These are the movies that shows Nicolas Cage greatness
Nic Cage is one of the most famous actors of all time. His impressive way of immersing himself into each character he plays certainly has a lot to do with that, but it’s not the only reason. The character of Nic Cage as a person has almost just as much to do with his fame as his immense talent. Cage has always portrayed himself as a man who walks to his own beat and creates his personal path when the main street is over-crowded.
Born January 7, 1964, into the Coppola family (nephew to Francis Ford Coppola), cage started out in films such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Valley Girl and Peggy Sue Got Married, but it wasn’t until his leading role in Raising Arizona that he gained the attention of the world. He would go on to genre-jump as the years went by and through his ups and downs in cinema, he never lost his cult following. If anything, the following grew with every strange role he took on, and he took on a lot.
A few years ago, a meme went viral stating “Nic Cage has played every role but one. Next summer, Nic Cage is…Nic Cage”. The joke was obviously poking fun at the fact that Cage has done so many roles and over 100 films. When some would take that meme as a knock, Cage saw it only as a challenge. In 2022 writer and director Tom Gormican put together the film “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent”, a film that shows Cage playing himself in a feud between a super fan and the CIA. Another great role for an amazing talent and his latest movie included in the list of Nic Cage’s best films.
“Raising Arizona” – Raising Arizona is a Coen brothers film released in 1987. Nic Cage plays H.I. “Hi” McDunnough.
Hi is a career criminal that should really find a new line of work. It seems that every time he gets a great idea, he gets caught. Luckily for him however one of the police officers is the woman of his dreams. The two get married and decide to put the life of crime behind him and raise a family. The only problem is they are not able to have one the traditional way. So, what’s one to do? Steal a baby from a family with quintuplets of course.
The film also has John Goodman, Holly Hunter and Tret Wilson in it. The comedy is non-stop and the way Cage envelopes himself in the role of Hi is one of the main reasons he has had the long career we know him for now.
“The Rock” –Although he had a few great films (along with a few stinkers), the next big turn in his career was in the 1996 action thriller The Rock.
The Jerry Bruckheimer film would have Cage co-star alongside Sean Connery and Ed Harris and was directed by Michael Bay. It was an instant blockbuster not only because of the amazing acting, but the story itself was one for the ages. The government puts together a team including an FBI chemist (Cage) and a former SEALs team member (Connery) to stop a rogue group of military men who have taken control of Alcatraz and anyone who was there becomes their hostages. They demand $100 million or else they will launch gas filled rockets upon San Francisco.
This film is where Cage really became an action star and helped him turn a corner in his acting career.
“Con Air” – The very next year Cage starred in another Jerry Bruckheimer film, Con Air.
This time the role would see Cage behind bars, but for questionable reasons. He plays Cameron Poe, a distinguished Army Ranger who accidently kills a man while protecting his wife.
While incarcerated Poe shows the qualities of a perfect inmate, he does his time and is ready to go home. 8 years later, he heads home. He boards a prison transport plane that is holding the worst of the worst. Once in air the inmates take control of the plane and Poe decides to stay and help his friend who is a diabetic and needs insulin and a female guard that is being assaulted. The film has an all-star cast consisting of Steve Buscemi, Colm Meaney, John Cusack, John Malkovich, Ving Rhames, Dave Chappelle and Danny Trejo.
“Face/Off” – Continuing his rise as a top action star, Cage went on to star alongside John Travolta in Face/Off. Released the same year as Con Air, this John Woo directed film puts Cage back in the skin of the big bad, and then the good.
He plays Castor Troy, a lunatic with a vendetta against FBI Special Agent Sean Archer (Travolta). The feud between the two reaches strange new heights when Troy is knocked into a coma right after telling Archer about a bomb that will go off in a few days but refuses to give its location. So, Archer reluctantly undergoes a complicated body swapping surgery. The face, the voice and appearance are switched. Archer goes to prison as Troy to try and get the location from Troys brother who is incarcerated. The real Castor Troy (which is one of the coolest names in film history) wakes from his coma to see his face is gone. He forces the doctor to put Archer’s face on him (and his whole appearance as well) and then kills everyone who knew about the operation.
The over-the-top action is only matched by the unhinged performance Cage gives in this film. This was the first film where John Woo was given full creative control over things, and it really pays off in the end. So many times, we see directors handcuffed by studios who think they know better, but when a true artist with a vision is set free, masterful things can happen.
“National Treasure” – The National Treasure franchise started in 2004 and has continued growing ever since.
In this installment, Cage plays Benjamin Franklin Gates, a man born into a family of treasure hunters. Not just any kind of treasure however, lost American treasures.
The “big score” for the family lies within a tale Bens grandfather told him of the founding fathers burying treasure that was never recovered. After years of searching, the family comes up short and reaches a dead end. Unfortunately, his family becomes somewhat of a joke as the world sees them as nothing more than a group of conspiracy theorist with no proof of there actually being any treasure. But then Ben finds a clue that could help him not only find the treasure but clear his family’s name.
Placing Cage in this type of role was a bold choice. To lead a franchise and become the face of a Disney film is something that many actors crave, and Cage did it in only the way he could do.
The first film was met with some harsh criticism, however saying the film was just a cross over between Indiana Jones and The Da Vinci Code. That seems a little unfair however seeing how the story is unique and the character of Ben Gates is cemented in the talent of Nic Cage.
“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” – In the intro to this article, I brought up how this film came to be, and just on that story alone (a joke within a joke) this film deserves to be talked about. But stepping back from the foundation of the creativity of this film, it is just a great time the whole time.
Watching Cage riff on who he is and who the world sees him as is such a blast. It is funny, action packed with heartfelt moments sprinkled in. The buddy scenes between Cage and Pedro Pascal are laugh out loud hilarious at times and the way that Cage can turn from one personality to the next in just a matter of seconds goes to show that he truly does carry the unbearable weight of massive talent.