Irish actor Sam Neill has a long and dilated career in movies and entertainment. From his start in the movie “Sleeping Dogs,” to “Jurassic Park,” to “Peaky Blinders,” this actor managed to gather several accolades and recognitions. Such as the AACTA Award for Best Actor, the Longford Lyell Award, and three Golden Globe nominations. So, which are some of Sam Neill’s Best Movies?
Born in Northern Ireland back in 1947, he emigrated to New Zealand after his father relocated his family there. Since then, he has identified as a New Zealander. He studied in Christ’s College and went to the University of Canterbury for higher education. Also, that’s where he picked up acting as a passion. On another point, here’s a piece of trivia, his real name is Nigel. He uses “Sam” as a stage name. Now without any further ado, let’s begin covering this topic.
1. Jurassic Park
The 1993 American sci-fi film by Steven Spielberg, out of a script by David Koepp and Michael Crichton, tells the story of a wealthy man that opens a theme park full of cloned dinosaurs from DNA extracted from fossilized mosquitoes. In this film, Sam Neill plays Dr. Alan Grant, a paleontologist fascinated by how the dinosaurs were cloned. But when things go awry in the park after the dinos eat a dude. And after a case of corporate corruption, where a programmer tries to steal company secrets —and dinosaur embryos— by hacking into a computer from the theme park, he knocks out the power. In consequence, the dinosaurs are released from their cages, and all hell breaks loose. And that’s where Sam Neill’s character enters, who even manages to distract a T-Rex with a flare. Check out the trailer below.
2. The Hunt for The Red October
This 1990 American spy thriller based on a Tom Clancy book was directed by John McTiernan and starred Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, James Earl Jones, Sam Neill, and Scott Glenn. If you ever heard of Jack Ryan as a spy, it’s because of this film. The story revolves around a Soviet nuclear submarine captain who goes rogue. He kills an officer on board and decides to defect with the submarine crew to America.
The caterpillar drive on the Red October breaks down during a dangerous underwater maneuver because of the actions of an unknown saboteur. Using underwater acoustics software developed by Petty Officer Jones, Dallas’ sonar technician, the ship plots its own intercept course to catch up with the Red October. Onboard the Dallas, Ryan tries to convince the captain to contact Ramius and finds out what he really wants from the crew, Commander Bart Mancuso, after a dangerous mid-ocean transfer.
Ramius is revealed to be a renegade by the Soviet ambassador, who asks for assistance in sinking the Red October on behalf of the Soviet government. It is sent to the US fleet, including Dallas, which has discovered the Soviet submarine. As a result of Ryan’s convincing arguments, Mancuso is finally persuaded to reach out to Ramius and offer his assistance. Ramius accepts, his mind blown by the fact that the Americans had correctly predicted his ruse. He then staged a nuclear reactor “emergency” and ordered his crew to leave the ship. Submerging his ship, Ramius leaves his crew in lifeboats as a U.S. frigate approaches. During this time, a rescue sub arrives with Ryan, Mancuso, and Jones on board. Ramius requests refugee status for both himself and his officers.
3. Hunt For The Wilderpeople
After being abandoned by his mother, Ricky Baker is taken in by child welfare worker Paula and police officer Andy and placed with his foster aunt Bella Faulkner and her husband, the grumpy southerner Hector (played by Sam Neill), on a remote farm in the South. By taking Ricky hunting and giving him a dog for his 13th birthday, Bella breaks Ricky’s defenses, and he renames the dog Tupac after his favorite rapper.
When Ricky learns from Hec that child protective services will reclaim him if he doesn’t commit suicide by setting fire to a barn. He panics and flees with Tupac into the woods, where he becomes unable to cope and ends up getting lost. He manages to track him down, but he suffers an ankle injury in the process. So the two are forced to spend some time camping out.
Authorities have discovered the house and barn to be completely destroyed, and they believe that the grief-stricken and mentally disturbed He is responsible for the kidnapping of Ricky. At least that’s the impression I got after meeting three clueless hunters who thought Hec was molesting Ricky: Joe, Ron, and Hugh. He confesses to Ricky that he is illiterate and has served time in prison for manslaughter. After the death of Ricky’s sole foster sibling, Ricky claims that he has no other option than to stay with his foster parents or go to juvenile prison.
4. A Cry In The Dark
In the Australian Outback, Seventh-day Adventist pastor Michael Chamberlain is camping with his wife Lindy, their two sons, and their nine-week-old daughter Azaria. The family is having a picnic with their fellow campers when a baby’s cries can be heard. While checking the tent, Lindy believes she sees a dingo running away with something in its mouth as she approaches. In the event that she discovers that the baby has been abducted, everyone comes together to search for her. A subsequent inquest ruled that Lindy’s account of events was accurate, based on what she saw.
