From cult classics to pop culture behemoths, the late great Sam Neill’s career was stellar, and here are his essential films…
The news of Sam Neill’s passing has shocked us all. He had a well-documented battle with cancer, but more recent reports of the all clear seemed to indicate he was on the up. Sadly, he has passed away, leaving behind an incredible film CV filled to the brim with iconic films. Neill’s ability to seamlessly cross genres and play an eclectic range of characters was hugely impressive, and he was one of those actors you could just rely on to bring presence and charisma to the table.
Neill was one of New Zealand’s best-known and best-loved cinematic exports, beginning his career with films from his native New Zealand as well as Australian films. Oceanic audiences took to Neill, but with a few breakout pictures, it was inevitable he’d also ply his trade in Hollywood and Europe.
An actor usually on the peripheries or comfortable in second or third billing, Neill’s career took a big boost when he hit middle age, starring in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, a blockbuster smash and a huge pop cultural moment that still remains popular.
He worked with an array of acclaimed auteur’s throughout his career, including Andrzej Zulawski, Jane Campion, and John Carpenter, to name a few. His incredible work goes way beyond playing with Dinosaurs. He was even very close to being cast as James Bond after Roger Moore bowed out.Here are the essential Sam Neill films…
Sleeping Dogs
Neill’s first major breakout film as a leading man was Sleeping Dogs. It’s an underrated political action thriller that is gruelling and tense. Australian director Roger Donaldson also caught the eye, and subsequently carved out a varied and impressive career in Hollywood studio movies (with films including Cocktail, No Way Out, The Recruit, and Species).
Neill excels and shows plenty of compelling screen presence as the recluse who finds himself thrust into the middle of warring factions as rebels fight the New Zealand authorities, and Smith is marked as a revolutionary conspirator and murder suspect. The film’s stock has certainly risen in recent times as the themes become increasingly prescient.
Possession
Neill’s immediate run after Sleeping Dogs was a mixed bag of box office failures and/or critically derided films. Among those, Omen III: The Final Conflict, which was savaged (but has subsequently been reappraised by many). Possession didn’t exactly mark the film that turned the tide, given that it came out accompanied by some degree of controversy, and critics split between lauding it or loathing it. The box office was also disappointing.
Andrzej Zulawski’s anti-marriage psychological arthouse horror was always unforgettable, but it’s a film for many that requires multiple views (for those who could even stomach the first watch). Nowadays, it’s revered as a classic, a film of unique power and style, and with a jaw-dropping performance by Isabelle Adjani. She rightly hogs much of the iconography in the picture, but Neill’s role and performance cannot be underestimated, as the cuckolded, emotionally abusive, and possessive husband. The roving and dynamic camera work powers a film of propulsive unease that, even if you hate it, will haunt you. Many have paid homage or directly lifted from the film (particularly the infamous subway scene), but it’s a unique (and unforgettable) experience.
Dead Calm
Based on the novel by Charles Williams, Dead Calm was almost adapted by Orson Welles, becoming one of his famous unfinished productions. In 1989, however, director Philip Noyce made a simmering and tense version starring up-and-coming Nicole Kidman and a brilliant antagonist in Billy Zane.
It’s a simple but effective concept built on the dynamic between the three lead characters, with Neill playing Kidman’s husband. The pair end up stranded in a dead calm sea, and then encounter the mysterious Zane. Noyce shows his chops, a specialist in rock-solid thrillers. In an era laden with great little thrillers with a twisted, sultry edge (the kind that are all too rare these days), Dead Calm stood out among the cream of the crop.
The Piano
Jane Campion’s incredible period piece is a visual feast. Holly Hunter plays Ada, a mute woman moving from Scotland to New Zealand for an arranged marriage, taking along her daughter and her prized piano. When Stewart (Neill) sells the piano, she has no choice but to give lessons to George (Harvey Keitel) to earn back her piano from him. The film then veers into a twisted love triangle.
Campion, like Neill, is one of New Zealand’s biggest cinematic icons. The Piano remains perhaps her most powerful and compelling film, with universally excellent performances. Anna Paquin’s performance, so young at the time, is sensational.
Jurassic Park
1993 proved to be an incredible year for Neill. Not only did he star in Campion’s masterpiece, but he also took a lead role in Steven Spielberg’s groundbreaking film that brought dinosaurs back to life in the most jaw-dropping way. Jurassic Park was a megasaurus of a movie. Absolutely huge that year with universal acclaim, box office bucks galore, and a merchandise run off that was probably second only to Star Wars at that stage.
Neill is great, of course, perfectly blending humour, warmth, awe, and a dash of curmudgeon into Dr. Grant. Spielberg’s movie left plenty of jaws on the floor with its combination of exceptional practical FX and revolutionary CGI. The balance was perfect and the CGI dinosaurs well rationed. They have never been bettered either.
In the Mouth of Madness
Initially deemed a signifier that John Carpenter’s creative might was on the wane, few films have seen their popularity curve arc so impressively upwards as In the Mouth of Madness. It’s got King-ian and Lovercraftian elements etched all over it, with Neill as an insurance investigator seeking to find out what happened to a novelist who has gone missing.
The concept is great, and Carpenter’s execution is still on the money here. Neill, thrust into a strange town that has almost jumped from the page of a pulp horror novelist, is superb. It’s sorely underseen and still something of a forgotten entry to Carpenter’s CV, but as I said, the growing reappraisal shows that once people do catch it, the film makes an impression.
Event Horizon
Paul W.S. Anderson followed up Mortal Kombat with another studio genre film, Event Horizon. It felt like space-set movies were experiencing a bit of a boom at that time, and Event Horizon was a twisted, demonic, and nightmarish entry with big, broad performances thanks to Neill and Larry Fishburne.
Despite mediocre reviews and a poor box office showing, Event Horizon probably remains Anderson’s finest hour. Like a few of Neill’s films, this has garnered a cult following over time, but its atmospheric sets and great (and gruesome) make-up FX are a big reason for that. It’s no surprise there’s plenty of love for a film like this. The only surprise is why it took as long as it did to find that reverence.
The Hunt for the Wilderpeople
With Taika Waititi’s popularity and a gift for telling stories laced with idiosyncratic cultural (and personal) New Zealand quirks, it felt inevitable that at some stage Neill and Waititi would team up.
A troubled teen runs away, and his cantankerous uncle (Neill) reluctantly heads out to bring him back, but instead they end up on something of an odyssey journey through the wild. Waititi’s popularity seems to have dropped, largely due to injecting so much of his unique style and humour into projects that were probably too mainstream to take them, but his bittersweet NZ comedies, through his rise in popularity at home and overseas, culminated in this film. Waititi’s coming-of-age stories are particularly enjoyable. Neill and Julian Dennison (as the troubled Ricky) are a great pairing, and the film mines so much humour from them, but also so much heart.
What’s your favourite Sam Neill film? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Tom Jolliffe
