Jon Voight is widely hailed as one of the finest actors of his generation. After making his feature film debut as the title character in Fearless Frank in 1967, Voight's career path changed for the better when earning an Academy Award nomination for his role as Joe Buck in Midnight Cowboy, the Best Picture winner of 1969.
In 1978, Voight won the Oscar for Best Leading Actor following his turn in Coming Home, an antiwar film about Vietnam vets returning to the states and dealing with civilian life. With several other classics and celebrated titles under his belt, here are his best movies in terms of IMDb ratings.
Runaway Train (1985) - 7.2
In Runaway Train, Jon Voight plays Manny, a hardened criminal who mounts a daring prison escape with fellow inmate Buck (Eric Roberts). When the two men finally evade the authorities and seek shelter on a locomotive, they soon realize that the conductor has suffered a lethal heart attack and the train is running unmanned.
To make matters worse, a female rail worker named Sara (Rebecca De Mornay) happens to be aboard the runaway train as well. As tempers flare and infighting commences, the prison warden remains hot on their trail.
Glory Road (2006) - 7.2
Nearly a decade after he played a fictitious coach in Varsity Blues, Voight played the real-life basketball coach Adolph Rupp in Glory Road. The true story traces Don Haskins (Josh Lucas), a revolutionary coach who led the first-all black starting team to prominence in 1960s Texas.
Upon hiring Haskins in 1965, the Texas Western Miners quickly became a contender when the coach recruited seven repudiated black basketball players to join five white players. In 1966, the team became the first all-black starting lineup to win a national title.
The Rainmaker (1997) - 7.2
Adapted from the John Grisham bestseller, Francis Ford Coppola's The Rainmaker focuses on Rudy Baylor (Matt Damon), a young idealistic lawyer who takes on a powerful insurance company over a case of fraud.
Upon taking the case, Rudy soon finds himself going up against the entire legal system full of corrupt lawyers and judges. Voight plays Leo F. Drummond, one such lawyer who uses whatever unethical tactics necessary to win legal cases. For his performance, Voight earned a Golden Globe nod for Supporting Actor.
The General (1998) - 7.3
More than a quarter-century after making Deliverance together, Voight reunited with director John Boorman for the biographical crime film The General.
Brendan Gleeson stars as real-life Irish figure Martin Cahill, a criminal who rose to popularity in Ireland following a pair of brazen robberies conducted with his accomplices. Voight plays Inspector Ned Kenney, one of many law enforcers hot on Cahill's trail. When Cahill sells stolen paintings to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), he's ordered to be assassinated by the IRA.
Conrack (1974) - 7.3
Based on Pat Conroy's autobiography The Water is Wide, Conrack features Jon Voight as a young white optimistic grade-school teacher who makes it his life's mission to educate poor black children on an island off the coast of South Carolina.
Conroy arrives on Daufuskie Island in 1969 and is shocked to learn that the African-American children have never seen the mainland and sorely lack basic educational skills. As his new impoverished students mispronounce his name as Conrack, the teacher dedicates himself to making a positive difference in their lives.
Coming Home (1978) - 7.3
Voight won an Academy Award for Best Leading Actor following his performance in Coming Home, Hal Ashby's antiwar film about PTSD-ridden Vietnam vets.
The drama concerns Sally Hyde (Jane Fonda), the wife of uptight military man Captain Bob Hyde (Bruce Dern) still serving overseas. While Sally awaits his return home, she begins to fall in love with Luke Martin (Voight), a soldier who lost the use of his legs during a battle in Vietnam. When he returns home, the paraplegic Martin publicly advocates for peace and speaks out against sending young men and women into a senseless war.
Enemy Of The State (1998) - 7.3
In Tony Scott's government surveillance thriller Enemy of the State, Voight plays a corrupt NSA official who resorts to murdering a congressman over his failure to implement domestic spy satellites.
When the murder is caught on tape and inadvertently lands in the possession of D.C. lawyer Robert Dean (Will Smith), a mad scramble to retrieve the incriminating evidence ensues. Dean's life is turned upside down as Thomas Reynolds (Voight) pursues him at every turn.
Deliverance (1972) - 7.7
John Boorman's twisted backwoods adventure in Deliverance has become infamous for its grisly homosexual sexual assault sequence, but many forget it was Oscar-nominated for Best Picture and Best Director.
The film finds a foursome of friends on a canoe trip down the Cahulawassee River in rural Georgia. Things go well for the city slickers until a river rapid bends them into uncharted territory, where they are met by a sadistic clan of perverted woodsmen. Voight joins Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox in the film.
Midnight Cowboy (1969) - 7.8
Voight appeared in just two feature films before landing the iconic role of Joe Buck in Midnight Cowboy, the idealistic young Texas who has a rude awakening upon arriving in New York City. The film still bears the distinction of being the only X-rated film to win Best Picture.
When bright-eyed cowboy Joe Buck arrives in New York City with little resources, he quickly learns how unforgiving the big-city life can be. Upon meeting lowly street hustler Ratzo Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), Joe slowly learns how to make ends meet and live by his wits, forging a meaningful friendship along the way.
Heat (1995) - 8.2
According to IMDB, Heat ranks as the highest-rated film among Jon Voight's illustrious resume. The sprawling L.A. crime story from director Michael Mann currently ranks #124 on IMDB's Top 250.
In it, Robert De Niro stars as Neil McCauley, a career bank thief planning one final score before heading off into the sunset. As he recruits a crew and plots a daring bank heist in Los Angeles, he must contend with the increasing heat put on him by LAPD Detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino). Voight plays Nate, an ex-con who helps Neil orchestrate the heist.