Jeff Goldblum movies: 15 greatest films ranked from worst to best

15. THOR: RAGNAROK (2017)

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Director: Taika Waititi. Writers: Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett.

Practically everybody in the Screen Actors Guild was in “Thor: Ragnarok” and Goldblum was no exception. Amidst the likes of Anthony Hopkins and Cate Blanchett, Goldblum managed to make an impact as Sakaar one of Elders of the Universe. Goldblum wasn’t burdened with the blue makeup that his character in the comic books has because the director wanted to let his full personality show.
14. THRESHOLD (1981)

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Director: Richard Pearce. Writer: James Salter. Starring: Donald Sutherland, Mare Winningham, John Marley.

This Canadian film featured one of Goldblum’s earliest performances in a major role. The film was nominated for ten Genie Awards (a top Canadian award) in all major categories including one for Goldblum as Best Foreign Actor. Goldblum has a field day with his character who is kind of a mad scientist who has invented an artificial heart that he wants Donald Sutherland (Genie for Best Actor) to implant.
13. ANNIE HALL (1977)

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Director: WoodyAllen. Writers: Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman. Starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts.

Goldblum found a place in film history with one tiny line in this Oscar winner for Best Picture of 1977. When eternal New Yorker Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) spends a disastrous few days in Los Angeles a city he hates one of the many tortures he endures is a typical Hollywood party. Goldblum’s one line said into a telephone of “I forgot my mantra” became a meme of the time and a symbol of flakey Californians and their quest for new age spirituality.
12. INTO THE NIGHT (1985)

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Director: John Landis. Writer: Ron Koslow. Starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Dan Aykroyd, Bruce McGill.

Goldblum teamed with Michelle Pfeiffer (in her first lead role post “Grease 2”) for this story of a depressed man whose wife has left him who inadvertently becomes involved with a young stranger he meets at the airport. She is involved in a jewel heist and the two have various adventures driving around Los Angeles at night.
11. THE RIGHT STUFF (1983)

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Director and writer: Phillip Kaufman. Starring Sam Shepard, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid.

Goldblum has a small role in this epic story of the Apollo astronauts and America’s quest to fly to the moon. Paired with Harry Shearer, Goldblum plays a somewhat comic NASA recruiter looking for astronauts to join the space program. This was an important year for Goldblum’s film career since his presence in this film as well as “The Big Chill” helped redirect his career towards feature films when in the past few years he had mostly been seen on television.
10. SILVERADO (1985)

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Director: Lawrence Kasdan. Writers: Lawrence and Mark Kasdan. Starring Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner.

Goldblum reteamed with director Lawrence Kasdan for this western film that featured an excellent large ensemble cast (Kevin Kline, Kevin Costner, Scott Glenn, Danny Glover, Rosanna Arquette, Linda Hunt, John Cleese, and Richard Jenkins.) Goldblum plays a not too honest gambler named Calvin “Slick” Stanhope.
9. IGBY GOES DOWN (2002)

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Director and writer: Burr Steers. Starring Kieran Culkin, Susan Sarandon, Claire Danes.

Goldblum plays one of the many relatives of the title character Igby (Kieran Culkin) who are causing the young college student to be depressed. The story which envokes a little bit of “The Catcher in the Rye” and Holden Caulfield type angst features Goldblum as a slick womanizing real estate developer.
8. THE TALL GUY (1989)

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Director: Mel Smith. Writer: Richard Curtis. Starring Emma Thompson, Rowan Atkinson, Geraldine James.

The tall guy is a largely forgotten gem of a movie that features the film debut of Emma Thompson. It also is the first screenplay written by Ricard Curtis who would go on to write such beloved classics as “Four Weddings and a Funeral”, “Love, Actually”, and “Notting Hill.” Goldblum stars as an American actor living in London who gets the starring role in a musical being produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The bad news is the musical is an inept retelling of “The Elephant Man” simply titled “Elephant!”
7. THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU (2004)

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Director: Wes Anderson. Writers: Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach. Starring Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Angelica Huston.

