The man is gone, his movies will live forever (or at least all night.)
What is Patrick Swayze’s greatest cinematic achievement?
(My quandary: Clearly Donnie Darko is the best film he was ever in, but Road House is clearly the Swayze-ist…)
David Schmader—former weed columnist and Stranger associate editor—is the author of the solo plays Straight and Letter to Axl, which he’s performed in Seattle and across the US. His latest... More by David Schmader
Road House may be the Swazye-ist film, but Bodhi in Point Break was a much deeper (and a finer flex of his acting muscle) role than Dalton the Cooler (a finer flex of his physical muscle.)
Pain don’t hurt.
Road House is a close runner up, but Point Break was better. Donny Darko was a better movie, but not so much his acting.
You’re missing Keeping Mum – I really liked that film
Also…I can’t believe that Next of Kin isn’t on the list.
Its got Liam Neeson… AS A HILLBILLY!
I believe the title is actually “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar”
Keeping Mum?
6: Thanks, fixed.
ok, clearly their aren’t that many true swayze fans out there voting in this survey. ‘to wong foo’ and ‘donnie darko’ were daring roles for swayze to take but weren’t examples of what made swayze swayze. red dawn, point break, and road house were clearly the top three, with red dawn being the greatest confluence of acting, dynamic/ridiculous plot, and swayze awesomeness(“don’t cry!”).
why isn’t ‘NONE’ a choice?
The North and The South.
Do people seriously think “Dirty Dancing” was a good movie? And “Ghost” — really? Really?
@9, you nailed it. That’s the Holy Trinity of Swayze movies.
Holy shit. RED DAWN! WOLVERINES!!
“Road House is clearly the Swayze-ist” <- SO TRUE.
that’s why i couldn’t vote WOLVERINES!
#4 does have a point. It is a small role, but his interaction with Maggie Smith was fun to watch.
He did by far his best acting in City of Joy, which is not even a choice.
I’m with Geni here. City of Joy was quite good. BUT I have to admit that I watched that intensely romantic final dance scene from Dirty Dancing on youtube this morning and kind of fell apart.
Uncommon Valor. He stood out in a cast of heavyweights that included Gene Hackman, Robert Stack, Tim Thomerson, Fred Ward, Reb Brown, and Randall “Tex” Cobb. They went to Laos to rescue POWs, ya know. doing work!
To Wong Foo… Really? That was more of a career nadir, I’d say. But then, I’m straight.
Too Wong Foo… was such a fun movie. It may not be the Swayze-est, the most romantic or intense, or the biggest hit but it was just so much fun. And I totally expected him to bomb in the role (Wesley Snipes too) and was very surprised at the performance he delivered (tho WS stole the show, and we knew Leguizamo could pull it off). I liked Ghost too, but it had more to do with Whoopi than the others.
@9 is right, Red Dawn is one of the greatest ridiculous-premise movies out there, and Swayze rocked that thing!
@19, I completely forgot Swayze was in Uncommon Valor! The others do sorta steal the show from him though (the crazy guy with the grenade around his neck, for example?)
Are you kidding!? YOUNGBLOOD! Swayze, Rob Lowe, Keanu (with a bad French accent no less!), and more. Holy crap, it’s good viewing.
Please don’t praise Donnie Darko, you might persuade someone to see it. That film was awful.
@23 has the correct answer. Tea with Ms. McGill.
Wait, no Black Dog? This is the only movie in history that featured a showdown between two semi trucks.