredible Hackman is in this film, which earned him his fourth Oscar nomination. It’s not a great movie, but it is an undeniably great Hackman performance.
The Package — Fubo, MGM+
Loose Cannons — VOD
Postcards From the Edge — VOD
Narrow Margin — VOD
Class Action — Unavailable
Company Business — Fubo, MGM+
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Unforgiven — Paramount+
Clint Eastwood deconstructed the very genre he helped define in one of the best films of the ’90s, a dissection of the ripple effect of violence. How good is Unforgiven? It’s an essential Morgan Freeman film, an essential Clint Eastwood film, and an essential Gene Hackman film. It’s also the movie that won Gene his second and final Oscar.
The Firm — Paramount+, Fubo, Kanopy
Geronimo: An American Legend — VOD
Wyatt Earp — VOD
The Quick and the Dead — Hulu
Crimson Tide — VOD
Get Shorty — Prime Video, Roku Channel, Hoopla
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The Birdcage — Prime Video
Gene Hackman notoriously was set to play the part of Mr. Robinson in The Graduate, the movie that put Mike Nichols on the map, but he was fired from the gig. Hackman and Nichols would eventually work together on Postcards From the Edge and this masterful comedy, a reminder of Hackman’s unbelievable comic timing as a Republican senator who finds himself in a gender-bending situation he never could have imagined.
Extreme Measures — Hoopla
The Chamber — VOD
Absolute Power — VOD
Twilight — Hoopla
Antz — VOD
Enemy of the State — VOD
Under Suspicion — Netflix
The Replacements — VOD
The Mexican — Paramount+
Heartbreakers — Prime Video, Kanopy
Heist — VOD
Behind Enemy Lines — VOD
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The Royal Tenenbaums — VOD
The final masterful acting turn from Gene Hackman would be one of his most beloved. The legend played Royal Tenenbaum, the patriarch of an eccentric trio of siblings, in what is arguably Wes Anderson’s best movie. Hackman blends his dramatic and comedic chops in a role that made the most of where he was at this point in his career. Who could have guessed it would be so close to the end?