Having set about as a untested actor on productions likeThe Andy Griffith Show , Happy Days , andAmerican Graffiti , Ron Howardjumped to the theatre director ’s chair and helmed some of the most darling tale films and documentaries in mod chronicle . He may not have delivered many hit plastic film in his late years , but Howard continues to conduct , with his next A - list thriller , Eden , expected to release afterward this year . For now , here are the rankings for Howard ’s good movies .
10. The Beatles: Eight Days a Week (2016)
One of the multiple documentaries directed by Howard , Eight day A Weektraces the wage hike and evolution ofThe Beatlesas they tour the world , analyzing how the band changed the reality and touched the life of so many people , and vice versa .
Howard win in wreak the Beatles to life with archival photos and video , convey the lowly origins and childlike bond between the four Quaker . It also succeeds in re - invoking the musical topsy-turvyness let loose by fans as they screamed their heads off at the height of Beatlemania .
9. Splash (1984)
This rom - com follows a solitary man ( Tom Hanks ) who fall in love with a mermaid ( Daryl Hannah ) who is hunt by a fluff scientist ( Eugene Levy ) . Please keep in thinker that this film came out long beforeThe fiddling Mermaid .
Splashmay not have split any Modern basis . Yet Howard presents a hysterical and dear love story elevated by the chemistry between Hanks and Hannah and the plaster bandage ’s performances .
8. Jim Henson Idea Man (2024)
This heartfeltDisney+documentary analyse the extraordinary life of Jim Henson , the beloved Jehovah ofThe Muppets , Fraggle Rock , Labyrinth , andThe Dark Crystal , as well as the family relationship he had with his married woman Jane and his collaborator in puppetry , Frank Oz .
The moving picture ’s vibrant visuals and editing reflect Henson ’s wild mental imagery and up-and-coming personality . But as the motion-picture show explore Henson ’s creative brain and his passion for entertainment , audiences are reminded of what made him so special and the impact he and his creations had on the world .
7. Parenthood (1989)
Reminiscent ofModern FamilyandArrested Development , this home comedy follows four grownup siblings struggle to raise their minor . feature stars like Steve Martin , Tom Hulce , Rick Moranis , and Dianne Wiest , Parenthooddisplays many whacky but relatable vision of parenthood in the forward-looking years , exploring the ups and down of having a family in a screaming and tender personal manner .
This film even breed a six - season serial on NBC age later , proving the eternity of a theme like parentage .
6. Backdraft (1991)
In this interpretation ofTop Gunwith firefighter , Backdraftfollows two brothers ( Kurt Russell and William Baldwin ) as they attempt to stop a drawing string of fire started by a serial incendiary . The story may not be all it ’s cracked up to be , but it is still a humourous and heartful classic with its tale of brotherly love persevering as they attempt to hold these destructive flames .
The film also boasts a slew of unbelievable mold performances and stunning visual effects used to convey its blaze out activity to life . Unsurprisingly , Backdraftwas nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Sound , Best Sound Effects Editing , and Best Visual Effects , make it amongst Howard ’s most recognized pictures .
5. Frost/Nixon (2008)
Nominated for five Oscars , including Best Picture and Best Director , Frost / Nixonchronicles the making of the television audience between journalist David Frost ( Michael Sheen ) and Richard Nixon ( Frank Langella ) after the infamousWatergate scandaland Nixon ’s resignation as U.S. President . Despite the creative liberties taken , Frost / Nixonpresents an unbelievable verbal jousting match as Frost tries to extract the accuracy from the former president .
Not only doesFrost / Nixonanalyze one of the biggest malicious gossip in American history , but it deliver an intriguing study of two military personnel and the lengths they go to for what they think is veracious .
4. The Paper (1994)
This plastic film follows the day in the lives of a tabloid newspaper as its members investigate the cryptical slaying of two businessmen pin on two Black adolescent . Helmed by an incredible performance byMichael Keaton , this satirical , tight - paced celluloid captures the spiraling chaos frequently found in the media .
Though the film was released thirty years ago , and the newspaper industry has all but faded , The Paperremains relevant with its ground character dramatic event and depiction of heightened racial tensions .
3. Cinderella Man (2005)
Cinderella Mandepicts the unfeigned account of box champion James Braddock ( Russell Crowe ) , who literally fights for his liveliness as he sputter to financially support his house in the wake of the Great Depression . As its title of respect imply , this film presents a fascinating Cinderella story embodying the American dreaming .
Braddock set about from the bottom and rises to become maven in and out of the ring . And with heavy - hitting performances from Crowe , Renee Zellweger , and Paul Giamatti , the plastic film ranks among classic fisticuffs movies likeRockyandRaging Bull .
2. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
This dazzling and layered movie adapts the true narrative of John Nash ( Russell Crowe ) , the Nobel Prize - winning mathematician who becomes a cryptanalyst for the U.S. authorities , only to commence questioning his reality as he confronts a grand conspiracy and his decline genial wellness . While it may have dropped the ball in depicting Nash ’s schizophrenic disorder , A Beautiful Mindstill present a compelling and center - wrenching characterization of a brilliant man contend to connect with the multitude around him .
It is also worth realize Jennifer Connelly ’s spellbinding execution as Nash ’s supportive but shin married woman , Alisha . And having won Howard theOscarsfor Best Picture and Best Director , A Beautiful Mind remains one of his most successful pic .
1. Apollo 13 (1995)
“ Houston , we have a problem . ” This biopic present the life history of the astronauts who venture on the titular journey and their struggle to return to Earth alive . The elbow room the movie simulates the weightlessness of blank alone relieve oneself it a naturalistic and innovative picture .
ButApollo 13and the spellbind functioning of its cast bestow watcher to the sharpness of their seating area through this immersive and marrow - pound depiction of one of the bighearted crisis in the history of space change of location . And with nine Oscar nomination , including Best Picture , Apollo 13arguably remains Howard ’s greatest contribution to cinema .
