Movies with star-studded casts are some of my favorites. From mysteries to dramas, comedies, and war films, these are some of cinematic history’s most extraordinary ensemble casts. Do you agree?
1. It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
Ensemble Cast: Edie Adams, Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Mickey Rooney, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Dorothy Provine, D–k Shawn, Phil Silvers, Jonathan Winters, Terry-Thomas, Andy Devine, Jim Backus, Alan Carney, Joe E. Brown, William Demarest, Selma Diamond, Peter Falk, Norman Fell, Edward Everett Horton, Don Knotts, Charles Lane, Roy Roberts, and many more incredible stars.
2. The Longest Day (1962)
Ensemble Cast: John Wayne, Sean Connery, Richard Todd, Kenneth More, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, Steve Forrest, Edmond O’Brien, Red Buttons, Peter Lawford, Eddie Albert, John Crawford, Jeffrey Hunter, Stuart Whitman, Robert Ryan, Tom Tryon, Rod Steiger, Steve Forrest, Leo Genn, Gert Fröbe, Irina Demick, Bourvil, Curd Jürgens, Mel Ferrer, George Segal, Robert Wagner, Paul Anka, Ray Danton, and Arletty.
3. The Godfather (1972)
Ensemble Cast: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Richard S. Castellano, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte, Al Lettieri, Abe Vigoda, Talia Shire, John Cazale, Al Martino, Alex Rocco, and Jeannie Linero.
4. Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)
Ensemble Cast: David Niven, Robert Newton, Shirley MacLaine, Cantinflas, Charles Boyer, Marlene Dietrich, Ronald Colman, Peter Lorre, Charles Coburn, Noël Coward, Buster Keaton, George Raft, Cesar Romero, Red Skelton, Frank Sinatra, Joe E. Brown, Andy Devine, Edward R. Murrow, among many others.
5. Cannonball Run II (1984)
Ensemble Cast: Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Jamie Farr, Marilu Henner, Telly Savalas, Shirley MacLaine, Susan Anton, Catherine Bach, Foster Brooks, Sid Ceaser, Jackie Chan, Tim Conway, Tony Danza, Richard Kiel, Don Knotts, Ricardo Montalban, Jim Nabors, Charles Nelson Reilly, Mel Tillis, Abe Vigoda, Arte Johnson, and Frank Sinatra.
6. A Bridge Too Far (1977)
Ensemble Cast: Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Robert Redford, Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Gene Hackman, Elliott Gould, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Hardy Krüger, Ryan O’Neal, Maximilian Schell, and Liv Ullmann.
7. How the West Was Won (1962)
Ensemble Cast: James Stewart, Carroll Baker, Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Carolyn Jones, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, Debbie Reynolds, John Wayne, George Peppard, Robert Preston, Eli Wallach, Richard Widmark. Brigid Bazlen, Walter Brennan, David Brian, Ken Curtis, Andy Devine, Jack Lambert, Raymond Massey, Agnes Moorehead, Harry Morgan, Thelma Ritter, Mickey Shaughnessy, Harry Dean Stanton, Russ Tamblyn, and Lee Van Cleef.
8. The Ten Commandments (1956)
Ensemble Cast: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson, Yvonne De Carlo, Debra Paget, John Derek, Cedric Hardwicke, Nina Foch, Martha Scott, Judith Anderson, Vincent Price, John Carradine, Olive Deering, Douglass Dumbrille, Frank DeKova, Henry Wilcoxon, and Eduard Franz.
9. True Romance (1993)
Ensemble Cast: Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Rapaport, James Gandolfini, Tom Sizemore, Michael Beach, Bronson Pinchot, and Conchata Ferrell.
10. The Outsiders (1983)
Ensemble Cast: C. Thomas Howell, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Diane Lane, Leif Garrett, and William Smith.
11. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Ensemble Cast: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Carol Lynley, Shelley Winters, Roddy McDowall, Stella Stevens, Jack Albertson, Pamela Sue Martin, Arthur O’Connell, Eric Shea, Leslie Nielsen, John Crawford.
12. A Thin Red Line (1998)
Ensemble Cast: Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, Jim Caviezel, Ben Chaplin, George Clooney, John Cusack, Woody Harrelson, Elias Koteas, Nick Nolte, John C. Reilly, John Travolta, and Jared Leto.
13. Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Ensemble Cast: Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam, Ingrid Bergman, Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Sean Connery, Albert Finney, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Rachel Roberts, Richard Widmark, Michael York, George Coulouris, Denis Quilley, and Colin Blakely.
14. Stand by Me (1986)
Ensemble Cast: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, Kiefer Sutherland, John Cusack, Richard Dreyfuss, and Marshall Bell.
15. The Departed (2006)
Ensemble Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Alec Baldwin, Anthony Anderson and James Badge Dale.
16. Dinner at Eight (1933)
Ensemble Cast: Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, Edmund Lowe, Billie Burke, Jean Hersholt, May Robson, Madge Evans, and Grant Mitchell.
