Michael Ironside, known as the tough guy in Hollywood, is one of the veteran actors who has made a mark in viewers’ lives with his cold-hearted stares. The go-to villain of the ’80s and ’90s has had a fruitful career with a whopping 200-plus performances under his belt. Besides having such a stellar career, the villain character yielding actor is still going strong on screens to date. This Canadian bigshot actor, instead of just having stern and scary roles, has also portrayed sympathetic characters.
For a whole decade, anybody would be scared to cross him from the fear of his unnerving grim face. He is most popularly known for his performances in Total Recall and Top Gun. In an interview with Empire, the extremely charismatic actor said, “I knew I was never going to be Tom Cruise or the leading man, I was gonna be the guy that’s either going to try to kill him or catch him when he falls.” Luckily for everyone, he has taken on roles of the perfect villain.
His meticulous acting has earned him proper respect and fan-following over the years. He is one of the most recognized faces in Hollywood. Most of his fans have been following him since the golden era of video shops and DVDs. To commemorate his unbeatable career, let’s look at Michael Ironside’s performances.
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7 The Machinist (2004)
Paramount VantagePalisades TartanFilmaxVapet ProductionsCTV International
Directed by Brad Anderson, The Machinist is a dark psychological thriller about insomniac report Trevor (Christian Bale). A strange man follows him around everywhere, but nobody else can see him. Michael Ironside plays Miller, a fellow worker in the factory, and amputee, because he recently lost his arm because of another worker’s incompetence. He offers an extraordinarily strong side character whose expressions are so confusing to the viewers, that they add the perfect layer of mystery. In the scene of Trevor confronting Miller at his house, viewers were brought to the edges of their seats. Miller seems like he would burst at any second, but ends up laughing at Trevor, only to later kick him out.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
6 Highlander 2: The Quickening (1991)
Westinghouse Broadcasting
Directed by Russell Mulcahy, Highlander 2: The Quickening is the most unfortunate sequel ever made. Over the years it has garnered the reputation for being one of the most badly acted movies, with a confusing script and plot. However, an exception for Michael Ironside can be made. Michael Ironside as Katana gives a very enthusiastic performance, with his presence making the movie watchable. As soon as he arrives on Earth, he goes around wreaking havoc everywhere and threatening the lives of everyone around him. His fashion choices make it hard to believe that this man could crash a subway train just for his amusement.
5 Starship Troopers (1997)
Sony Pictures Motion Picture GroupTouchstone Pictures
Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 sci-fi film Starship Troopers follows the story of Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) joining the military only to soon find himself in a war against bugs. Michael Ironside plays the high school teacher Jean Rasczak, who joins the military alongside the kids he teaches. This hilarious satire of colonialism masked with an insect invasion is one of Michael Ironside’s most entertaining movies. His role as the leader of the squad shows his tyrant side reflected through his hatred for bugs.
4 Scanners (1981)
New World Pictures
Directed by David Cronenberg, Scanners is the horror sci-fi hit movie that is known as Michael Ironside’s breakthrough performance. Fans of the actor got to see him in a lead role of Darryl Revok, a dangerous scanner, after world domination. The shot of the actor with white eyes and veins bulging out is permanently ingrained into the minds of the viewers of the movie. Ironside perfectly displays his devilish charm, aided with a lot of special effects. His go-to technique in the film is to torture his victims, is to consistently apply pressure until their heads burst. Now this is an image that nobody can get out of their heads.
3 Turbo Kid (2015)
Epic Pictures Group
Directed by Anouk Whissel, Turbo Kid is a sci-fi action movie that will immediately attract the ’80s pop culture and post-apocalyptic cinema lovers. It follows the story of The Kid, ending up in the ruined land of Zeus, played by Michael Ironside. The movie crams up a lot of themes together including action, humor, and grit. Zeus shines throughout the movie as the ultimate bad guy against a kid in a very Mad Max-esque way. For an extremely dangerous tyrant, viewers cannot help but also be charmed by his character. Additionally, Ironside got to deliver another iconic line in the movie: “I like blades! I like fire! I like blades and fire! “Anybody cosplaying as Zeus at any Halloween party would go around screaming this everywhere.
2 Top Gun (1986)
Paramount Pictures
Directed by Tony Scott, Top Gun was the ultimate drama and action movie of the ’80s. The movie is completely centered around Tom Cruise’s character, Lt. Pete “Maverick.” Although Michael Ironside played an extremely minor role in the movie, he and all his fans can still applaud for his stellar performance. Ironside’s character, “Jester”, was one to be feared throughout the movie. He is shown as a blunt, not-to-be-messed-with military instructor, who will do anything to straighten out the boys. However, his tactics and strictness fall short to tame the wildcard, Maverick. Viewers of the movie would never want Ironside’s Jester to be their teacher or commander in any capacity. He perfectly portrayed the discipline and hard-headedness required to be in the military.
1 Total Recall (1990)
TriStar Pictures
The 1990 Paul Verhoeven sci-fi banger with an adventure to Mars and shifted identities, Total Recall was way ahead of its time. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside takes a back seat with the character of Richter, who shows his true colors slowly. Sidekick and henchman to the main villain, Richter does not stop on anybody’s account to destroy his target, Doug Quaid (Schwarzenegger). His motivation to kill Doug increases, seeing his wife Lori (Sharon Stone) acting as Doug’s fake spouse. His crew members make a living hell for Doug, chasing him down on two planets. The iconic Ironside stare and clenching teeth can be seen through this character making him one of the best villains of the era.
