10 Best Tom Hanks Movies of All Time

Tom Hanks is one of the most celebrated actors of his generation and possibly the most beloved American movie star from the second half of the 20th century. Over his four decades in Hollywood, he’s proven himself capable of completely disappearing into a variety of roles across both comedy and drama.

Yet whatever role Hanks is playing, his reassuring warmness can always be felt emanating off the screen. Likeability can be a poisonous term in Hollywood, but Hanks has always had an uncanny ability to find the soul of his characters and present it completely openly on screen in a way that audiences can’t help but root for. He’s more than an actor; he’s an American institution, and Hollywood would look very different without him.

10 The Green Mile was Hanks’ Most Emotional Movie

In Frank Darabont’s The Green Mile–adapted from the Stephen King story of the same name–Tom Hanks plays a death row prison guard, Paul Edgecomb, during the 1930s. When a new prisoner, John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), is transferred, it becomes evident that this gentle giant has mysterious supernatural abilities and is capable of healing the sick.

Although garnering mixed reviews upon its release, The Green Mile is frequently seen as one of the most emotional and heart-wrenching films in the Hanks canon. Its overlong runtime and lingering reaction shots can be a point of contention for some viewers, but it’s in these slow, quiet moments that the film’s performances really shine through, and the audience is left to ponder their emotions.

9 Big Proved Hanks Could do Comedy and Drama

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Penny Marshall’s whimsical fantasy Big was the film that earned Hanks his first Oscar nomination. In the film, 12-year-old Josh Baskin (David Moscow) makes a wish at a mysterious carnival machine to become big. He wakes up the next morning to find that his wish has been granted, and Josh (now played by Hanks) has the body of an adult but still his same 12-year-old mind.

The film follows Hanks’ Josh as he discovers adulthood, dealing with all the ups and downs that come with it. In the role, Hanks masterfully balances moments of pure childlike wonder and energy with anxiety, fear, and emotional sadness. Still in the comedy phases of his career, Big was the film that proved Hanks had the talent to produce both laughs and tears.

8 Forrest Gump is Hanks’ Most Iconic Role

Forrest Gump

The history of the United States from the 1950s to the ’70s unfolds from the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75, who yearns to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart.

Director

Robert Zemeckis

Release Date

July 6, 1994

Studio

Paramount Pictures

Cast

Tom Hanks , Robin Wright , Gary Sinise , Sally Field , Sam Anderson

Writers

Eric Roth , Winston Groom

Runtime

2 hours 22 minutes

Box Office

$678.2 million

Production Company

Paramount Pictures, The Steve Tisch Company, Wendy Finerman Productions

Budget

$55 million

Of all of Hanks’ iconic roles, it’s hard to dispute that his leading performance in Forrest Gump isn’t his most famous. Robert Zemeckis’ film, which follows the life of Forrest as he intersects with major people and events throughout the 20th century, became the highest-grossing film of 1994 and took home the Oscar for Best Picture, earning Hanks his second statuette for Best Actor as well.

Forrest Gump demanded from Hanks a more dramatic twist on the performance he’d delivered in Big. Forrest is a simple man who ends up facing some of the century’s most harrowing events. He experiences love and loss, all of which Hanks plays with genuine earnestness, always staying true to Forrest and never mocking him.

7 Philadelphia Was a Groundbreaking Film

Tom Hanks was the last actor to win the Oscar for Best Leading Performance two years in a row. Forrest Gump was the second, but his first came in Philadephia. Jonathan Demme’s legal thriller is really a two-hander between Hanks and Denzel Washington. The film centers on Hanks coming to Washington for his services as a lawyer to help him sue the firm that fired him after discovering he was gay and had contracted AIDS.

Philadephia is one of those films that becomes all the more powerful, the more audiences remember the context in which it was released. Up to this point, AIDS was a major taboo subject in Hollywood, and the deft way Philadephia handled the subject is commendable in itself. Hanks’ performance, in particular, could have gone wrong in so many ways, but he handles it with such grace and empathy that it should rightly be celebrated.

6 Catch Me If You Can Gave Hanks a Classic Caper Story to Play With

Tom Hanks’ second collaboration with director Steven Speilberg saw him taking on the supporting role of FBI agent Carl Hanratty in the cat and mouse caper Catch Me If You Can. Leonardo DiCaprio starred as real-life con man Frank Abagnale Jr., who manages to lie his way into a string of high positions while staying half a step ahead of the chasing Hanratty.

Catch Me If You Can is a throwback to the classic caper film, the sort that mainly concerns itself with keeping the plot moving and taking the audience on a ride. To that end, Hanks embodies all the stereotypes of a mid-century FBI agent, playing them to a tee but also adding more depth beneath the surface. Although very much a supporting character, there’s a sense of loneliness around Hanks’ character that adds depth to the film and his motivations for catching Abagnale.

