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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Robert Redford’s best films range from westerns and political thrillers to intimate dramas and a nearly wordless survival story. This is an editorial ranking, not a definitive canon: it weighs performance and character, filmmaking, critical reception, cultural impact and the variety of Redford’s career. Films he directed are included even when he did not act in them, and are judged as directing achievements rather than performances.
That approach differs from Rotten Tomatoes’ guide, which orders films by Tomatometer, and the BFI’s authored selection of essential films. Neither method settles what “best” means for every viewer. The ranking below focuses on a combination of artistic achievement, Redford’s contribution and the film’s lasting importance.
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30 best Robert Redford movies, ranked
1. All Is Lost (2013)
Redford carries J. C. Chandor’s spare survival drama almost alone, playing a sailor fighting to stay alive after his boat is damaged at sea. The performance depends on physical detail and controlled reactions, rather than speeches or backstory. Rotten Tomatoes’ guide places it first by Tomatometer and likewise singles out Redford’s ability to sustain the film.
2. All the President’s Men (1976)
As Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, Redford is part of a two-hander with Dustin Hoffman that turns the labor of reporting into gripping drama. The film’s attention to sources, verification and institutional pressure makes it a political thriller with unusual staying power.
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#1 Best Overall
3. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Redford’s Sundance and Paul Newman’s Butch make this western a defining screen partnership. The film mixes outlaw adventure with comedy, melancholy and an awareness that the old West is disappearing. BFI describes its unusual blend as a turning point in Redford’s fortunes; the Associated Press retrospective reports that Newman advocated for Redford’s casting.
4. The Sting (1973)
Redford reunites with Newman for a Depression-era con story built on misdirection, timing and the pleasure of watching a plan take shape. Its polished, playful approach makes it a classic Hollywood entertainment, and the Associated Press notes that it won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
5. The Candidate (1972)
Redford plays Bill McKay, an idealistic lawyer drawn into a California Senate campaign. The film’s political bite comes from the gap between what a candidate believes and what a campaign machine requires. BFI emphasizes both its irony and the guarded, difficult-to-read screen persona Redford brings to the role.
Rank #2
- Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Robards, Alan J. Pakula
6. Three Days of the Condor (1975)
In this paranoid political thriller, Redford is a CIA researcher who returns from lunch to find his co-workers murdered and must work out whom he can trust. The film pairs suspense with a bleak view of institutional power; BFI calls attention to its ambiguous, pessimistic ending.
7. The Way We Were (1973)
Redford’s Hubbell Gardiner and Barbra Streisand’s Katie Morosky are drawn together by attraction and divided by temperament and politics. The romance is also a drama about compromise and the Hollywood blacklist. BFI highlights how the stars’ contrasting screen personas shape the film.
8. Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Redford plays a veteran seeking a life in the wilderness in this restrained frontier drama. Rather than treat the mountain man as a simple emblem of freedom, the film attends to isolation, survival and the costs of entering a landscape already inhabited. It was the first of Redford’s seven collaborations with director Sydney Pollack, according to BFI.
Rank #3
- Robert Redford, Will Geer, Delle Bolton, Sydney Pollack
9. Downhill Racer (1969)
As a fiercely ambitious American skier, Redford gives a cool, self-contained performance in a film that resists the familiar sports-hero arc. BFI reads it as a subversion of the sports-hero myth. The Associated Press recounts Redford’s attachment to the project and his account of how the studio promoted it.
10. Ordinary People (1980) — director
Redford’s directorial debut follows a family struggling after a son’s death and another son’s suicide attempt. Its emotional power comes from what its characters cannot say as much as what they do. Redford did not star in it; the Associated Press reports that the film won him the Academy Award for Best Director.
11. The Natural (1984)
Redford plays Roy Hobbs, a gifted baseball player whose late-career return takes on the shape of a fable. Adapted from Bernard Malamud’s novel, the film turns the sport’s rituals and imagery into a story about ambition, regret and the possibility of renewal. The Associated Press describes its enduring cultural impact.
Rank #4
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Why these films define Redford’s career
Redford’s screen presence could suggest confidence and ease, but his most compelling roles often complicate that image. Woodward’s persistence, McKay’s uncertainty, the skier’s self-absorption and the sailor’s exhausted ingenuity are different kinds of resolve. The variety is part of the point: his career moves among westerns, political dramas and thrillers, romance, sports stories and minimalist performance-led work.
His legacy also extends beyond the films he acted in. Sundance Institute says Redford founded the Institute in 1981 to support independence, risk-taking and new voices in American film. The organization’s account of his aims helps explain why his contribution to filmmaking cannot be measured by starring roles alone.
How to choose a starting point
- For a classic screen partnership: start with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid or The Sting.
- For political tension: choose All the President’s Men, The Candidate or Three Days of the Condor.
- For a quieter, performance-led film: watch All Is Lost.
- For Redford as a director: begin with Ordinary People.
- For a western that questions its own mythology: try Jeremiah Johnson or Downhill Racer.
Where-to-watch listings are not included because rental and streaming availability changes by date and territory. The Associated Press retrospective’s platform mentions are snapshots, not a guarantee of current access.
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Sources and further reading
- Rotten Tomatoes: Robert Redford Movies Ranked by Tomatometer (guide updated September 18, 2025).
- BFI: Robert Redford (1936 to 2025): 10 essential films (updated September 16, 2025).
- Sundance Institute: Robert Redford’s legacy.
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