Viggo Mortensen’s 10 Best Feature Films (According To IMDb)

Most famous for his roles in Green Book and The Lord of the Rings as the nomad-turned-king Aragorn, Viggo Mortensen has had a fascinating career in Hollywood. He is renowned as a painter, poet, and has received Golden Globes and multiple Oscar nominations, though he has not yet won.

His filmography is as colorful as his interests, having narrated documentaries on horses (Wild Horses and Renegades), the year before starring in the post-apocalyptic drama The Road. Here are the ten highest rated feature films of Viggo Mortensen, according to IMDb.

10 Witness – 7.4

Harrison Ford was given his sole Best Actor nomination as a cop protecting a young Amish boy who was witness to a murder in this thriller. Mortensen recently stated that Witness “wasn’t the first movie I did, but it was the first I wasn’t cut out of.”  The movie doesn’t rely on Mortensen’s Amish side character but is still praised for its tension and dramatic pacing. Interestingly, Mortensen was cast by Weir primarily because he looked the part of an Amish man.

9 A History of Violence – 7.4

David Cronenberg is known as one of the inventors of body horror, a genre meditating on the transformation of the physical state of humanity into something twisted and grotesque. He’s directed Mortensen in three films in his post-body-horror rise to fame, yet all his films feature hard brutality.

In A History of Violence, Mortensen plays a peaceful man who is visited by several gang members from his old life. As his children look on, he commits acts of violence that pull him back into his old ways, even turning this fearsome aggression on his wife. A difficult film to behold and an equally complex role, Mortensen is quivering with rage and subdued hatred.

8 Eastern Promises – 7.6

Mortensen’s second movie with David Cronenberg is considered better than A History of Violence. He plays a Russian mobster (nailing the accent) set on covering up the death of a young girl who was the victim of rape. Eastern Promises continues David Cronenberg’s hyper-violent, realistic fight scenes, including one in which Mortensen fights two assassins while completely naked. The intense scene exacted a toll on him, as there was no room to add pads to soften the blows.

7 Crimson Tide – 7.3

Tony Scott, director of classic action romp Top Gun and the underrated runaway train adventure Unstoppable directed Mortensen in 1995’s Crimson Tide. Brother of Alien director Ridley Scott, Tony’s filmography reflects a love for adrenaline-fueled thrillers, with most involving vehicles of some sort.

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Crimson Tide is the story of an American crew on a dangerous submarine mission to mitigate conflict between post-Soviet Russia and Chechnya that could lead to nuclear war. Mortensen plays Lieutenant Peter “Weps” Ince, forced to side with either his commanding officer (Gene Hackman) or Officer Hunter (Denzel Washington) amidst an extremely intense conflict. Within the confines of the submarine, Mortensen’s face alone communicates anxiety and uncertainty, making it an excellent performance.

6 Carlito’s Way – 7.9

This Brian De Palma outing features Al Pacino as an ex-con struggling to stay away from the life that landed him in the slammer. In an unusual role for his screen-filling presence, Mortensen plays Lalin, a crippled member of the family who attempts to frame Carlito (Pacino) by capturing their conversation on tape. Once discovered, Lalin protests Carlito’s anger, pleading for the man to kill him because he has nothing to live for. The 1993 film preceded many of Mortensen’s more aggressive roles, but it is still strange to see him pull off a convincingly pitiable and pitiful Puerto Rican.

5 Captain Fantastic – 7.9

One of his more recent performances, Captain Fantastic is a heartfelt, if sometimes disjointed, story of a forest-dwelling man who embarks with his homeschooled children to the funeral of their mother. On the outside it appears to be a classic “fish out of water” story as the children readjust to a society that finds them bizarre, but it results in something deeper. Mortensen is responsible for the calm and even tone, playing this Libertarian, society-shunning student-of-Socrates with conviction and peace.

4 Green Book – 8.2

Now that the controversy has died down, it seems safe to talk about Green Book again, 2019’s hotly-contested Best Picture winner at the Academy Awards. The portrayal of Italian driver Nick Vallelonga (played by Mortensen) and his piano-playing employer Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) is forgivable as a feel-good Farrelly road trip comedy. But as a best picture contender, it’s a little problematic.

But looking past the controversy surrounding the film, it’s apparent that unsurprisingly, Mortensen is really good as the fried-chicken chomping Italian racist. He put on a lot of weight, donned an impeccable accent, and committed to the performance, earning his Oscar nomination.

3 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – 8.7

The Two Towers finds the band tasked with accompanying the Hobbit Frodo to Mount Doom in shambles after the events of the first Lord of the Rings film. Two Hobbits have gone missing, two captured by Orcs, and two of their companions dead. Only the elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom), the dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), and the ranger Aragorn (Mortensen) are free from similar fates, tracking down their captured companions. The second installment digs deeper into Aragorn’s backstory, most notably his love for an elven maid destined to leave Middle Earth for a life of eternity.

2 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – 8.8

Mortensen was a late choice in playing the famous warrior, with several different actors in line to play the role before his eventual selection. In fact, he was officially cast only after the firing of Stuart Townsend by director Peter Jackson. From the moment Frodo and his group of friends spy the shadow-clad ranger smoking his pipe from across the pub, it’s impossible to think of anybody else in the role.

Mortensen embodies stealth, strength, cunning, physicality, and fierce determination with serenity. Although Aragorn is at the center of nearly every epic battle in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the one-on-one battle with a terrifying Uruk-Hai at the film’s conclusion is one of the most memorable scenes in the series.

1 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – 8.9

Unsurprisingly, The Lord of the Rings films are ranked top of Viggo Mortensen’s filmography. Although the trilogy focuses on a host of characters, Mortensen’s Aragorn is considered the second most important role next to Elijah Wood’s Frodo Baggins. In The Return of the King, Aragorn faces his destiny as heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Gondor. By rallying the men of the land for the first time in countless years, Aragorn becomes the savior of Middle Earth, along with Frodo. It is an action-epic worthy of the intensity of Mortensen’s capable acting, and we feel his regality and honor in each scene.

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