Rotten Tomatoes’ Robert Redford movie guide gives its highest displayed Tomatometer score to two films: All Is Lost and All the President’s Men, tied at 95%. The next tier is The Old Man & the Gun and The Sting at 93%, followed by Our Souls at Night at 91%.
The guide is not consistently sorted by score, however. This article preserves Rotten Tomatoes’ published sequence and clearly labels it as the site’s displayed order.
![Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/515egIp+KVL._SL160_.jpg)
Rotten Tomatoes’ Robert Redford movie guide gives its highest displayed Tomatometer score to two films: All Is Lost and All the President’s Men, tied at 95%. The next tier is The Old Man & the Gun and The Sting at 93%, followed by Our Souls at Night at 91%.
The list below reproduces the sequence shown in Rotten Tomatoes’ Robert Redford movies guide. That qualification matters: the page is not consistently ordered from highest score to lowest. For example, Charlotte’s Web appears at #13 with 79%, while Jeremiah Johnson appears at #14 with 91%. These are therefore Rotten Tomatoes’ displayed ranks, not a newly recalculated numerical order.
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![Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid [Blu-ray] [1969]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51tG6b1NdOL._SL160_.jpg)
- Polish Release, cover may contain Polish text/markings. The disk has English audio.
How to read the Tomatometer
The Tomatometer is the percentage of professional critics’ reviews that Rotten Tomatoes classifies as positive. Rotten Tomatoes considers a score of 60% or higher Fresh and a score below 60% Rotten. It is not a star rating, an average grade, a measure of audience enjoyment, a box-office ranking, or a score for Robert Redford’s performance alone. Rotten Tomatoes explains the distinction in its Tomatometer methodology overview.
Thus, a 95% film does not mean “9.5 out of 10.” It means that 95% of the counted professional reviews were positive. The figures here are Tomatometer scores, not Popcornmeter audience scores.
Robert Redford movies ranked by Tomatometer, as displayed by Rotten Tomatoes
| Displayed rank | Film | Year | Tomatometer | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | All Is Lost | 2013 | 95% | J.C. Chandor’s largely solitary survival drama gives Redford an unusually physical and expressive showcase as a mariner fighting to stay alive at sea. |
| 2 | All the President’s Men | 1976 | 95% | Redford plays Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward in Alan J. Pakula’s precise Watergate newsroom drama. |
| 3 | The Old Man & the Gun | 2018 | 93% | David Lowery’s gentle crime film became a graceful late-career showcase, with Sissy Spacek and Casey Affleck. |
| 4 | The Sting | 1973 | 93% | George Roy Hill’s stylish Depression-era con-artist film pairs Redford with Paul Newman. |
| 5 | Our Souls at Night | 2017 | 91% | Redford reunited with Jane Fonda for Ritesh Batra’s quiet late-life romance. |
| 6 | Captain America: The Winter Soldier | 2014 | 90% | Redford plays Alexander Pierce in a politically inflected Marvel thriller. |
| 7 | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | 1969 | 89% | His Sundance Kid, opposite Newman’s Butch Cassidy, remains one of Redford’s defining screen roles. |
| 8 | Pete’s Dragon | 2016 | 88% | Redford plays woodcarver Meacham in David Lowery’s live-action Disney fantasy. |
| 9 | Three Days of the Condor | 1975 | 88% | Redford stars as CIA codebreaker Joe Turner in Sydney Pollack’s paranoid thriller. |
| 10 | The Natural | 1984 | 83% | Barry Levinson’s sentimental baseball drama casts Redford as gifted player Roy Hobbs. |
| 11 | Barefoot in the Park | 1967 | 81% | Redford and Jane Fonda play newlyweds in Gene Saks’s adaptation of the Neil Simon play. |
| 12 | Sneakers | 1992 | 80% | Redford leads Phil Alden Robinson’s ensemble technology thriller as hacker Martin Bishop. |
| 13 | Charlotte’s Web | 2006 | 79% | Redford is part of the ensemble in the family adaptation of E.B. White’s story. |
