The 10 Most Underrated Christopher Walken Movies, Ranked (from Least to Most Underrated)

Christopher Walken’s career stretches from early television work to stage musicals and major studio films, with leading roles, scene-stealing turns, and distinctive character work across genres. Beyond the obvious highlights, there’s a rich run of projects where he anchors thrillers, dramas, and offbeat indies, often carrying complicated stories or lending a sharp edge to ensemble casts.

Below is a countdown of ten Walken movies that deserve more attention. For each, you’ll find concise context—who made it, what it’s about, and where Walken fits—plus production notes, cast details, or release history to help you track down the ones you’ve missed.

‘The Dogs of War’ (1980)

Adapted from Frederick Forsyth’s novel, this political thriller follows mercenary Jamie Shannon as he’s hired to reconnoiter—and ultimately help overthrow—the leadership of the fictional West African nation of Zangaro. Directed by John Irvin, the film focuses on covert surveillance, corporate interference in mineral rights, and the logistics of mounting a coup, with Walken leading on-the-ground operations.

The cast includes Tom Berenger and JoBeth Williams, and the movie is known for its detailed depiction of improvised tactics and equipment prepping before the mission. Walken’s character arc tracks the steps from reconnaissance photography to acquisition of weapons and the staging of the assault, framing the narrative around the practicalities of modern mercenary work.

‘The Prophecy’ (1995)

Written and directed by Gregory Widen, this supernatural thriller centers on a hidden war among angels that spills into the human world. Walken plays the Archangel Gabriel, whose conflict drives the investigation led by a former seminarian-turned-detective, drawing in witnesses and a schoolteacher as the story links ancient texts with present-day crimes.

The film co-stars Elias Koteas, Virginia Madsen, and Viggo Mortensen, and it launched several sequels that expanded the mythology introduced here. Practical effects, Latin liturgical references, and courtroom-style interrogations are used to ground the theological stakes in police-procedural beats, with Walken’s characterization tying those threads to the central celestial dispute.

‘Percy’ (2020)

Directed by Clark Johnson, this fact-based drama follows Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser as he becomes the subject of a landmark legal dispute concerning patented canola seeds found on his land. Walken portrays Schmeiser through discovery, depositions, and courtroom testimony as the case moves from local controversy to national attention.

The film features Christina Ricci and Zach Braff in key supporting roles and traces the timeline of legal filings, lab testing, and public rallies surrounding the case. It presents the procedural steps—from initial allegations and evidence collection to appellate arguments—while showing how agricultural practices and intellectual-property claims intersected in the dispute.

‘Scotland, PA’ (2001)

This indie crime comedy reimagines ‘Macbeth’ in a 1970s Pennsylvania fast-food joint, with Walken as Lieutenant McDuff investigating a suspicious restaurant fire and a rash of sudden business success. Written and directed by Billy Morrissette, the movie maps characters and plot points from the play onto small-town dynamics, using time-period details to reset the story’s power grabs.

James LeGros and Maura Tierney lead the ensemble, and the production leans on regional diners, uniforms, and signage to echo the original’s hierarchies in a contemporary setting. Walken’s police work—interviews, evidence reviews, and pattern-matching—serves as the procedural backbone that translates the source material’s suspicions into casework.

‘Heaven’s Gate’ (1980)

Michael Cimino’s frontier epic dramatizes the Johnson County War, depicting clashes between European immigrants and wealthy cattle interests in Wyoming. Walken plays Nate Champion, a ranch hand whose experiences connect labor disputes, hired guns, and the tensions that culminate in a violent range conflict.

The large ensemble includes Kris Kristofferson, Isabelle Huppert, and Jeff Bridges, and the production is noted for extensive period sets, costuming, and dance-hall sequences. Multiple cuts of the film exist, and later restorations have made the longer version widely available, giving fuller context to Champion’s storyline within the broader historical canvas.

‘King of New York’ (1990)

Directed by Abel Ferrara, this crime drama follows Frank White, a recently released drug lord who attempts to consolidate territory while funding a public hospital. Walken’s character navigates rival crews and an aggressive NYPD detail, with scenes moving through hotels, subways, and late-night meetings that chart the shifting control of city corners.

The film features Laurence Fishburne, Wesley Snipes, and David Caruso, with Bojan Bazelli’s cinematography capturing nocturnal Manhattan exteriors and club interiors. Its structure alternates between White’s negotiations and police surveillance, culminating in targeted raids and counter-moves that map the city’s underworld as a contested grid.

‘Suicide Kings’ (1997)

This thriller follows a group of college friends who kidnap a retired mob boss to leverage information they believe will help them resolve a separate crisis. Walken’s character, Carlo Bartolucci, spends much of the film restrained, interacting with captors through negotiations and psychological probing that reveal backstories via timed flashbacks.

Peter O’Fallon directs an ensemble that includes Denis Leary, Jay Mohr, and Sean Patrick Flanery. The movie’s timeline intercuts the apartment hostage situation with street-level side missions, payphone check-ins, and an outside enforcer’s investigations, gradually reconciling conflicting accounts into a single sequence of events.

‘At Close Range’ (1986)

Based on true crimes involving a rural burglary ring, this drama focuses on a teenage son who reconnects with his estranged father and is drawn into a series of robberies. Walken plays Brad Whitewood Sr., whose operations—stash houses, fencing contacts, and crew management—are depicted alongside family interactions that show recruitment and control inside the group.

James Foley directs, with Sean Penn and Chris Penn as the film’s central brothers and Mary Stuart Masterson in a key supporting role. The production places the action in small-town Pennsylvania settings—car lots, kitchens, and fields—while the soundtrack, including Madonna’s ‘Live to Tell’, marks time and mood across pivotal scenes.

‘A Late Quartet’ (2012)

Set in New York’s classical-music world, this drama follows the Fugue Quartet as it confronts change after its cellist receives a medical diagnosis. Walken portrays Peter Mitchell, whose condition prompts rehearsal schedule shifts, repertoire reassessment, and board discussions about upcoming concerts and tours.

Written and directed by Yaron Zilberman, the film co-stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, and Mark Ivanir, incorporating chamber-music rehearsal practices, instrument maintenance, and performance etiquette. Beethoven’s Op. 131 anchors the narrative, and the story tracks personnel decisions, contract obligations, and mentorship as the group prepares for a high-stakes program.

‘The Dead Zone’ (1983)

David Cronenberg adapts Stephen King’s novel about a schoolteacher who awakens from a coma with the ability to perceive a person’s past or future through touch. Walken plays Johnny Smith, whose consultations range from assisting local law enforcement to confronting a rising political figure, with the film organizing these episodes into a case-by-case progression.

The supporting cast includes Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, and Martin Sheen, and the production features Michael Kamen’s score and Mark Irwin’s cinematography. Key sequences—ice-covered visions, a serial-killer investigation, and a rally—are staged as discrete investigations, each with its own evidence trail, that build toward the final moral decision.

Share the overlooked Walken performances you’d put on this list in the comments!