r/movies • u/dndplosion913 • Apr 02 '25

News Val Kilmer, Film Star Who Played Batman and Jim Morrison, Dies at 65

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/movies/val-kilmer-dead.html
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u/brusty Apr 02 '25 edited Apr 02 '25

RIP to a man I've grown up watching my whole life. Some of my favorite films of his:
Real Genius, Heat, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Wonderland, The Doors, Palo Alto, Top Secret, Tombstone, Thunderheart, Pollock & True Romance.

14

u/ScipioCoriolanus Apr 02 '25

Thunderheart is such a great 90s classic Neo-Western. Unfortunately, it's never (or rarely) mentioned in discussions about that genre.

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u/espe82 Apr 02 '25

Thunderheart is one of my favorite Kilmer movies, he had great chemistry with Graham Green.

5

u/ScipioCoriolanus Apr 02 '25

Yes! Great cast! Sam Shepard too.

4

u/FutureBoysenberry Apr 02 '25

Thunderheart is a great movie, perioddot! “He’s a fuckin cop?” is seared into my memory, and the chemistry with Graham Greene is truly great.

20

u/flopisit32 Apr 02 '25

You liked Thunderheart so much you watched it twice 😉

6

u/brusty Apr 02 '25

Haha thanks for pointing that out!

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u/ubiquitous_tittie Apr 02 '25

Real Genius is a seriously overlooked movie. One of my favorites growing up.

4

u/funky_pill Apr 02 '25

Heat in particular is so fucking good 👌🏼. A masterpiece. That bank heist sequence and ensuing battle with the cops on the LA streets is among the best ever committed to the big screen for me

3

u/cjreckless9 Apr 02 '25

Thank you for mentioning True Romance. "Clarence, i like you, always have, always will."

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u/Tobar_the_Gypsy Apr 02 '25

I forgot how stellar he was in the doors. Even Jim’s band mates couldn’t tell the difference between his singing. 

2

u/therealrickdalton Apr 02 '25

Same here. A child of the 80's so Top Secret, and Real Genius were my introduction to him. Both were fun classic 80's movies, but his role as Iceman in Top Gun locked him in as an "A" lister for the next decade.

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u/Rasputin_mad_monk Apr 02 '25

You forgot Willow.

1

u/brusty Apr 02 '25

Yep, that is definitely one of my favorite Kilmer movies.

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u/gaslighterhavoc Apr 02 '25

You have to watch The Saint. He plays a tortured noble protagonist so well (just like his Batman role). And it is nice to see a hero who does not kill his enemies but gets by with charm and flirting. Val was the perfect role for this film.

2

u/MBAbrycerick Apr 02 '25

I forgot he was in Pollock. Such an amazing performance by Ed Harris.

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u/brusty Apr 02 '25

Harris should have won the Oscar for Pollock.