10 Essential Gerard Butler Movies, Ranked
Law student turned actor and producer Gerard Butler got his professional start in the industry slightly later in life at the age of twenty-seven, and his career only went up from there. Since his first film appearance in the British drama Mrs Brown, Butler has gone on to work on fifty-nine movies, with seven in line for release over the next two years. He has also appeared in nine television shows and worked on multiple stage plays.
Gerard Butler has showcased his physical and voice talents in big-name productions such as the beloved DreamWorks franchise How to Train Your Dragon and Zack Snyder‘s epic historical feature 300. He has dabbled in a wide range of genres, from animation to action, disaster, and everything in between, effortlessly blending into whatever his new project may be with a chameleon-like ability to adapt to what the situation calls for. No matter what someone is in the mood for, they’ll likely find something in Butler’s extensive filmography, and these ten features are some of his best to date.
10
‘Law Abiding Citizen’ (2009)
Directed by F. Gary Gray
Butler has gained a reputation for portraying tough, rugged, take-no-crap-thrown-their-way characters, and this brutal 2009 feature from director F. Gary Gray is a perfect example.
Law Abiding Citizen is an R-rated movie about the path of a man whose wife and young daughter are murdered during a home invasion. Seeing the flaws and failures of the justice system firsthand, he takes matters into his own and decides to do something about it. A man who loses everything has nothing to lose, and Clyde Shelton stops at nothing to get his point across. Butler’s performance as Clyde deserved more praise than it received. Law Abiding Citizen is one of those films that has audiences rooting for the bad guy, though aware that what he’s doing isn’t necessarily the right thing to do. It may have been critically crucified, but audiences loved it, and it’s not hard to see why.
9
‘Hunter Killer’ (2018)
Directed by Donovan Marsh
Many say that when critics dislike a movie, a general audience will probably love it. 2018’s Hunter Killer is the very definition of one of these circumstances. It’s gripping, thrilling, and action-packed from beginning to end. What more could someone want in a feature that falls into those genres?
Hunter Killer stars Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman in a movie that centers on the crew of an American submarine that takes on the challenge of rescuing the abducted Russian president. It bombed financially at the box office, and, as mentioned, critics didn’t care for it at all. But to those who watched and appreciated its ability to keep audiences on the edge of their seats with the suspense and excellent action scenes, it ticked all the right boxes of a great action movie.
8
‘Angel Has Fallen’ (2019)
Directed by Ric Roman Waugh
The Has Fallen series may not be for everybody, but as action-centric movies, they’re undeniably entertaining to watch. Angel Has Fallen was released in 2019 to close out the trilogy that began in 2013 with Antoine Fuqua‘s Olympus installment. While the first may be a favorite for many, as it’s where the franchise began, the third was arguably the better executed.
Gerard Butler stars as the trilogy’s lead Secret Service agent, Mike Banning. He also co-produced all three features in the series. Angel Has Fallen follows Banning after being framed for the attempted murder of the president of the United States (Morgan Freeman) via a drone attack. He is the sole survivor of the drone attack that left his whole team dead and the president in a coma. This movie and its predecessors may follow certain cliches, but the suspense and action sequences are some of the best depicted in features of their kind.
7
‘Den of Thieves’ (2018)
Directed by Christian Gudegast
“You’re not the bad guys. We are.” That’s one way to intrigue an audience. Den of Thieves is like a combination of a heist movie mixed with the task force from Hawaii Five 0. It follows a group of individuals who set their sights on the Federal Reserve in Los Angeles and the gang of sheriff’s department deputies who try to track them down before they get the chance.
Den of Thieves was a financial success, but received mixed feedback from critics. For audiences, however, it was a success all around, with praise given for its action sequences and tribute to others of its kind that came before. Butler plays Detective Nick O’Brien, more commonly referred to as Big Nick, and he put in a hell of a lot of work to get ready for the role. It paid off and his performance as the gritty police detective is one of his most notable 2010s performances.
6
‘RocknRolla’ (2008)
Directed by Guy Ritchie
Criminally underrated, Guy Ritchie‘s 2008 comedy, crime, and action mashup is long overdue for a sequel in the eyes of many who loved this wacky rollercoaster of a movie. It’s chaotic in the best way possible, with an A-list cast that holds it all together to make the perfect mix of genres.
