The best Sam Neill movies include a mix of giant Hollywood blockbusters and some great indie hits. Neill is a British actor who moved to New Zealand with his family as a child. It was while he attended the University of Canterbury there that he decided he wanted to try a career in acting and began working in stage plays and theater productions. This led to his getting his first film role in 1971 and then his eventual breakout in Sleeping Dogs, which got him attention overseas as well as in his home country.
Neill began working on more movies in New Zealand and then Australia. His first major international role came in the horror sequel Omen III: The Final Conflict, where he played Damien Thorn, the Antichrist. After that, he had some prominent roles, including in the psychological thriller Dead Calm and the military thriller The Hunt for Red October. However, he had his defining role in 1993 when he played one of the leads in Jurassic Park, which is what he remains most known for to this day, despite a career of great performances.
10 Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Odin Actor
In 2017, Sam Neill had a cameo appearance in Thor: Ragnarök. It was almost a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment. Loki had replaced Odin in Asgard and was ruling the home of the Norse gods using this disguise. He also had a new play created for people to come watch where Loki’s story was told, as he was presented as a tragic Shakespearean-type hero who died to save his people. In this play, famous actors played Loki, Thor, and Odin, and Sam Neill was among these stars.
Related 10 Underrated Vampire Movies From The 2000s That You Probably Haven’t Seen During the 2000s, when so many great vampire movies were released consecutively, there were some that inevitably fell through the cracks.
Neill, who previously worked with Taiki Waititi, took on the role of Odin in this stage production, while Matt Damon played Loki and Chris Hemsworth’s actual brother Luke played Thor. Neill also returned for Thor: Love and Thunder for an updated play as Asgard was now on Earth and Melissa McCarthy joined the group, playing Hela. Humorously, Neill said he had no idea what was going on when filming Thor 4, saying “I’ve never understood any of the Thor films, in fact, the whole Marvel universe is a complete mystery to me.”
9 Daybreakers (2009)
Charles Bromley
There have been a lot of vampire movies over the years, but one that has remained overlooked and underrated is the 2009 horror film, Daybreakers. Directed by the Spierig brothers, this horror film had an incredible cast with Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, and Sam Neill all taking on important roles. The story here starts after a plague has turned most of the world into vampires, but as the human population dwindles, the vampires need to find a way to combat the new blood shortage. They do this by harvesting humans.
Hawke is the main character, a vampire hematologist working on a blood substitute. He also sympathizes with the survivors and refuses to drink human blood. As for Sam Neill, he stars as Charles Bromley, the man who owns the largest blood provider in the United States. He turned into a vampire voluntarily to save his life from cancer, and he has decided to use this second chance to become as wealthy as possible. The film was praised by critics for bringing something new to the vampire genre.
8 Event Horizon (1997)
Dr. William Weir
Sam Neill stars in the cult classic ’90s horror sci-fi movie Event Horizon. This was the movie that made Paul W.S. Anderson a star before he started making video game adaptations. The film takes place in 2047 and follows astronauts who are on a rescue mission to retrieve the titular missing spaceship, which disappeared years before and mysteriously reappeared around Neptune. However, when they reach the spaceship, they realize that something evil has come back with it.
The movie was both a critical (34% on Rotten Tomatoes) and commercial ($42 million on a $60 million budget) failure when it was released. However, over time, Event Horizon has built up a loyal fanbase as a cult classic film. Sam Neill plays the designer of the Event Horizon, and he joins the trip to retrieve it with a crew that has no idea of the terrors that await. It was one of Neill’s movies that allowed him to go from a respectable person to a purely evil antagonist as the story rolled on.
7 In The Mouth Of Madness (1994)
John Trent
One of John Carpenter’s most underrated horror movies, In the Mouth of Madness, tells the story of John Trent (Sam Neill), an insurance investigator who almost dies when an axe-wielding man attacks him. This leads him to investigate the case of a successful horror author named Sutter Cane, who disappeared before his new novel (In the Mouth of Madness) was set to be released. However, he soon learns there is more to Sutter’s release than anyone could have expected, and it all has to do with the new novel’s fictional town of Hobb’s End.
This is Carpenter’s love story to H.P. Lovecraft in its look at madness, and it is actually named after the Lovecraft story, “At the Mountains of Madness”. The film had a disappointing box office take, but it has become a cult classic, with Neill going all in playing the role of a man descending into madness as he believes reality is starting to break down. In the Mouth of Madness received slightly positive reviews while picking up two Saturn Awards nominations.
6 Dead Calm (1989)
John Ingram
In 1989, Sam Neill joined the Australian psychological thriller Dead Calm. This film was Nicole Kidman’s breakout role where she plays Rae Ingram, a woman involved in a car accident that resulted in the death of her son. Her husband (Sam Neill) suggests a yacht vacation in the Pacific Ocean to help her get some rest. However, when the couple picks up a man (Billy Zane) on a drifting schooner who says his companions on the ship he came from died of food poisoning, they find themselves in great danger.
The film, based on the novel of the same name and produced by Mad Max director George Miller, caught critics’ attention and helped make both Neill and Kidman international stars. It has an 84% fresh Rotten Tomatoes score, with most of the praise going to Kidman for her performance as the woman in danger who is willing to do anything she can to survive this dire situation. Dead Calm won five Australian Film Institute Awards out of nine nominations.
