Image credit: Columbia Pictures, MGM, Twentieth Century Fox, LQ/JAF, Warner Bros., IFC Films, Walt Disney Studios, Orion Pictures
Don Johnson might be synonymous with those neon-soaked Miami nights and the iconic '80s TV show "Miami Vice," but the actor has also given us some great – although criminally underrated – movies.
1. "Django Unchained" (2012) Quentin Tarantino +Don Johnson = A match made in film heaven. Johnson plays Spencer "Big Daddy" Bennett, a plantation owner in Mississippi. When Django, a freed slave, and Dr. King Schultz, a bounty hunter, roll into town, Bennett's peaceful slave-owning life gets tossed upside down.
After a failed attempt to buy one of Bennett's slaves to gain information, Django and Schultz resort to trickery, disguising themselves as traders. The plan goes south, leading to a chaotic shootout.
2. "Machete" (2010) It's gritty; it's over-the-top; it's Robert Rodriguez's "Machete." Don Johnson plays Von Jackson, the leader of a vigilante group dead-set on border control. When Machete, an ex-Federale, is double-crossed by a corrupt senator, he goes on a revenge spree.
Jackson, ever the opportunist, attempts to use Machete's vendetta to fuel his xenophobic campaign, setting up a brutal face-off between the two with enough high-speed chases and explosions to last you a weekend.
3. "A Boy and His Dog" (1975) Take a post-apocalyptic world, add in Don Johnson as Vic, a teenager surviving the wasteland, and you get "A Boy and His Dog." Vic roams the scorched earth with Blood, his telepathic dog, in search of food and, well, female companionship. They stumble upon an underground society obsessed with repopulating the earth, and Vic is forced to 'donate' his sperm while plotting an escape.
Black comedy meets sci-fi in this one, and things get real weird real fast.
4. "Tin Cup" (1996) Johnson plays David Simms, a top-ranking golfer who's more a businessman than an athlete. Roy McAvoy, a washed-up golf pro, decides to make a comeback, and what better way to do it than beat Simms in the U.S. Open? Simms tries everything to derail McAvoy, including dating his therapist-love interest.
The tensions come to a head during a gripping final showdown on the golf course, making for some killer cinematic moments.
5. "Dead Bang" (1989) In "Dead Bang," Johnson portrays Jerry Beck, an LAPD detective assigned to a Christmas Eve murder. His investigation leads him to a white supremacist group planning to incite a race war. What starts as a murder investigation snowballs into a full-blown chase across state lines, involving the FBI and multiple shootouts.
6. "Paradise" (1991) Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, real-life spouses at the time, star in "Paradise." Johnson plays Ben Reed, a man shattered by the loss of his son. When two kids, Willard and Billie, escape from a nearby juvenile detention center, they find themselves in Reed's life. Initially wanting nothing to do with them, Reed's heart slowly thaws as he sees his lost son in Willard.
7. "Cold in July" (2014) Johnson plays Jim Bob, a private detective with a pig farm. The story kicks off when Richard Dane kills an intruder in his home. Initially hailed as a hero, Richard gets tangled in a mess of crime and corruption involving the local police and the intruder's vengeful father.
Enter Jim Bob, who's as suave as he is resourceful. Together, they uncover a darker conspiracy involving snuff films and organized crime.
8. "Guilty as Sin" (1993) In this courtroom thriller, Johnson plays David Greenhill, a wealthy man accused of murdering his wife. He hires Jennifer Haines, a top-notch defense attorney, convinced that his charm can sway the courtroom. However, as the trial proceeds, Jennifer starts to doubt David's innocence and suspects that he might be framing her for a bigger scheme.
9. "The Hot Spot" (1990) Directed by Dennis Hopper, this neo-noir film features Johnson as Harry Madox, a drifter who ends up in a small Texas town. He takes a job at a used car dealership and plans a bank robbery. But things get complicated when he gets involved with two women – Dolly, the boss's sultry wife, and Gloria, a sweet-natured accountant. As his romantic entanglements escalate, so does the risk with his planned heist.
10. "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man" (1991) In this buddy action movie Johnson plays Robert Lee Edison, aka the Marlboro Man, who teams up with his old buddy Harley Davidson. The duo plans to rob a bank's armored car to save their favorite bar from foreclosure. But they accidentally steal a shipment of a new synthetic drug and find themselves on the run from a drug kingpin's henchmen.
It's Johnson in pure macho mode, complete with cowboy boots and one-liners.
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