Kathryn Bigelow - All Her Movies Ranked

Short Biography:

Kathryn Bigelow is an American film director. Her best-known films are the cult horror film Near Dark (1987), the surfer/bank robbery action picture Point Break (1991), the historical/mystery film The Weight of Water (2000) and the war drama The Hurt Locker (2008).

The Hurt Locker won the 2010 Academy Award for Best Picture, won the BAFTA Award for Best Film, and was nominated for the 2010 Golden Globe Award for Best Drama.

With The Hurt Locker, Bigelow became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director, the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing, the BAFTA Award for Best Direction, and the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Director.

Here is a rundown of his movies, with the score based on the average from IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes (public votes only) and Letterboxd, from lowest ranked to highest:

Number of Qualifying Films:

Career Average Rating:

7.24

Total Career Box Office:

$ 374,551,540

Total Combined Budgets:

$ 296,000,000

Total Career Profit or [Loss]:

$ 78,551,540

Average Career Return on Every $1 Spent:

$ 1.27

9 – The Weight of Water (2000)

IMDb:

5.8

RT Users:

3.8

Letterboxd:

4.68

4.76

Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Top Billed Cast:

Sean Penn, Catherine McCormack, Elizabeth Hurley, Sarah Polley, Josh Lucas, Ciarán Hinds

SYNOPSIS:

Photojournalist Jean Janes travels by yacht to Smuttynose, off the coast of New Hampshire, to photograph the site of a sensational axe murder that occurred a century earlier in which two women were killed. As the unsolved mystery oddly begins to parallel events playing out in Jean’s life, violence erupts against the backdrop of the raging Atlantic Ocean.

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:

$ 321,279

PRODUCTION BUDGET:

$ 16,000,000

PROFIT OR (LOSS):

$ (15,678,721)

RETURN ON EVERY $1 SPENT:

$ (0.02)

8 – Blue Steel (1990)

IMDb:

5.7

RT Users:

3.6

Letterboxd:

6.18

5.16

Thriller

Top Billed Cast:

Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Silver, Clancy Brown, Elizabeth Peña, Louise Fletcher, Philip Bosco

SYNOPSIS:

When rookie cop Megan Turner (Jamie Lee Curtis) kills a convenience store robber, she does not notice when psychopathic commodities trader Eugene Hunt (Ron Silver) takes the dead man’s gun. With no weapon at the crime scene, the police hold Turner accountable for killing an unarmed man. Meanwhile, Hunt uses the stolen weapon to go on a killing spree. Turner teams up with detective Nick Mann (Clancy Brown) to clear her name and catch the killer. An unexpected romance complicates matters.

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:

$ 8,217,997

PRODUCTION BUDGET:

$ 20,000,000

PROFIT OR (LOSS):

$ (11,782,003)

RETURN ON EVERY $1 SPENT:

$ (0.41)

7 – K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)

IMDb:

6.7

RT Users:

5.2

Letterboxd:

7.50

6.47

Drama, History, Mystery, Thriller, War

Top Billed Cast:

Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Peter Sarsgaard, Joss Ackland, John Shrapnel, Donald Sumpter

SYNOPSIS:

Follows Captain Alexi Vostrikov (Harrison Ford) who, at the height of the Cold War, is ordered to take over command of the nuclear missile submarine K-19, pride of the Soviet Navy. His assignment: Prepare the K-19 for sea and take her out on patrol — no matter what the cost. But problems with the K-19 arise that may lead to a core meltdown and explosion that will certainly kill all aboard, and possibly trigger a nuclear war. Vostrikov must choose between his orders and the lives of his men.

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:

$ 65,716,126

PRODUCTION BUDGET:

$ 100,000,000

PROFIT OR (LOSS):

$ (34,283,874)

RETURN ON EVERY $1 SPENT:

$ (0.66)

6 – Near Dark (1987)

IMDb:

6.9

RT Users:

7.4

Letterboxd:

7.12

7.14

Horror

Top Billed Cast:

Adrian Pasdar, Bill Paxton, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein

SYNOPSIS:

Cowboy Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar) meets gorgeous Mae (Jenny Wright) at a bar, and the two have an immediate attraction. But when Mae turns out to be a vampire and bites Caleb on the neck, their relationship gets complicated. Wracked with a craving for human blood, Caleb is forced to leave his family and ride with Mae and her gang of vampires, including the evil Severen. Along the way Caleb must decide between his new love of Mae and the love of his family.

