![\"Pig](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Pig-e1693533137604.jpg\" "\\"The")
Before any objections get thrown around for naming the 2021 release Pig<\/em> Cage\u2019s best movie, give it a watch. The film centers on a former high society chef who left it all behind to becomes a truffle hunter with his beloved pig. When his pig is stolen, he chases down all of his old connections to find out who took her. While that set-up seems similar to John Wick<\/em>, swapping out assassins for chefs of course, Pig<\/em> is not nearly as blood-soaked or action-oriented as that beloved series. Instead, Pig<\/em> offers an exploration of the things people value and how those things influence the choices they make and the lives they create. It\u2019s a beautiful movie that also showcases Cage at his naturalistic best. <\/p>\n But we don\u2019t always come to Cage for his naturalism. In fact, we\u2019re far more likely to seek him out for his big, arguably ridiculous acting choices, and those are nowhere better showcased than in Vampire\u2019s Kiss<\/em>. The film follows Cage\u2019s character, an ambitious yuppie literary agent in Reagan-era New York, who believes that he\u2019s transformed into a vampire. It\u2019s a fantastic satire of the kinds of money-hungry young white people the late 80s produced and how their treatment of those around them is vampiric. But it\u2019s Cage\u2019s performance, including a scene in which he yells the entire alphabet and another in which he runs down the street repeatedly screaming \u201cI\u2019m a vampire!\u201d that makes the film so iconic. <\/p>\n Mandy<\/em>, produced by Elijah Wood\u2019s SpectreVision studio, was an instant cult classic when it made its way onto VOD in 2018. The highly stylized visual world of the film which dowses its characters in hues of red, blue, and purple, combined with J\u00f3hann J\u00f3hannsson\u2019s otherworldly score, creates a singular viewing experience that\u2019s unlike anything else. The story, a fairly classic tale of evil cults and revenge, isn\u2019t especially unique. But Mandy<\/em>, in which Cage plays the revenge-seeker, isn\u2019t about plot. Mandy <\/em>is about images, feelings, and music. It\u2019s a movie that\u2019s less interested in making you care about its characters and more interested in creating moments that stick with you forever, and it succeeds. <\/p>\n An unfairly forgotten gem of early 1990s crime cinema, Red Rock West<\/em> plays out almost like a riff on the Coen brothers<\/a>\u2019 Blood Simple. Like that film, Red Rock West<\/em> lays equal claim to the neo-noir and neo-western genres as it follows a young man (Cage) who, along with a hired killer, finds himself at the center of a deadly feud between a husband and wife in a small town. Things become even more complicated when our hero learns that there\u2019s a large sum of money waiting for whoever comes out on top of the feud. Red Rock West<\/em> is a small-scale genre masterpiece that deserves more attention, not only for Cage and its wily plot mechanics, but also for the great performances from Dennis Hopper as the hitman, J. T. Walsh as the husband, and Lara Flynn Boyle as the wife who may or may not be interested in a future with Cage. <\/p>\n Five years after the iconic Face\/Off<\/em> (more on that in a moment), director John Woo and Cage reteamed for a World War II movie ostensibly about the Navajo code talkers who were instrumental in the Allied victory. \u201cOstensibly\u201d because Windtalkers<\/em> is far more interested in the relationships between the many white and two Navajo men in its central squad than functioning as a history lesson. And while that means it fails as a lesson, it\u2019s an absolutely incredible war film. Woo\u2019s talent as an action director is on full display in combat sequences that rival Spielberg\u2019s opening for Saving Private Ryan<\/em>, and unlike that film, these battle scenes are longer and scattered throughout the entire film. But Windtalkers<\/em> also succeeds as a melodrama, using the heightened emotions of war to tell powerful stories of courage, friendship, and honor, including that of Cage\u2019s Sergeant Enders who grows to care for the code talker he\u2019s protecting. <\/p>\n Birdy<\/em> is the closest we\u2019ll get to another war movie on this list. But it\u2019s less about the experiences of combat, and more about the lasting psychological consequences of war. Based on the novel of the same name by William Wharton, the film adaptation moves the action from the 1940s and World War II