Alan Rickman’s List Of Movies And TV Shows From Best To Worst

Quick Facts

Alan Rickman is deservingly one of the greatest movie villains of all time. This English actor and director has stolen the hearts of many with his apt and impressive interpretation of characters. Though mostly known for his work on the big and small screens, the Die Hard actor began his career on the stage and has also portrayed various comedy characters. Alan Rickman’s movie career began in 1974 and although he is late now, this iconic actor has several great movies under his belt.

He was shot to fame when he starred as a vicious villain in the 1986 play Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton. According to Christopher, not only did Alan mesmerize the audience but he also had a hypnotic effect on his co-actors. The play was first acted in London and later on the Broadway. Being a proficient actor, he is also famous for his contributions to the world of television. He was seen on the popular series and for his years of labor and hard work, he was rewarded with several awards nominations and wins.

Alan Rickman during his acting career brought to the table both good and not-so-good performances. Let us take a look into his best and worst movies ranking them in order – from his best to his worst.

Ranking Alan Rickman Movies From The Best To The Worst

Die Hard (1988)

Being his most successful movie so far, Die Hard also makes this list the best of Alan Rickman movies – ever. This 1988 movie was directed by John McTiernan and was set in New York City.

On this movie, Alan worked with a couple of amazing stars including , , , Paul Gleason, etc. Alan plays the role of Hans Gruber, a leader of a terrorist group. Hans and his group hold the party guests on the 30th floor of the Nakatomi Corporation building in Los Angeles hostage. They leave the police thinking that they were politically motivated while in reality they are financially motivated being interested in the $600 million held in a safe in the building. John McClane (Bruce Willis), a New York City policeman, who is in the building, saves the day by defiling orders from the police authority while attempting the rescue the hostages.

This role sold Alan to the world as a villain. The success rate of this movie is unmeasurable to any he has stared in. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the movie received a 98% rating and on IMDb 8.2 stars out of 10. This movie received awards from the Japanese Academy for Best Foreign Language Film awards in 1990 among other awards with several nominations.

Something the Lord Made (2004)

This television drama was one of Alan Rickman’s finest movies. The 2004 drama was a great story that recorded huge success. The film tells the story of two medical innovation pioneers, one a trained medical doctor and the other, a non-trained medical enthusiast with a fascination for medicine.

Alan Rickman played on of the lead roles as Dr. Alfred Blalock, the lead surgeon at John Hopkins hospital with played the role of Vivien Thomas, the janitor who was made a lab assistant for his interest in medicine. Together, they both discovered a treatment to a heart disease predominant among children and while Vivien was shot into fame for this discovery, Blalock wasn’t, which made him sorely dissatisfied.

This drama has remarkable ratings and ranked 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and 8.2 stars on IMDb. As expected, it had several awards to its credit including winning the Primetime Emmy Awards three times.

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

Alan Rickman displayed his deft on the set of this American drama film. This popular movie is an adaptation of the 1981 novel written by Jane Austen with the same name. In the film, he worked with the likes of Emma Thompson, , High Grant, Robert Hardy, and so on.

Centered around love, sense, tragedy, and class, this 1995 movie revolves around the lives of the first wife of late Mr. Dashwood and her three daughters. The tragedy of Mr. Dashwood’s death leaves the family financially handicapped, causing them to move into a cottage. Elizabeth the eldest of the daughter is regarded as sensible and tries to keep the family affairs working smoothly, although faced with a free-spirited attitude from her younger sister, Marianne. Alan plays the role of a charming and reserved Colonel who took interest in Marianne.

This movie had an impressive reception from viewers worldwide. Little wonder the plethora of awards it bagged, including prestigious accolades such as the BAFTA Film Awards, Academy Awards, Screen Actor Guild Awards, and so on. It also received high ratings (90%) on Rotten Tomatoes and a rating of 7.7 on IMDb.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows – Part Two (2011)

The next movie on this list of Alan Rickman’s movies is one installment in the magical and fantasy series, Harry Potter. The series which started in 2001, has 8 movies in all which have all recorded huge successes. This particular film has been listed among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time.

This installment was a continuation of the young magician’s adventure. The battle between good and evil forces heightens into a full-blown war. Alan plays the role of Professor Severus Snape, a sneering teacher, described as coldly sarcastic and outstandingly skillful.

With a box office earning of $1.342 billion, this movie was rated by the audience at 89% on Rotten Tomatoes and had 8.1 stars on IMDb. Under its belt also are awards like BAFTA Film Awards, Saturn Awards, and so on.