| 14 | Jeremiah Johnson | 1972 | 91% | Sydney Pollack’s wilderness drama is one of the guide’s conspicuous placement anomalies: its 91% score is higher than several films above it. |
| 15 | The Candidate | 1972 | 89% | Redford plays an idealistic Senate candidate in Michael Ritchie’s political satire. |
| 16 | Downhill Racer | 1969 | 81% | He plays an arrogant but gifted American skier in another Michael Ritchie sports drama. |
| 17 | The Hot Rock | 1972 | 83% | Redford joins George Segal and an ensemble cast in Peter Yates’s diamond-heist comedy. |
| 18 | Brubaker | 1980 | 74% | Redford plays a reform-minded prison warden in Stuart Rosenberg’s institutional drama. |
| 19 | The Chase | 1966 | 73% | Arthur Penn’s ensemble drama places Redford alongside Marlon Brando and Jane Fonda. |
| 20 | The Horse Whisperer | 1998 | 73% | Redford directed and starred in this family drama about a traumatized girl and her injured horse. |
| 21 | Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here | 1969 | 69% | Redford appears in Abraham Polonsky’s Western drama with Katharine Ross and Robert Blake. |
| 22 | Spy Game | 2001 | 64% | He plays CIA operative Nathan Muir opposite Brad Pitt in Tony Scott’s espionage thriller. |
| 23 | The Way We Were | 1973 | 65% | Redford stars opposite Barbra Streisand in Sydney Pollack’s romantic melodrama. |
| 24 | Truth | 2015 | 63% | Redford plays Dan Rather opposite Cate Blanchett in James Vanderbilt’s journalism drama. |
| 25 | The Great Waldo Pepper | 1975 | 59% | Redford plays a 1920s aviator in George Roy Hill’s visually notable aviation film. |
| 26 | The Electric Horseman | 1979 | 62% | Redford and Jane Fonda headline Sydney Pollack’s Western-tinged romantic comedy. |
| 27 | This Property Is Condemned | 1966 | 62% | He appears opposite Natalie Wood in the Tennessee Williams adaptation directed by Pollack. |
| 28 | Out of Africa | 1985 | 62% | Redford plays Denys Finch Hatton opposite Meryl Streep in Pollack’s historical romance. |
| 29 | A Bridge Too Far | 1977 | 61% | Redford is part of Richard Attenborough’s large ensemble war epic. |
| 30 | The Company You Keep | 2012 | 55% | Redford directed and starred in this political thriller about former Weather Underground members. |
| 31 | An Unfinished Life | 2005 | 53% | He plays a grieving rancher in Lasse Hallström’s family drama. |
| 32 | The Last Castle | 2001 | 52% | Redford plays a disgraced three-star general in Rod Lurie’s prison drama. |
| 33 | The Discovery | 2017 | 48% | He plays scientist Thomas Harbor in Charlie McDowell’s speculative drama. |
| 34 | A Walk in the Woods | 2015 | 46% | Redford plays travel writer Bill Bryson opposite Nick Nolte in Ken Kwapis’s hiking comedy-drama. |
| 35 | The Clearing | 2004 | 44% | Redford stars opposite Helen Mirren and Willem Dafoe in Pieter Jan Brugge’s kidnapping drama. |
| 36 | Legal Eagles | 1986 | 41% | He leads Ivan Reitman’s legal comedy-thriller with Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah. |
| 37 | The Great Gatsby | 1974 | 40% | Redford plays Jay Gatsby opposite Mia Farrow in Jack Clayton’s literary adaptation. |
| 38 | Indecent Proposal | 1993 | 34% | He plays the wealthy stranger at the center of Adrian Lyne’s provocative romantic drama. |
| 39 | Little Fauss and Big Halsy | 1970 | 33% | Redford plays a selfish motorcycle racer in Sidney J. Furie’s drama. |
| 40 | Up Close & Personal | 1996 | 32% | He plays a television news producer opposite Michelle Pfeiffer. |
| 41 | Inside Daisy Clover | 1965 | 31% | Redford appears opposite Natalie Wood and Christopher Plummer in Robert Mulligan’s Hollywood drama. |
| 42 | Havana | 1990 | 28% | He plays a professional gambler in Pollack’s pre-revolutionary Cuba romance. |
| 43 | Lions for Lambs | 2007 | 28% | Redford directed and starred opposite Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise in this political drama. |
Scores and displayed positions are drawn from Rotten Tomatoes’ guide and can change if the site updates its review count or classification. The table preserves the guide’s published sequence rather than silently correcting its ordering.
