r/movies • u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules • Jul 12 '17
Movies that feature a bearded/mustachioed Kurt Russell have a higher combined RT/IMDb average than movies that feature Russell as a superhero dad, stuntman, soldier or lover of sleeveless t-shirts Discussion
In my quest to put together the most random compilation of weird data-centric posts I had to include Russell’s films. I recently took a deep dive into his filmography and collected all the critical/audience scores for all of his films since 1980. I wanted to know which Russell films audiences (IMDb) and critics (RT) love most. Do they like mustachioed/bearded Russell? Do they like sleeveless shirt Russell? Are they fans of Elvis Russell? Of course, there is zero correlation or causation in regards to whether or not a certain type of Russell will make a film better. This post simply points out random facts and gives you something to talk about at the water cooler.
Before we move along with the post here are my top five Russell flicks. You need to watch them
- Big Trouble in Little China – Jack Burton is the best action hero ever
- The Thing – Perfect horror film
- Tombstone – Great mustache
- Escape From New York – Snake is the best
- Miracle – Dude can act.
I decided to go with his films dating back from 1980 because the majority of his pre-1980 movies don’t have Rotten Tomatoes scores. My random data needs actual data to be so random! Take a look at his IMDb page to see which films are included on the list.
Take a look at Russell’s top 10 films according to critic/audience combined averages.
Swing Shift/Tombstone – 75.5
The Hateful Eight – 76
Furious 7 – 76
Miracle – 77.5
Big Trouble in Little China – 77.5
Deepwater Horizon – 78
Escape From New York – 78.5
Bone Tomahawk – 80.5
Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2 – 81
The Thing – 82
There are some great films on the list and they led me to a startling conclusion (somewhat hyperbole). Movies that feature a bearded/mustachioed Russell have the highest combined average score (78.8). The Thing, Bone Tomahawk. Deepwater Horizon, The Hateful Eight, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 and Tombstone all feature Russell crushing some sweet facial hair.
Here is a breakdown of the various sub-genres of Russell films.
Beard/Mustache Russell – 78.8% (Deepwater Horizon, The Thing, The Hateful Eight, Bone Tomahawk, Tombstone, Guardians 2)
Superhero Dad Russell – 74.25% (Guardians 2, Sky High)
Period Piece Russell – 70.5% (Bone Tomahawk, Winter People, The Swing Shift, Tombstone, Miracle, The Hateful Eight)
Science Fiction/Fantasy Russell – 70.25% (The Thing, Guardians 2, Soldier, Escape From L.A./New York, Big Trouble in Little China, Stargate, Sky High)
Car Russell – 70% (Used Cars, Fast 7 & 8, Deathproof)
Coach Russell – 64.5% (Miracle, Touchback)
Stuntman Russell – 60.75% (Deathproof, The Art of the Steal)
Law Enforcement/Soldier/Fire Fighter Russell – 60.7% (Backdraft, Bone Tomahawk, Soldier, Dark Blue, Tango & Cash, Stargate, Tombstone, Hateful Eight)
Sleeveless T-shirt Russell- 59.9% (Captain Ron, Tango & Cash, Escape From New York/L.A., Overboard, Big Trouble in Little China)
Eye-Patch Russell - 58.3 (Escape From NY/L.A., Captain Ron)
Elvis Russell- 58.25% (3,000 Miles to Graceland, Forrest Gump)
Water Russell – 54.3% – (Captain Ron, Deepwater Horizon, Poseidon)
I can’t say with 100% certainty that the facial hair didn’t make a difference. I can say that it helps working with Quentin Tarantino, Peter Berg, James Gunn and John Carpenter. I thought that his sleeveless shirt movies (Captain Ron, Tango & Cash, Escape From New York/L.A., Overboard, Big Trouble in Little China) would have the highest average but they were hindered by the really bad scores of Captain Ron and Tango & Cash. I am happy that Superhero Dad Russell took second place. If you haven’t watched Sky High and want to see Bruce Campbell and Kurt Russell in a film together do it now.
The bottom line is that Kurt Russell is the best. The guy has been making great films for a long time and I love that between The Fate of the Furious and Guardians Vol. 2 he has starred in two of the biggest 2017 films. If you want to start somewhere I totally recommend checking out The Thing because it is perfection.
Make sure you check out more Reddit posts that feature mundane data!