to the 1960s and Vietnam to tell the story of two friends\u2019 relationship before and after their time in war. Alan Parker beautifully directs the film and Peter Gabriel’s score is phenomenal. But the real stars are, well, the stars Cage and Matthew Modine. Modine\u2019s \u201cBirdy\u201d has always been obsessed with birds, leading the two youths into several silly and downright dangerous situations when they were growing up. But after the war, he has seemingly become convinced that he is a bird, a mental state that Cage\u2019s Al has to try to break him out of. Birdy<\/em> is a strange movie full of adolescent rage and sadness, and all the better for it. <\/p>\n Based on the short story by H.P. Lovecraft, Color Out of Space<\/em> centers on a family who move to a rural New England farmhouse to escape the hustle and bustle of big city life, only to come face to face with an alien horror. That horror arrives in the form of a meteorite with a mystical color emanating from it that soon begins to spread and transform everything it comes into contact with. Color Out of Space<\/em> is a sci-fi horror movie that\u2019s just short of being a comedy because its humor, most of which comes from Cage\u2019s patriarch, never undercuts the horror of what\u2019s happening. Like Mandy<\/em>, it\u2019s another film from SpectreVision that\u2019s wonderfully unique. <\/p>\n Between the epic adventures of Pirates of the Caribbean<\/em> movies, director Gore Verbinski made this small scale dramedy about a sad sack. The Weather Man<\/em> follows local Chicago weatherman Dave Spritz (Cage) as he attempts to balance spending time with his children, saving his marriage, and moving his career forward to become a national weatherman. The comedy in the film is pitch black and irreverent, and it\u2019s never clear whether the film wants us to like Dave or hate him. That uncertainty about its central character creates a fascinating tension that\u2019s impossible to look away from. It also helps that Cage is absolutely perfect in the role. <\/p>\n Brian Taylor, half of the directing team that gave us the Crank<\/em> movies, directed Mom and Dad<\/em> and he brings the same level of pulse-pounding intensity to this horror comedy about parents driven to kill their kids. Selma Blair and Cage play the eponymous mom and dad of a pair of siblings who must attempt to survive their parents\u2019 filicidal rage. Mom and Dad<\/em> is never especially scary, but it\u2019s a blast of fun the entire time and offers one of Cage\u2019s most iconic recent scenes in which he destroys a billiards table with a sledgehammer while yell-singing \u201cThe Hokey Pokey.\u201d <\/p>\n David Lynch<\/a> kicked off the trend of 1990s criminal lovers on the road movies with this bizarre, Wizard of Oz-<\/em>obsessed take on exploitation films. Based on the novel of the same name by Barry Gifford, Wild at Heart<\/em> tells the story of young lovers Sailor (Cage) and Lula (Laura Dern) who run away from home to escape Lula\u2019s mother Marietta (Diane Ladd, Dern\u2019s real life mom). But Marietta\u2019s not just your run of the mill controlling parent, she also wants Sailor dead because he saw her and a boyfriend kill Lula\u2019s father. And she\u2019s willing to do whatever it takes to make Sailor dead, so she sends hitmen after him and her daughter, including Willem Dafoe in one of his most disturbing performances. Wild at Heart<\/em> is a gorgeously shot and edited film with incredible performances from Cage and Dern that draw you into their intense relationship and make you want the best for the crazy kids, while never letting you forget they\u2019re in danger. <\/p>\n Like many Nicolas Cage movies, Con Air<\/em> is a silly movie. But it\u2019s so incredibly earnest about everything it does that you can\u2019t help falling for it. The film centers on a group of prisoners who hijack a transport plane and attempt to make an international escape. Cage\u2019s Cameron Poe, who is finishing a sentence for killing a man in self-defense and just wants to see his daughter for the first time, finds himself caught in the middle of the chaos. Con Air<\/em> is a big movie with big action scenes and even bigger characters played by some of the best actors in 1990s Hollywood, including John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, and Ving Rhames. <\/p>\n Cage and John Woo\u2019s first collaboration is an action classic that\u2019s also a masterclass in bold acting choices, from both Cage and his co-star John Travolta<\/a>. The movie follows terrorist Castor