Think of this as a guide through each of Christopher Walken's films, starting with his first and moving forward. Each review will provide analysis, factoids and opinion on the ninety-plus films in his career.
One day I realized that I wanted to know the exact number of films that Christopher Walken has appeared in. So I went to the usual online resources, but there were things of, shall I say, less than cinematic quality included. And that’s fine, it’s comprehensive, whatever.
But I wanted a leaner number. Ignore the television, the short films, and the things that were never made available to the public in the first place.
I wanted a stricter application of the term ‘film’.
So when I wanted to know how many films (meaning feature-length, non-episodic stories in a re-watchable format), yes how many films Christopher Walken has been in, I found that I would have to do my own counting.
Below is a complete and numbered list of Walken’s films. I am reviewing them one at a time, starting from the beginning of Walken’s film career and moving forward one post at a time. Is it the Ultimate Walken Film Guide, or just some guy’s opinion? You decide.
The asterisked (*) and right-aligned titles are generally unavailable-to-watch things that got made, shown once (if that), then promptly hidden in a shoebox somewhere dark. These are mostly early tv-work and some short films.
You can also use this list to help you navigate this site. Each title that reacts to your mouse-pointer can take you to the appropriate posting.
~ Christopher Walken Filmography ~
*** The Boy Who Saw Through (1956, short)
*** Barefoot in Athens (1966, tv)
*** The 3 Musketeers (1969, tv)
*** Cleopatra (1970, never released)
*** Valley Forge (1975, tv)
4) Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976)
13) Pennies From Heaven (1981)
14) Who Am I This Time? (1982)
19) Witness in the Warzone (1987)
20) The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)
26) The Comfort of Strangers (1990)
27) Sarah, Plain and Tall (1991)
29) All American Murder (1991)
34) Sarah Plain and Tall II: Skylark (1993)
42) Things to do in Denver When You’re Dead (1995)
49) Excess Baggage (1997)
50) Suicide Kings (1997)
51) Mouse Hunt (1997)
52) Touch (1997)
53) The Prophecy II (1998)
54) Illuminata (1998)
55) New Rose Hotel (1998)
56) The Eternal: The Kiss of the Mummy (1998)
57) Antz (1998)
58) Sleepy Hollow (1999)
59) Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winters End (1999)
60) Vendetta (1999)
61) Blast From the Past (1999)
62) Kiss Toledo Goodbye (2000)
63) The Prophecy: The Ascent (2000)
64) The Opportunists (2000)
65) Joe Dirt (2001)
66) The Affair of the Necklace (2001)
67) America’s Sweethearts (2001)
68) Scotland, PA (2001)
*** Popcorn Shrimp (2001, director, short film)
*** Life’s a Beach (2001, see Bachelor Trip 2011)
69) Catch Me if You Can (2002)
70) Undertaking Betty (2002)
71) Poolhall Junkies (2002)
72) Julius Caesar (2002)
73) The Country Bears (2002)
*** Engine Trouble (2002, short film)
74) Kangaroo Jack (2003)
75) The Rundown (2003)
76) Gigli (2003)
77) Envy (2004)
78) The Stepford Wives (2004)
79) Around the Bend (2004)
80) Man on Fire (2004)
81) Wedding Crashers (2005)
82) Domino (2005)
83) Romance and Cigarettes (2005)
84) Click (2006)
85) Man of the Year (2006)
86) Fade to Black (2006)
87) Hairspray (2007)
88) Balls of Fury (2007)
*** Evil Calls: The Raven (2008, voice)
89) $5 a day (2008)
90) The Maiden Heist (2009)
91) Kill the Irishman (2010)
From this point on I began writing short response spoiler-free reviews of the new Walken-films that were coming out. When I could I saw them in the theater. Eventually, the full reviews will catch up to these, but until then: enjoy!
92) Dark Horse (2011) Read my review
93) Bachelor Trip (2011) Read my review
94) Seven Psychopaths (2012) Read my review
95) A Late Quartet (2012) Read my review
96) Stand Up Guys (2012) Read my review
97) The Power of Few (2013) – Read my review
**98) Gods Behaving Badly (2013) – Still Unreleased **
99) Jersey Boys (2014) – Read my review
100) Worricker: Turks & Caicos (2014) – Read my review
101) Peter Pan LIVE! (2014)
102) One More Time (2015)
103) Joe Dirt 2 (2015)
104) The Family Fang (2015)
105) Eddie the Eagle (2016)
106) The Jungle Book (2016)
107) Nine Lives (2016)
108) Father Figures (2018)
109) Irreplaceable You (2018)
110) The Jesus Rolls (2019)
111) The War With Grandpa (2020)
112) Wild Mountain Thyme (2020)
113) Percy (2020)
~
Actually, Bachelor Trip (2012) is available in Amazon.ca. In Google there are several links to online (probably pirate) versions. In YouTube there is a French dubbed version under the title Célibataires en Cavale, which is also for download from other websites. I would recommend watching a pirate version before buying anything, since this is, by far, the worst movie I have ever seen, in which Christopher Walken had the bad luck to be in.
