Best Cast Ever in a Movie

[slackerjoe]

What is the best cast of actors ever assembled for a movie that turned out really really well?

I shall nominate Glengarry GlenRoss:
Al Pacino
Jack Lemmon
Ed Harris
Alec Baldwin
Alan Arkin
Kevin Spacey
Jonathon Pryce

Beat that!

[Octavious230]

Tombstone!! (you all can quit laughing now )

Seriously though I think they nailed every character in that movie. I can't think of one that didn't fit in perfectly. Say what you want about Kilmer that boy can act.


Kurt Russell ....  Wyatt Earp
Val Kilmer ....  Doc Holliday
Bill Paxton ....  Morgan Earp
Charlton Heston ....  Henry Hooker
Jason Priestley ....  Deputy Billy Breckinridge

I'm sure you ment a allstar cast which obviouslly this is not but hell that movie was perfect imho!!! I have a hard time thinking of a great movie with a killer cast (popular actors). Then again when people start posting em I'll kick myself heh.

[Sepiche]

As far as amazing actor's all in the same movie, hands down I think it has to go to A Bridge too Far

James Caan
Michael Caine
Sean Connery
Elliott Gould
Gene Hackman
Anthony Hopkins
Laurence Olivier
Robert Redford

s

[Lordnine]

Ocean's Eleven had a pretty impressive cast.

George Clooney
Brad Pitt
Matt Damon
Andy Garcia
Don Cheadle
Bernie Mac
Julia Roberts

[Driver]

I think Jerry Maguire is the best cast movie ever - all the actors fit their part perfectly.

But I'll second Ocean's Eleven for pure star wattage enjoyment.

[Gratch]

How about the original Blues Brothers?

-  John Belushi
-  Dan Akroyd
-  Cab Calloway
-  Carrie Fischer
-  John Candy
-  James Brown
-  Aretha Franklin
-  Ray Charles
-  John Lee Hooker
-  Steven Spielberg
-  Frank Oz
-  Kathleen Freeman

[Lockdown]

A Bridge Too Far

This is a no-brainer.

Next.


LD   :wink:

[Eightball]

Sheesh.  No one has mentioned Pulp Fiction?

Tim Roth
John Travolta
Samuel Jackson
Bruce Willis
Ving Rhames
Uma Thurman
Eric Stoltz
Rosanna Arquette (granted this is a negative but)
Christopher Walken
Steve Buscemi
Harvey Keitel

or

The Dirty Dozen
Lee Marvin
Ernest Borgnine
Charles Bronson
John Cassevetes
George Kennedy
Telly Savalas
Donald Sutherland


neither as good as a Bridge too Far (wow), but still chock full o' actors.

[Jag]

A Bridge Too Far

This is a no-brainer.

Next.


LD   :wink:

Damm, came to post this one and 2 people beat me to it!

[Devil]

Living up to form, Lockdown is wrong again. The thread started correctly and now I will confirm it:

Glengarry GlenRoss

Done.

 

[bluefugue]

As far as amazing actor's all in the same movie, hands down I think it has to go to A Bridge too Far

James Caan
Michael Caine
Sean Connery
Elliott Gould
Gene Hackman
Anthony Hopkins
Laurence Olivier
Robert Redford

s

I think you missed a few too.  Let me check IMDB...

Liv Ullmann, Denholm Elliot, Ryan O'Neal, Maximilian Schell.  Insane cast.  My friend calls this movie "a cast too large."

I too would be tempted to go with Glengarry for just the most white hot concentration of casting talent ever.  But here are a few others I'd throw in the mix:

Out of Sight:

Dennis Farina, George Clooney, Don Cheadle, Ving Rhames, Albert Brooks, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Steve Zahn, Catherine Keener, Isaiah Washington, Luis Guzman, and of course J.Lo.

Branagh's Hamlet:

Kenneth Branagh, Kate Winslet, Jack Lemmon (not quite up to his Glengarry performance, heh), Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Timothy Spall, Charlton Heston, and I forget the name of that British actor who plays Polonius.  Also Rufus Sewell as an ominous Fortinbras.  Also John Gielgud, but alas in a non-speaking role.  And Brian Blessed as Hamlet Sr.

Casablanca: Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Claude Rains, Ingrid Bergman, Sydney Greenstreet.  That's a hell of a lot of wattage right there even discounting the fine supporting cast -- Dooley Wilson, Conrad Veidt, Paul Henried, etc.