Troy (Cage) and FBI agent Sean Archer (Travolta), who literally switch faces in attempts to go undercover in each others\u2019 lives. That premise leads to the actors doing impressions of one another that need to be seen to be believed. But it’s not just the performances that make Face\/Off <\/em>a delight, the action sequences, especially a climactic boat chase, are some of the most thrilling and literally explosive of the 1990s. <\/p>\n It\u2019s difficult to rank the (sadly only) two National Treasure<\/em> movies. They\u2019re both basically perfect Indiana Jones<\/em>–<\/a>inspired action adventure films. What pulls the second film, Book of Secrets<\/em>, slightly ahead, is its cast and international quest. The movie once again follows treasure hunter Benjamin Gates (Cage), his father Patrick (John Voight), archivist Abigail (Diane Kruger), and tech guy Riley (Justin Bartha) as they hunt down a mythical American treasure. But this time they\u2019re joined by Gates\u2019s mother Emily (Helen Mirren) and chased by Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris). And instead of being locked down on continental US soil, this adventure takes them to Paris and London, where they must break into Buckingham Palace. <\/p>\n While Book of Secrets<\/em> pulls off the sequel\u2019s goal of being better than the original, it\u2019s really just because it has more movie stars and better locations. The first National Treasure<\/em> film is still an impeccable family-friendly action adventure movie. The movie also gave us Nicolas Cage saying that he needs to steal the Declaration of Independence, which counts for a lot. While Ed Harris may be a bigger name, Sean Bean\u2019s villain in the first film is much more menacing and lends the action sequences a greater sense of danger. Really, there\u2019s no way you can go wrong with either of the National Treasure<\/em> movies. <\/p>\n The first of a few films on this list in which Cage plays a supporting role, Peggy Sue Got Married<\/em> is one of Cage\u2019s uncle Francis Ford Coppola\u2019s<\/a> most interesting and emotionally potent films. The eponymous Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner) is somehow transported back to twenty-five years earlier at her 25th high school reunion. There (then?), she gets to relive several days as her teenage self, with all the knowledge of her life. It\u2019s a hilarious and, like Pig<\/em>, beautiful movie about the choices we make and how they shape our lives. Cage plays Peggy Sue\u2019s husband, Charlie with a nasally high-pitched voice that may be distracting at first, but the feelings he portrays and the feelings he elicits in Peggy Sue are all so real that his performance becomes a natural part of the film\u2019s world soon enough. <\/p>\n If Wild at Heart<\/em> is David Lynch\u2019s version of an exploitation movie, Drive Angry<\/em> is a far less auteur-driven and far more meme-driven exploration of grindhouse film. The movie\u2019s plot, a man escapes from the afterlife to avenge his daughter\u2019s death and stop a Satan-worshiping cult from sacrificing his grandchild, is already enough to make you laugh and either run to watch it or avoid it at all costs. But it\u2019s the absolutely ridiculous 3D action sequences, over-the-top gore, and performances from Cage and William Fichtner as \u201cThe Accountant\u201d sent from perdition to retrieve Cage\u2019s John Milton (you can\u2019t have a movie about the devil without a character named John Milton) that make Drive Angry<\/em> such a delight for fans of wild genre films. <\/p>\n Speaking of wild genre films, Werner Herzog\u2019s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans<\/em> is one of the strangest cop movies ever made, and all the better for it. The movie follows Cage\u2019s titular bad lieutenant Terence McDonagh as he attempts to solve a drug-related multiple homicide case, continue to scam the cocaine he and his girlfriend need from evidence lock-up without getting caught, get out of debt with his bookie, and more. In theory, it\u2019s a fairly straightforward crime drama with the procedural plot of the murder at the center. But Herzog places the audience so firmly in McDonagh’s point of view, so much so that viewers can\u2019t be sure whether some things on screen are real or his hallucinations, that the film becomes more of a whacked out character study. Whatever you want to call it, it\u2019s another movie in Cage\u2019s filmography that\u2019s unlike anything else.