10 John Travolta Movies Everyone Should See

    Similar to my ’10 Sean Connery Movies Everyone Should See’, this isn’t meant to be a ‘best of’ list or a ranking based on whether or not the critics liked these, as some of an actor’s most memorable performances don’t come in their best received movies.This is more of an overview of some of the films that I think best represent John Travolta's career.

1)      Grease – 1978

 This is the definitive ‘early Travolta’ movie. He sings, he dances, he’s has a charm about him. The movie is fun, and the songs will be stuck in your head all day.*

2)      Urban Cowboy -1980

I find this one to be one of his most enjoyable movies (though not as successful as ‘Saturday Night Fever’ or ‘Grease’). John Travolta and Debra Winger are both solid and their characters have an entertaining love-hate relationship. This one also has some pretty good music in it.

3)      A Civil Action­- 1998

You don’t have to be a fan of courtroom drama type movies to have a good time with this one. Its good story and solid cast (John Travolta, Robert Duvall, William H. Macy, Jon Lithgow, and Tony Shalhoub) make it a really enjoyable watch.

4)      Bolt- 2008

You may be thinking “Wait. Bolt? Why?” After the silliness of ‘Wild Hogs’ and ‘Hairspray’ but before the harder-hitting ‘Taking of Pelham 123’, ‘From Paris With Love’, and ‘Savages’ there was this often forgotten animated movie with Travolta voicing a dog named Bolt. It’s an enjoyable family movie, with some genuinely funny moments.

5)      Swordfish – 2001

From ‘The Punisher’ to  ‘Criminal Activities’ post-2000 Travolta has taken on more villain roles, and he was really on his game in this action/crime film. You also get Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and Don Cheadle as an added bonus.

6)      Broken Arrow – 1996

For the first two decades of his career Travolta had usually been cast as the nice guy (Hell, later that same year he would play a literal angel in “Michael”). So this was his first real ‘villain’ role. Sure he played a criminal in 1994’s “Pulp Fiction”, but really everyone in that movie is a criminal so that doesn’t count.

7)      Saturday Night Fever – 1977

Though he had been in two movies and on TV’s ‘Welcome Back Kotter’ prior to this film, ‘Saturday Night Fever’ played a huge part in making John Travolta a star. A huge success, the film was nominated for several awards and the soundtrack became one of the best-selling film soundtracks of all-time.

8)      Phenomenon – 1996

In the mid-late 90's John Travolta was a man who could not be stopped and this is one of his hit films of that time. The last half-hour may be a little too sappy but the rest is pretty good.

9)      Pulp Fiction- 1994

 Most of you probably could’ve guessed this would be on the list. While it is an ensemble film rather than a Travolta-led one, he is one of the highlights of it. The dance scene with him and Uma Thurman in the Jack Rabbit Slim’s Restaurant is one of the most memorable moments in what has become an iconic film.

10)   Face/Off- 1997

This one is a strange but extremely fun action movie. The plot involves John Travolta and Nicholas Cage switching faces, so you get a good portion of the film with Travolta and Cage kind of doing their best impressions of each other. It’s overacting at its finest.

Honorable Mentions:  Michael (1996), Blow Out (1981), Get Shorty (1995)

      *Click here for in depth Grease review on the Psycholander Podcast

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