The 30+ Best Warren Oates Movies

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Updated April 30, 2024 38 items
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List of the best Warren Oates movies, ranked best to worst with movie trailers when available. Warren Oates's highest grossing movies have received a lot of accolades over the years, earning millions upon millions around the world. The order of these top Warren Oates movies is decided by how many votes they receive, so only highly rated Warren Oates movies will be at the top of the list. Warren Oates has been in a lot of films, so people often debate each other over what the greatest Warren Oates movie of all time is. If you and a friend are arguing about this then use this list of the most entertaining Warren Oates films to end the squabble once and for all.

If you think the best Warren Oates role isn't at the top, then upvote it so it has the chance to become number one. The greatest Warren Oates performances didn't necessarily come from the best movies, but in most cases they go hand in hand.

List features films like Dixie Dynamite, Blue Thunder and more!

"This list answers the questions, "What are the best Warren Oates movies?" and "What are the greatest Warren Oates roles of all time?"

If you're a fan of Warren Oates, then check out our lists of the best Strother Martin and James Coburn movies as well.

Most divisive: There Was a Crooked Man...
Over 100 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The 30+ Best Warren Oates Movies
  • True Grit: A Further Adventure
    31
    True Grit: A Further Adventure is a 1978 television film sequel to the movies True Grit and Rooster Cogburn. While John Wayne portrays Rooster Cogburn in the first two films, Warren Oates takes over the role in this 1978 television film. Lisa Pelikan portrays Mattie Ross, played in the first film by Kim Darby. The supporting cast features Lee Meriwether and Parley Baer and the film was directed by Richard T. Heffron.
  • The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond
    32
    Ray Danton, Karen Steele, Elaine Stewart
    1 votes
    The New York killer (Ray Danton) goes from mob bodyguard to mob boss to mob target.
  • Drum
    33
    Pam Grier, Ken Norton, Yaphet Kotto
    2 votes
    Drum is a 1976 American film based on the Kyle Onstott novel of the same name. It was released by United Artists and is a sequel to the film Mandingo, released in 1975. The film stars Warren Oates, Pam Grier, Ken Norton, and was directed by Steve Carver.
  • Lanton Mills
    34
    Terrence Malick, Harry Dean Stanton, Warren Oates
    2 votes
    Lanton Mills is an American comedy short film written and directed by Terrence Malick and starring Malick, Warren Oates, Harry Dean Stanton, and Paula Mandel. His thesis project for the American Film Institute, it was completed in 1969. The story concerns two apparently 19th-century cowboys plotting to rob a bank in Texas, which they do in the 20th century. A film writer who viewed a VHS copy at the American Film Institute described it: The producer was John Roper, the cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, and the editor John Palmer, with Malick composing the music. The film was distributed nontheatrically in the 1970s.
  • The White Dawn
    35
    Warren Oates, Timothy Bottoms, Louis Gossett
    2 votes
    In 1896, three American whalers are taken in by an Eskimo village in the Arctic after getting stranded in the ice during a hunt. While condescending officer Billy (Warren Oates) introduces the Inuits to gambling, black harpooner Portagee (Louis Gossett Jr.) grows closer to the villagers as he gets used to a life without racism. Cabin boy Daggett (Timothy Bottoms) becomes the most integrated in the community, falling in love with the clan leader's youngest wife.
  • Sleeping Dogs
    36
    Sam Neill, Warren Oates, Ian Mune
    2 votes
    Sleeping Dogs is a 1977 film based on the book Smith's Dream by C. K. Stead, and is the first feature film by director Roger Donaldson. Featuring Sam Neill, Clyde Scott and Warren Oates it is notable for being the first feature-length 35 mm film produced entirely in New Zealand. A political thriller with action film elements, it follows the lead character "Smith" as New Zealand plunges into a police state as a fascist government institutes martial law after industrial disputes flare into violence. Smith gets caught between the special police and a growing resistance movement and reluctantly becomes involved.
  • Yellowstone Kelly
    37
    Clint Walker, Edd Byrnes, John Russell
    4 votes
    Union soldier Maj. Towns (Rhodes Reason) asks fur trapper and Indian scout Luther "Yellowstone" Kelly (Clint Walker) to scout for the Army in Sioux territory. Kelly ventures into the area, only to be taken prisoner by the Sioux. Since Kelly saved the life of Chief Gall (John Russell) years before, the chief promises to free him if Kelly treats wounded Arapaho maiden Wahleeah (Andra Martin). Soon Kelly and the recovered Wahleeah are caught between Towns' soldiers and the vengeful Sioux.
  • The Brink's Job
    38
    Peter Falk, Peter Boyle, Warren Oates
    1 votes
    On Jan. 17, 1950, a group of unlikely criminal masterminds commits the robbery of the century. Led by Tony Pino (Peter Falk), a petty thief fresh out of prison, and Joe McGinnis (Peter Boyle), who specializes in planning lucrative capers, the gang robs Brink's main office in Boston of more than $2 million. However, things begin to go awry when the FBI gets involved, the cops start cracking down on the gang and McGinnis refuses to hand over the loot.