Robert Redford, celebrated actor, director and champion of independent cinema, died on 16 September 2025 at his home in Sundance, Utah, aged 89.
He will be remembered for his magnetic early roles in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting and All the President’s Men, for directing emotionally rich films such as Ordinary People and Quiz Show, and for founding the Sundance Institute and Festival – which has long been a platform for supporting indie filmmakers.
In Redford’s memory, we asked Bruce Isaacs, Associate Professor in Film Studies (University of Sydney) and co-host of the Film Versus Film podcast to pick his 10 favourite films starring or directed by the late actor, and tell us why he recommends that everyone watch them.
The best Robert Redford films: quick links
The top 10 Robert Redford films you should see are:
All the President’s Men (1976)
‘This smash hit for Redford was also perhaps the best account of investigative journalism in Hollywood history,’ Bruce Isaacs says. ‘What makes the film increasingly profound is the vividness of the portrayal of the institutions of government, law, and their capacity to be corrupted by power. And it has one of the most exquisite shots of the New Hollywood cinema: the panoptic ceiling perspective of a microscopic Redford and Dustin Hoffman sitting in the Library of Congress.’ Watch the trailer.
Quiz Show (1994)
‘What is less known about Redford is that he was so much more than a Hollywood leading man,’ Isaacs says. ‘This is for me the best film Redford directed, and one of the best biopics ever produced in Hollywood.
‘Can the scandal behind a 1950s quiz show be riveting cinema? Absolutely.’
The Sting (1973)
‘Without doubt the greatest of the “screwball” caper films,’ Isaacs says of The Sting.
‘The Chicago gangster era comes alive in impeccable design, but it’s the chemistry of Redford and Paul Newman, playing against the understated menace of Robert Shaw, that makes this work so well. And then there is the ragtime as accompaniment that just speeds things along.’
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Isaacs says Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is ‘where it all started for Redford.’
‘It’s not his first film, but it is such a star-making turn,’ he continues. ‘The timing with Newman is stunning, but there is also a dark side to the film that is often overlooked, as it tries but fails to romanticise the “wild west.” The final shot remains a legendary image in Hollywood film history.’ Watch the trailer.
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
Isaacs says: ‘One of the so-called “paranoid” cycle of 70s films, this thriller is perhaps the least political in its overtures, but Sydney Pollack’s deft feel for directing Redford as a leading man (reminiscent of some of Hitchcock’s imperiled protagonists) brings the film to life.
‘As always with Redford, his star vehicles were topical and provocative.’ Watch the trailer.
Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
‘Such an idiosyncratic and wonderful film in this era of Hollywood’s experimental phase,’ says Isaacs. ‘Its slow, sometimes ponderous pacing reveals Redford’s performance as perhaps his most nuanced.
‘The landscape and the land itself are the overarching point of the film, and as such it is a reflection on America and its history as much as All the President’s Men or Quiz Show.’ Watch the trailer.
Ordinary People (1980)
‘Ordinary People won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director for Redford in 1981, and it remains one of the most unsettling depictions of a family under enormous stress. The film is a drama but felt intensely. It’s also so strange to reflect on the fact that this was an enormous box office smash, returning more than ten-fold its budget, because it was such a raw depiction of a family in crisis.’
Out of Africa (1985)
‘I love romance when it’s enacted on an epic scale, and this is an example of when a major studio and trustworthy director produce an epic,’ says Isaacs of Out of Africa.
‘Redford, as always, was overlooked by the Academy for his performance (Streep won the Best Actress Oscar), and yet, in scene after scene you can’t take your eyes off him. It is a fascinating moment in which a movie star is subordinated to the epic grandeur of a story.’ Watch the trailer.
The Hot Rock (1972)
‘Another caper film for Redford,’ says Isaacs, ‘but this one is sillier than both The Sting (1973) and Sneakers (1992). I love The Hot Rock and can recommend it for a tone that has Redford playing against type with a colourful group of misfit accomplices.
‘While not ground-breaking, it’s such a pleasurable rewatch, and George Segal steals all of his scenes.’ Watch the trailer.
The Natural (1985)
‘I don’t know if this is a great film,’ Isaacs says. ‘It is strangely uneven and seems to want to provide the grandness of an allegory when much of the drama falters. But in another sense, The Natural is a mythic work, with Redford playing a 1920s-1930s baseball player with all the charisma and gravitas that mark his status as an icon of cinema.
‘It also has a score that has been endlessly sampled and parodied, not least in a glorious moment in The Simpsons in which Homer hits a home run for Springfield!’ Watch the trailer.