Philadelphia Story -- three of the Biggest Big Ones (Stewart, Hepburn, and Grant) sharing screentime.  Plus a great supporting performance by Virginia Wiedler as an obnoxious little girl, stealing the show with her performance of "Lydia The Tattooed Lady."



I must give an honorary award to an obscure 1940s horror/comedy/musical film called "You'll Find Out," which was based around Kay Keiser and his College of Musical Knowledge, a popular radio show of the time.  The three villains were played by Bela Lugosi, Peter Lorre, and Boris Karloff.  Now that's star power for the Ain't It Cool News set!

Oh yeah have to mention one other one.  Dr. Strangelove.  Featuring James Earl Jones, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Slim Pickens, Peter Sellers, Peter Sellers, and Peter Sellers!

And I mean, hell, while we're at it, Godfather: Brando, Pacino, Caan, Diane Keaton, John Cazale, Robert Duvall, Talia Shire, Sterling Hayden again...

[Lockdown]

Hey Devil :

Click Me


LD   :wink:

[Sepiche]

Branagh's Hamlet:
Kenneth Branagh, Kate Winslet, Jack Lemmon (not quite up to his Glengarry performance, heh), Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Timothy Spall, Charlton Heston, and I forget the name of that British actor who plays Polonius. Also Rufus Sewell as an ominous Fortinbras. Also John Gielgud, but alas in a non-speaking role. And Brian Blessed as Hamlet Sr.

I'll second that one.  I remember being impressed when I read the cast for that version.  Still one of my favorite tellings of Hamlet.

s

[Easily Satisfied]

I second Oceans Eleven, followed by Pulp Fiction.

(A Few Good Men also had a good cast, Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Jack Nicholson, Kevin Bacon, Keifer Sutherland, Kevin Pollack)

[Chesspieceface]

The answer is Twins.

Devito and Schwarzy.  'nuff said.

 :twisted:

[whiteboyskim]

*ahem*

The Lucas/Spielberg list:

Star Wars & The Empire Strikes Back
Jaws
Raiders of the Lost Ark

Casting wise I defy you to find a weak link in those four. And Billy Dee doesn't count - he pwnz j00.

Other ones:

Bringing Up Baby and The Philadelphia Story are pretty stout. His Girl Friday is another one (if only for the Ralph Bellamy joke).

Young Frankenstein - literally everyone there has a little bit of insanity, but there's not a single cast member who is "off" at any point in the movie.

Raising Arizona - I never thought I'd point to a movie starring Nicholas Cage and say, "This is how you cast a movie" but damn is that one note-perfect.

I'd also lean towards "The Great Escape" but Donald Pleasance never really did anything for me.

Major points to the one who pegged "The Dirty Dozen." Telly Savalas as the nut and "Jefferson."

"Ghostbusters" is another one.

[Jeff]

The Godfather is no slouch with:

* Marlon Brando
* Al Pacino
* Robert Duvall
* James Caan
* Diane Keaton

I second the votes for Glengary and Pulp Fiction, too.

[Cleric7]

The Big Chill

 
Tom Berenger ....  Sam
Glenn Close ....  Sarah
Jeff Goldblum ....  Michael
William Hurt ....  Nick
Kevin Kline ....  Harold
Mary Kay Place ....  Meg
Meg Tilly ....  Chloe
JoBeth Williams ....  Karen

edited to add this nugget from IMDB:

"Flashback scenes with Kevin Costner as Alex were filmed, but cut. He is still visible as the body being dressed at the beginning of the film."

[Storm Crow]

I can't beleve no one has mentioned Dr. Strangelove:
Peter Sellers...       Group Captain (G/C) Lionel Mandrake
Peter Sellers...       President Merkin Muffley
Peter Sellers...       Dr. Strangelove   
George C. Scott...        Gen. 'Buck' Turgidson   
Sterling Hayden...        Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper   
Keenan Wynn...        Col. 'Bat' Guano   
Slim Pickens...       Maj. T.J. 'King' Kong   
Peter Bull.   ..Russian Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky

[Devil]

LOVE Strangelove but it was really all Sellers.

Dirty Dozen?

Trini Lopez has to count for something?  :wink:

[zinckiwi]

As far as "ensemble cast that made my eyes widen the most as I looked at the movie poster"... Chaplin:

Robert Downey Jr.
Geraldine Chaplin
Paul Rhys
John Thaw
Moira Kelly
Anthony Hopkins
Dan Aykroyd
Marisa Tomei
Penelope Ann Miller
Kevin Kline
Maria Pitillo
Milla Jovovich
Kevin Dunn
Deborah Moore
Diane Lane
Nancy Travis
James Woods
P.H. Moriarty
David Duchovny

[Siljanus]

Great thread.