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

One of of the most successful movies Alan ever stared in is this 2004 fantasy and mystery thriller. This third installment of the series attracted a lot of attention upon its release. The critically acclaimed movie was also a great commercial success raking in $796.9 million on a budget of $130 million.

This film centers on the escape of Sirius a prisoner at Azkaban, who was convicted of conniving with Voldemort to murder Harry’s parents. He probably escaped to finish Harry off, however, measures are taken at Hogwarts to ward the evil villain off but it seems insufficient. Alan who maintained his role as a witchcraft instructor work with the regulars of the series such as , , and new faces such as .

It was rated 7.9 stars on IMDb and 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie, like the other installments, is a multi-award-winning film with awards like BAFTA Film Awards and AFI Awards, to its name.

Alice Through The Looking Glass (2016)

Released in 2016, Alice Through The Looking Glass doesn’t fall short of the visual impressiveness of its predecessor, Alice in Wonderland. Adapted from one of the stories of Lewis Carroll, Alice returns to the underworld to carry out a task only she can but she meets a lot of obstacles on her journey.

This film wasn’t bereft of outstanding actors and actresses, however, its story failed to live up to the standards of much of the audience. On this adventure film, Alan plays the role of the blue caterpillar or Absolem, the hookah-smoking insect who meets Alice after she has been shrunk to a tiny size. This movie was a commercial flop earning way less than its predecessor.

It had a poor rating on Rotten Tomatoes (48%) and a modest rating on IMDb of 6.2 stars out of 10. It also managed to have 4 award wins and 20 nominations.

Nobel Son (2007)

Randall Miller and Jody Savin put together a script they titled Nobel Son. It made its way to production but regrettably was a huge failure in the market, with an abysmal box office earnings of $545,582, a very poor return from a budget of $4 million. Despite its cast and their delivery, this movie was found by some critics to have been over-plotted and self-consciously odd.

Alongside Alan Rickman were Mary Steenburgen, , , Eliza Dushku, Shawn Hatosy and other amazing acts as part of the cast. Alan plays the role of an insufferable arrogant Nobel Prize winner whose son was kidnapped soon after he was awarded. The abduction was carried out by his supposed half-son who is also a genius and motivated by revenge rather than money.

Unfortunately, as the movie recorded poor sales so also was the ratings. On Rotten Tomatoes, the audience gave a fairly modest 44% rating and it earned only 6.3 stars on IMDb. Unsurprisingly, this movie received no awards or nominations.

CBGB (2013)

This 2013 musical film according to critics was a flop in many ways. The historical film tried to tell the tale of Punk music in New York through the eyes of the famous antique club CBGB.

Alan plays the lead character as Hilly Kristal who was the founder of the bar and inherently gave rise to several punk groups in New York. This movie, unfortunately, failed commercially as its box office earnings were low (earning $40,400 on a budget of $5 million), so was its ratings among the audience. According to Rotten Tomatoes, it was rated at 7% and on IMDb, it received 6.6 stars. This film received no known award nominations.

The January Man (1989)

This 1989 movie was directed by Pat O’Connor. It is an action/comedy thriller written by John Patrick Shanley. Its cast includes Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandon, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Harvey Keitel, Danny Aiello and of course, Alan Rickman. He plays the role of an ex-police detective who is recalled to help the police in their investigation into the serial killer who is on the rampage in New York.

He comes back to help catch the serial killer who is leaving a trail of bodies all over the city. Despite its intriguing storyline and cast, critics and a large part of the audience found it unworthy. It had a disappointing 28% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 5.6 stars on iMDb. According to credible sources, this film didn’t receive any awards or nominations.

Gambit (2012)

Produced and distributed by CBS Studios, this film was released in 2012 starring the likes of , , Tom Courtenay, and our celebrity subject Alan Rickman. Colin Firth who is an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award winner known for his ability to impeccably deliver his roles was not so impeccable in this film as it failed to reach the requirements of critics and a large percentage of the audience.

This movie is based on a British thief who tries to steal from a wealthy widower with the assistance of a beautiful woman who has a striking resemblance with the widower’s dead wife. However, everything didn’t go according to plan. Alan brilliantly delivered the role of the rich widower, Lord Lionel Shabandar. Ratings show that this movie was poorly received by the audience and was also panned by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it received an abysmal rating of 23% and out of 10 stars it was able to clinch 5.7 on IMDb.

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