Paul Walkerwas a unique actor who had charisma for days that would always brighten up his movies. It’s almost been ten years sincePaul Walker tragically died in a car crash, and his death still resonates, especially in theFast and Furiousfranchise, a saga of movies that wouldn’t exist without him. Today, we’re celebrating his career, and here are the best Paul Walker movies, ranked:
8She’s All That (1999)
She’s All Thatis an adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’sPygmalion, set in a ’90s high school, where Dean (Walker) bets big man on campus, Zack (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), that he can’t turn any random girl in their school into a Prom Queen. When Zack accepts the bet, they settle on Laney (Rachel Leigh Cook), but Zack and Laney start falling for each other. Walker is the bad guy in this movie, playing a cocky, arrogant, know-it-all jerk, who not only bets with a friend that he can make a girl popular, but then tries to seduce her and tells her about the bet, creating a rift between the two lovers. Even though he wasn’t the lead, Walker’s magnetism made him go toe-to-toe with Prinze Jr., and even won a few rounds of their acting battle, as it was clear Walker was going to be a star in the future.
7Joy Ride (2001)
The thrillerJoy Ridedoesn’t let you breathe for the whole movie’s duration. It all starts with a cross-country trip taken by Lewis (Walker), his black sheep brother, Fuller (Steve Zahn), and Lewis’ crush, Venna (Leelee Sobieski). In the car, they have a CB radio where they listen to truck drivers, and they decide to pull a prank on one of them; one that is as lonely as he is a psychopath, and who decides to chase them and kill them for what they’ve done to him.
Joy Ridewas one of Walker’s first lead roles, and he sustains the whole movie, showing many emotions during it. Walker goes from being infatuated with Venna, to cracking jokes with Fuller, to getting scared because of what’s happening to them, and then becomes the hero as the movie moves along. It was a small movie, but one successful enough to earn a couple of direct-to-video sequels, and one that showed Walker could be the center of any action, thriller, or scary movie.
6Running Scared (2006)
Running Scaredtells the story of a small-time thug named Joey (Walker), who has one of the worst days ever, as he must get rid of some incriminating weapons. The problem is that one of his son’s friends gets one of the guns and shoots his horrible stepfather. Joey must recover the gun and save everyone involved, while also trying to stay alive. If stress and tension were a film, it would beRunning Scared,an even more adrenaline-fueled movie than theCrankfranchise, that shows Walker in his element, as he never stops, never slows down, and never has his performance been so tiring. Walker looks as stressed as the viewer watching the movie; his tension, confusion, and weariness come through. About the movie,Walker told Chud: “It was more making a movie that I’d like to see. This is the type of movie that I like.”
Related:Paul Walker to Posthumously Receive Hollywood Walk of Fame Star
5Pleasantville (1998)
Pleasantvilleis a strange, unique movie; one where two modern teens (Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon) are magically sent to a black-and-white, old, ’50s sitcom, where comedy and drama ensue. This movieexposed the problem with nostalgia, while also being Walker’s big break. The actor played Skip Martin, Witherspoon’s love interest in the black-and-white world. Walker plays both goofy and charming, sexy, and adventurous, making his character something more real and human than what was on the page, proving he would be an actor to look for in the next few years.
4Hours (2013)
In the hours before Hurricane Katrina, Nolan Hayes (Walker) is the only person left in the hospital trying to keep his newborn baby alive, while seeing visions of his dead-at-childbirth wife (Genesis Rodriguez). To keep his daughter alive, he has created a hand-cranked generator that he must activate every three minutes, or his newborn will die.
Walker is the whole movie, as inHours, he’s alone for most of it, trying to find help and defend himself from looters while trying to save his new baby, and Walker rises to the challenge. We all suffer and get scared as much as he does during this small movie, which showed Walker could hold our attention for 90 minutes and was still improving in his acting. About the film,Walker told Behind the Lens: “When I watch myself, I just have the bullsh*t meter on the whole time. I can tell when I’m telling the truth and when I’m in the moment and when I’m not. The second is that I don’t believe in myself, I hate it. This one, honestly, I sat down, I was like, ‘I told the truth.”
3Flag of Our Fathers (2006)
Flag of Our Fathersis a movie directed by Clint Eastwood that tells the story of the five Marines and one Navy corpsman who raised the flag on Iwo Jima, and how affected their whole lives. Walker plays Sergeant Hank Hansen, a member of those who raised the flag, but who was later misidentified as Harlon Brock. For this role, Walker used all his American earnestness, and boy scout looks to become one of the heroes of this story. The fact that Clint Eastwood chose Walker for the role, shows how much he believed the charismatic actor could bring to this real story. Eastwood might’ve been the greatest classical director Walker worked with in his whole career.
2Fast & Furious 7 (2015)
Fast & Furious 7was the last film in the franchise that Walker appeared in, as he died during the film’s shooting. The team behind the franchise decided to end the movie with the help of Walker’s brothers as stand-ins and some CGI, giving Walker and his character the best ending they could’ve hoped for. It’s an emotional farewell, one that makes sense for the character, but is also the best way to say goodbye to Walker, and left many watered eyes on the cinema.Fast & Furious 7is one of thebest movies in the whole franchise, and that’s in big part to Walker, and everything he did both on camera and off.
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1The Fast and the Furious (2001)
WhenThe Fast and the Furiouswas released, nobody thought thisPoint Break-inspiredmovie would become a multimillion-dollar franchise with ten movies, and a couple of spin-offs in the works. Walker starts inone of the best movies for car loversas cop Brian O’Conner, who infiltrates the world of street racing to find a crew of hijackers, but what he ends up finding instead is family.
Walker’s chemistry with both Vin Diesel as Dom, and Jordana Brewster as Mia, grounds the movie, and gives it a great end when Brian lets Dom leave with a “ten-second car”. Without Walker, we wouldn’t have theFast and Furiousuniverse, as he always brought humanity and commitment to the role, and used the many movies that followed to keep evolving his character.
