The Ultimate Superheroines Forum

Broadcast News remains one of my absolute favorite movies. Body Heat is, well, incredibly hot. William Hurt will live forever.

IMDb's "Known For" reduces (or stretches) everyone's career to four titles. Sometimes it's weird, but William Hurt's four make a lot of sense to me:

A History of Violence
Lost In Space
Broadcast News
Altered States

Not to say it's his four best, but they're four significant performances that a lot of people saw and will remember. Of course there's a half-dozen others that people will argue should be there instead, and I'm sure most have a strong case, but there's something broadly audience-gathering about those four together.

I wouldn't recommend "Lost In Space" to anyone -- not saying it's bad, but if you need convincing than the trailer offers, you probably won't enjoy it. But the other three... Acting with a Capital A in films with oomph, so if you haven't seen one, check it out.

One recent performance of his that I really enjoyed was in the series "Goliath." Small role but a lot going on.
Another non-lead with punch was his cop in "Dark City."

I'll be watching "Altered States" again soon.

Really enjoyed Altered States. Great intelligent script, fine acting and entrancing special effects for its time. I'm there for a rewatching!

He was great as Marshall of England in the Russell Crowe Robin Hood.
I liked him in Gorky Park over Lost in Space but the performance I remember most is Second Best, an odd little film where he plays a Welsh Sub postmaster (yes really) trying to adopt or foster a ten year old boy. Admittedly part of the fascination was his Welsh accent, which isnt great but Ive heard worse, but it was just a fascinating little tale that you wanted to find out where it lead.
I wouldnt go out of my way to see it, but if its on tv try and catch it, his performance had so many layers it was a masterclass in understated acting. The film isnt great (6/10) but its a really good performance.

Aaand it turns out three different women William Hurt was in long term relationships with have accused him of physical abuse. The son of a bitch beat on the women he loved. All respect lost.