However, public opinion quickly shifts against the Chamberlains. According to many, Lindy appears to be indifferent to the calamity that has struck the family. As the rumors spread, people began to accept them as facts. When a rumor spreads that the name Azaria means “sacrifice in the wilderness,” the public is quick to assume the couple decapitated their baby as part of some bizarre religious rite. The couple’s religious beliefs are not widely practiced in the country.
Officials from the Department of Law Enforcement reopened the case and charged Lindy with murder after locating new witness testimony, forensics experts, and other circumstantial evidence. The fact that she’s seven months pregnant and ignores her attorneys’ advice to appeal to the sympathy of the jury convinces some onlookers that she is guilty. When Michael’s testimony falters, it suggests that he is withholding the truth from the court, and he loses faith in his religious practice and in his wife as the trial progresses. As of October 1982, Lindy is sentenced to life in prison with hard labor, while Michael is sentenced to 18 months probation.
5. The Piano
Jane Campion’s The Piano, set in the late 1800s, is a tale of sexual repression and debauchery. She was basically bought and sold by her father, and now Ada (Holly Hunter) is a mute fleeing Scotland for the wilds and beauty of New Zealand with her nine-year-old daughter to marry a man she has never met. Her only possessions are her daughter and her piano, which she brings with her when she moves to a new country.
Ada communicates through music. Her piano playing is an outlet for all of her suppressed sexuality and passion. A man who has reportedly “gone native,” Baines (Harvey Keitel), buys the piano. And asks Ada if she could teach him how to play it after her husband Stewart (Sam Neill) refuses to bring the instrument up to his home. In exchange for sexual favors, he trades her the piano note by note. Once Ada accepts Baines’s offer of the piano, she goes to him and allows him to have passionate sex with her. She is initially disgusted and shocked by his overt approach.
Ada and her child leave the island with Baines after Stewart confronts him, in a scene reminiscent of the opening scene in which Ada first arrives on the island. To lighten the ship’s load, the piano is thrown into the ocean, where it entangles Ada, who then falls to her death in the water. Ada begins her descent into the depths of the sea, but she fights her way to the surface and emerges victorious. To express and suppress herself, she used to use a piano. Now, she doesn’t. Ada has achieved personal freedom.
6. Bicentennial Man
Sam Neill plays Richard Martin, a man who buys a robot. A robot that has the uncanny ability to have a personality and is capable of expressing emotions. Richard finds out that his robot is unique. Because its ability to show feelings and interact the way he does makes him different from a household appliance. During Richard’s visit to NorthAm Robotics, he inquired if Andrew’s creativity was part of his programming. Later on, despite Dennis Mansky’s claims that this is a problem and offers to scrap Andrew. Instead, Richard takes him back home and encourages him to continue his creative endeavors. After discovering that robots have no legal rights, Andrew becomes a clockmaker. And with that, he amasses a substantial fortune under Richard’s watchful eye.
Richard encourages Dennis to allow Andrew to express his emotions through facial expressions. Andrew asks for his freedom. He does so about two decades after he was reawakened by presenting Richard with all the money he has made. Richard refuses to accept it. But he does allow Andrew to leave the Martin home on the condition that he does so on his own terms. After that, Andrew builds a house on the beach and calls it his own. In the year 2048, Richard is nearing the end of his life. And Richard calls Andrew to express his regrets about banishing him. Later, Andrew goes on a year’s quest to find robots like him. And eventually, he embarks on a campaign to be recognized as human.
7. Wimbledon
Sam Neill plays an overbearing father and manager to Kirsten Dunst’s character Lizzie Bradbury in this romantic comedy. Where in his thirties, Peter Colt, the British tennis player ranked 11th in the world, has never had to fight for anything because of his wealthy family’s support of his tennis career. After Wimbledon, he plans to accept a job at a high-end tennis club. Despite his wildcard entry, he believes he is too old to compete with younger, fitter players and intends to retire after this tournament.
He bumps into Lizzie Bradbury, an American rising star in women’s tennis, as Wimbledon gets underway. As the two become romantically involved, he gains the confidence and courage to try and win her back. Peter’s game gets better and better as their love grows. Sam Neill’s character shows up at Peter’s old apartment and yells at him for ruining his daughter’s game. When Lizzie hears this, she makes the decision to leave him and concentrate on her game instead.
Also Read: Bryce Dallas Howard’s Best Movies That You Should Know About
