Thank you to everyone who texted me to see how I was taking Sam Neill’s death. It was a surprisingly heavy day? When you spend THIS MANY HOURS with someone, you kinda feel like you know them even when you don’t at all. Also, it’s been 13 years since I finished watching every Sam Neill thing available on Netflix’s dvd service (lol), watching media that is essentially lost to viewers today. Yes, I am the only one ensuring this picture is available on the internet, as a cinema fan account thanked me for on twitter once. Also Sam Neill himself followed me on twitter shortly after???? So I feel like he approves of my years of service.
No one has asked me (though you SHOULD, I am an EXPERT) what the best Sam Neill movie to watch in memorium is, but my answer is The Dish (2000).
It’s about a group of Australian scientists working at a radio telescope (in a sheep field) to beam footage of the moon landing across the world. It really makes you remember how awe-inspiring space can be, and, more importantly, how much humanity can achieve when we work together (and fund science). It’s incredibly sweet, funny, and will put you in a good mood. It’s my favorite movie I discovered through the whole project!
But, in case you were wondering how much the other movies I watched for the Sam Neill Netflix Marathon have stuck with me over the past 13 years, I have provided a list of all the Sam Neill movies I can remember without looking them up, organized by how often I think about them now. For a full list of the movies for this project/links to the relevant posts, see this post with a broken graphic from 3 years ago. It still works even though it looks kinda shitty (same).
1. Merlin (1998)
I bet you thought Jurassic Park would be number 1, which just proves that you don’t know me and my Merlin obsession at all. I was so happy to see other 90s fantasy nerds mentioning this ridic TV miniseries in the comments of Sam Neill tributes.
How often I think about it now: weekly if not daily. It’s my favorite King Arthur interpretation. Shots fired, Monty Python.
2. Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III (1993/2001)
Honestly, I probably think about Jurassic Park III more than most people because one of my favorite Sam Neill things about Jurassic Park is his relentless annoyance at every situation he finds himself in (especially if children talk to him). Being stuck on a dinosaur island (AGAIN) is one thing, but he ALSO has to deal with some child fanboy??? He’s so fed up and I love it.
How often I think about it now: at least every time I have to navigate a fence, the scene where the kid gets electrocuted off one had a scarring affect on child-me, more so than the dinosaurs lol
3. The Dish (2000)
I’ve already told you I love this movie!
How often I think about it now: probably once a month or whenever I think about astronomy!
4. Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
This movie gives me similar vibes to The Dish. Couldn’t tell you why. Just funny and kind, and I love all the scenery!
How often I think about it now: Steven quotes “No child left behind” in that accent at least once a month.
5. Event Horizon (1997)
(Almost) everything that made it into the banner is there for a reason (sorry, The Tudors). I don’t really LIKE this movie, but at least one shot of it is seared into my brain.
How often I think about it now: TOO OFTEN, against my will
6. In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
If I have to involuntarily flash to a Sam Neill horror movie, I wish it was this John Carpenter one more often than Event Horizon. Sam Neill is terrorized by Lovecraftian puppets and it’s all pretty camp.
How often I think about it now: This movie is so delightfully weird that I am reminded of it every time I think about 1) puppets and 2) Stephen King (whom this movie’s author character “Sutter Cane” is clearly based on)
7. Until the End of the World (1991)
SPEAKING OF WEIRD, this movie is hands down the weirdest one I watched for the project. It’s set in the future(?) so has some very bizarre fashion and tech choices, and the plot makes 0 sense so I’m not going to even try to tell you.
I almost want to recommend this to you to watch, not because it’s good, but because I want someone besides me to experience it.
How often I think about it now: Maybe once every few months, mostly when I’m reminded of its off-base technology predictions, like that payphones would be replaced by public video phones.
8. Ivanhoe (1982)
This tv miniseries is just a fun time, and also John Rhys-Davies is in it.
How often I think about it now: Ever since I learned that this is broadcast every year at 3pm on New Year’s Day in Sweden (lol???), I think about it annually.
9. Hunt for Red October (1990)
Sam Neill, Sean Connery, and Tim Curry attempting to act in Russian accents is very funny to me. Also I like pretending I think the portrayal of submarines in this movie is a documentary to annoy my dad, an actual submariner.
How often I think about it now: When Sam Neill said he wanted to find a “round American woman” I felt seen, okay.
10. The Triangle (2005)
This TV miniseries about the Bermuda Triangle has no business being this high on the list. Sam Neill is a rich businessman funding some scientists to save his twin (literally him in a mustache, and no, he is NOT evil? ugh) who has disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle, and it leads to this whole thing about parallel dimensions. It’s not good, I don’t know why I think about it so much.
