TopTenREVIEWS presents the film career and movie reviews of Ian McKellen.

Ian McKellen
Birthdate: May 25, 1939

Ian McKellen

ACTOR RANKINGS:

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CAREER SPAN

Decade
Movie Score
# Movies
1960s
0.5623
3
total ranking of 0.5623
1970s
No Reviews
0
1980s
1.7322
5
total ranking of 1.7322
1990s
2.5088
12
total ranking of 2.5088
2000s
2.6719
15
total ranking of 2.6719
Ratings and rankings are based on all available critic reviews & awards.
Overall Actor Score: Ian McKellen is ranked overall as 2.7076 of of 4 stars2.7076

Ian McKellen Movie Rankings

1
Ian McKellen starring in Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Ian McKellen scores a combined 3.6919 out of 4 stars for Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring3.6919
A small Hobbit named Frodo is entrusted with sealing Middle Earth's fate by destroying the 'One Ring.' Accompanying him is a fellowship of eight, all sworn to protect Frodo and his mission. ...more about Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Actor Awards
  • Academy Awards, USA - Best Actor in a Supporting Role
  • Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA - Best Supporting Actor
  • BAFTA Awards - Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
  • Online Film Critics Society Awards - Best Supporting Actor
  • Satellite Awards - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Drama
  • Screen Actors Guild Awards - Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
2
Ian McKellen starring in Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Ian McKellen scores a combined 3.6351 out of 4 stars for Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King3.6351
The final chapter in the Lord of the Rings epic. Frodo is on a mission to destroy the 'One Ring' and struggling to resist its power. Meanwhile, the rest of the fellowship is preparing for a war against the evil wizard Sauron. ...more about Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Actor Awards
  • Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA - Best Supporting Actor
  • BAFTA Awards - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
3
Ian McKellen starring in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Ian McKellen scores a combined 3.4768 out of 4 stars for Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers3.4768
In the second installment of the trilogy the fellowship must split up. Frodo and Samwise forge on to destroy the 'One Ring' and the rest must save two captured Hobbits and prepare for the war ahead. ...more about Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Actor Awards
  • Empire Awards, UK - Best British Actor
4
Richard III (1995)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 3.0974 out of 4 stars for Richard III3.0974
William Shakespeare's classic play is brought into the present with the setting as Great Britian in the 1930s. ...more about Richard III
Actor Awards
  • BAFTA Awards - Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
  • Chlotrudis Awards - Best Actor
  • European Film Awards - Best Actor
  • Golden Globes, USA - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
5
Gods and Monsters (1998)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 3.0936 out of 4 stars for Gods and Monsters3.0936
Hollywood legend James Whale's stroke begins to trigger flashbacks of his film career and involvement in WWI, forcing him into seclusion. When he befriends a young gardener, the two men find they have more in common than they expected. ...more about Gods and Monsters
Actor Awards
  • Academy Awards, USA - Best Actor in a Leading Role
  • British Independent Film Awards - Best Actor
  • Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards - Best Actor
  • Chicago Film Critics Association Awards - Best Actor
  • Chlotrudis Awards - Best Actor
  • Florida Film Critics Circle Awards - Best Actor
  • Golden Globes, USA - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
  • Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards - Best Actor
  • Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards - Best Actor
  • National Board of Review, USA - Best Actor
  • Online Film Critics Society Awards - Best Actor
  • San Diego Film Critics Society Awards - Best Actor
  • San Sebastián International Film Festival - Best Actor
  • Satellite Awards - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
  • Screen Actors Guild Awards - Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
6
X2: X-Men United (2003)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 3.0096 out of 4 stars for X2: X-Men United3.0096