5 Captain Phillips Was an Intense True Story

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In another film based on real-life events, Hanks played Captain Richard Phillips in Paul Greengrass’ 2013 film Captain Phillips. Phillips is in charge of a container ship sailing past the Horn of Africa. When the ship is boarded and seized by pirates, Phillips is able to secure the safety of his crew, but he is taken hostage.

The bulk of the film is a tense standoff between the pirates and the US military told from the hostage’s perspective. Phillips is, in many ways, a classic Hanks role, a calm and assured leader who effortlessly holds the trust of his crew. The climax of the film plays out entirely on a close-up of Hanks, letting his face do all the dramatic lifting without needing to show much else.

4 Cast Away Rested Entirely on Hanks’ Shoulders

Cast Away

A FedEx executive undergoes a physical and emotional transformation after crash landing on a deserted island.

Director

Robert Zemeckis

Release Date

December 20, 2000

Studio

20th Century Fox

Cast

Tom Hanks , Helen Hunt , Nick Searcy , Paul Sanchez

Runtime

143 minutes

Tagline

At the edge of the world, his journey begins…

Main Genre

Adventure

Box Office

$429.6 million

Awards Won

2001 Critics Choice Awards, 2001 Golden Globe Awards, 2002 Grammy Awards

Filming Locations

Monuriki, Fiji Islands

Budget

$90 million

The most physical performance Hanks has ever given came in his second collaboration with Robert Zemeckis, Cast Away. In the film, Hanks plays FedEx Systems Anaslit Chuck Noland, who becomes the only survivor of a plane crash and gets stranded on a desert island.

For most of the film, Hanks is stuck on the island alone, with his only scene partner being a volleyball called Wilson. A solo performance is a challenge for any actor, but Hanks added to it by going through a physical transformation. A time jump in the middle of the film saw filming paused for a year so Hanks could grow out his hair and beard and lose enough weight to make it seem he’d been stuck on the island a long time.

3 Apollo 13 Blends Emotion and Adventure

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Tom Hanks has appeared in many great dramas, but of them all, there’s something so magnetic about the adventurous true story of Apollo 13 that continues to fascinate. Set during the height of the Apollo program, Hanks plays mission Commander Jim Lovell, who would have been the fifth person to walk on the Moon if not for a catastrophe in-flight failure.

Apollo 13 strikes a careful balance between being a heavy historical drama and a motivational problem-solving adventure film. Hanks is the key that brings most of the emotion and weight to the former but also embodies the calculating coolness of the latter.

2 Toy Story Brought Hanks to a Whole New Generation

Toy Story

Woody, the brave pull-string cowboy, Buzz Lightyear, the space ranger with a delusional ego, and the rest of Andy’s toy box aren’t just inanimate figures. They’re a vibrant community, facing their own anxieties, dreams, and hilarious hijinks when the coast is clear. Witness their rivalries and alliances, their existential crises and epic adventures, all from the perspective of a child’s imagination.

Created by

John Lasseter , Pete Docter , Andrew Stanton , Joe Ranft

First Film

Toy Story

Cast

Tom Hanks , Tim Allen , Don Rickles , John Ratzenberger , Wallace Shawn , Jodi Benson , Joan Cusack

TV Show(s)

Toy Story Toons

For an entire generation, and maybe more to follow, Tom Hanks is best known and most recognizable, not for any of his live-action performances, but for his voice. Hanks has voiced the pull-string cowboy toy Sheriff Woody in all four Toy Story movies. Reprising the role over 24 years, a generation of movie fans have grown up listening to his voice.

Hanks’ performance as Woody is more than just a celebrity voice-over; he manages to bring wit and humor to the character, as well as fully embracing all his insecurities. Woody isn’t always a good guy; he’s selfish and dishonest, controlling and sometimes even manipulative. But audiences still want to root for him because Hanks adds a dimensionality that makes this animated toy feel so human.

1 Saving Private Ryan is the Ultimate War Film

Saving Private Ryan

Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.

Director

Steven Spielberg

Release Date

July 24, 1998

Writers

Robert Rodat

Runtime

2 hours 49 minutes

Production Company

Amblin Entertainment, Mutual Film Company

Perhaps the ultimate WWII movie, Hanks’ first collaboration with Steven Spielberg sees the pair honoring the Greatest Generation with Saving Private Ryan. Hanks plays Captain Miller, an American army captain who lands with his men on Omaha beach during D-day. He’s then given the mission to head into occupied France to rescue Private Ryan, the last survivor of four enlisted brothers.

As Captain Miller, Hanks is an enigma. He’s a man who’s done all he can to separate his wholesome life back home from the atrocities he’s having to commit in war. Yet, as the film goes on and the stresses mount, his shield deteriorates. All of which Hanks plays masterfully and with respect.