5 The Tudors (2007)
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
The Tudors is a historical drama series that aired on Showtime that was based on the Tudor dynasty and specifically the reign of King Henry VIII. The series featured several historical figures, including Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer), Jane Seymour (Annabelle Wallis), and more. As for Sam Neill, he only appeared in the first season of the series as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York. This was the second most important role in the English church.
Related What The Tudors’ Cast Has Done Since The Show Ended Some of the cast of Showtime’s hit historical drama The Tudors have gone on to play characters in the DCEU, Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, and more.
His time on the show ended when King Henry VIII wanted to marry Anne Boleyn and demanded the Cardinal annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Thanks to the Pope, he was unable to do so, and Henry stripped him of all his duties. The TV series changed Wolsey’s fate to make it more melodramatic, but it allowed him to go out in style rather than just fade away. The Tudors ran for four seasons and was nominated for a Golden Globes Award in 2007 for Best Drama Series.
4 The Hunt For Red October (1990)
First Officer Vasily Borodin
Based on the novel by Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October was the first movie made based on the character of Jack Ryan. In this film, Alec Baldwin played Jack Ryan as he was sent to deal with a rogue Soviet naval captain who wants to defect to the United States while piloting the Soviet Union’s most advanced ballistic missile submarine. Taking place during the Cold War, this event led to great tension between the two countries and Jack Ryan had to handle the situation.
Sean Connery stars in the film as the Russian captain, while the supporting cast includes names like Tim Curry, James Earl Jones, Scott Glenn, and Sam Neill. Neill played Captain 2nd rank Vasily Borodin, Executive Officer of Red October, and one of the Russians who wanted to defect to the United States. It was Vasily who had the most tragic end, as he wanted to live a peaceful life in Montana but was shot before the crew could make it to safety. The film earned three Oscar nominations.
3 Peaky Blinders (2013-2014)
Major Chester Campbell
TV Show My Favorite TV Shows My Watchlist Success! Your Rating close 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star 0/10 Leave a Review Peaky Blinders 9/10 74 9.6/10 Release Date 2013 – 2021 Showrunner Steven Knight Directors Otto Bathurst, Tom Harper, Colm McCarthy, Tim Mielants, David Caffrey, Anthony Byrne Cast See All Annabelle Wallis
Ian Peck Where to watch Close WHERE TO WATCH Streaming BUY
Writers Steven Knight
Peaky Blinders is a BBC series that follows the life of the titular crime gang that rose to power after World War I. The gang was led by military veteran Tommy Shelby, played by Cillian Murphy. The cast was impressive, with names like Tom Hardy, Paddy Considine, Adrien Brody, Sam Claflin, Anya Taylor-Joy, Helen McCrory, Stephen Graham, and Sam Neill all taking on roles throughout the show’s six seasons. Neill played Chief Inspector/Major Chester Campbell in the first two seasons.
Related Why Sam Neill’s Inspector Campbell Left Peaky Blinders, Explained (It Wasn’t Because Of His Accent) Sam Neill only played Inspector Chester Campbell in Peaky Blinders seasons 1 and 2, leading many to wonder why the big-name actor left the show.
Winston Churchill ordered Campbell to retrieve a missing consignment of guns that was stolen, which put him in the crosshairs of the Peaky Blinders gang. He is a good officer, but one who is willing to use excessive violence and underhanded methods to achieve his goals. As with many of the people who crossed Timmy Shelby, Chester met his end in a violent (and deserved) shooting while speaking on the phone with Winston Churchill.
2 Hunt For The Wilderpeople (2016)
Uncle Hec
In 2016, Sam Neill worked with director Taika Waititi on the New Zealand adventure comedy-drama Hunt for the Wilderpeople. The film follows Ricky Baker (Deadpool 2’s Julian Dennison), a child in the New Zealand foster care system who is taken in by a couple after he has run away or been kicked out of numerous homes before. While Ricky grows close to his new foster mother, when she dies of a stroke, the system says they will remove him from Hector’s care. Sam Neill plays Hec in the film.
Ricky decides he will fake his own death to keep from going back into the system, and when Hec gives chase into the bush, he injures his ankle and the two have to find a way to survive while the authorities believe Hector has kidnapped the boy. What happens next is a series of misadventures, as everything they do seems to paint them in a bad light with the public. Critics gave the movie universal praise, with a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score, and it remains a beloved independent movie to this day.
1 Jurassic Park (1993)
Dr. Alan Grant
The movie that made Sam Neill a star was Jurassic Park. The Steven Spielberg blockbuster was the first to really make use of CGI graphics rather than practical effects, and the work on the dinosaurs in this film is still better than many movies that have come out in the decades since. Jurassic Park has Richerd Attenborough as a man who has hired people to create new dinosaurs out of old DNA and plans to open a theme park. However, he needs expert help, and he reaches out to three such experts to come and give him a passing grade.
Year Sam Neill Jurassic Park Movie 1993 Jurassic Park 2001 Jurassic Park III 2022 Jurassic World: Dominion
Sam Neill is one of the experts — Alan Grant, a paleontologist. He has a lot of the load to carry, as he goes from a man unwilling to consider a family to someone who ends up becoming the protector of two children stranded in the park when the dinosaurs get free. Jurassic Park won all three Oscars it was nominated for while it also won the Saturn Awards for Best Director and Best Science Fiction Film. Neill returned for two of the sequels.