The Best Val Kilmer Movies Streaming Right Now

Actor Val Kilmer died Tuesday at the age of 65. His passing has inspired an outpouring of tributes from those who worked with him throughout his career and those who simply admired him from afar, and it is easy to see why. In his wake, Kilmer has left behind a one-of-a-kind filmography the likes of which most actors can only dream of compiling, as well as a number of performances that have already stood the test of time and will continue to do so in the years to come.

In honor of Kilmer, here are the five best movies starring the actor that are available to stream right now.

“The Doors” (1991)

“The Doors,” director Oliver Stone’s 1991 film about its eponymous rock band and legendary singer Jim Morrison, is not without its flaws. It must be seen, though, just for Kilmer’s central performance as Morrison. The actor’s lead turn in the film is transformative and breathtaking — an achievement that speaks to not only his talent as a performer but also the commitment he brought to every role he took throughout his career.

“The Doors” is streaming on Paramount+.

“Top Gun” (1986)/”Top Gun: Maverick” (2022)

In 1986’s “Top Gun,” Kilmer did not back down from the challenge of going toe-to-toe onscreen with a then-on-the-rise Tom Cruise. In doing so, he turned his potentially one-note character, Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, into first a worthy foe and later a welcome ally. The film remains one of the best examples of the sheer, practically blinding movie-star wattage of Kilmer’s screen presence.

Its acclaimed sequel, 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” is a lot of things, including a thrilling, rousing action movie. It is also, in part, a moving tribute to the vulnerability and heart that Kilmer brought to practically every project he worked on. The actor appears in only one scene in “Maverick,” but it may be the film’s most memorable — a meeting between Cruise and Kilmer’s longtime friends that feels well and truly momentous. Due to his personal battles with throat cancer, Kilmer has very few spoken lines in “Maverick,” but he does not need many. His presence alone is enough, as it always was.

Both “Top Gun” and “Top Gun: Maverick” are streaming on Paramount+.

“Tombstone” (1993)

A rip-roaring, beloved Western, 1993’s “Tombstone” is a loose dramatization of the legendary, real-life Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and the Earp Vendetta Ride of the 1880s. It features an impressive ensemble, including Kurt Russell, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Charlton Heston and others, and it is directed with delightful flash and precision. Nothing in “Tombstone” impresses as much, though, as Kilmer’s commanding performance as Doc Holliday, a hard-drinking, tuberculosis-ridden gunfighter capable of doling out shockingly violent vengeance.

To watch Kilmer in “Tombstone” is to watch an actor wring every ounce of drama, humanity and style out of his character as he possibly can.

“Tombstone” is streaming now on Hulu.

“Heat” (1995)

“Heat” is a ruminative, hard-hitting crime epic about cops and robbers. It is also, like many of writer-director Michael Mann’s best films, deeply, achingly romantic. It would be hard for most actors to make much of an impact in a film led by screen legends like Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, whose dynamic forms the core dramatic tension of “Heat.” But Kilmer nonetheless stands out. 

There is, perhaps, no better example of the human heart beating at the center of much of Mann’s work than the scene in “Heat” in which Kilmer’s Chris tells De Niro’s Neil why he will not leave with his wife (Ashley Judd). “For me, the sun rises and sets with her, man,” Chris quietly explains. “Yeah?” Neil asks. “Yeah,” Chris says, and because of Kilmer, you don’t just believe it. You understand it.

“Heat” is streaming on both Hulu and Netflix.

“Val” (2021)

Could any documentary ever truly capture the spirit of an actor as elusive as Val Kilmer? “Val” probably comes as close as any ever could. Compiled largely from hours of home video footage that Kilmer himself shot over the years, directors Leo Scott and Ting Poo’s “Val” is an exploration of its subject featuring contemporary interviews with the man about his career, life and battle with cancer.

It offers the insights into Kilmer’s mind that many once longed for — revealing that he was always, above all else, uncompromising in his approach to life, art and personal expression.

“Val” is streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video.

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