One of the most beloved actors of the 80s and 90s, Patrick Swayze cultivated an on-screen persona as the sensitive, troubled bad boy. Sure, he literally tore out a man’s throat towards the end of Road House (1989), but have you seen the guy dance? With swiveling hips and legs that were just as likely to roundhouse you to the face as dance the mambo, Patrick Swayze became the poster boy for a new generation of action hero: van Damme meets Fred Astaire.
Patrick Swayze was even more endearing for the fact that he wasn’t afraid to undercut his masculine image onscreen, particularly in films like Dirty Dancing (1987) and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995).
Sadly, Patrick Swayze passed away in 2009 at the age of 57, after a protracted battle with cancer. But his legacy lives on through his many indelible film performances. Here are his top ten movies, as voted by users at IMDb.
City of Joy (1992) – IMDb rating 6.5
Patrick Swayze plays Max Lowe, a depressed American surgeon seeking spiritual enlightenment in India, in the director Roland Joffé’s City of Joy. After being severely injured in a mugging not long after arriving in the Indian metropolis of Calcutta, Max is rescued by poor rural farmer Hazari Pal (Om Puri). Hazari decides to take Max back to his home in the slums, referred to by locals as the “City of Joy.” There, Max meets Irish doctor Joan Bethel (Pauline Collins), who convinces him that the path to enlightenment is through helping those around him.
The film did not live up to the critical or commercial success of Joffé’s previous films, such as the Academy Award-winning historical drama The Killing Fields (1984), and its white savior narrative has dated poorly. However, its uplifting message still resonates with IMDb users, making it Patrick Swayze’s tenth-highest rated film.
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995) – IMDb rating 6.6
Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, and John Leguizamo star as three New York City drag queens on a cross country road trip to Hollywood to compete in the “Miss Drag Queen of America Pageant” in the lengthily titled To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. When their car breaks down in the small backwater town of Snydersville, the group encounters both prejudice and support from the local community.
Although the film features strong performances from its three leads as well as a string of wonderful cameos, it still compares unfavorably with the superior Australian film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994).
Road House (1989) – IMDb rating 6.6
Late 80s cult classic action movie Road House is one of those so-bad-its-actually-great movies. Patrick Swayze plays Dalton, a bouncer at the Double Deuce, a roadside bar in Jasper, Missouri. When Dalton finds out that corrupt businessman Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara) is extorting many of the local shopkeepers out of their profits – including the owner of the Double Deuce – he decides to defend the town from Wesley and his henchmen.
Although it was a critical flop and scored five Golden Raspberry nominations, including Worst Actor for Swayze, Road House is still a lot of fun. Just don’t go in expecting Citizen Kane.
Keeping Mum (2005) – IMDb rating 6.8
2005 British black comedy Keeping Mum centers on the clueless vicar of the countryside parish of Little Wallop, played by Rowan Atkinson. Focussed on writing the perfect sermon, he is unaware that his family is falling apart around him: his wife (Kristin Scott Thomas) has begun an affair with American golf pro-Lance (Patrick Swayze), his promiscuous teenage daughter (Tamsin Egerton) is struggling with her blossoming sexuality, and his son (Toby Parkes) is being bullied at school.
Although it features a stellar ensemble cast, including Dame Maggie Smith in a pitch-black role as the comically sinister housekeeper Grace Hawkins, Keeping Mum never really elevates itself above a pedestrian comedy. However, Patrick Swayze plays the sleazy jerk to good comedic effect in one of his last film roles.
Ghost (1990) – IMDb rating 7.0
Classic romantic fantasy film Ghost was a commercial and critical hit and cemented Patrick Swayze’s status as a sex symbol. The film centers on Swayze’s character, Sam Wheat, who is shot and killed in an apparent mugging while walking home with his girlfriend Molly Jensen (Demi Moore). Sam discovers that he now exists as a non-corporeal ghost, only able to communicate with Molly via a psychic (Whoopi Goldberg in an Academy Award-winning role).
One of the most loved romance films of the 90s, and featuring that pottery scene, Ghost is a must-watch for any true Swayze fan, and it is still highly appreciated by the IMDb community.
Dirty Dancing (1987) – IMDb rating 7.0
Ranking alongside Ghost as arguably the most iconic Patrick Swayze movie is 1987’s Dirty Dancing. Patrick Swayze plays Johnny Castle, a dance instructor at an upscale resort in the Catskills who begins a romance with Frances “Baby” Houseman (Jennifer Grey), a young woman vacationing there with her wealthy parents. When Johnny’s dance partner Penny (Cynthia Rhodes) is unable to participate in their upcoming dance performance, Baby volunteers to take her place, against the wishes of her overprotective father (Jerry Orbach).
A bona fide romantic coming-of-age classic, Dirty Dancing remains firmly entrenched in popular culture and still gets regular cinema screenings to this day – making it one of Patrick Swayze’s most enduring films.
The Outsiders (1983) – IMDb rating 7.1
Patrick Swayze features amongst an impressive cast of future stars in this coming-of-age ensemble drama directed by The Godfather’s Francis Ford Coppola. The film focusses on the often-violent rivalry between two gangs of teenagers living in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the mid-60s. Swayze plays Darrel “Darry” Curtis, an older member of the “Greasers”: a gang of tough working-class teens who do battle with the wealthier “Socs”.
Based on the influential novel by S.E. Hinton, Coppola’s film helped launched Patrick Swayze’s acting career, as well as those of his co-stars Tom Cruise, C. Thomas Howell, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, and Diane Lane.
11:14 (2003) – IMDb rating 7.2
A surprise hit with IMDb users, indie black comedy 11:14 tells the various interconnected stories that take place during a single night leading up to two fatal car accidents that occur at precisely 11:14 pm. Patrick Swayze plays Frank, a father trying to cover up what he suspects is a murder committed by his teenage daughter Cheri (Rachael Leigh Cook). His bumbling efforts to dispose of the body inadvertently contribute to the film’s tragic conclusion.
The movie’s appeal lies mostly in its twisty plot. The film unfolds like a puzzle, jumping back and forth through time to slowly reveal how the actions of the various characters all piece together to eventually cause the twin accidents.
Point Break (1991) – IMDb rating 7.3
Kathryn Bigelow’s action classic Point Break stars Keanu Reeves as FBI agent Johnny Utah, who goes undercover in the local surfing community after he becomes convinced that a group of surfers are responsible for a string of recent armed bank robberies. His suspicions soon prove correct, after he discovers that a gang led by surfing guru Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) are the culprits.
Bigelow’s direction and the strength of the performances of the two leads elevate Point Break beyond just a simple action movie, turning it into an almost philosophical reflection on machismo interspersed with some kickass set pieces.
Donnie Darko (2001) – IMDb rating of 8.0
Patrick Swayze plays against type as a small-town motivational speaker revealed to be a closeted pedophile in Richard Kelly’s mind-bending cult film Donnie Darko. The film is a unique genre mashup, incorporating elements of teen drama, thriller, horror, and sci-fi.
It centers on the eponymous Donnie Darko (played by a young Jake Gyllenhaal) who is visited in a dream by a monstrous rabbit who tells him the world is about to end. From there the movie only gets weirder, exploring ideas of time travel and parallel universes on the way to a truly bizarre conclusion.
The fact that audiences are still trying to decipher what actually happened in the movie is part of its enduring charm and maybe the reason behind why it has become Patrick Swayze’s highest-rated film with the IMDb community.