Best Gary Oldman Movies

Gary Oldman is acting royalty. Since his first movie in 1982, Gary Oldman has starred in no less than thirty nine movies, and still has more upcoming. It is hard to pinpoint a list of the best Gary Oldman movies from such a variety as so many stand out as being brilliant. However, among his work there are some gems in which his performance has left audiences dazzled. There are also some lesser known performances by the British born actor that must be seen! Here is a guide to the top 5 Gary Oldman movies so far!

1) Leon (1994)

Leon, which was released in the U.S as The Professional, is a strange film about a hitman (Jean Reno) who befriends a young girl named Matilda (Natalie Portman) after her family is killed by a crazed, drug addicted police officer. Gary Oldman plays the psychotic cop, Norman Stansfield and Matilda is determined to get her revenge on him. Oldman's first appearance in Leon is nothing short of incredible as he pops a pill, then proceeds to rather calmly gun down Matilda's family. It would normally be hard to watch a scene of such violence but his performance is so captivating it is impossible to look away.

2) Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

A note to the Twilight/Vampire Diaries/True Blood fans - vampires are not new, and back in 1992, they were actually rather frightening! Gary Oldman plays Dracula in this movie - and while it is initially hard to take him seriously because he looks like Johnny Depp in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he makes an amazing vampire. For his performance in Bram Stoker's Dracula, Oldman received a Best Actor award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.

3) Romeo is Bleeding (1993)

Romeo is Bleeding may be one of the best Gary Oldman movies you've never seen - if not the best. This rather dark movie was not well received by critics which is unfortunate because it is very entertaining. Oldman plays bent cop, Jack Grimaldi. Grimaldi makes huge amounts of extra money by leaking info to the Mafia. He also has a wife who loves him, and a mistress who would do anything for him. When the bad guys find themselves being outsmarted by a beautiful assassin named Mona Demarkov, they order Grimaldi to kill her. However, his love for gorgeous women takes over and he finds himself in a whole heap of trouble. Gary Oldman is at his absolute sexiest in Romeo is Bleeding, and although he does a lot of bad stuff, you can't help rooting for him!

4) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

While many felt Gary Oldman was too old for the role of Sirius Black, an equal amount thought he was perfect! Oldman really got to the essence of the character of Sirius - playing him troubled, angry and reckless which is just the way he was written. One of the reasons this makes the top 5 best Gary Oldman movies list is because it is a lot different to other characters he had played previously. While he has done reckless many times before, there is a lot of depth to Sirius Black and Oldman did a fine job of bringing it to life.

5) The Dark Knight (2008)

A quieter performance from Gary Oldman came in The Dark Knight. There is something that is just nice about seeing him taking a smaller role, still taking part in the action but giving an overall more mature and calm performance. As Lieutenant Gordon, he was forced to fake his own death to help capture the Joker which then resulted in his promotion to Commissioner. The Dark Knight is an all round excellent movie, Gary Oldman is just the icing on the cake.

Special mentions for the best Gary Oldman movies go to The Fifth Element, Batman Begins and Air Force One.