Movies Our greatest living movie star is......

[Madmick]

Cruise has turned into an action star, but born on the fourth, a few good men, Jerry Maguire, and my all time favorite film the last samurai. The man can act. I don’t care for a lot of his newer action films. Oblivion, mission impossibles, edge of tomorrow all that junk.

He's been a teen hearththrob in coming-of-age classics (ex. Risky Business, The Outsiders, All the Right Moves).
He's been an Oscar-level dramatic actor (ex. A Few Good Men, Magnolia, Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July, The Color of Money, Lions for Lambs)
He's turned in legendary comedic roles, and handled comedic moments with aplomb in all his blockbusters (ex. Tropic Thunder)
He's done romances (ex. Jerry Maguire, Cocktail, Knight and Day).
He's done thrillers (ex. The Firm, Collateral)
He's done historical fiction (ex. The Last Samurai, Valkyrie)
He's done fantasy (ex. Legend, Interview with a Vampire)
He's done Sci-Fi (Edge of Tomorrow, Minority Report, Oblivion)
He's done martial arts just to prove a point (ex. Jack Reacher).
He's been the top grossing action star of the decade for like four decades running, and nobody in history has turned in top-grossing worldwide films as regularly for as long as he has-- he's done a Top 10 film nearly every year for decades (from Top Gun to the Mission Impossible series).
He's one of the greatest stuntmen alive, if not the greatest, the dude can actually fly the plane/helicopter, drive the car, fire the guns, pop the parachute, hold his breath for minutes, there isn't a goddamn thing Cruise can't do. FFS, if he made a movie about horses, I have no doubt he'd be one of the greatest jockeys on the planet by the end of production.
As I've written previously, he isn't just a great actor, he's a true star. Even more rare. He's been the leading man in every movie for over 35 years straight now. Only a precious few actors in history had that kind of clout. Actors like John Wayne, Charlton Heston, Clint Eastwood. He carries the marquee. He's one of the last actors-- perhaps the very last-- Hollywood casts because they know casting him alone guarantees a box office hit. People go to see the man, not the movie. They don't care what it is. That kind of star doesn't exist, anymore.


He's not just the greatest movie star alive. He's the greatest movie star of all time.

 

[HereticBD]

I like Denzel, but he ain't no Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise can turn a "Top Gun" sequel nobody ever asked for, like 30 years later, and still churn out a cool billion.

That said, Denzel could be doing Tom Cruise like shit, but he's not picking the right projects. "Equalizer 3"??? Nobody cares. The first movie was barely a hit.

I'd actually like to see the worlds collide, and see Denzel play a villain in "Mission Impossible".

 

[newcastleman]

Well Clint Eastwood is still alive, so the answer is no

 

[MicroBrew]

No

I have no idea who would be, if even there is a single "greatest movie star" alive today.

 

[Ima5starman]

Pacino and Deniro deserve to be in the conversation. Probably Tom Hanks though.

 

[Fluffernutter]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-paid_film_actors

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

Lol no

 

[Sweater of AV]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-paid_film_actors

I had a feeling that I don't know enough about current cinema/Hollywood to answer the question and this confirms it.

In general, it would be good to define what constitutes a "star" before arguing. My guess would have been someone like Tom Cruise but what the hell do I know.

 

[I Am Legion]

No, maybe top 10. But flat out movie stars, I think of:
1. Cruise
2. DiCaprio
3. Pitt
4. Deniro
5. Depp

Could we put him higher than Bradley Cooper? Robert Downey Jr? He hasn’t been impactful in a long time, Equalizer movies are ho hum. Fences was 8 years ago.

 

[IDGETKTFO]

Denzel is a good actor, but one dimensional.

 

[Simple Southerner]

Yes - probably.

 

[TheTickG]

I think Much Ado about Nothing is the only Denzel film I've seen. I did meet the woman in Mississippi Masala about 20 years ago though. That was nice.

 

[SKYNET]

Leo's my pick.

Dude alreaady has a GOAT tier resume in his late 40's. If he can find some more roles with top directors, similar to the roles he had with Tarantino and Nolan, over the next 20 years he could end up GOAT

 

[LEWIS540]

Leo's my pick.

Dude alreaady has a GOAT tier resume in his late 40's. If he can find some more roles with top directors, similar to the roles he had with Tarantino and Nolan, over the next 20 years he could end up GOAT

Would like to see him work with Scorsese at some point.

 

[LEWIS540]

Outside of Mission Impossible and then TopGun:Maverick, Tom Cruise hasn’t really had a major hit for years. Lots of decent returns eg JackReacher, Edge of Tomorrow, Oblivion etc but nothing huge.

Acting like he has the Midas touch isn’t really true.

He may well be “the last of the movie stars” but even he can’t really compete with the sequel/franchise era.

Let’s not forget The Mummy debacle, neither.

 

[ICHEERTHEBULL]

Denzel is great, but I'd say Tom Cruise. Especially since he added ridiculous stuntwork to his skillset. Still making great movies to this day

If we are talking about a movie star the Tom Cruise has to be no1 by a long way. He may not be the greatest actor but as a “star” he’s been going for near 40 years and is still a draw

 

[SKYNET]

Would like to see him work with Scorsese at some point.

He already has worked with Scorsese, The Aviator and The Departed come to mind. Dudes already up there with the goats

 

[LEWIS540]

He already has 2 with Scorsese, The Aviator and The Departed. Dudes already up there with the goats

I was being sarcastic.

Hasn’t he done about 6 with him? Wolf of Wall Street, Shutter Island and Gangs of New York instantly come to mind.

 

[SKYNET]

I was being sarcastic.

Hasn’t he done about 6 with him? Wolf of Wall Street, Shutter Island and Gangs of New York instantly come to mind.

Yeah sarcasm doesn't translate on the internet. I forgot Scorsese did those others, I see your point

 

[LEWIS540]

If we are talking about a movie star the Tom Cruise has to be no1 by a long way. He may not be the greatest actor but as a “star” he’s been going for near 40 years and is still a draw

Outside of MI and the anomaly which was Top Gun, has he really been that big of a draw in recent years, though? Seems he’s done a lot of semi successful films, but none of them have been super hits.

Hell, in terms of franchises, Mission Impossible is way behind the real big hitters, despite doing relatively well in their own right.

Cruise has survived better than most, but he’s still fallen behind the soulless, formulaic dross of recent years.