<\/p>\n Dog Eat Dog<\/em> is the second collaboration between Cage and legendary writer\/director Paul Schrader and sees Cage reunite with Willem Dafoe more than two and a half decades after Wild at Heart<\/em>. It\u2019s no wonder that a movie with that kind of talent behind and in front of the camera delivers. But Dog Eat Dog<\/em> isn\u2019t just a good movie, it\u2019s a movie that feels genuinely dangerous. The story centers on three ex-convicts, Cage\u2019s cool and collected Troy, Dafoe\u2019s unpredictable Mad Dog, and muscle man Diesel (Christopher Matthew Cook) taking on different crime jobs. The film draws the audience into these men’s world from the start with a highly stylized multiple murder sequence before giving way to an ever so slightly more realistic world. It\u2019s a movie that, like several others in Cage\u2019s filmography, is so good largely because of the performances from Cage and his co-stars, particularly Dafoe. <\/p>\n Adaptation<\/em> is one of the weirdest movies in a filmography full of weird movies. The film centers on screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (played in the film Cage) who struggles to adapt the non-fiction book The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean (played by Meryl Streep). It\u2019s a movie that\u2019s an adaptation of the book and a movie about the adaptation of the book, or rather the impossibility of adapting the book. It\u2019s a beguiling film that plays with our sense of reality through metafiction without losing the book\u2019s themes of obsession and disappointment. It\u2019s also brilliantly acted by all three leads (Chris Cooper plays the orchid thief of the book\u2019s title), who were each nominated for Oscars, and garnered Cooper a win. And there\u2019s a literal double dose of Cage for fans, as he plays both Charlie and his fictional identical twin Donald, who in a piece of metafictional fun is credited as co-author of Adaptation<\/em>\u2019s screenplay. <\/p>\n Francis Ford Coppola recently said that his favorite film he\u2019s directed is Rumble Fish.<\/em><\/a> While we don\u2019t have the same favorite from his filmography, there\u2019s no denying the visual and emotional power of the film. Adapted from the novel of the same name with original author S.E. Hinton, Rumble Fish<\/em> tells the story of Rusty James (Matt Dillon) who wants to cultivate a reputation to rival his feared and revered old brother\u2019s. But his older brother, Motorcycle Boy (Mickey Rourke), doesn\u2019t want his reputation as a tough gang-leader, and seeks to create a calmer and more peaceful life for himself and those around him. Shot in beautiful black and white with few bursts of color and some moments of magic, Rumble Fish<\/em> is one of the most formally exciting films in Coppola\u2019s filmography. Cage plays Rusty James\u2019s friend Smokey, who has eyes for Rusty James\u2019s girlfriend Patty (Diane Lane) and makes moves to break them up. But instead of playing him like a backstabbing jerk, there\u2019s a real tenderness and sadness to Smokey, who usually has to play second-fiddle to Rusty James. <\/p>\n Lord of War<\/em> is not a subtle movie. It begins in a veritable sea of bullets with Cage, as arms dealer Yuri Orlov, directly addressing the camera to inform viewers of how many guns there are in the world, the population to firearm ratio, and asking how to narrow that ratio. It\u2019s a movie about the evils of arms dealing and the myriad ways the major governments of the world not only allow the business to exist, but help it flourish by regularly supplying and buying from illegal arms dealers. What\u2019s remarkable is that Lord of War<\/em> is also often funny and irreverent about the horrors it seeks to indict, and that sense of humor makes it a much more compelling and enjoyable movie that draws audiences in with jokes only to reiterate the seriousness of its subject matter. <\/p>\n That\u2019s right, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance<\/em> is not just one of the best Nicolas Cage movies, but also significantly better than its predecessor. Much of that can be attributed to directors Brian Taylor (director of Mom and Dad) and Mark Neveldine, the entire team behind the Crank<\/em> films. While Spirit of Vengeance<\/em> is limited by the need for broad appeal, the filmmakers make the most of Ghost Rider\u2019s power set by creating set pieces that focus on speed and fire. The film\u2019s plot, which sees the hero saving a boy from a villainous cult, is solid enough, but it\u2019s the action that makes it the best superhero movie in Cage\u2019s