The 20 Best Brad Pitt Movies, Ranked

• Release date: December 23, 2022
• Director: Damien Chazelle
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Tobey Maguire, Diego Calva, Phoebe Tonkin
• Rating: Rated R
• IMDB Rating: 7.1

While 2022's Babylon might not have received the best reviews from critics and a smashing box office score to go along with it, Pitt's performance as Jack Conrad, an actor looking to recapture his glory days, was one that garnered positive reviews. A period piece centered around the "Roaring Twenties," the film is a rather dark one centered around the ups and downs of a rising Hollywood scene, and Pitt was a star of the show. A review of the film from The Hindu called the acting in the movie a "scorcher," saying "Pitt is on point as the talented, good natured but ultimately ineffectual Conrad." Despite the mixed reviews, we still think Babylon is a film worth watching on streaming.

• Release date: January 5, 1996
• Director: Terry Gilliam
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Joseph Melito, Jon Seda
• Rating: Rated R
• IMDB Rating: 8

Some people may not have 12 Monkeys in their top 20 Brad Pitt list, but we do simply because of the Pitt/Bruce Willis pairing. Sure the storyline is a bit to keep up with—you've got a time traveler (Willis) who's stuck in the 2030s that gets sent back to the 1990s for a mission, but again, Willis' chemistry with Pitt (who portrayed a manic by the name of Jeffrey) is one of the film's highlights. Also, with us now being in the 2020s (which isn't too far off from the year 2030), the plot-line of a virus causing destruction in the world sounds a little too relatable don't you think?

• Release date: June 7, 2005
• Director: Doug Liman
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie
• Rating: PG- 13
• IMDB Rating: 6.5

Call this a "classic millennial statement," but we're glad we got to see Mr. & Mrs. Smith in real-time when the movie premiered in theaters because the hype was definitely real. Despite the mixed reviews from critics, Mr. & Mrs. Smith was a box office action rom-com smash, grossing nearly $500 million worldwide when the final total was counted. The plot? A married couple who's been having some issues are both keeping a major secret from each other—they are each assassins working for opposing agencies, and they've been hired to kill...each other. We need more movies like this at the forefront again. Make it happen Hollywood!

• Release date: May 24, 1991
• Director: Ridley Scott
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Geena Davis, Susan Sarandon
• Rating: Rated R
• IMDB Rating: 7.6

Thelma & Louise is truly a classic film that has been able to withstand the test of time, and while Pitt might not have been the main attraction (sorry Brad, that goes to Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon), his role as J.D. was an early one that showed range and promise as you wound up hating him for what he did to Louise (he slept with her, stole her savings, and seemingly disappeared the next morning). Fun fact: According to Pitt himself, he actually lost the role of J.D twice to other actors, before the director and producers finally cast him. We'd venture to say the role opening back up again wound up being for the best as Pitt's take on J.D. remains one of the most iconic elements of the movie.

• Release date: September 8, 2006
• Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Trevor Martin, Peter Wight, Harriet Walter
• Rating: Rated R
• IMDB Rating: 7.5

By our estimation, 2006's Babel remains an underrated piece in Pitt's filmography. Starring Pitt and Cate Blanchett, Babel is a movie that could have you tearing up if you watch it on the right day at the wrong time as it's about an accident that connects two young Moroccan goatherds, an American couple, a deaf Japanese teen and her father, and a Mexican nanny that's taken her kids across the border without permission all together. Designed to showcase how one single incident can affect people all over the globe, Babel is a heavy film that's a lot to digest—it might even take more than one watch to grasp the layers and dynamics of everything going on, and of course, Pitt's performance was quiet—but masterful.