I'll throw into the mix The Usual Suspects.  The Right Stuff as well and who can forget The Magnificent Seven!  Everyone had a good line!

[Raven]

I win

Runners up:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056197/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065938/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056937/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086066/

[Zekester]

The answer is Twins.

Devito and Schwarzy.  'nuff said.

 :twisted:

You forgot Kelly Preston!!!!!!  

[bluefugue]

I can't beleve no one has mentioned Dr. Strangelove:
Peter Sellers...       Group Captain (G/C) Lionel Mandrake
Peter Sellers...       President Merkin Muffley
Peter Sellers...       Dr. Strangelove   
George C. Scott...        Gen. 'Buck' Turgidson   
Sterling Hayden...        Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper   
Keenan Wynn...        Col. 'Bat' Guano   
Slim Pickens...       Maj. T.J. 'King' Kong   
Peter Bull.   ..Russian Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky

Maybe you can't believe it because I did mention it?  :wink:

[bluefugue]

JFK:

Kevin Costner
John Candy
Tommy Lee Jones
Kevin Bacon
Gary Oldman
Joe Pesci
Jack Lemmon
Ed Asner
Donald Sutherland
Walter Matthau
Vincent D'Onofrio
Sissy Spacek

[gameoverman]

What is the best cast of actors ever assembled for a movie that turned out really really well?

Not forgetting the 'turned out really well' part, some of my choices:

The Wizard of Oz
Casablanca
Fast Times At Ridgmont High
Prizzi's Honor
Some Like It Hot

I don't that stuff like A Bridge Too Far can be said to have turned out really well.

[Chaz]

A bit more recent, but the casting for Pirates of the Carribbean was excellent across the board.

[Biyobi]

I saw A Time To Kill the other night for the first time and was surprised at the amount of recognizable (and well like by me) faces in it.

[Thin_J]

Snatch had an excellent cast.

I liked Ocean's Eleven too.

And while it's less known, I loved Ronin.

And why hasn't the LOTR trilogy been mentioned yet? I didn't think there was any weak casting in those either.

[gameoverman]

Snatch had an excellent cast.

I liked Ocean's Eleven too.

And while it's less known, I loved Ronin.

And why hasn't the LOTR trilogy been mentioned yet? I didn't think there was any weak casting in those either.

In the spirit of discussion(not criticism, honest!), I think the idea is not just great names, but definitive performances is what we are looking for(at least I am anyways) from the cast.  For example, did Orlando Bloom really deliver a performance on the level of Johnny Depp in POTC?  In LOTR, couldn't Merry and/or Pip have been played by other actors and the audience not miss anything like we would have if Bilbo, Gandalf, and Smeagol were played by other people?

[Thin_J]

I'll agree with you on LOTR in that case then.

The other three I do think would have lost something if any other actors had played any of the parts.

[Siljanus]

I know it's a miniseries but I think the actors in Band of Brothers all brought something special to the series in their performances.

[Calvin]

Word Siljanus, WORD! You speak the gospel truth player.

[whispa]

I agree with quite a few posts here, but here is my selection:

The Thin Red line

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120863/

[CrayolaSmoker]

I defy you to find me a weak performance in any of the following:

A Fish Called Wanda
12 Monkeys
Cat Ballou
The In-Laws

[whiteboyskim]

I agree with quite a few posts here, but here is my selection:

The Thin Red line

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120863/

Gah! You henceforth lose any respect from me in regards to taste in movies.

[gameoverman]

I'll agree with you on LOTR in that case then.

The other three I do think would have lost something if any other actors had played any of the parts.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'other three'.  Do you mean actors or movies?

[Louis Cypher]

What about The Player?

[vagabond]

Cameo roles shouldn't be counted because they can pad a movie and make it look like more. Like JFK.

To me for purely starring roles it has to be Red Dawn.  Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey, Lea Thompson, C Thomas Howell, Harry Dean Stanton, Powers Boothe, William Smith.

Made remarkable by the fact 5 of the 7 main roles. Went on later to be fairly big movie and TV stars.  I saw an episode of the twilight zone which had Elizabeth Montgomery fighting Charles Bronson. Both in their early 20's.