All Of Kurt Russell's Movies With John Carpenter, Ranked

Name a more iconic duo than John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. Sure, they may not have collaborated on a film in decades, but back in the '80s, they were a lethal pairing, especially when it came to stylish genre films. In total, the pair made five movies together between 1979 and 1996. And today, we're going to rank them.

While Carpenter first gained fame as a horror auteur (the genre for which he's still best known today), he's directed all sorts of movies over the years, and his collaborations with Russell are great examples of that. Only one of the duo's films is a horror flick, while the others span the realms of biopic, science fiction, action-adventure, and comedy. It's an eclectic mix, to be sure, but also a solid one.

Of course, we're splitting hairs a bit on some of these (though we all know what the best one is). Critical reviews and contemporary reception are part of it, but when it comes to Carpenter's films, you also have to lean on the vibes.

Some might put John Carpenter and Kurt Russell's first collaboration a spot higher on this list, but there's arguably less compelling about "Elvis" now than there ever was. That's not to say it's a bad film, though the budget constraints of a TV movie (yes, this was a TV movie on ABC, not a theatrical film) can be felt at points. At the time, Carpenter was coming hot off of genre cult hits like "Dark Star," "Assault on Precinct 13," and, most notably, "Halloween," which came out in 1978. "Elvis" aired in 1979, and it marked a significant departure in tone and subject matter from the director's previous work.

The reviews at the time were solid enough, and this is far from a disaster. But it ranks at the bottom of this list because compared to the rest of Carpenter and Russell's collaborations, it's just ... boring. Carpenter has called "Elvis" the most difficult project of his career because of a brutal shooting schedule, but he jumped at the project when it came his way because he was excited to work in a more traditional dramatic space. Unfortunately, the nature of the beast meant he didn't have as much influence on the final cut, and film is notably bereft of an original score from Carpenter — one of his major calling cards.

Russell is certainly the standout here, and he makes for a great Elvis. Still, this film just isn't interesting enough to fully stand up under much scrutiny. It's a sincere, traditionally made, and largely unsurprising biopic, which today really only holds appeal to Presley superfans or those interested in the sum total of Carpenter's filmography.

"Escape from L.A." is a bit of a strange case — a sequel to a small-budget cult-hit sci-fi action thriller made 15 years after the fact. Under the shadow of its predecessor, the film is often lost in the grand scope of cinematic history, as it's widely viewed as an inferior product and one of the messier movies in John Carpenter's catalog. Both are somewhat true, but this film still gets a bum rap, and it's only gotten better with age.

Here's the setup: In the wake of the events of "Escape from New York," a theocratic president has taken over North America, claimed permanent rule, and enforced a totalitarian martial law of sorts through which any behavior seen as deviant is punished aggressively. At the same time, Los Angeles is devastated by climate disasters, and the President (Cliff Robertson) claims this is divine recompense for the area's sinful nature. He turns the remaining city into a prison for political enemies and trains his sights on conquering the world.

I'll leave you to connect the very large dots, but let's just say that what might have felt cartoonish in 1996 makes Carpenter look incredibly prescient now. The movie also has some strikingly progressive representation for the time, with one storyline dealing with Islam being made illegal in America and a prominent trans character played by Pam Grier.

To top it off, "L.A." features one of Carpenter's most stacked casts, including Bruce Campbell, Peter Fonda, and Steve Buscemi, in addition to those already mentioned. It also has some of the strongest aesthetics in Carpenter's entire filmography. Is it a bit overblown in places and overstuffed in others? Sure, but it's Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken, man. You think I'm really going to tell you this movie is worse than "Elvis"?

If you're one of the many John Carpenter fans who would put "Escape from New York" in the top two films the director made with Kurt Russell, I hear you. I adore this film, and I don't place it third lightly. But I also think that, in many cases, it's a film that's benefitted from the rose-colored glasses treatment. Let me explain.

There is no denying the immense influence of this movie; it's a proto-cyberpunk odyssey (one made for just $6 million) that inspired everything from William Gibson's "Neuromancer" to Hideo Kojima's "Metal Gear Solid" video game franchise. The city-prison, the sci-fi Cold War aesthetic, and basically everything about Russell's Snake Plissken are now pillars of the dystopian genre, and it's impossible to undersell either the film's importance or its incredible look and sound. Carpenter is working overtime on the soundtrack on this one.

All that said, I'm of the opinion that when people rave about this movie now, it's more raving about the totality of those individual reference points than the complete film. Returning to it, there's a lot of dead space, and the script can feel a bit directionless at times. That's sometimes to its benefit, as the haunted nature of its setting adds to the prevailing feeling of desolation. But I also think that "Escape from New York" loses a good amount of momentum along the way. The big moments hit incredibly hard, and this is certainly a film whose legacy is greater than the sum of its parts. I just don't think that the sum of those parts is quite as compelling as the next entry on this list.

How can a silly, ridiculous fantasy action-comedy — a veritable parody film, at the end of the day — beat out one of the most influential cult genre movies of the 1980s? Because "Big Trouble in Little China" is straight-up, non-stop fun from start to finish. Sometimes, that's all you need, and this is a ranking of films, after all, not legacies.

There is an asterisk here, which is the question of the film's overall angle in regard to Asian and Asian-American representation. "Big Trouble in Little China" plays heavily with tropes of Western-made martial arts films of the 20th century, but it does so primarily as a subversion of those tropes. Russell's character, All-American truck driver Jack Burton, is essentially a clown, bumbling his way through a story that really has nothing to do with him, while his friend Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) does all the real work. If the film has an angle, it's that the genre as historically portrayed in Hollywood is largely ridiculous, and that the supposed white savior really has no clue what he's doing. Unfortunately (and predictably), the marketing for the film pushed Burton as the true protagonist, upsetting many on the production team, including Russell and Carpenter.

For the most part, though, this is just an absurd action-comedy, and it absolutely nails that. Russell at his comedic best as Burton, combined with the film's blend of instantly iconic one-liners and explosive martial arts action, make this one a winner that holds up great all these years later.

Seeing "The Thing" at the top of this list shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. It's arguably the greatest film of Carpenter's career, with "Halloween" bringing the only real competition for that title. Brutally staged, perfectly paced, and boasting some of the best practical effects in any horror movie ever made, "The Thing" is a masterpiece, and it hasn't aged a day. From the first moments of the film, the tension is already in place, and it stays glued to the viewer throughout the movie's runtime thanks to Carpenter's encroaching score.

"The Thing" stars Kurt Russell as R.J. MacReady, a helicopter pilot stationed at the Antarctic research base where the whole film takes place. But as the titular, transforming alien infiltrates the facility, each member of the cast gets moments to shine, with particular highlights coming from Keith David and Wilford Brimley.

As compelling as all of the aesthetics are, the film wouldn't work without a tight script, and Bill Lancaster delivers on that front too. The film effuses a pervading paranoia as viewer and character alike try to figure out which member of the research team might be the Thing in disguise. And as if that all weren't enough, "The Thing" ends on one of the greatest final scenes ever, solidifying its place in film history for all time.