• Release date: May 14, 2004
• Director: Wolfgang Petersen
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eric Bana, Sean Bean, Rose Byrne
• Rating: Rated R
• IMDB Rating: 7.3

Some liked Troy, some did not. We're in the latter as we find the film quite interesting and especially great from a visual and imagery standpoint. The biggest question as it pertains to biopics/films that essentially retell major historic events is whether or not these films are historically accurate. When it comes to Troy, the general consensus is that the movie is mostly accurate, but has several details that aren't quite right. We, however, are here to discuss Pitt's performance to which critics proclaimed: "Brad Pitt is the exquisitely contoured Achilles, a highly-strung thoroughbred of a warrior who resents answering to the conceited Greek King Agamemnon, played by Brian Cox, part of the raft of Brit character actors who, according to ancient Hollywood law, play venerable small parts."

We definitely agree with The Guardian's consensus on that point.

• Release date: July 26, 2019
• Director: Quentin Tarantino
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Margaret Qualley, Austin Butler, Dakota Fanning
• Rating: Rated R
• IMDB Rating: 7.6

Not sure about you guys, but we personally waited years to see Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in a movie together, and we finally got the answer to our prayers with 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which is about a struggling actor (DiCaprio) and his best friend (Pitt) just casually living life in Hollywood. As it's later revealed, the actor just so happens to live next door to Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate, who’s unknowingly about to become the victims of the Manson family. A Quentin Tarantino production, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a must-see.

• Release date: June 21, 2013
• Director: Marc Forster
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Mirelle Enos, Daniella Kertesz, Matthew Fox, Elyes Gabel, Abigail Hargrove
• Rating: PG-13
• IMDB Rating: 7

In 2013, Pitt took on another plague/virus movie with the action/horror film World War Z. Starring as former U.N. investigator Gerry Lane, an unordinary traffic jam is what sets the chain of events off in the film, which leads to another too-close-to-home global pandemic that Mr. Lane is tasked with investigating. If you can get past our own experiences with this our own turbulent situation, World War Z is quite an interesting watch with New York Times critic A.O. Scott saying: "Its action set pieces are cleverly conceived and coherently executed in ways that make them feel surprising, even exciting. Brad Pitt, playing a former United Nations troubleshooter pressed back into service to battle the undead, wears a scruffy, Redford-esque air of pained puzzlement."

• Release date: September 12, 2009
• Director: Ethan Coen
• Starring: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich
• Rating: Rated R
• IMDB Rating: 7

2008’s Burn After Reading is a chance to see Brad Pitt in a comedic role, with his portrayal of Chad Feldheimer, who along with his co-worker Linda Litzke, wind up discovering a disc that contains the memoirs of a former CIA analyst that they think can be used to net them loads of money. Chad and Linda are described as “doofuses” in this film, which should tell you everything you need to know about the characters you’re dealing with (literally). Burn After Reading gives off cornball late-2000s comedy, and that's one of the reasons why it should be appreciated.

• Release date: December 8, 2004
• Director: Steven Soderbergh
• Starring: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Julia Roberts
• Rating: PG-13
• IMDB Rating: 6.5

Who says you can only put one Ocean's film on a list of best Brad Pitt movies (and that it can only be the first one)? Shirt the film can be described as what you would call a "kerfuffle," and the ending was a little bit confusing until you replayed the entire movie in your head and put two-and-two together, but that's not what we're discussing right now. We're talking solely about the acting displayed in the film, to which everybody brought their A-game. That is something that has never been disputed by critics or fans, and that's precisely why we think it deserves a spot on the list. Plus, the anticipation of this film was quite high, which shouldn't have come as a surprise considering the massive success of its predecessor.

• Release date: October 9, 1992
• Director: Robert Redford
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Craig Sheffer, Tom Skerritt, Brenda Blethyn
• Rating: PG
• IMDB Rating: 7.2

Another film from Pitt's early catalog, 1992's A River Runs Through It tackles on the story of love and loss as Pitt stars alongside Craig Sheffer as two brothers who live a relatively normal life in rural Montana. Norman (Sheffer) is the kid with a "good head on his shoulders," whereas Paul (Pitt) is the "rebellious little brother who can't stay out of trouble." The rebellion from Paul only increases when Norman leaves for college, leaving Norman to pick up the pieces when he eventually returns home. There's one common ground activity that calms Paul down—fishing, which becomes a source of therapy and healing for the brothers as they look ahead to the future. A River Runs Through It might tug as your heart strings as well.

