Greatest Movie Casts of All Time
It's a Friday night and XM has been slacking on his drinking threads lately, so I thought I'd go with a different question. We've had threads about the best 80's movies, the best and worst sequels, etc. But I was thinking today about some movies with the greatest casts of all time. Not necessarily the best movies, but the movies with the best casts. There are certainly lots to choose from here: the Rat Pack, the Brat Pack (I'm an 80's/early 90's guy), or even the newer "Ocean's" franchise.
I'll start off with one out of left field: The Cannonball Run.
Burt Reynolds
Dom Deluise
Roger Moore
Farrah Fawcett
Dean Martin
Sammy Davis Jr.
Jackie Chan
Jack Elam (probably my favorite in the movie)
The cast also included Mel Tillis and Terry Bradshaw and cameos with Bianca Jagger and Peter Fonda.
So what are your thoughts for the greatest movie casts of all time?
Extra credit bonus question: What are you drinking?
Extra credit: I'm drinking Summer Shandy. It's already getting a tad warm down here.
I already commented (below) but thought I'd add maybe the best cast that could have been.
When Robert Altman died, he was working on a movie based on the documentary Hands on a Hard Body, about the contests to win a pickup truck by being the last one standing with your hand on the truck.
Here's who was already cast when he died:
Meryl Streep, Chris Rock, Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson, Steve Buscemi, Tommy Lee Jones, Jack White, Jack Black, Salma Hayek, Billy Bob Thornton, John C. Riley, Hilary Swank.
The Outsiders
That's a great 80's cast.
I'll go new school and say "Old School."
Top 5 comedy of all time IMO. I will watch it any time I see it on TV.
A few more "cultish" movies that may suit you:
Grandma's Boy
Strange Wilderness
Accepted
The ending of Strange Wilderness kills me--it's like at the exact moment they hit their budget, they just put the camera down and walked away.
Frank the Tank!!!!🤣😂
Pretty random because I was just thinking about it:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080339/fullcredits
Far from the GOAT, but pretty good for dudes born between 1913 and 1926.
“Have you ever seen a grown man naked?”
I thought of this too.
Includes freaking Mrs. Cleaver basically coming out of retirement!
Pulp Fiction?
Or go a bit unconventional with something like Snatch.
You dirty sonofa...
Pulp fiction was a great movie. But in terms of casts in Tarantino movies, I'm torn between Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.
Love Reservoir Dogs but both have Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, amd Steve Buscemi while Pulp Fiction also has SLJ, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Uma, Christopher Walken, and Rosanna Arquette. About all RD has on PF cast-wise is Michael Madsen and while he is magical in RD it's not really comparable.
I forgot that Buscemi was in Pulp Fiction (though in my defense, his role is pretty small 😊). My thinking in terms of main characters was:
Madsen > Travolta (Madsen was an animal in that movie)
But there's no doubt that the cast of Pulp Fiction had an incredible cast. Hell, Christopher Walken's scene alone would put PF over the top.
I hereby retract my statement.
Retraction accepted but I do prefer RD over PF. Though the Wolf in PF is one of my favorite characters ever.
Pulp Fiction is tough to top. However, while the movie is not at the same level as PF, Ocean 12's cast is maybe superior (Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, George Clooney, Bernie Mac, Casey Affleck, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Bruce Willis, Robbie Coltrain, Eddie Izard, Carl Reiner, Albert Finney, Vincent Cassell).
Personally, I'll take True Romance in this scenario.
The Walken-Hopper scene clinches it.
Especially with Gandolfini and Victor Argo in the backround.
Eric Stolz, Frank Whaley, Amanda Plummer, Peter Greene.
I'll say the obvious one, Pulp Fiction.
Many of Robert Altman's films.
For instance, Nashville includes Keith Carradine, Geraldine Chaplin, Shelley Duvall, Scott Glenn, Jeff Goldblum, Barbara Harris, Lily Tomlin.
Short Cuts, too!
Shorts Cuts is terrific AND it creeped me out. I felt uncomfortable for days after seeing it.
Can’t discount Bloodsport
The Godfather might be a strong candidate-
Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton, Marlon Brando, Jim Cazale, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, Talia Shire, plus a slew of great character actors in smaller parts.
This is probably one of the best ever put together. A dream team.
Cazale died way too young...
No one has any idea how good Cazale really was. Five movies. All five were nominated for Best Picture.
I can't think of anyone who comes near that.
AND his girlfriend was Meryl Streep.
godfather great cast.
cop land underrated in that area.
maybe tropic thunder in terms of comedies
Agree with The Godfather choice. Epic film and epic cast. Honorable mention added for Al Martino, who played Johnny Fontaine and Abe Vigoda, who played Sal Tessio.
JOHN Cazale.
I'm just sayin’…
ACK my mistake. And I even looked up Duvall to make sure I got that right. That's what I get for reading threads in rehearsal.
There's no "might" about it. This was my instant first thought about this topic. What a cast. What an epic movie. I do like the second one as well, since I like its faster pacing.
But I don't think you can beat the first Godfather very easily. I also like the cast of the (new) Ocean's Eleven. I didn't like Ocean's Twelve much, so I don't know a great deal about it.
Caddy Shack:
Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Brian Doyle Murray, Michael O'Keefe and Cindy Morgan as Lacey Underall
That was my first thought as well.
Let's go back to 1963. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Great slapstick and a who's who of the era...
Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Mickey Rooney, Ethel Merman, Dick Shawn (speaking of dying way too young), Jonathan Winters, Edie Adams, Phil Silvers, Jim Backus, William Demarest, Peter Falk, Andy Devine, Selma Diamond.
And then there were the cameos. Jimmy Durante, Jack Benny, Carl Reiner, Buster Keaton, Don Knotts, the Three Stooges, Zasu Pitts, Norman Fell, Jerry Lewis.
From Jimmy Durante kicking the bucket (literally) to Ethel Merman slipping on a banana peel, just inspired silliness.
Dang, was thinking about this and thought nobody would have brought it up!
bravo!
I saw It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World in a theater during its original run in 1963 and laughed so hard that I was in tears. Unfortunately, the theatrical cut ran about 40 fewer minutes than the original cut.
Off the top of my head, I would say The Philadelphia Story, with both Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant alongside Katharine Hepburn.
Drinking Screwdrivers on this fine evening. Blessings to all!
Great choice. Plus great supporting turns by Ruth Hussey..and especially child actor Virginia Weidler, who played the smart-ass little sister. She got so many great lines, and knew exactly how to deliver them.
Clue is underrated here:
Christopher Lloyd
Madeline Kahn
Tim Curry
Michael McKeon
Martin Mull
Like a murderer's row of comedy character actors.
Underrated cast and underrated movie.
Clue was repeated must-see viewing on our VCR when our daughter was young.
Jaws. Robert Shaw alone as Quint is as good as it gets.
Far from home
Glenlivet 14
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad World.
Google it.
Hard to beat the Oceans movies (all 5). Cannonball Run was a good pull. Caddyshack and Airplane had solid casts and cameos but probably not the depth. Big Chill kind of obvious but only goes 7-8 depp or whatever. Mel Brooks movies usually have a good cast. 1941 or MASH perhaps to make a run.
ooohh Royal Tenenbaums. Murder on the Orient Express.
I had to Google it, now I have to watch it. That's a great old-time cast.