My Ten Favourite Kevin Costner Performances

My top choices starring the man cut from The Big Chill

Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1 (2024). Credit: Warner Brothers/K5 International

With Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1 due for release this weekend (Chapter 2 follows in August), it seems an opportune time to celebrate my favourite films with Kevin Costner in front of the camera, and occasionally behind it. Indeed, for the Horizon films, he’s doing both; a trick he’s not attempted since Open Range (2003). Critics have already weighed in with a predictably mixed response, but I’m thoroughly looking forward to the Horizon saga.

Despite suffering cutting-room floor ignominy in Lawrence Kasdan’s The Big Chill (1983), Costner rose to superstardom during the 1980s and early 1990s. Many of his films I recall with great fondness in part due to the memories I have associated with going to see them, and in part because I think Costner is a much better actor (and occasionally director) than many give him credit for.

Here’s a countdown of my favourite Kevin Costner performances. I’m omitting television from this list, so no Hatfields & McCoys (2012) or Yellowstone (2018 onwards), even though Costner is terrific in both. Ranking these wasn’t easy, as these are all favourites, but sometimes I like to make my life difficult. Apart from anything else, it provides something fun to argue over in the comments. I should also make clear that the films are not ranked in order of how good I think they are overall, but purely by the quality of Costner’s performance. Otherwise, the order would be different.

Before I go any further, I wish to briefly mention one Kevin Costner performance that does not appear in this list: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). In fairness, Costner’s apparent refusal to attempt an English accent is just one of the many issues I have with the film. The greatest Robin Hood picture remains, and I suspect will always be, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), starring Errol Flynn. My thoughts on that film, compared with the many deficiencies of Prince of Thieves can be read here, but in the meantime, on with the countdown.