• Release date: November 2, 1998
• Director: Martin Brest
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Claire Forlani, Jake Webber
• Rating: PG-13
• IMDB Rating: 7.2

Starring alongside Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt is literally death in human form in 1998's Meet Joe Black, and the "death" entity transforms itself into an actual human being that goes by the name Joe Black. Black visits an older businessman (Hopkins) and gives the man a deal that will allow him a few extra days of life in exchange for Joe Black aka "death" getting to know what it's like to be a real human. The only problem with the deal is that Joe Black begins falling for Bill's daughter (Forlani), which is obviously not a part of the plan. Some consider Meet Joe Black to be one of Pitt's best performances, which is an assessment that we can actually agree with.

• Release date: December 7, 2001
• Director: Steven Soderbergh
• Starring: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Julia Roberts
• Rating: PG-13
• IMDB Rating: 7.1

Where were you the first time this remake set the film world ablaze in 2001? Were you an adult? A teen? A kid who was too young to watch so you didn't catch it until years later (myself)? It's unclear when exactly the Ocean's franchise (and specifically Ocean's Eleven) entered cult-classic territory, but reviews from that time paint a clear picture of the general reaction from the critics/general public, which shows it wasn't quite thought to be a classic upon its release. "I enjoyed it. It didn't shake me up and I wasn't much involved, but I liked it as a five-finger exercise. Now it's time for Soderbergh to get back to work," say Roger Ebert in his review, adding about Pitt: "Brad Pitt has a nice dialogue passage, too, when he's briefing the Matt Damon character. The jargon is all about strategy and entirely in modern terms, but listen to the music instead of the words and you realize it's a riff on Hamlet's instructions to the players."

To this day, Ocean's Eleven remains a film that people are discovering and re-discovering, making yet another standout in the wonderful filmography of Brad Pitt.

• Release date: September 21, 2007
• Director: Andrew Dominik
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Jeremy Renner, Sam Shepard, Nick Cave
• Rating: Rated R
• IMDB Rating: 7.5

Doesn't the name The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert alone sound like it's a great film? If you haven't already seen this enticing picture from 2007, we strongly encourage you to do so. In it, Pitt stars as the infamous bandit Jesse James, who's unsurprisingly planning his next heist. Along the way he recruits a couple of newbie outlaws (Affleck and Rockwell), who wind up becoming jealous of the masterful yet charming James. Together they come up with a plan to kill Jesse, which results in...oh we're not going to be the ones to spoil it! You've gotta watch the movie to find out what happens.

• Release date: August 21, 2009
• Director: Quentin Tarantino
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger
• Rating: Rated R
• IMDB Rating: 8.4

Another Tarantino-Pitt collaboration, 2009's Inglourious Basterds both feels like a film that was released a long time ago, and a film that was released yesterday. One of Pitt's most progressive roles to date, Inglourious Basterds is an electric World War II thriller that centers around American soldiers teaming up with Jewish Soldiers to battle against the Nazis. Incredibly well-written and beautifully acted by all above, many critics considered this to be Pitt's most interesting performance in his catalog at the time of the film's release.

"The Hero is Brad Pitt, as Lt. Aldo Raine, leader of the Basterds. Tarantino probably wants us to hear "Aldo Ray," says a 2009 review from Roger Ebert, with the critic adding: "Raine is played by Pitt as a broad caricature of a hard-talking Southern boy who wants each of his men to bring him 100 Nazi scalps. For years, his band improbably survives in France and massacres Nazis, and can turn out in formal eveningwear at a moment’s notice. Pitt’s version of Italian is worthy of a Marx brother." The reception for Basterds teetered along the lines of love and hate, but it's no-doubt one of his most dynamic.