filmography. <\/p>\n Cage partnered with iconic director Brian De Palma for this Atlantic City set murder mystery that soon evolves into a conspiracy thriller. Cage plays the corrupt cop who finds himself at the center of a case when he witnesses an assassination at a boxing match. But things become more interesting when the murderer is immediately killed and instead of answering questions, their identity raises more. Snake Eyes<\/em> isn\u2019t one of De Palma\u2019s greatest films, but it\u2019s a twist and turn filled thriller that keeps you glued to the screen, helped by Cage\u2019s magnetic performance and fantastic camera work, including a twelve-minute single-take opening sequence. <\/p>\n The problem with 8MM<\/em>, a movie about a private detective (Cage) investigating a snuff film, is that it\u2019s just not gross enough. A movie about snuff and the kinds of people who create and consume something so horrific needs a sense of real grime and danger. Instead, 8MM<\/em> is a pretty slick Hollywood thriller from the director of the two most reviled Batman<\/a><\/em> movies ever made. But while 8MM<\/em> fails to entirely deliver on its potential, it\u2019s still a fun neo-noir PI-centered movie with an all-star cast including Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, and Catherine Keener. <\/p>\n2. Vampire\u2019s Kiss (1988)<\/h2>\n
![\"Vampire's](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Vampires-Kiss.jpg\" "\\"The")
3. Mandy (2018)<\/h2>\n
![\"Mandy](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Mandy-e1691958329101.png\" "\\"The")
4. Red Rock West (1993)<\/h2>\n
![\"Nicolas](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Blank-1280-x-720.jpg\" "\\"The")
5. Windtalkers (2002)<\/h2>\n
![\"Nicolas](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Blank-1280-x-720-1.jpg\" "\\"The")
6. Birdy (1984)<\/h2>\n
![\"Nicolas](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Blank-1280-x-720-2.jpg\" "\\"The")
7. Color Out of Space (2019)<\/h2>\n
![\"Color](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_6225.jpeg\" "\\"The")
8. The Weather Man (2005)<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Weather-Man.jpg\" "\\"The")
9. Mom and Dad (2017)<\/h2>\n
![\"Nicolas](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Blank-1280-x-720-3.jpg\" "\\"The")
10. Wild at Heart (1990)<\/h2>\n
![\"Wild](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Wild-at-Heart.jpeg\" "\\"The")
11. Con Air (1997)<\/h2>\n
![\"Con](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Con-Air-e1690436907276.jpg\" "\\"The")
12. Face\/Off (1997)<\/h2>\n
![\"Face\/Off\"](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/face-off.jpg\" "\\"The")
13. National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)<\/h2>\n
![\"Nicolas](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Blank-1280-x-720-4.jpg\" "\\"The")
14. National Treasure (2004)<\/h2>\n
![\"National](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/National-Treasure.jpg\" "\\"The")
15. Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)<\/h2>\n
![\"Jim](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Blank-1280-x-720-5.jpg\" "\\"The")
16. Drive Angry (2011)<\/h2>\n
![\"Drive](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Drive-Angry.png\" "\\"The")
17. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)<\/h2>\n
![\"Bad](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Bad-Lieutenant-Port-of-Call-New-Orleans.jpg\" "\\"The")
18. Dog Eat Dog (2016)<\/h2>\n
![\"Nicolas](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Blank-1280-x-720-6.jpg\" "\\"The")
19. Adaptation (2002)<\/h2>\n
![\"Nicolas](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Adaptation.jpg\" "\\"The")
20. Rumble Fish (1983)<\/h2>\n
![\"Nicolas](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Blank-1280-x-720-7.jpg\" "\\"The")
21. Lord of War (2005)<\/h2>\n
![\"Lord](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Lord-of-War.jpg\" "\\"The")
22. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011)<\/h2>\n
![\"Nicolas](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Blank-1280-x-720-8.jpg\" "\\"The")
23. Snake Eyes (1998)<\/h2>\n
![\"Nicolas](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Blank-1280-x-720-9.jpg\" "\\"The")
24. 8MM (1999)<\/h2>\n
![\"8MM\"](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/8MM-Sony-Pictures-Releasing.jpg\" "\\"The")
25. Bringing Out the Dead (1999)<\/h2>\n
![\"Bringing](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Bringing-Out-the-Dead.jpg\" "\\"The")