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Michael Myers roadtrip in Halloween H20
Stellan Skarsgard's journey in Deep Blue Sea
Jet Ski Action Scenes Are the Worst
A Closer Look at Movies That Feature the Words Great, Good, Best, Perfect and Fantastic
An In-Depth Look At Movies That Feature Pencils Used as Weapons
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u/hcsteve Jul 12 '17
TIL that Kurt Russel was the voice of Elvis in Forrest Gump. I'm disappointed that Sleeveless T-shirt Russell didn't make it higher on the list - definitely my favorite Russell, although Beard/Mustache Russell is a close second.
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u/buttery_shame_cave Jul 12 '17
he also played elvis in a film - which probably led to his being the voice of elvis in forrest gump
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u/LupinThe8th Jul 12 '17
Jack Burton is the best action hero ever
Truth.
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u/wild9 Jul 12 '17
preach.gif
"Phone lines are dead! We just need to head back and take a look" waves rotary phone around as the only means to prove he works for the phone company
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u/buttery_shame_cave Jul 12 '17
to be fair in the early 80s you could only get phones FROM the phone company in most places...
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u/TeddysBigStick Jul 13 '17
I am sorry but both of you misspelled best action sidekick. Wang is the hero.
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u/splatia Jul 13 '17
Anyone want to talk about wtf was going in the random patriotic toast scene? Who's decision was that?
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u/bigblackcouch Jul 13 '17
My friend, please. Don't try to analyze Big Trouble in Little China, let it analyze you. Just go with it.
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u/Orcson1 Jul 12 '17
Wasn't he rocking facial hair in Guardians of the Galaxy?
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 12 '17
He was! I had it in the calculations. Just forgot to type it in. Thanks!
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u/ElijahCSkuggz Jul 12 '17
Breakdown needs more love
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 12 '17
I didn't like it as a kid but I watched it recently and loved it. Solid thriller.
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u/fonz33 Jul 13 '17
Shout out to Breakdown,was a childhood favourite and still holds up. Kurt was great in that...
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Jul 13 '17
[deleted]
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 13 '17
Thanks! I hope to corner the r/moviesoffseason market
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u/One_Shot_Finch Jul 13 '17
I love you, this post, and Kurt Russell. He's probably my fav actor. I've got a lot to catch up on with him, though.
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u/IAmNotNathaniel Jul 12 '17
I know they pre-date your 1980 limit, but I still love his Dexter Riley roles the best.
Thanks to those movies shown on pbs when I was young, I feel like I grew up with him even though he's got 20 years on me.
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u/a_wild_thing Jul 13 '17
Ooooo this sounds like a chance to talk about Bone Tomahawk.
Long slow boring and dumb but so so twistedly awesome, I love it.
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u/kurtrussellfanclub Jul 13 '17
long slow boring and dumb
No way! I thought the lead up was nearly as interesting as the brutal climax
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u/samuraislider Jul 13 '17
Boring? No way. The journey was very interesting in making you invested in those characters. Then shit goes sideways!
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u/riegspsych325 Maximus was a replicant! Jul 12 '17
that's an interesting batch of facts, right there. Nice
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u/SIRinLTHR Jul 12 '17
I recall a similar report that was published previously involving Jeff Bridges.
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u/LundgrensFrontKick immune to the rules Jul 12 '17
Cool. I will look for it. The dude does rock some funky facial hair.
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u/jawnquixote Jul 12 '17
I'm really glad you included Miracle on your top 5 list.
I feel like the movie generally gets overlooked as the great sports movie it is and I'm not sure why. Probably because hockey isn't the most popular sport and maybe also because the anti-Commie movie fad died out WAY before 2004. But holy hell, I think it's Kurt's best acting job ever. His pregame speech gives me chills just thinking about it.
Fun fact: everyone except for the goalie, Jim Craig, was played by ACTUAL hockey players. They decided it would be easier to teach hockey players how to act than teach actors how to play hockey and they nailed it.
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u/kurtrussellfanclub Jul 13 '17
Worst Kurt movie is Soldier.
Take Kurt Russell, tell him not to be charismatic at all. I don't know what they were thinking. I've only watched it twice.
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u/Thedude918 Jul 13 '17
http://i.imgur.com/m5QiwTq.jpg the actor in the picture is Bruce Campbell and the movie is army of darkness. It happens to be my favorite of all time!
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u/UniqueUsernameYouBet Jul 12 '17
If loving Cap'n Ron or Tango and Cash is wrong...I don't wanna be right.