Clint Eastwood’s Best Movies, Ranked

Clint Eastwood is one of the most celebrated actors and directors of all time. He began his career in 1954 as a TV actor on Rawhide, and his career now spans over seven decades, leaving audiences with unforgettable cinematic masterpieces. Remarkably, at 95 years old, Clint Eastwood is still active and working on new films, which means this list is by no means final.

Here are some of his best movies you shouldn’t miss, from heartwarming stories about everyday people to epic Western adventures and revenge tales.

The movies on this list are ranked from worst to best based on IMDb user ratings.

10

Kelly’s Heroes

Kelly’s Heroes is an old-school war comedy and heist movie that mixes the war setting with the plot of a classic heist movie, all seasoned with plenty of good humor.

Clint Eastwood plays the role of the titular Kelly, who learns about a hidden stash of Nazi gold. Instead of focusing on his role as a soldier, he assembles a team and creates a plan to carry out a heist behind enemy lines.

9

The Bridges of Madison County

The Bridges of Madison County is a romantic drama directed by and starring Clint Eastwood alongside Meryl Streep. It’s far from Eastwood’s typical genres to say the least, and this movie is especially notable because it came out just a few years after he made his last classic Western.

Eastwood plays Robert Kincaid, a National Geographic photographer who comes to Madison County to take photos of its famous covered bridges. There, he meets Streep’s Francesca Johnson, whose husband and two children went to the state fair for four days. Francesca flirts with Robert, and you can probably imagine the rest yourself.

8

Dirty Harry

Dirty Harry is the first entry in what would later become a five-part series of iconic action crime thrillers set in the San Francisco Bay Area, centered on Clint Eastwood’s character, Inspector “Dirty” Harry Callahan.

The movie is loosely based on the real-life Zodiac killer, whose crimes happened only a few years before the movie. In Dirty Harry, Clint Eastwood’s Harry is a tough, no-nonsense cop who likes to bend rules to deliver justice. He’s fiercely relentless when it comes to solving crimes and isn’t afraid to put someone’s life at risk if it means stopping a bad guy.

The movie is famous for many things, chief of which are Harry’s iconic quotes, such as his line before confronting a criminal: “Do I feel lucky? Well, do you, punk?”, which is often misquoted as “Do you feel lucky, punk?”

7

The Outlaw Josey Wales

The Outlaw Josey Wales is a Western film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood in the titular role. Josey Wales is a Missouri farmer whose family is brutally murdered by Union soldiers during the Civil War. As you can probably guess, this sets off a path to revenge.

Josey Wales travels across the American frontier, avoiding bounty hunters and forming a band of companions along the way. The character is the classic Western antihero—he’s quiet, deadly with a gun, and completely unwavering in his own moral code.

Whether you’re a longtime fan of Westerns or just starting to explore the genre, this movie belongs at the top of your watch list.

6

A Fistful of Dollars

A Fistful of Dollars is a Spaghetti Western that marks Clint Eastwood’s first leading role and the beginning of the famous Dollars Trilogy, directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone. While all three movies star Eastwood as the Man with No Name and even feature a few other recurring actors, the stories themselves aren’t connected whatsoever. Feel free to watch them in any order you want.

In A Fistful of Dollars, Eastwood’s character is a dangerous gunslinger who enters a town where two rivaling families are locked in a feud. Eastwood’s character plays both sides, both for personal profit, though he also helps a few innocents who got caught up in the mix.

5

Gran Torino

Gran Torino is a drama that was both directed by and starring Clint Eastwood in the role of Walt Kowalski, a bitter, recently widowed, retired Ford factory worker and Korean War veteran.

He spends most of his days on his front porch, watching his Hmong immigrant neighbors with contempt. However, after a local gang begins harassing the family and a series of events unfolds, Walt gradually bonds with them and becomes drawn into their struggles.

It’s a brilliant movie that showcases Clint Eastwood’s aptitudes as a director and actor, even at the ripe age of 78 when it was released.

4

Million Dollar Baby

Million Dollar Baby is a sports drama movie directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, alongside Hillary Swank and Morgan Freeman. Eastwood plays Frankie Dunn, an old but experienced boxing trainer. He’s approached by Swank’s Maggie, an unskilled amateur boxer who begs him to train her.

Frankie refuses several times, stating he doesn’t want to train women and thinks that Maggie is too old for boxing, but he eventually relents and takes her on as his trainee.

I don’t want to spoil the rest of the story here, but let’s just say that it’s quite the heartfelt story that you shouldn’t miss, despite it not being the typical macho movie that Eastwood is famous for.

3

Unforgiven

Unforgiven is Clint Eastwood’s last traditional Western that he starred in and directed, and it’s also one of his best works. The movie co-stars Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, and Richard Harris.

Eastwood plays a former outlaw and deadly gunslinger, who is approached by the Schofield Kid in order to kill a cowboy named Quick Mike and his associates for a $1,000 bounty.

It’s hard to say much more about this movie without spoiling anything, but it’s far more than just a classic Western anti-hero adventure. The acting, cinematography, and writing are all top-notch, and the 8.2 IMDb rating is well deserved.

2

For a Few Dollars More

For a Few Dollars More is the second entry in the spaghetti Western Dollars Trilogy. There are some similarities between this one and A Fistful of Dollars in terms of the overall vibe and setting, with For a Few Dollars More being both longer and better liked by most fans.

The story follows Eastwood’s Man with No Name (called Manco because he does most things with one hand) and Colonel Douglas Mortimer, played by the late and great Lee Van Cleef, as bounty hunters tracking the infamous bank robber El Indio, who has recently escaped from prison.

An important element throughout the movie is the musical pocket watch, whose haunting melody is intertwined with tense scenes. I’ll let you discover its significance when you watch the film yourself.

1

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

You probably saw this coming, but that doesn’t make the movie any less phenomenal. The last and most famous of the three Spaghetti Westerns in the Dollars Trilogy, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly isn’t just Clint Eastwood’s best work—it’s one of the greatest movies of all time.

The movie stars Clint Eastwood as the Man with No Name (here called “Blondie”), Lee Van Cleef as Angel Eyes, and Eli Wallach as Tuco. After some initial fighting, Tuco and Blondie form an uneasy alliance to find gold buried in a cemetery, with Angel Eyes trying to hunt them down. It’s a true Western adventure filled with clever schemes, tense character dynamics, and iconic showdowns.

There’s so much praise I could give for the movie’s acting, cinematography, and Ennio Morricone’s music, but I’ll let you experience it all for yourself. Just make sure to free your schedule ahead of watching, as the movie’s nearly three-hour runtime deserves every second of your full attention.

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Clint Eastwood’s entire career is a masterclass in excellent movie-making, versatility, and longevity. Whether he’s playing an antihero in a classic Western, a dangerous cop who doesn’t play by the rulebook, or even a secret lover, Eastwood has consistently proven himself as both a skilled actor and director.

While I could only highlight these 10 movies today, there are many more in his filmography that are just as compelling and worth your time. If you’re a fan of Eastwood’s style, exploring his entire filmography is well worth your time.