Make the Case: 5 Essential Dennis Hopper Films

3. River’s Edge (1986)

The temptation to include Apocalypse Now instead of this is tremendous. Nonetheless, at the end of the day, I’ll take one of Hopper’s comeback pictures, over a performance that while very good, is much closer to the previously-expressed notion of movies in which Hopper is pretty much playing Hopper. River’s Edge focuses primarily on a group of kids dealing with a too-close-to-home murder in their small town, with a cast that includes Crispin Glover and Keanu Reeves. River’s Edge also features a short, but absolutely unforgettable performance from Dennis Hopper. His character in the film is a sad, weird curiosity, in a movie that is filled with such things. Hopper was clearly eager to prove that he was ready to take acting seriously again. He succeeds, as he would in other films that were released the same year.

It is astonishing to remember that in this same year of 1986, Hopper also logged appearances in Blue Velvet, Hoosiers (which garnered him an Academy Award nomination), and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. All of those films are worth watching, even though two of them are going to be absent from this top five. Taken as a whole, they showcase a diverse, intense actor, who had not lost a bit of his natural talents during his years in a vast, monstrous spiritual wilderness.

 

4. Blue Velvet (1986)

Another film that is impossible to not include on a top five Dennis Hopper movies list, Blue Velvet is more-or-less what people imagine Hopper was like in real life. I doubt that personally, but it’s hard to deny, and it’s mildly disconcerting to consider, where Hopper found this character. There is no question that Hopper stuck to David Lynch’s script, but it’s also clear that he went much further with Frank Booth than probably even Lynch ever imagined. Some villains come with sympathetic, or at least, empathetic elements. That is not the case here. As Frank Booth, Hopper is pure nightmare fuel. He absolutely demolishes the other intriguing elements of the film, and he stands alone as the most memorable thing in it. He manages the fantastic feat of devouring the scenery in chunks the size of small mountains, but never once stepping over the line into cartoon silliness (he would do that in other movies though). Blue Velvet is absolutely terrifying. Hopper is the main reason for that. You can watch the movie a dozen times, and still react to Hopper and Frank Booth with the uneasy, growing terror of not knowing what he’s going to do next.

 

5. True Romance (1993)

Although Dennis Hopper would go on to do good work in films beyond True Romance (I honestly liked him a lot in Land of the Dead), True Romance is essential. Again, Hopper is not the star here. It’s a weird, immensely likable, star-studded film about two crazy kids (Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette) who kill a pimp (Gary goddamn Oldman), steal his drugs, and make a run for it. Hopper plays the father to Slater’s character. While his introduction is not particularly noteworthy, his scene later on in the movie with Christopher Walken very nearly steals a movie that is packed with one memorable moment after another. Quinten Tarantino, who wrote the screenplay, was particularly fond of what is now referred to as the “Sicilian Scene.”

If you haven’t seen the movie, I don’t want to spoil it for you. I can only say that it involves Hopper’s character imparting Walken’s character with some history, knowing full-well as he tells the story that he is going to be killed by these mafia guys anyway. Hopper is hilarious in the scene, and it is perhaps the best death scene of his entire career. It’s a short enough scene, but it sticks out. Of all the moments in True Romance that make you want to watch the movie again, this one is quite possibly going to be at the top of your list.