John Travolta's rise to acting respect has been a tumultuous journey. After reaching his peak commercial peak in the 1970s, the Golden Globe-winning actor career saw a decline in the next decade before making his second coming in the 1990s with the likes of Pulp Fiction, Phenomenon, Face/Off, and more.
"I’ve been getting career awards since the mid-’90s," he told Variety about whether he's ever considered retirement, "Your average career runs about 30 years, so I’m about five years past that."
He's a man of many names, and throughout a phenomenal career that spans over 50 years, John has landed a few iconic roles throughout the decades. With that being said, here's a slight look at John Travolta's greatest film feature roles, as ranked by IMDb.
6 John Travolta As Danny In 'Grease' (7.2)
The decade was the 1970s, and John Travolta's career was just taking off. His 1978 flick, Grease, sees the actor portraying the double life of Danny Zuko as a dangerous leader of a gang and the boyfriend of Sandy. Starring alongside Olivia Newton-John, the film adaptation of a novel of the same name has become one of the highest-selling musical films of all time. It ranks among titles like The Lion King, the Frozen franchise, Rami Malek's Bohemian Rhapsody, The Greatest Showman, and more.
5 Travolta In 'Face/Off' (7.3)
In 1997, John Travolta played an underground FBI agent who went under an experimental facial transplant procedure to crack down on the mastermind criminal who murdered his son. Titled Face/Off, the film became one of the highest-grossing movies of the year alongside Men in Black, Titanic, Batman & Robin, Devil's Advocate, and more. It stars Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Alessandro Nivola, Tommy Flanagan, and more, and amassed an Oscar nomination for Best Sound Effects Editing.
"He’s sort of in the last era of the golden age of Hollywood," Margaret Cho told Collider about her experience working with the actor, "He’s sort of the last movie star in a lot of ways. And so he had this sort of court around him of different people that he had worked with, his particular crew, whether they were his stand-ins or his stunt doubles or his crew that he would bring from movie to movie."
4 John Travolta As Jack Terry In 'Blow Out' (7.4)
Another classic title of the 1980s, Blow Out is "a movie about making a movie." It put John Travolta in the spotlight, telling the story of a movie technician who's eager to make his slasher film under an extremely limited budget.
However, the movie didn't even manage to break even from its $18 million budget. While it wasn't exactly a box office hit when it arrived in the summer due to its perplexing ending, the public's perception of it has changed over the years, making its way to Travolta's highest-ever feature films list according to IMDb.
3 Travolta As Billy Nolan In 'Carrie' (7.4)
Back in the 1970s, John Travolta was in the supporting roles of Billy Nolan, a vengeful boyfriend in a disastrous prom night in supernatural flick Carrie. The film adaptation of Stephen King's gothic novel of the same name chronicles around a shy 16-year-old, who's often become a punching bag at her school, as she terrorizes those who'd wronged her. Although Travolta wasn't exactly the main star of the film, Carrie's influence in the pop culture landscape will never be replicated. It's been constantly hailed as one of the greatest horror movies of all time and even developed into a franchise.
2 John Travolta In 'The Thin Red Line' (7.6)
After 20 years of absence from filmmaking, director Terrence Malick made his return in 1998 with an epic war film, The Thin Red Line. Travolta joined the star-studded cast members, featuring Sean Penn, Jared Leto, Geroge Clooney, Ben Chaplin, and more, albeit only playing small parts. The screen adaptation of James Jones's novel of the same name tells the story of amassed seven nominations at the Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Cinematography. In fact, legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese has ranked it as one of his favorite films of the 1990s!
1 John Travolta As Vincent Vega In 'Pulp Fiction' (8.9)
Pulp Fiction is the pinnacle of John Travolta's career, ranking one of the best movies ever made of all time. In this film, he portrays the lead character: a working-class partner-in-crime of a mob hitman. Starring alongside Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson, the Quentin Tarantino-directed flick has transformed the cinematic landscape like never before. Despite having reportedly agreed to a less reduced rate to accept the role, Pulp Fiction's success has somewhat revitalized Travolta's career in the next years.
"I would love that," the actor told Deadline when asked whether he'd love to reunite with the director for future projects. "These great directors, they hire you because 90 percent of their job is done when they cast you. Because they believe you’re the rightest person, so you don’t ever want to force something that’s not organic."