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Val Kilmer was one of the greatest actors of his generation.
Kilmer passed away on April 1st, 2025 after a long battle with cancer and leaves behind a resume of legendary performances in such iconic movies as 'Top Gun', 'The Doors', 'Tombstone', 'Heat', and 'Batman Forever'.
In honor of the late actor's passing, Moviefone is counting down the 20 best films of Val Kilmer's impressive career.
Let's begin!
20. 'The Island of Dr. Moreau' (1996)
A shipwrecked sailor (David Thewlis) stumbles upon a mysterious island and is shocked to discover that a brilliant scientist (Marlon Brando) and his lab assistant (Kilmer) have found a way to combine human and animal DNA—with horrific results.
19. 'The Real McCoy' (1993)
Karen McCoy (Kim Basinger) is released from prison with nothing but the clothes on her back. Before being incarcerated Karen was the bank robber of her time, but now she wishes for nothing more than to settle down and start a new life. Unfortunately between a dirty parole officer, old business partners, an idiot ex-husband, and a new partner (Kilmer) she will have to do the unthinkable in order to save her son.
18. 'The Salton Sea' (2002)
After the murder of his beloved wife, a man (Kilmer) in search of redemption is set adrift in a world where nothing is as it seems. On his journey, he befriends slacker Jimmy "The Finn" (Peter Sarsgaard), becomes involved in rescuing his neighbor Colette (Deborah Kara Unger) from her own demons, and gets entangled in a web of deceit full of unexpected twists and turns.
17. 'The Saint' (1997)
Simon Templar (Kilmer), is a thief for hire, whose latest job to steal the secret process for cold fusion puts him at odds with a traitor bent on toppling the Russian government, as well as the woman (Elizabeth Shue) who holds its secret.
16. 'The Ghost and the Darkness' (1996)
Sir Robert Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson) is behind schedule on a railroad in Africa. Enlisting noted engineer John Henry Patterson (Kilmer) to right the ship, Beaumont expects results. Everything seems great until the crew discovers the mutilated corpse of the project's foreman, seemingly killed by a lion. After several more attacks, Patterson calls in famed hunter Charles Remington (Michael Douglas), who has finally met his match in the bloodthirsty lions.
15. 'Willow' (1988)
The evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh) hunts the newborn princess Elora Danan (Ruth Greenfield), a child prophesied to bring about her downfall. When the royal infant is found by Willow (Warwick Davis), a timid farmer and aspiring sorcerer, he's entrusted with delivering her from evil.
14. 'Thunderheart' (1992)
An FBI man (Kilmer) with Sioux background is sent to a reservation to help with a murder investigation, where he has to come to terms with his heritage.
13. 'Val' (2021)
For over 40 years Val Kilmer, one of Hollywood’s most mercurial and/or misunderstood actors has been documenting his own life and craft through film and video. He has amassed thousands of hours of footage, from 16mm home movies made with his brothers, to time spent in iconic roles for blockbuster movies. This raw, wildly original and unflinching documentary reveals a life lived to extremes and a heart-filled, sometimes hilarious look at what it means to be an artist and a complex man.
12. 'Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans' (2009)
Terrence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage) is a New Orleans Police sergeant, who receives a medal and a promotion to lieutenant for heroism during Hurricane Katrina. Due to his heroic act, McDonagh injures his back and becomes addicted to prescription pain medication. He then finds himself involved with a drug dealer who is suspected of murdering a family of African immigrants.
11. 'Top Secret!' (1984)
Popular and dashing American singer Nick Rivers (Kilmer) travels to East Germany to perform in a music festival. When he loses his heart to the gorgeous Hillary Flammond (Lucy Gutleridge), he finds himself caught up in an underground resistance movement. Rivers joins forces with Agent Cedric (Omar Shariff) and Flammond to attempt the rescue of her father, Dr. Paul, from the Germans, who have captured the scientist in hopes of coercing him into building a new naval mine.
10. 'Top Gun: Maverick' (2022)
After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of TOPGUN graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards), aka “Goose.” Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it.
9. 'True Romance' (1993)
Clarence (Christian Slater) marries hooker Alabama (Patricia Arquette), steals cocaine from her pimp, and tries to sell it in Hollywood, while the owners of the coke try to reclaim it.
8. 'Batman Forever' (1995)
Batman (Kilmer) must battle a disfigured district attorney and a disgruntled former employee with help from an amorous psychologist and a young circus acrobat (Chris O'Donnell).
7. 'Real Genius' (1985)
When teenage geniuses Mitch Taylor (Gabriel Jarret) and Chris Knight (Kilmer), working on an advanced laser project, learn that the military wants to use it as a weapon, they decide to thwart the plan.
6. 'The Doors' (1991)
The story of the famous and influential 1960s rock band and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison (Kilmer).
5. 'Spartan' (2004)
U.S. government agent Scott (Kilmer) is assigned to rescue the daughter of a high-ranking government official. As willing as he is to bend the rules to get things done, though, Scott is shocked to find that others are willing to go even further to protect a political career.
4. 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' (2005)
A petty thief posing as an actor (Robert Downey Jr.) is brought to Los Angeles for an unlikely audition and finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation along with his high school dream girl (Michelle Monaghan) and a detective (Kilmer) who's been training him for his upcoming role...
3. 'Heat' (1995)
Obsessive master thief Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) leads a top-notch crew on various daring heists throughout Los Angeles while determined detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) pursues him without rest. Each man recognizes and respects the ability and the dedication of the other even though they are aware their cat-and-mouse game may end in violence.
2. 'Tombstone' (1993)
Legendary marshal Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell), now a weary gunfighter, joins his brothers Morgan (Bill Paxton) and Virgil (Sam Elliot) to pursue their collective fortune in the thriving mining town of Tombstone. But Earp is forced to don a badge again and get help from his notorious pal Doc Holliday (Kilmer) when a gang of renegade brigands and rustlers begins terrorizing the town.
1. 'Top Gun' (1986)
For Lieutenant Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell (Tom Cruise) and his friend and co-pilot Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards), being accepted into an elite training school for fighter pilots is a dream come true. But a tragedy, as well as personal demons, will threaten Pete's dreams of becoming an ace pilot.