How often I think about it now: WHENEVER I’M DRIVING OVER A FUCKING BRIDGE. Because there is one scene where they are on a mile-long bridge between the Florida keys and then blip into a parallel dimension where the bridge doesn’t exist and their car goes under and one of them dies. Literally one of my greatest fears since childhood, thanks, Sam. (Sam Neill is not even in this scene, but I blame him for me having to watch this movie).
11. To the Ends of the Earth (2005)
What I’m realizing from this list is that it’s TV miniseries where Sam Neill really thrived? This is another one where he’s stuck on a dramatic sea voyage from England to Australia in 1812 and everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
How often do I think about it now: Whenever I’m reminded that Benedict Cumberbatch exists. I don’t care how many super hero movies you’re in, Beneficent Cummerbund, THIS is the first time I saw you and this will always be your quintessential work to me.
12. The Jungle Book (1994)
The best version of the Jungle Book!!!! This is a hit of pure childhood nostalgia for me. Plus the cast is stacked. Besides Sam Neill: Cary Elwes, John Cleese, and a young Lena Headey as Mowgli’s love interest. The plot is really different from the animated Disney movie (more time spent with humans, no talking animals), and is definitely worth a watch if you haven’t seen it.
How often I think about it now: Steven brings this up whenever Disney’s live action remakes come up as “the only good one”, and I have to regretfully tell him that this was actually based on the Kipling books and that there is an actual Jungle Book live action remake that is as bad as you imagine.
13. Children of the Revolution (1996)
This comedy is about a woman who has a one night stand with Stalin right before he dies and goes on to raise his baby secretly in Australia.
How often I think of it now: Honestly, it’s only kind of good but this poster is iconic and I think about it every time I think of Stalin (thankfully not that often but maybe more than you’d think–I read a lot of history).
14. Merlin 2 (officially called “Merlin’s Apprentice”)(2006)
I wish this didn’t make the list. Sadly sometimes I do remember that Merlin 2 exists. Why does the sequel to the #1 entry on this list make me so depressed? Because it’s ass.
How often I think about it now: Whenever I think about terrible sequels or the folly of trying to recreate something magical or blatant cash grabs (except was Merlin 1 even a money maker??)
15. Restoration (1995)
Is this movie good? I could not tell you. It stars Robert Downey Jr. as a doctor trying to make it in the court of King Charles II. It is kind of forgettable in all respects except every scene that Sam Neill is in, because he plays King Charles II and it is fabulous.
How often I think about it now: Whenever I think about my dream of being followed everywhere by a bunch of puppies.
16. A Cry in the Dark (1988)
The classic “Dingoes ate my baby” film, which sounds kinda funny but in this movie (and in real life, since this is based on a true story) it is very much not. Also he costars as the husband of Meryl Streep, so you know the acting is on point. It’s weird this movie doesn’t get talked about more in reference to her.
How often I think about it now: Whenever dingoes come up. I don’t live in Australia, so not that often.
17. The Piano (1993)
This movie was listed second after Jurassic Park in Sam Neill tributes, so it’s funny that I’m putting it so far down. It’s just not one that made a big impression on me. It was interestingly shot but plotwise I wasn’t riveted (I am not a Serious Film Student).
It did give us one of my favorite screencaps I took during this project, of the Sam Neill character I resolutely still refer to as “Choppy McAxeFace”.
How often I think about it now: Honestly, whenever anyone mentions this movie (more than I expect), all I can think of is “Oh, the choppy mcaxeface movie?” This single screencap was my main takeaway.
18. Sleeping Dogs (1977)
This is the earliest Sam Neill movie I was able to watch for this project, and it is pretty bleak (Sam Neill plays a random man who gets caught up in an armed revolution against the New Zealand government). There is one scene where Sam Neill gets arrested from his remote island home and his dog is shown barking from the shore as they haul him away in a boat. And he never gets back to the dog!! What happened to it? I hope it’s okay.
It’s all very 1970!
How often I think about it now: Hardly ever, but sometimes this one shot because he looks so young!
And those are the ones I still think about without any prompting. I saw someone say that Dean Spanley was Sam Neill’s pick for his favorite movie he’s been in, and I was shocked that I had COMPLETELY forgotten all about it, even though it stars Peter O’Toole and Sam Neill plays a dog reincarnated as a man. Then I realized there were a ton I watched for this project that I had forgotten existed until I looked through the list. Hopefully you can find a Sam Neill movie to watch for your own memorial! (not Merlin 2)