Old-school mobsters meet new in the film as they comedically clash to come out on top, and it makes for an enjoyable watch all the way through. Almost two decades after RocknRolla‘s release in the Fall of 2008, this underappreciated feature with Gerard Butler, Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Tom Wilkinson, and Mark Strong, to name a few, is still considered one of the best of its kind. Who knows? Maybe one day, there’ll be a sequel.
5
‘Greenland’ (2020)
Directed by Ric Roman Waugh
Greenland is one of those rare circumstances where a disaster movie doesn’t completely crash and burn in the eyes of critics. In fact, it did quite the opposite.
Greenland follows a family as they trek to a supposedly secure location after a planet-killing comet sets its collision course straight for Earth. A fight for survival ensues as John Garrity (Butler) and his family make their way across a land that’s about to cease to exist. Unlike many disaster movies where everything works out in the end, Greenland takes the stakes one step further and sees the comet achieve its destructive goal, ending the world as they know it. It’s thrilling, action-packed, and will have audiences on the edge of their seats from start to finish.
4
‘Dear Frankie’ (2004)
Directed by Shona Auerbach
Dear Frankie is Butler’s second and final film of 2004. He stars as The Stranger, a man who takes on the role of a young boy’s father after his mother hires him to help keep the truth from bubbling to the surface. As deceptive and cruel as that brief description may sound, this movie is nothing but a pure, heartfelt viewing experience for anybody who gives it the time of day it deserves.
Shona Auerbach‘s meaningful twenty-year-old feature serves as a story of a mother’s love and protection as she tries to keep the truth of her son’s aggressive father out of his innocent life. Dear Frankie became an acclaimed film, earning numerous accolades and acknowledgment for its emotional writing and relatable material. All kids just want to be loved. It’s that simple. Dear Frankie may be a lesser-known addition to Butler’s filmography, but it’s one of his most powerful.
3
‘Plane’ (2023)
Directed by Jean-François Richet
Plane is Butler’s fourth film to be released in the 2020s and is one of his best to date. It’s a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat action feature capable of keeping its audience’s attention from the moment they press play. However, be warned, it’s not one for the nervous flyers out there.
Plane follows the passengers, crew, and pilots of an airplane that must make an emergency landing in a notoriously dangerous part of the Philippines known as Jolo Island after a lightning strike blows the craft’s avionics. It is a place the Philippino army will not travel to, given its precarious territory, and Brodie Torrance’s (Butler) plane crashes right into it. He must work together with a suspected murderer, played by Mike Colter, to save the survivors of the crash and get as many people home safely as possible. It is one of the most entertaining action movies of recent years but is sure to reignite that fear of flying buried deep within.
2
‘How to Train Your Dragon’ (2010)
Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
It’s hard to believe the How to Train Your Dragon franchise is fifteen years old this year. Look how far it’s come in the decade-and-a-half since its acclaimed release. This movie and its subsequent continuations have become such a beloved series to kids and adults all around the world. Toothless and Hiccup are two of the most loved animated duos ever created, and this Night Fury remains one of the most adorable, making us all want a dragon of our own.
Gerard Butler stars as Stoick the Vast in this groundbreaking animated tale from directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. He’s the father of Hiccup and the chieftain of the Isle of Berk, a Viking village in which the movie predominantly takes place. How to Train Your Dragon is one of the most successful animated features of recent years, and the characters are a big part of what makes it continue to hold a cherished place in the hearts of fans.
1
‘300’ (2006)
Directed by Zack Snyder
“This is Sparta” is arguably one of the most famous movie lines ever spoken. It comes from the classic 2006 historical action movie from director Zack Snyder and tells the story of King Leonidas (Butler) as he leads his Spartan soldiers into battle. 300 takes its inspiration from the titular 1988 comic book series but has become one of the most referenced movies of all time.
300 has influenced a globally used internet meme, is referenced in episodes of TV shows like South Park, and has been spoofed more times than one can count. It may have some historical inaccuracies and received some criticism for such, but it remains one of the most popular movies to come from the 2000s. It is also the feature that earned Gerard Butler further recognition following his early 2000s work and helped spiral his career to where it is today. 300 will always be one of his most popular performances.