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:

$ 3,369,307

PRODUCTION BUDGET:

$ 5,000,000

PROFIT OR (LOSS):

$ (1,630,693)

RETURN ON EVERY $1 SPENT:

$ (0.67)

5 – Strange Days (1995)

IMDb:

7.1

RT Users:

7.3

Letterboxd:

7.32

7.24

Crime, Drama, Thriller, Science Fiction

Top Billed Cast:

Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott, Vincent D’Onofrio

SYNOPSIS:

Former policeman Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes) has moved into a more lucrative trade: the illegal sale of virtual reality-like recordings that allow users to experience the emotions and past experiences of others. While the bootlegs typically contain tawdry incidents, Nero is shocked when he receives one showing a murder. He enlists a friend, bodyguard Mace (Angela Bassett), to help find the killer — and the two soon stumble upon a vast conspiracy involving the police force Nero once worked for.

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:

$ 7,959,291

PRODUCTION BUDGET:

$ 42,000,000

PROFIT OR (LOSS):

$ (34,040,709)

RETURN ON EVERY $1 SPENT:

$ (0.19)

4 – Detroit (2017)

IMDb:

7.3

RT Users:

7.9

Letterboxd:

7.18

7.46

Crime, Drama, History, Thriller

Top Billed Cast:

John Boyega, Will Poulter, Anthony Mackie, Algee Smith, Hannah Murray, Jason Mitchell

SYNOPSIS:

In the summer of 1967, rioting and civil unrest starts to tear apart the city of Detroit. Two days later, a report of gunshots prompts the Detroit Police Department, the Michigan State Police and the Michigan Army National Guard to search and seize an annex of the nearby Algiers Motel. Several policemen start to flout procedure by forcefully and viciously interrogating guests to get a confession. By the end of the night, three unarmed men are gunned down while several others are brutally beaten.

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:

$ 23,355,100

PRODUCTION BUDGET:

$ 34,000,000

PROFIT OR (LOSS):

$ (10,644,900)

RETURN ON EVERY $1 SPENT:

$ (0.69)

3 – Point Break (1991)

IMDb:

7.2

RT Users:

7.9

Letterboxd:

7.38

7.49

Action, Crime, Thriller

Top Billed Cast:

Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey, Lori Petty, John C. McGinley, James Le Gros

SYNOPSIS:

After a string of bizarre bank robberies in Southern California, with the crooks donning masks of various former presidents, a federal agent, Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves), infiltrates the suspected gang. But this is no ordinary group of robbers. They’re surfers — led by the charismatic Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) — who are addicted to the rush of thievery. But when Utah falls in love with a female surfer, Tyler (Lori Petty), who is close to the gang, it complicates his sense of duty.

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:

$ 83,531,958

PRODUCTION BUDGET:

$ 24,000,000

PROFIT OR (LOSS):

$ 59,531,958

RETURN ON EVERY $1 SPENT:

$ 3.48

2 – Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

IMDb:

7.4

RT Users:

8.0

Letterboxd:

7.16

7.52

Drama, History, Thriller

Top Billed Cast:

Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Jennifer Ehle, Mark Strong, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt

SYNOPSIS:

Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden becomes one of the most-wanted men on the planet. The worldwide manhunt for the terrorist leader occupies the resources and attention of two U.S. presidential administrations. Ultimately, it is the work of a dedicated female operative (Jessica Chastain) that proves instrumental in finally locating bin Laden. In May 2011, Navy SEALs launch a nighttime strike, killing bin Laden in his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:

$ 132,820,716

PRODUCTION BUDGET:

$ 40,000,000

PROFIT OR (LOSS):

$ 92,820,716

RETURN ON EVERY $1 SPENT:

$ 3.32

1 – The Hurt Locker (2008)

IMDb:

7.5

RT Users:

8.4

Letterboxd:

7.36

7.75

Drama, Thriller, War

Top Billed Cast:

Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, David Morse, Guy Pearce, Evangeline Lilly, Ralph Fiennes

SYNOPSIS:

Following the death of their well-respected Staff Sergeant in Iraq, Sergeant JT Stanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge find their Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit saddled with a very different team leader. Staff Sergeant William James is an inveterate risk-taker who seems to thrive on war, but there’s no denying his gift for defusing bombs.

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:

$ 49,259,766

PRODUCTION BUDGET:

$ 15,000,000

PROFIT OR (LOSS):

$ 34,259,766

RETURN ON EVERY $1 SPENT:

$ 3.28