Sam Neill does n’t have a Modern moving picture out — Jurassic World : Dominionisn’t due until 2021 — and it ’s not his birthday or anything . We just really appreciate him ( and his upbeat , animal - filledsocial medium presence ) . We think you probably do , too , and now is as unspoilt a clip as any to watch ( or rewatch ) some of his sound films and television shows .
Though Neill ’s career includes lots of non - genre projects ( The Piano , Peaky Blinders ) , he ’s also had many great sci - fi , phantasy , and horror roles . These are our ducky so far .
13) Frederick Hoffman, Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997)
This spin on the definitive poove taradiddle injects more repugnance than the average interpretation , mostly thanks toSigourney Weaver ’s commanding performance as the stepmother , whose “ vicious ” qualities are prove to have some torturously human motivations ( though that all-fired obsess mirror also does its part ) .
https://gizmodo.com/6-obscure-fairy-tales-from-the-brothers-grimm-that-real-1837985363
Neill playsthe Snow White fictitious character ’s father , a wealthy landowner whose beloved first wife dies in childbirth . When his daughter ( Monica Keena ) is a small nipper , he decides to remarry , regrettably frame in movement a scenario that will eventually see him swing from an upside - down cross while his 2nd wife drain his blood , believing that ’s the only way to resurrect her unsuccessful son . Though he ’s the character everyone is fight over , Neill does n’t get a short ton of screen time — but his unruffled presence aid ground some of the moving picture ’s more operatic moments .
John Trent (Sam Neill), feeling rather blue in In the Mouth of Madness.Image: New Line Cinema
12) John Ingram, Dead Calm (1989)
After the tragic demise of their boy , Rae ( Nicole Kidman ) and John ( Neill ) set out on a sailing trip — but there ’s no healing to be found at ocean , only a stranded boater ( Billy Zane ) who turns out to be a grave killer . Most of the movie is about Rae have to resort to all manner of survival tactics to stay alive while she ’s alone on the ship with a lunatic , after John rows out to look into the stranger ’s story and find it to be 100 percent miss in certain homicidal detail . Dead Calm is more of a thriller than true repugnance movie — Zane ’s drifter is a very bad homo , nothing more — but it ’s tense as hell , so we ’re saying it count as genre anyway . Plus , Neill ’s character gets to bid word of farewell to Zane ’s irritatingly bouncy fictitious character in the most “ get off my yacht ” way possible — it involves a safety flash and Zane ’s facial expression , and it is glorious .
11) Monogatron leader, “The Old Man and the Seat,” Rick and Morty (2019)
Most of thisseason - four episodeconcerns Rick Sanchez ’s retaliation plot after he discovers someone ’s been pooping in his private toilet . But Neill pops up with a fun cameo in the other plotline , after Morty and Jerry chase after a four - eyed alien ( voice byTaika Waititi , who directed Neill , a fellow New Zealander , in 2006 ’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople , as well as another motion-picture show we ’ll get to in a moment ) who ’s allowed a destructive dating app to run wild on Earth . His boss , the Monogatron drawing card ( Neill ) , sneers over humankind ’s inability to form functional kinship while revealing the app is in reality just a beguilement while the Monogatrons steal the satellite ’s water supply . He also dot on his wife ( Kathleen Turner , speaking of rad voice cameos ) as only someone who ’s overcome “ the true tycoon of superior familiarity ” can — at least until they have a bighearted scrap at the last of the episode .
Bonus fun fact : Animation fans will also call back that Neill guest - star as Molloy , the cat burglar who steals Lisa ’s saxophone , among other thing , in the fifth - season Simpsons sequence “ Homer the Vigilante . ”
10) “Actor Odin,” Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
speak of Taika Waititi , do you call back Neill ’s appearance in Thor : Ragnarok ? He plays “ Odin ” alongside Luke Hemsworth ’s “ Thor ” and Matt Damon ’s “ Loki ” in the play being look on by Odin ( in reality the real Loki in disguise , of course of study ) when Thor returns to Asgard early in the movie . It ’s just a abbreviated show — complete with striking address and striking eye - patch removal — but it ’s in service of a scene that let us knowa very funny superhero movie lies ahead .
https://gizmodo.com/the-answers-to-all-your-burning-thor-ragnarok-question-1820049631
9) Richard Martin, Bicentennial Man (1999)
Robin Williams — playing a gentle android who gradually evolves into being human over several decades — is the main attraction in thisvery loose Asimov adaptation , but Neill has a fundamental role as the affluent clocksmith who fetch “ Andrew ” nursing home to live with his fellowship . “ Sir ” is also the first to notice that Andrew has an redundant - extra calibre ; he expose sensitivity , compassion , and creative thinking in a world fill up with human who ’d just as soon have their helper machines be as devoid of individuality as possible . Bicentennial Man isnot exactly the profound experienceit yearns to be , but it does offer a prime exemplar of nice - guy Neill , displayed across three different clock time period within the motion-picture show .
