30 Best Ever Nicolas Cage Movies

Nobody matches Nicolas Cage. He is a dynamic actor who can inject some batshit enthusiasm into blockbusters or deliver odd, understated performances in smaller independent films.

So, to showcase the many dimensions of his performances and identities, here is a list of his top 30 films. The kind of bizarre collection of movies that could only be connected by one thing: Nicolas friggin' Cage.

1 Vampire’s Kiss

White-collar New Yorker Peter's (Nicolas Cage) existence appears to be focused completely on accumulating wealth and having as many relationships with women as possible. After a usual night of looking for action at hip clubs, Peter can get the seductive Rachel (Jennifer Beals) home, but she bites him when they're in bed. Peter feels confident he is now a vampire the following day. He dons artificial fangs and starts chasing women even though no one agrees with his viewpoint and that he hasn't changed physically.

2 Joe

Joe is a pleasant return to form for its star, Nicolas Cage, and director David Gordon Green. It is atmospherically rich and is driven by Cage's strong performance.

3 Birdy

The horrible fighting experiences left Birdy (Matthew Modine) damaged when he returned from the Vietnam War. He was so traumatized by what he saw that he entirely cut himself off from reality and believed himself to be a bird. Birdy is kept in a mental hospital, where the staff is unsure of how to care for him. His best buddy from high school, Al (Nicolas Cage), who served in Vietnam as well, calls on him every day to reach him.

4 Prisoners of the Ghostland

A powerful warlord whose foster granddaughter has vanished frees a violent bank robber from prison in the perilous frontier city of Samurai Town. He promises to free the prisoner in exchange for the runaway's return. Aiming to find the young woman and his path to atonement, the bandit embarks on a trek while strapped into a leather outfit that will self-destruct in five days.

5 World Trade Center

Two Port Authority police officers' lives are forever changed after the World Trade Center collapses in 2001 when they become caught in the rubble.

6 Valley Girl

Beautiful girl Julie Richman, along with her egotistical lover Tommy, is enmeshed in the extravagant, pink-clad lifestyle of the San Fernando Valley. But during a party, Randy (Nicolas Cage), an edgy Hollywood punk, captures Julie's attention, and an unusual romance ensues. Julie is forced to choose between sticking with Tommy and taking a chance with Randy because she is torn between doing what her superficial friends want her to do and embracing a more unconventional lifestyle.

7 Red Rock West

Cage portrayed a down-on-his-luck former Marine who becomes caught up in a murder-for-hire fiasco involving Dennis Hopper, J.T. Walsh, and Lara Flynn Boyle while looking for honest work in Wyoming. Cage gave a more understated "everyman" performance in this gripping gem, setting the stage for later, more prominent action hero parts.

8 Leaving Las Vegas

Even more striking than other Cage works is 1995's Leaving Las Vegas. Cage rightly won an Oscar for his portrayal of an alcoholic screenwriter who was determined to drink himself to death in Sin City. Despite falling in love with Elisabeth Shue's weary sex worker, Cage offered little indication that he would soon become a blockbuster action star. It was created in partnership with writer-director Mike Figgis and has a severely exposed-nerve performance with red eyes and a disheveled appearance. Not that Cage toned down his signature flourishes; rather, he skillfully incorporated them into the self-inflicted downward spiral of his character Ben Sanderson. Because of his believable sense of flashy social abandonment that results from his existential dereliction, Ben's quick deterioration is kind of amusing in a very uncomfortable way.

9 Con Air

Con-Air is a completely absurd joyride from beginning to end. Con Air, a quick-paced shooter, maintains its tongue firmly in cheek as Cage and his wind-blown hair play Cameron Poe, an Army Ranger who is found guilty of manslaughter and is forced to board a prison transport plane with the worst convicts imaginable. Poe's hopes to reconcile with his wife and kids are placed in jeopardy when Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom, played by John Malkovich, takes control of the flight. As a result, this laconic Terminator fights back. It's a boisterous, exaggerated classic.

10 Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

This Bad Lieutenant benefits from Werner Herzog's normally bold direction and a deliciously deranged Nicolas Cage in the title role, befitting its unconventional roots.

11 The Trust

Disillusioned police officers Waters and Stone learn about a drug dealer who has hidden a huge amount of money and plans a heist to steal it. However, things get out of hand.

12 The Rock

In one of Michael Bay's purest, most flawless productions from the 1990s, The Rock, Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery team up to stop homegrown terrorists from destroying the Bay Area. As Stanley Goodspeed, a biochemist in over his head, Cage got to combine his eccentric independent cinema comic skills with his role as an underdog action hero. His defense is provided by actual soldiers, and he rises to the challenge by developing into a true champion. Even though The Rock was magnificent and spectacular, it cemented Cage's position as a contender in the field of blockbuster films.

13 Moonstruck

The two actors' chemistry is a big reason why the movie holds up; when Loretta kicks an empty Coke can down a quiet Brooklyn avenue after a night with this moody stud, you start to think they were meant to be. Cage excels in one of his most romantic parts to date despite being the only member of the movie's core ensemble who was not nominated for an Oscar. Cher and Olympia Dukakis both won big that night, and Vincent Gardenia was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

14 Bringing Out the Dead

New York City paramedic Frank Pierce (Nicolas Cage) starts to give way under the weight of saving lives and witnessing fatalities after a demoralizing and unsettling career weighs him down. Three coworkers stay with Pierce for a few nights as he struggles to stay sane and fights for his job. Pierce still has hope when he befriends a victim's daughter before going over the edge.