Mutants continue to struggle against a society that fears and distrusts them. Their cause becomes even more desperate following an incredible attack by an as yet undetermined assailant possessing extraordinary abilities. ...more about X2: X-Men United
7
Flushed Away (2006)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.9419 out of 4 stars for Flushed Away2.9419
Rodney, a posh society mouse switches places with Syd, a crude city rat, and finds himself on the wrong side of the gutter. As Rodney tries to find his way home he encounters an angry Toad that hates all rodents and plans to rid the gutter of them. ...more about Flushed Away
8
X-Men (2000)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.9285 out of 4 stars for X-Men2.9285
All over the planet, unusual children are born with an added twist to their genetic code. This "X-factor" allows the children to perform extraordinary feats - flight, telekinetics, laser beams from the eyes and more. One Dr. ...more about X-Men
9
Restoration (1995)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.7844 out of 4 stars for Restoration2.7844
An aspiring young doctor, Robert Merivel found himself in the service of King Charles II and saves the life of someone close to the King. Merivel is invited to join the King's court and lives the high life provided to someone of his position. ...more about Restoration
10
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.7784 out of 4 stars for X-Men: The Last Stand2.7784
In the climax of the X-Men trilogy, a "cure" for mutancy threatens to alter the course of history. ...more about X-Men: The Last Stand
11
Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.7483 out of 4 stars for Six Degrees of Separation2.7483
Flan and Ouisa Kittredge, rich NYC art dealers, are called on one night by a young man, Paul, who professes to be a friend of their kids' from Harvard. ...more about Six Degrees of Separation
12
Ballad of Little Jo, The (1993)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.6822 out of 4 stars for Ballad of Little Jo2.6822
Based on a true story, this is the tale of Josephine Monaghan, a young woman of the mid-19th century who is thrown out of her parents' home after being seduced by the family's portrait photographer and giving birth to an illegitimate child. ...more about Ballad of Little Jo
13
Apt Pupil (1998)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.6734 out of 4 stars for Apt Pupil2.6734
Neighborhood boy Todd Bowden (Renfro) discovers that an old man living on his block named Arthur Denker (Mackellan) is nazi war criminal. ...more about Apt Pupil
Actor Awards
  • Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA - Best Supporting Actor
  • Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards - Best Actor
  • Florida Film Critics Circle Awards - Best Actor
14
Da Vinci Code, The (2006)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.6528 out of 4 stars for Da Vinci Code2.6528
When respected American religious symbology expert Dr. ...more about Da Vinci Code
15
I'll Do Anything (1994)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.5541 out of 4 stars for I'll Do Anything2.5541
Matt Hobbs is a talented but unsuccessful actor. When estranged (and strange) ex-wife Beth dumps their daughter Jeannie on Matt, father and daughter have a lot of adjusting to do. ...more about I'll Do Anything
16
Bent (1997)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.5387 out of 4 stars for Bent2.5387
Max is gay and as such is sent to Dachau concentration camp under the Nazi regime. He tries to deny he is gay and gets a yellow label (the one for Jews) instead of pink (the one for gays). ...more about Bent
17
Last Action Hero (1993)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.4623 out of 4 stars for Last Action Hero2.4623
Young Danny Madigan is a big fan of Jack Slater, a larger-than-life action hero played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. ...more about Last Action Hero
18
Golden Compass, The (2007)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.4410 out of 4 stars for Golden Compass2.4410
Based on author Philip Pullman's novel, 'The Golden Compass' is an exciting fantasy adventure, set in an alternative world where people's souls manifest themselves as animals, talking bears fight wars, and Gyptians and witches co-exist. ...more about Golden Compass
19
Shadow, The (1994)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.3684 out of 4 stars for Shadow2.3684
Based on the 1930's comic strip, this film, starring Alec Baldwin, puts the hero up against his arch enemy, Shiwan Khan, who plans to take over the world by holding a city to ransom using an atom bomb. ...more about Shadow
