Kurt Russell Ranks This Western as One of His Greatest Films Ever!

Few actors can boast having starred in as many cult classic films as Kurt Russell. Throughout his career, the actor has shown a keen sense for identifying potential hits, even when he’s not featured in them.

While working with Paul W.S. Anderson on Soldier (1998), a film that didn’t initially receive universal acclaim but earned Russell a significant paycheck, he tried to reassure the director. As FarOut Magazine recalls, Anderson was still reeling from the failure of his previous film, Event Horizon, which had been heavily edited by the studio before flopping at the box office.

Russell had assured him that the dark blend of horror and science fiction would eventually be rediscovered and find its audience. And he was right: nearly three decades later, Event Horizon has developed a solid reputation and is now undeniably considered a cult classic.

A Regular in Cult Classics

It’s clear that Russell is intimately familiar with the phenomenon. His filmography is filled with titles that have gained a special status over the years among movie enthusiasts: Escape from New York, Breakdown, Big Trouble in Little China, Used Cars, Tombstone, and Sky High, to name a few. This makes Kurt Russell one of the definitive faces of his cinematic era.

But it’s nearly impossible to predict at the time of release whether a film will achieve such fame. Nor can one intentionally create a “cult classic,” as this status largely depends on how the audience embraces the film. It often takes years and multiple iterations on DVD, Blu-ray, or now streaming for a work to be fully appreciated.

When asked which of his more recent films might one day join this illustrious list, Russell quickly chose Quentin Tarantino’s 2015 claustrophobic western, The Hateful Eight.

“I think The Hateful Eight will make it,” he stated (via FarOut Magazine). “The more you watch it, the more you discover.”

“Every Artist Has the DNA of Van Gogh”

Ten years after the film’s release, Russell’s prediction remains up for debate. The Hateful Eight is generally less celebrated than several of Tarantino’s other works. However, Russell knows better than anyone that some pieces need time before they are fully recognized. While he would undoubtedly have preferred for all his iconic roles to be celebrated immediately, the actor seems to have accepted that their true legacy might only be measured much later.

“Every artist has the DNA of Van Gogh,” he added. “We’ll know after I’m gone!”

Fortunately, Kurt Russell is still very much alive, and movie lovers haven’t waited to revisit and celebrate many of his films. Whether The Hateful Eight will eventually attain the same cult status remains to be seen. Over a decade after its release, the film hasn’t yet achieved a cult status as obvious as some of the actor’s classics, but his career history shows that such a reputation can take a long time to build.

In the meantime, The Hateful Eight is available for rediscovery on VOD.

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