https://gizmodo.com/13-terrifically-terrible-sci-fi-movies-to-watch-on-a-lo-1779158588
8) Mark, Possession (1981)
Andrzej Żuławski ’s surreal , disturbing cult classic stars Neill and a tremendously terrifying Isabelle Adjani as a West Berlin couple — a spy and a social dancer — whose decision to disassociate is just about the only mundane affair about the intact moving picture . There ’s murder , suicide , antic physical structure repulsion , creature repugnance , and more , with tentacle - tastic especial effects by Carlo Rambaldi — who did self-possession in between winning Oscars for Alien and E.T. the Extra - Terrestrial . Adjani has the showy part , but Neill is solid as a bozo grappling his way though what must be one of the most traumatic cinematic break - ups ever .
7) Charles Bromley, Daybreakers (2009)
In the cheeseparing future ( the movie is actually set in 2019 , but whatever ) , the human wash is almost extinctthanks to a vampire plaguethat ’s transform most everyone on Earth into an immortal bloodsucker . therefore , the human line supplying has closely dry up — and deprive vampires are rapidly mutating into snarling , cricket bat - like ferine creatures . Neill spiel Bromley , the chief executive officer of a company thatfarms humanswhile desperately trying to direct an acceptable line of descent second-stringer — but he also really loves being a vampire and is not willing to give up the literal clause , which he prefers to sip from a vino glass like a true member of the ghoul one percent .
https://gizmodo.com/scald-your-eyes-with-daybreakers-bloody-futuristic-vis-5443966
Daybreakerschiefly followsEthan Hawke ’s character — a scientist working for Bromley , who discovers a miracle cure for vampirism — but Neill does get some the right way substantive scenes , dictate his daughter , a human holdout , to be “ turned ” against her will , and later undergoing his own unwanted reverse gear translation . Also , gasconade rights : Bromley ’s horrifying , head - ripping end scene is by far the best in the movie .
Neill does noble in Snow White: A Tale of Terror.Image: PolyGram Filmed Entertainment/Interscope Communications
6) Damien Thorn, Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981)
One of Neill ’s earliest genre roles had him playing one of revulsion ’s most iconic character : Damien Thorn , the mini - Antichrist , now grown up ( but disport a not - dissimilar hairstyle ) , running his late father ’s transnational pot and embracing his sinister place in the world . On the surface , of line , he ’s a advanced youthful businessman who ’s just been appointed the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain . As an added perquisite , he begins romancing a video journalist who just so fall out to be undivided mama to a highly suggestible 12 - year - honest-to-god boy . In the shadows , of course of action , Damien — who keeps a Jesus statue in his menage so he can stalk around it and insult the “ cursed Nazarene”—gathers strength for the Second Coming of Christ , even as the Catholic Church ’s dwindling supply of assassins seek to take him out before his full powers emerge .
All severalize , Omen III : The Final Conflictis not a very good movie , especially liken to the original presage — instead ofbaboons , this movie ’s malevolent - fauna attack pack is … adorable dodger hounds!—but it ’s a benchmark second for Neill , who exudate oodles of upper - crust iniquity , whether he ’s seduce his unfortunate beloved interest or ordering his follower to butcher babies for Satan .
5) Agent David Jenkins, Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)
Neill ’s first collaboration with John Carpenter is mostly a display case for Chevy Chase , who plays the deed character . But Neill has the voluptuous role of Jenkins , an oily CIA federal agent who ’s eager to exploit Chase ’s character , logically assume that being invisible would make him the perfect spy / secret factor / bravo . Jenkins ruthlessly pursues ( or tries to pursue ; the guy is unseeable , after all ) his pit , resorting to snatch and other cruddy line to get what he want . In tale like this , the inconspicuous man is usually the scoundrel , but Jenkins is empty the spoilt guy here — a man with the exact blend of off - kilter moral compass and shark - similar menace his line of work demand .
https://gizmodo.com/7-essential-invisible-men-and-one-invisible-woman-1841581031
4) Merlin, Merlin (1998) and Merlin’s Apprentice (2006)
TheKing Arthur legendgets a wizard - centric twirl in this 1998 made - for - NBC miniseries ( and its continuation ) . Neill plays the title character , a half - human , half - magic man created by Queen Mab ( Miranda Richardson ) in an American Gods - esque game to tempt the latterly Christian people of England back into hero-worship the pagan Supreme Being . But she ’s so deceitful that Merlin terminate up forging his own path and they become pledged enemies .