20
Keep, The (1983)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.3550 out of 4 stars for Keep2.3550
Nazis are sent to guard an old, mysterious fortress in a Romanian pass. One of them mistakenly releases an unknown force trapped within the walls. A mysterious stranger senses this from his home in Greece and travels to the keep to vanquish the force. ...more about Keep
  • Not Available on DVD
21
Swept from the Sea (1997)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.2882 out of 4 stars for Swept from the Sea2.2882
The film tells the story of Russian emigree and the only survivor from ship crash Yanko Goorall and servant Amy Foster in the end of 19th century. ...more about Swept from the Sea
22
Scandal (1989)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.2499 out of 4 stars for Scandal2.2499
An English bon-vivant osteopath is enchanted with a young exotic dancer and invites her to live with him. He serves as friend and mentor, and through his contacts and parties she and her friend meet and date members of the Conservative Party. ...more about Scandal
  • Not Available on DVD
23
Doogal (2006)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.0606 out of 4 stars for Doogal2.0606
Legend tells of three magic diamonds that, if in the wrong hands, can be united to create a force powerful enough to freeze the sun. ...more about Doogal
24
Plenty (1985)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.0464 out of 4 stars for Plenty2.0464
Susan Traherne has been irreparably changed by her wartime experiences as a Resistance fighter. She sets out in the post-war world to make her way to what she wants, no matter who is hurt, or how. ...more about Plenty
25
Asylum (2005)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 2.0019 out of 4 stars for Asylum2.0019
Set in 1950's England, this tale of erotic obsession tells the story of Stella Raphael (Richardson), a restless, beautiful woman who desperately desires to find in romantic love the one thing that will change everything. ...more about Asylum
26
Eighteen (2004)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 1.9451 out of 4 stars for Eighteen1.9451
Pip is a street kid who's meeting life head-on in the big city. On his eighteenth birthday he receives his grandfather's Second World War memoirs on audio cassette, a gift that awakens the ghost of the long lost world. ...more about Eighteen
27
Alfred the Great (1969)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 1.8551 out of 4 stars for Alfred the Great1.8551
While Old England is being ransacked by roving Danes in the 9th century, Alfred (David Hemmings) is planning to join the priesthood. ...more about Alfred the Great
  • Not Available on DVD
28
Emile (2005)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 1.7775 out of 4 stars for Emile1.7775
Emile (McKellen) travels from England to Canada, the country of his birth, to receive an honorary degree. ...more about Emile
29
Jack and Sarah (1995)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 1.5205 out of 4 stars for Jack and Sarah1.5205
Jack always lands on his feet. He lands on his feet when he marries the beautiful Sarah. He lands on his feet when he buys a luxurious new home. However, when Sarah goes into labour, he takes a tumble down the stairs and lands on his head. ...more about Jack and Sarah
30
Neverwas (2005)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 1.4261 out of 4 stars for Neverwas1.4261
A well-educated psychiatrist (Eckhart) leaves an academic career to work at an institution where his father (Nolte), a novelist, lived before writing a renowned children's book. ...more about Neverwas
  • Not Available on DVD
31
Zina (1985)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 1.3925 out of 4 stars for Zina1.3925
Zina, the daughter of Leon Trotsky by his first wife, is undergoing freudian analysis in Berlin in the 'thirties. Meanwhile Trotsky is in exile in Prinkipo having been driven from power by Stalin. ...more about Zina
  • Not Available on DVD
32
Magic Roundabout, The (2005)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 1.0922 out of 4 stars for Magic Roundabout1.0922
  • Not Available on DVD
33
Priest of Love (1981)
Ian McKellen scores a combined 1.0729 out of 4 stars for Priest of Love1.0729
Following the banning and burning of his novel, "The Rainbow," D.H. Lawrence and his wife, Frieda, move to the United States, and then to Mexico. ...more about Priest of Love
  • Not Available on DVD
34
Promise, The (1969)
No Reviews Available
  • Not Available on DVD
35
Touch of Love, A (1969)
No Reviews Available
  • Not Available on DVD