15 Pig

Cage received some of the highest reviews of his career for the 2021 film Pig, which also generated some Oscar hype. Pig tells the surprisingly emotional tale of an isolated Oregon truffle hunter whose pet pig is taken, hostage. It's a riveting adventure about love and loss that cleverly subverts expectations and serves as a reminder of just how captivating Nic Cage can be in melancholy, understated performances.

16 Adaptation

This meta-madness was taken and run with in adaptation. And since Cage had already shown that he could do anything, who else could play the twins—one pretentious and neurotic, the other bright and carefree—better than Cage? He is amazing in both roles—the ideal yin and yang. And his biggest accomplishment was that although the two seemed identical—there were no distinguishing beards or hairstyles—they were radically different, just as a result of Cage's two extraordinary, intensely subtle performances. He essentially serves as his special effect. Such is Nicolas Cage's magic.

17 Color Out of Space

Richard Stanley's hypnotic Color Out of Space, which was based on an H.P. Lovecraft short story, was his greatest work in 2019. Cage portrays a man who, together with his wife and children, is killed by a brilliant meteor that strikes his farm. The incident is caused by cosmic powers. You should include it in your Spooky Season marathons since it is a terrible, ghastly horror experience.

18 The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

In 2022, Nicolas Cage experienced something of a professional comeback as his previous critical apathy sort of came full circle into a newly found appreciation with the release of the absurdly charming movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Cage delighted audiences as a pretentiously sweet version of himself who got sucked into a comedic espionage adventure after receiving a million dollars to attend a wealthy super-birthday fan's party.

19 Wild at Heart

It's a fascinating, dark comedy about a couple in love on the run that gave Cage and Dern the chance to embrace their irrationality and put Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" into heavy play on MTV. Wild at Heart, which won the Palme d'Or at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival, is an outrageous must-see and the most divisive David Lynch production ever.

20 Teen Titans Go! to the Movies

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies captures the ongoing attraction of its colorful cast in a pleasantly lighthearted adventure whose zany humor fuels its contagious pleasure — and masks a surprising amount of thoughtfulness.

21 Face/Off

At the time, Nic Cage and co-star John Travolta were two of the biggest cinematic stars in the world, and this movie makes the most of their dopamine-delivery potential. These two had the opportunity to portray the hero and the antagonist in the same film, even letting off some light impersonations of one another. For Cage, it was an opportunity to display all of his operatic acting skills.

22 Kick-Ass

He stood out in a super-duper supporting part as Big Daddy, the Batman-style vigilante who taught his daughter, Hit-Girl, to be just as ruthlessly unforgiving of crime as he was, in Kick-Ass, a full-throttle version of the Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. comic series. In this pre-MCU hero-verse of Rated R mayhem, Cage has the chance to transfer the action hero baton to a fresh group of young people.

23 The Family Man

When Jack stumbles into a grocery store robbery one Christmas Eve and neutralizes the gunman, his opulent, fast-paced way of life is drastically altered. He discovers horrifyingly the next morning that his past life has vanished when he awakens in bed next to Kate (Tea Leoni), his college girlfriend whom he had to leave to pursue his career. Jack finds himself at a crossroads where he must decide between his high-powered career and the lady he loves as he wanders through this other suburbia realm.

24 National Treasure

While Benjamin Gates must grab the Declaration of Independence to prevent buried gold from falling into the hands of a crime lord, Cage takes the lead as a treasure hunter and cryptographer. It's a solid, adorably goofy family adventure outing for Cage, who has spent the majority of his career specializing in the bizarre.

25 Mandy

Mandy, the movie is about Red, a quiet logger who lives in the 1980s woods of the Pacific Northwest, whose life is turned upside down by a psychotic cult. Red then goes on a bizarre retribution rampage while carrying an ax and crossbow. Mandy is a mixture of feral performances, altered states, and artistic gonzo brutality. It's one of Cage's most uplifting contemporary movies.

26 Lord of War

The outcast from Queens, New York, Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage), had a 20-year career in the arms business that provides a glimpse into the conclusion of the Cold War and the rise of global terrorism. He finds himself comforting his younger brother Vitaly, who struggles more with ethics, while deftly avoiding the pursuit of federal agent Jack Lawrence. The roving arms trader also chases supermodel Ava Fontaine, the woman of his dreams.

27 Gone in 60 Seconds

An auto burglar must steal 50 high-end vehicles in one night to save his brother, who has been captured by a violent crime boss. He must put his former gang back together to complete the very impossible job. He was once California's most successful car thief. A rival gang of thieves and the neighborhood police, of course, make his mission even more difficult.

28 Peggy Sue Got Married

Even though Eggy Sue Got Married appears to be another movie in a long series of '80s boomer nostalgia flicks, it stands out because it has Kathleen Turner in the starring role. After divorcing her cheating husband Charlie, Peggy Sue Bodell (Kathleen Turner) attends her 25-year high school reunion (Nicolas Cage). She laments the choices she has made in life, including becoming pregnant while still in high school with Charlie. She wakes up in 1960 after passing out at the reunion. If given the chance to live her life over again, she makes numerous adjustments. As she starts to recognize young Charlie's charm and genuine emotions, some decisions become more challenging.

29 Matchstick Men

When Roy's adolescent daughter Angela shows around, Frank, Roy's accomplice and an obsessive-compulsive con man in depression, finds their line of work complicated. Some of Roy's condition symptoms seem to go away as a result of Angela's presence in his life. However, Roy changes his parenting strategies when Angela expresses an interest in learning about the family company and he allows her to help with a significant fraud involving a businessman.

30 Mom and Dad

A teenage girl and her younger brother attempt to survive a crazy day in which parents turn brutally against their children due to a widespread frenzy of unknown origin.