What the ranking says about Redford’s screen career
All Is Lost is the clearest performance showcase
If the question is “Which film best demonstrates what Redford himself can do?”, start with All Is Lost. The premise strips away the usual supporting machinery: there is no large ensemble to share the scene, and the character’s struggle is communicated through action, silence, concentration, and endurance. Its joint-leading 95% score makes it both the guide’s top-tier title and the most concentrated test of Redford’s screen presence.
For readers choosing that route, All Is Lost Blu-ray is a natural physical-media search, although the exact edition, region compatibility, seller, and availability should be checked before purchase.
All the President’s Men is the best starting point for serious drama
All the President’s Men is the strongest first choice for viewers who want Redford at the intersection of movie-star charisma and procedural drama. His Bob Woodward works within a disciplined journalistic investigation, while Alan J. Pakula’s direction emphasizes research, verification, institutional pressure, and the mechanics of reporting. It is also an excellent companion to Truth, which appears much lower in the displayed guide at 63% and places Redford in the role of Dan Rather.
The Newman collaborations remain essential viewing
Redford’s most durable popular image is inseparable from Paul Newman. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ranks seventh at 89%, while The Sting ranks fourth at 93%. They show two complementary versions of the partnership: the Western’s relaxed outlaw chemistry and the Depression-era caper’s elaborate performance of deception. For a two-film introduction to Redford’s classic-star period, watch Butch Cassidy first and follow it with The Sting.
Readers looking for a physical copy can search for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid on Blu-ray. Editions and stock vary, so this is a format suggestion rather than a claim about a particular current release.
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The thrillers reveal two different Redfords
Three Days of the Condor is the tense 1970s version: Redford’s Joe Turner is a codebreaker forced into motion when the world around him becomes untrustworthy. Sneakers, ranked lower numerically at 80%, shifts toward an ensemble technology caper, with Redford’s Martin Bishop functioning as the experienced center of a group. Together they make the most useful thriller double feature in the list—one paranoid and political, the other lighter and more collaborative.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier adds a later variation. Redford is not the central hero, but his Alexander Pierce connects his established political-thriller persona to a large-scale Marvel production. Its 90% score places it above several more traditional Redford vehicles in the guide.
Late-career films trade velocity for reflection
The guide’s high-scoring late-career titles are notably gentle. Our Souls at Night (91%) uses Redford’s reunion with Jane Fonda to explore companionship and vulnerability, while The Old Man & the Gun (93%) turns his familiar criminal-caper image into something relaxed and elegiac. Pete’s Dragon (88%) offers a family-fantasy route, and All Is Lost provides the starkest dramatic alternative.
The lower-scoring late films should not be treated as proof that Redford’s career simply declined. Tomatometer results reflect the critical reception of each entire film, including its screenplay, direction, editing, supporting cast, genre expectations, and release context—not merely the actor’s work. The Discovery, A Walk in the Woods, and The Clearing, for example, place Redford in very different narrative and tonal situations.
The ranking’s biggest anomaly—and why it should not be hidden
The most visible problem is the sequence around the middle of Rotten Tomatoes’ page. Charlotte’s Web is displayed at #13 with 79%, then Jeremiah Johnson at #14 with 91%, followed by The Candidate at #15 with 89%. Other examples occur later: The Great Waldo Pepper is shown at 59% before The Electric Horseman at 62%, and The Way We Were at 65% appears before Truth at 63%.