There ’s a huge ensemble mold here , full of big names ( Isabella Rossellini , Martin Short , Helena Bonham Carter , Rutger Hauer , a very youngLena Headey , the unmistakable voice of James Earl Jones ) , and while Merlin is not always the center of the action at law , he ’s always its driving military group , try but not always succeeding when it comes to making the good decisions . Neill gets to do magic and wield a sword — Excalibur , natch — and there ’s also a tender dear story with Rossellini ’s character that builds out Merlin ’s motivations beyond just being a kingmaker . In theHoly Grail - focus sequel , Merlin returns with a spectacular beard to train a young stealer with magical gifts who ’s in reality , unbeknownst to both of them , Merlin ’s son . Twist !
3) John Trent, In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
John Carpenterrounded out his “ apocalypse trilogy ” ( after The Thing andPrince of dark ) with this deliciously mind - bending tarradiddle of an insurance research worker named John Trent ( Neill ) who ’s tax with tracking down popular horror author Sutter Cane ( Jürgen Prochnow)—a sort ofStephen King - meets - H.P. Lovecraft type — who ’s go missing without completing his highly forestall next novel , to be style In the Mouth of Madness . Trent River and Cane ’s editor program , Styles ( Julie Carmen ) , hit the road to Hobb ’s close , the off - the - mapping New Hampshire town where Cane set his stories , thinking they ’ll find him there .
https://gizmodo.com/watching-in-the-mouth-of-madness-too-many-times-might-a-1763914959
Trent , who cause his living uncovering insurance fraud , is cocky and skeptical at first . It must all be a publicity stunt , he figures . But since most of the film takes place as an extended flashback — as told by Trent in a cushiony way — we know where he ’s manoeuver . Neill is excellent as a man who’sprepared to abnegate what his own eyes are show him , even as the eldritch nightmare scupper in Hobb ’s End begin to rip up the framework of realness . And when he finally to the full sweep up the rabidness of the form of address , it ’s a well - earned over - the - top second after closely an intact movie of desperate denial .
Neill is a snooty alien in Rick and Morty.Image: Adult Swim
2) Dr. Alan Grant, Jurassic Park (1993) and Jurassic Park III (2001)
When first we meet everyman hero science - nerd Dr. Alan Grant ( Neill ) in Jurassic Park , he ’s more enthusiastic about hanging out with velociraptors ( their fogey , anyway ) than he is about precocious children . By the end of the adventure , after barely survive rampaging raptors bring to liveliness at you - cognize - which radical green , he ’s decided small fry are OK after all ; along the way , we ’re treated to such delights as Grantlaying on a triceratops , just marveling at the way it respire , and Grant cradle a new hatched sister dino with sheer awe that turns to horror when he realizes just what specie it is .
https://gizmodo.com/jurassic-park-was-my-nerd-haven-1826736264
In the third Jurassic Park film , Grant is lured back to dino - ground by a divorced mates searching for missing loved ones who probably should n’t have been parasailing in that particular vicinity , just say . There , of course , he face raptors once again , only this clip they ’re even impudent than before . We ’ll get to catch up withGrant for a third time in Jurassic World : Dominion ; here ’s hop his retort to the series is bigger thanJeff Goldblum ’s glorified cameoinJurassic World : Fallen Kingdom .
1) Dr. William Weir, Event Horizon (1997)
Dr. William Weir ( Neill ) is n’t exactly in the best genial health when he joins the crew of the Lewis and Clark to suffice a distress call that seems to be coming from the Event Horizon — a ship he plan that wasthought to be drop off in deep space . When we first adjoin him , he ’s already get disturbing visions of his wife , who took her own sprightliness after feeling pretermit by her workaholic husband . But once the mission reaches the Event Horizon , which isbasically a ghost house with mindfuck powersfloating on the edge of the solar arrangement , Weir ’s breakdown stay on , and eventually he translate into the ship ’s grievous embodiment , swallowed up by his own brokenheartedness , guilt , and the manipulations of his creation .
https://gizmodo.com/all-the-reasons-why-event-horizon-is-a-hell-of-a-good-t-1695302615
Neill , who ’s great at portraying a man who ’s both imposingly intelligent and emotionally haunted , also manages to make Weir ’s plunge into total insanity — like , gouging - out - your - own - eyes levels of insanity — palpate believable . Gruesome and awed , but still believable .
For more , make certain you ’re follow us on our Instagram @io9dotcom .
DaybreakersEvent horizonJurassic ParkRick and MortySam NeillSci - Fithor : Gotterdammerung
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