• Release date: November 11, 1994
• Director: Neil Jordan
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst, Christian Slater, Antonio Banderas, Thandwie Newton
• Rating: Rated R
• IMDB Rating: 7.5

If for some reason you weren't familiar with the name Brad Pitt before Interview with the Vampire, you most certainly knew his name afterwards its release. The film that transformed Pitt from a budding actor to a bonafide movie star, Pitt took on the role of Louis de Pointe du Lac—the 18th-century lord who's lived forever (seriously) that now wants to tell his story by way of an autobiography. Broken over the loss of his family, Louis is an vulnerable state as he meets the evil Lestat de Lion Court (Cruise), who only serves to complicate matters in his life. A thrilling and captivating watch, Interview with the Vampire needs to be on everybody's list of movies to see at least once.

• Release date: September 22, 2011
• Director: Bennett Miller
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Chris Pratt, Stephen Bishop
• Rating: PG-13
• IMDB Rating: 7.6

There's a reason why Brad Pitt received an Academy Award nomination for "Best Actor in a Leading Role"—he was brilliant in Moneyball, starring as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A's who aims to reinvent his team by outsmarting their opponents and disregarding traditional baseball values. Personal opinion here—I think (especially back then), that Pitt didn't win the Academy Award for Moneyball for the same reason Denzel Washington didn't even get nominated for Remember the Titans—the Academy has a slight bias towards films that are in the sports category.

Yes, Sandra Bullock won for the The Blind Side, but I still believe this to be the case. You can agree or disagree, but we can all agree this is one of Pitt's finest.

• Release date: December 25, 2008
• Director: David Fincher
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Julia Ormond, Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng
• Rating: PG-13
• IMDB Rating: 7.8

Not gonna lie—The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a movie that I think is going to be a "one-timer" for me (as in I can't watch it ever again). What's even more baffling, is the fact that this came out on Christmas Day—like you've got to be a different breed if you went to the theater on Christmas to watch this sad ass movie about aging in reverse. At the end of the film when Button passes away, he's an infant that is chronologically 84-years-old—and he's not the only one that dies either. Ranting aside, Pitt scored a Best Actor nomination from The Academy for Benjamin Button, and sorry Sean Penn—but I think Pitt should have won.

• Release date: September 22, 1995
• Director: David Fincher
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Andrew Kevin Walker, R. Lee Ermey
• Rating: Rated R
• IMDB Rating: 8.6

A gritty grizzly crime drama that's considered one of the best to ever do it in the genre, Se7en follows a soon-to-be-retired Detective William Somerset (Freeman) working together with a newly-transferred detective (Pitt) to solve a case with a vicious serial killer (Spacey) who's victims are people he believes are representations of of the seven deadly sins. A crime movie being "scary" isn't something that's always the case with the films in that category, but Se7en meets the requirements to be genuinely scary. On top of that, it's got some plot twists involved in it as well. Again, there's a reason why this is considered to be one of the best crime films ever made to date.

• Release date: October 15, 1999
• Director: David Fincher
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter, Jared Leto, Meat Loaf
• Rating: Rated R
• IMDB Rating: 8.8

It might seem cliche, but we've gotta put Fight Club at number one because, well, it's Fight Club. David Pincher and Pitt came together once more for this now-classic that was once very much criticized. In the film, a depressed insomniac (Norton) meets an eccentric salesman (Pitt), and together they develop a fight club where they battle against individuals who are dissatisfied with their lives as well. "Is this the same as being a good movie? Well, not exactly, though the director, David Fincher, clearly thinks so. But it is the same as being a provocative experience that lights you up even as it brutalizes you. And I don't even like Brad Pitt very much," said a reviewer of the film via The Washington Post, which goes to show you the general dislike of the film (and apparently Pitt as well) upon it's initial release.

Well, almost twenty-five years later, it looks like David Fincher, Brad Pitt, and Edward Norton got the last laugh.