This film from Wes Anderson often divided Anderson fans but one thing most agreed on was that Goldblum was one of the film’s highlights. The film follows the adventures of a Jacques Cousteau type oceanographer played by Bill Murray. Goldblum plays a rival to Murray. The New Republic praised Goldblum as being “wonderfully self-regarding.”
6. THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (2014)

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Director and writer: Wes Anderson. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton.

Goldblum reunited with Wes Anderson for a small role in this highly acclaimed film. He plays the attorney representing the estate of the character played by Tilda Swinton whose death sets up the scheming and maneuvering that goes on in the film. The film received nine Oscar nominations including ones for Best Picture and Best Director. It won the Oscars for Best Score, Makeup, Costume, and Production Design.
5. INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996)

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Director: Roland Emmerich. Writers: Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. Starring Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Mary McDonnell.

“Independence Day” was the highest grossing film of 1996. This story of hostile aliens invading earth featured Goldblum as a technical expert from MIT who assists in plotting a way to defend earth from these hostile invaders.
4. INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978)

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Director: Phillip Kaufman. Writer: W.D. Richter. Starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy.

This story of pods from outer space invading earth by duplicating earth’s citizens has inspired many remakes since the original was made in 1956. This was the first and best remake expertly brought to the screen by visionary director Phillip Kaufman. Kaufman brings a genuine sense of sadness and foreboding to what will be the ultimate downfall of mankind. Goldblum plays a friend of the lead character played by Donald Sutherland. He brings an offbeat bit of comedy to the early part of the film as people are still not fully comprehending that people are actually being duplicated and replaced by pod people from outer space.
3. JURASSIC PARK (1993)

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Director: Steven Spielberg. Writers: Michael Crichton, David Koepp. Starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Richard Attenborough.

This 1993 release from director Steven Spielberg based on the acclaimed novel by Michael Crichton became the highest grossing film ever in the year it was released. Goldblum plays one of the scientists who is invited to preview an amusement park that features live dinosaurs who have been cloned back into existence. Things don’t go as planned and the dinosaurs get out of control. The film has spawned quite a few sequels.
2. THE BIG CHILL (1983)

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Director: Lawrence Kasdan. Writers: Lawrence Kasdan and Barbara Benedek. Starring Glenn Close, William Hurt, Kevin Kline.

“The Big Chill” was a bit of a cultural phenomenon when it was released in 1983. The film about a bunch of sixties college students reuniting after the suicide of one of their friends touched a nerve with many who had marched and crusaded against the Vietnam war but who now found themselves caught up in the materialism of the Reagan era 1980s. Goldblum plays a People Magazine reporter who has gleefully embraced has job covering somewhat silly stories. While the other members of the cast carry the burden of the darker elements of the story Goldblum gets some of the best jokes and one liners of the film.
1. THE FLY (1986)

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Director: David Cronenberg. Writers: Charles Edward Pogue, David Cronenberg. Starring Geena Davis, John Getz.

Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis were perhaps odd choices for the leads in this film remake since they were primarily known for their comedic work at this time. The offbeat casting worked though and Goldblum received particularly excellent reviews as a scientist trying to invent teleportation. He succeeds in being able to do that except for one pesky fly who gets into the teleporter and melds with Goldblum’s character. Goldblum then begins to disintegrate physically. While the graphic and gory special effects of the film got a lot of attention at the core of what makes the film work is the heartfelt performance of Goldblum as man literally falling to pieces.

15. THOR: RAGNAROK (2017)

14. THRESHOLD (1981)

13. ANNIE HALL (1977)

12. INTO THE NIGHT (1985)

11. THE RIGHT STUFF (1983)

10. SILVERADO (1985)

9. IGBY GOES DOWN (2002)

8. THE TALL GUY (1989)

7. THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU (2004)

6. THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (2014)

5. INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996)

4. INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978)

3. JURASSIC PARK (1993)

2. THE BIG CHILL (1983)

1. THE FLY (1986)