That does not make the scores unusable. It means “ranked” needs a precise qualifier. This article uses the guide’s displayed rank numbers. A strict score-sorted list would require independently reordering all 43 entries, handling ties, and labeling the result as an editorial recalculation rather than Rotten Tomatoes’ own displayed order.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A practical watchlist by mood
- For the best first film: All the President’s Men for serious drama, or The Sting for a classic crowd-pleaser.
- For Redford’s most concentrated acting challenge: All Is Lost.
- For the signature Western pairing: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, followed by Jeremiah Johnson for a much more solitary wilderness film.
- For political and journalistic stories: All the President’s Men, The Candidate, Three Days of the Condor, and Truth.
- For espionage and conspiracy: Three Days of the Condor, Spy Game, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
- For romance: Our Souls at Night, The Way We Were, Barefoot in the Park, or Out of Africa.
- For family viewing: Pete’s Dragon or Charlotte’s Web, subject to the viewer’s age and tolerance for emotionally serious material.
- For Redford as director and actor: The Horse Whisperer and The Company You Keep from this guide, then broaden the search to Ordinary People, A River Runs Through It, Quiz Show, and Lions for Lambs.
Acting filmography versus the wider Redford legacy
This is a movie-acting guide, not a complete ranking of every title associated with Redford. His broader Rotten Tomatoes celebrity filmography also includes documentaries and projects in which he was a narrator, executive producer, subject, or himself. That broader page includes titles such as Momentum Generation, National Parks Adventure, Incident at Oglala, The Mustangs: America’s Wild Horses, Planet Earth: One Amazing Day, and Public Trust, some of which carry 100% Tomatometer scores.
Those documentary and participation credits should not be mixed into a claim about Redford’s highest-rated starring movie performances. They are, however, important to understanding the career behind the acting list. Redford founded the Sundance Institute in 1981 to support independent artists and new voices; the institute describes that mission on its official About Us page. Readers interested in that part of his legacy can explore Sundance Institute’s independent-film work separately from the commercial film rankings.
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Bottom line
For the highest Tomatometer score, choose either All Is Lost or All the President’s Men, tied at 95%. Choose All Is Lost for an almost one-person performance study, All the President’s Men for landmark political journalism, The Sting for effortless entertainment, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid for the defining Redford-Newman Western partnership.
Most importantly, treat the 43-place sequence as Rotten Tomatoes’ displayed guide order, not as a perfectly descending score table. The percentages are useful critical-reception indicators, but they are not a final verdict on Redford’s acting, the films’ cultural importance, or what any individual viewer will enjoy.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Robert Redford’s highest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes?
All Is Lost and All the President’s Men are tied for the highest displayed Tomatometer score in Rotten Tomatoes’ Robert Redford guide, at 95%.
What does a Rotten Tomatoes score mean?
Yes. Rotten Tomatoes labels a title Fresh when at least 60% of counted professional critic reviews are positive. A score below 60% is Rotten. The Tomatometer is not a 10-point rating or an audience score.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsWhy isn’t the Rotten Tomatoes Robert Redford list in exact score order?
Jeremiah Johnson appears at #14 with 91%, after Charlotte’s Web at #13 with 79%. Other entries also break descending numerical order. The list above preserves Rotten Tomatoes’ displayed sequence and identifies it as such.
Which Robert Redford movie should I watch first?
Start with All the President’s Men for serious drama, All Is Lost for a concentrated performance showcase, The Sting for a classic caper, or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid for Redford’s signature Western partnership with Paul Newman.
The Bottom Line
Best overall starting points: All the President’s Men for serious drama, All Is Lost for Redford’s strongest individual showcase, and The Sting for a classic crowd-pleaser. Rotten Tomatoes’ top two are tied at 95%, but its displayed rank order contains numerical anomalies, so the list should not be described as a strict score-sorted ranking.
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