Thanks Ema, yeah I noticed the Canadian Amazon listing the other day. I’m getting it as soon as I can spare the $$$. I’ll check out the French youtube one, that sounds promising.
And yes, I am fully prepared for how absolutely awful it will be. Honestly, it just makes me want to own it more. But also, I’m a collector, so I’d want to own it (as opposed to merely watching it) regardless of its flaws.
It does look spectacularly bad though. Thanks for looking into that and commenting 🙂
This may help to understand the plot, although the version the author saw seems to be slightly different. Rutger Hauer’s insights are helpful too about why the film is… what it is:
http://www.tigriffith.com/walken_jungle_juice.htm
“I have a suggestion… it’s more of a question…” In your listing you included “Engine Trouble”, which is a short, a voice role, and hard to see. Why not to include “The Boy Who Saw Through” (1956)? Also a short, and not easy to see, but it’s (maybe) a very first leading role, and it’s ocassionally exhibited: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703766704576009590243579406.html
http://www.nga.gov/press/2011/films_summer_2011_cinema.shtm
Funny though, it was terrible, but I thought he looked especially hot in it lol
lol no judgment here
Omitting that short is an oversight that I will remedy as soon as possible. Hopefully I can track down a viewing of it; it sounds intriguing. Oh, and I love the idea of Rutger Hauer and Walken hanging out together, raising hell. Thanks again!
Hey, first notice I have of the Cleopatra film. Google sent me to The Notorious Cleopatra/The Queen of Sex, and to an animé movie, both of 1970. But this is another one!
For whoever may be wondering about this film, a little info:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0260516/
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/288314/Cleopatra/overview
The tags Nudity, Psychedelic, Profanity sound really promising…
I think you could like this article:
http://www.nypl.org/blog/2013/04/02/when-they-trod-boards-christopher-walken
Thanks Ema, some nice pics there.
How about a review of Sleepy Hollow?
Aww, great movie SLEEPY was. Sorry man, but I gotta do them in order, otherwise it’s just chaos. I just started the Nineties, Walken’s most productive decade, so it’s gonna be a while. You should watch THE ETERNAL, and then the PROPHECY trilo while you wait 🙂
I have already seen the Prophecy trilogy – and The Eternal is such a hard movie to find. Mainly because the title kept changing depending. It was titled as “Trance” then it’s also titled “Kiss Of The Mummy” so it’s very difficult to figure out which title it is supposed to be referenced.
I agree. Films should have ONE title, and stick to it. And also, only one movie should be called the same thing. No multiple “Crash”-es, or “Search & Destroy”s and everything else. So annoying.
The copy I have says “The Eternal: The Kiss of the Mummy”, but depending on where you are it could also be called: The Mummy, Mobius, or Trance. In Argentina it is called ‘Legado Satanico’, which has a nice ring to it.
Abel Ferrera’s ‘The Addiction’ is hard to get where I live. Still no Region 1 DVD or Blu. Such a good film; I hate that I’m forced to watch it on a crappy VHS tape.
Hi. Here I bring you a mistery. In the comprehensive filmography of this page, http://www.tigriffith.com/walken_filmografie.htm (recently updated) appears a TV show called “Paul Revere’s Ride” from the 70’s. At the bottom of this page you have the pics and links http://www.tigriffith.com/walken_rare_movies2.htm. But according to their own link and IMDB that episode was aired in 1954. Mr. Walken doesn’t look there like he was eleven. IMDB has nothing in his filmography that could match. For technical reasons, I can’t see the video, nor contact the webmaster.
What do you think??
Hmm. Okay, so I did a little research. Apparently the tv show “You Are There” was originally made in the fifties, but it had a colorized resurgence in 1971 and ’72 as a Saturday morning treat. Most of the fifties episodes are available on DVD but none of the seventies’ episodes have ever been available, VHS, DVD, nothing. It makes sense that Walken appeared in one of the seventies’ episodes (that would put him in his late twenties, which sounds about right) and someone mistakenly applied the earlier year when crediting the episode.
btw, the link worked for me, I watched the excerpt, and you’re not missing much 😉
The picture and sound quality are as bad as the acting. Really. Stilted, amateurish, wooden.
Of course, none of that is any reason why it shouldn’t be included in Walken’s filmography. That much is still a mystery!
I love Wikipedia. The info doesn’t exist, then, the next day, is there. So, it is “Paul Revere’s Ride”, 1970’s version. Next thing, going to the Chicago’s Museum of Broadcast Communications to watch the episode.
Finally managed to see the excerpt. Interesting contrast with the Hessian officer in “Valley Forge”. I don’t think the acting was that bad. It was all the fault of that awful wig. Probably made him feel like a cotton candy 🙂
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Wasnt he in an episode of Hawaii 5-0?
He was! IMDB has his full work-history; my list is focused on his feature-length films. Thanks!
Are you going to review the rest of them? Ive seen all his recent stuff, but the way you review movies is excellent
Oh thanks, that’s nice to hear. That IS the dream, to complete the filmography, or at least catch up to what he’s doing now. Alas, I put the “pro” in procrastination lol.
Same. Considering ive been in love with him since i was 5 in 1990, ive actually only started really watching the rest of his movies over the past year