After having begun making feature films in the late 1970s, director Robert Zemeckis became famous for pushing the limits of cinematic technology and introducing numerous innovations in visual effects.
Though he hasn’t achieved the same level of success with his most recent films, he continues to practice his craft with his new project, Here. With Here now in theaters, it’s time to rank the ten best movies directed by Robert Zemeckis.
10. Back to the Future Part III (1990)
After Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) is sent to the year 1885, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) uses the DeLorean time machine to try to avert his friend’s murder, this time at the hands of Biff’s outlaw ancestor, Buford Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson). As the film puts its protagonists into the Wild West, the franchise takes a more grounded approach with its third and final film.
Doc gains a new lease on life with his true love, and Marty learns not to destroy his life trying to prove himself to others. This film may not be as memorable as its two predecessors, but it is still a fantastic conclusion to Zemeckis’s iconic sci-fi trilogy.
9. Death Becomes Her (1992)
This black comedy follows an actress (Meryl Streep) and her frenemy (Goldie Hawn) as they compete for a man’s (Bruce Willis) love by drinking a potion that gives them immortality and eternal youth. Zemeckis takes this wild concept and presents a wacky, Burtonesque satire of Hollywood and society’s obsession with female beauty.
Though it garnered divisive reviews upon release, the film has received kinder eyes in the years since, rightfully gaining its reputation as a cult comedy classic.
8. Flight (2012)
One of Zemeckis’s more recent hits, Flight follows a drug and alcohol-addicted pilot (Gladiator 2‘s Denzel Washington) who is forced to crash-land a plane full of passengers, only for his heroic image to dwindle during a later investigation. The film hooks its audience with its thrilling, but haunting depiction of the crash.
But the real excitement occurs on the ground, with Washington acting up a whirlwind of emotions as he struggles to maintain his innocence and battle his addiction. It’s a gripping story of a man learning to accept and overcome his demons in the backdrop of a riveting legal drama, making for a shining gem in Zemeckis’s filmography.
7. Romancing the Stone (1984)
This movie centers on a lonely novelist (Kathleen Turner) dragged into one of her romantic fantasies when she is forced to rescue her sister from smugglers in Colombia. Helmed by the performances of Turner, Michael Douglas, and Danny DeVito, this globe-trotting film achieves the right blend of humor and excitement to make it the perfect rom-com adventure.
It may have cost Zemeckis his job directing Cocoon, but Romancing the Stone rightfully made for his first critical and commercial success.
6. Contact (1997)
While Zemeckis lost out on directing Cocoon, he still made his mark in alien sci-fi with this extraordinary film. Based on the novel by Carl Sagan, this movie follows a scientist (Jodie Foster) who tries to make first contact with extraterrestrial life after receiving a message from a distant star.
Contact may be a little too ambitious and melodramatic for everyone’s taste, but it still presents a poignant and thought-provoking allegory of the conflict between religion and science as humanity tries to find proof of a higher power out in the cosmos.
5. Back to the Future Part II (1989)
When Doc and Marty travel to the future to help the latter’s son, they set forth a horrifying chain of events that forces them to go back in time and restore their present. For better or worse, this sequel is far wackier than its predecessor with its wild depiction of 2015.
Though it certainly didn’t get everything about the future right, the film remains captivating and eerily relevant, particularly due to Biff’s Trump-inspired rise as a corrupt billionaire. It also succeeds in doing something fresh as the heroes revisit 1955 and see their first adventure from a different angle. And with its shocking cliffhanger, this film has gone down in history as one of cinema’s most iconic sequels.
4. Cast Away (2000)
Whoever thought Tom Hanks talking to a volleyball would make for such great cinema? Cast Away follows Hanks as a FedEx analyst who gets stranded on a deserted island as he tries to survive and find a way back home.
This film stands out from many of Zemeckis’s more fantastical projects, but is nonetheless one of his most inspiring. It’s a stirring depiction of a man persevering through the most hopeless of situations, with Hanks’ performance carrying this film across oceans and into viewers’ hearts.
3. Forrest Gump (1994)
This Oscar darling follows a man (Tom Hanks) who, despite his low IQ and physical handicap, lives a successful life that interweaves with many pivotal events in American history. Though he has many incredible experiences as a football star, a Vietnam war veteran, a ping pong prodigy, and a shrimp fisherman, it’s the way that he touches the traumatic lives of his army lieutenant (Gary Sinise) and childhood crush (Robin Wright) and vice versa that makes for a deep, moving story.
While many would take back their praise in the decades since its release, Forrest Gump remains a classic tale about life and making the most of it despite its unpredictability.
2. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
In this animated riff on Classical Hollywood, a private eye (Bob Hoskins) who hates toons is forced to clear the name of a celebrity toon (Charles Fleischer) suspected of murdering his wife’s (Kathleen Turner) supposed lover. Since CGI was still in its infancy during the late ’80s, Zemeckis took the traditional, but challenging route to bring this semi-cartoon movie to life.
But by seamlessly placing live-action and hand-drawn characters together on-screen, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? revolutionized animation and brought classical cartoons back into the spotlight, making for one of the director’s most enduring films.
1. Back to the Future (1985)
No other movie in Zemeckis’s filmography has arguably been so loved and discussed as Back to the Future. Back in the golden age of sci-fi cinema, this picture put a whole new spin on time travel by having Marty McFly drive through history in Doc Brown’s DeLorean.
But when Marty meets the teenage versions of his parents, he is thrust into a race against time as he tries to get them together to ensure his birth and return to the present. Though the film has been out for 40 years, the way this hilarious, thrilling, well-written adventure continues to win the hearts of audiences has ensured its status as a timeless classic.