17. The Great Escape (1963)
Ensemble Cast: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, James Donald, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, Hannes Messemer, David McCallum, Gordon Jackson, John Leyton and Angus Lennie.
18. Mars Attacks! (1996)
Ensemble Cast: Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, Natalie Portman, Pam Grier, Rod Steiger, Lukas Haas, Jim Brown, Tom Jones, Lisa Marie, and Sylvia Sidney.
19. The Towering Inferno (1974)
Ensemble Cast: Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Susan Blakely, Richard Chamberlain, Jennifer Jones, Robert Wagner, Robert Vaughn, Dabney Coleman, Susan Flannery, and O.J. Simpson.
20. Short Cuts (1993)
Ensemble Cast: Matthew Modine, Julianne Moore, Robert Downey Jr., Fred Ward, Anne Archer, Jack Lemmon, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Madeleine Stowe, Chris Penn, Frances McDormand, Andie MacDowell, Lori Singer, Buck Henry, Lily Tomlin, Annie Ross, Huey Lewis, Lyle Lovett, and Tom Waits.
21. Knives Out (2019)
Ensemble Cast: Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Christopher Plummer, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (voice cameo).
22. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Ensemble Cast: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness, Peter Cushing, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, Don Henderson, and Richard LeParmentier.
23. The Breakfast Club (1985)
Ensemble Cast: Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Paul Gleason, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Ron Dean, Judd Nelson, and John Hughes (cameo).
24. The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Ensemble Cast: Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, James Coburn, Horst Buchholz, Eli Wallach, and Bing Russell.
25. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Ensemble Cast: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Adam Goldberg, Vin Diesel, Jeremy Davies, Ted Danson, Bryan Cranston, Ryan Hurst, Leland Orser, and Dennis Farina.
26. Grand Hotel (1932)
Ensemble Cast: Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone, Jean Hersholt, Purnell B. Pratt, Ferdinand Gottschalk, and Morgan Wallace.
27. Boogie Nights (1997)
Ensemble Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, Burt Reynolds, Don Cheadle, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, Heather Graham, Luis Guzmán, Philip Baker Hall, Thomas Jane, Alfred Molina, and Robert Downey Sr.
28. Steel Magnolias (1989)
Ensemble Cast: Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton, Julia Roberts, Daryl Hannah, Tom Skerritt, Dylan McDermott, Sam Shepard, Kevin J. O’Connor, and Janine Turner.
29. The Big Chill (1983)
Ensemble Cast: Tom Berenger, Jeff Goldblum, Glenn Close, William Hurt, Mary Kay Place, Kevin Kline, Meg Tilly, JoBeth Williams, and Kevin Costner (unseen dead friend).
30. Rat Race (2001)
Ensemble Cast: Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg, Cuba Gooding Jr., Wayne Knight, Amy Smart, Jon Lovitz, Kathy Najimy, Lanei Chapman, Seth Green, John Cleese, Breckin Meyer, Vince Vieluf, Dave Thomas, Dean Cain, Kathy Bates, and the band Smash Mouth.
31. What a Way to Go (1964)
Ensemble Cast: Paul Newman, Shirley MacLaine, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, D–k Van Dyke, Gene Kelly, Bob Cummings, and Margaret Dumont.
32. Platoon (1986)
Ensemble Cast: Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Keith David, Charlie Sheen, Johnny Depp, Kevin Dillon, Forest Whitaker, John C. McGinley, Tony Todd, and Oliver Stone
33. Heat (1995)
Ensemble Cast: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Tom Sizemore, Ashley Judd, Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, Val Kilmer, Mykelti Williamson, Natalie Portman, Jon Voight, Wes Studi, Ted Levine, Danny Trejo, Tone Loc, and Farrah Forke.
34. Goodfellas (1990)
Ensemble Cast: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, Mike Starr, Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Vincent, Jerry Vale, Illeana Douglas, Kevin Corrigan, Frank Sivero, and Michael Imperioli.
35. JFK (1991)
Ensemble Cast: Kevin Costner, Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Oldman, Michael Rooker, Joe Pesci, Jay O. Sanders, Sissy Spacek, John Candy, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Brian Doyle-Murray, Wayne Knight, Vincent D’Onofrio, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Sally Kirkland, and Martin Sheen (narrator).
36. Ocean’s 11 (1960)
Ensemble Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop, Angie Dickinson, Richard Conte, Cesar Romero, Patrice Wymore, Akim Tamiroff, Henry Silva, Shirley MacLaine, Red Skelton, and George Raft.
Ocean’s 11 (2001)
Ensemble Cast: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy García, Julia Roberts, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Elliott Gould, Bernie Mac, Carl Reiner, Don Cheadle, Holly Marie Combs, Topher Grace, Shane West, Joshua Jackson, Wayne Newton, Henry Silva, Angie Dickinson, and Siegfried & Roy.
37. The Dark Knight (2008)
Ensemble Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, Keith Szarabajka, Ron Dean, and Chin Han.
38. Coneheads (1993)
Ensemble Cast: Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, Michelle Burke, Chris Farley, David Spade, Michael McKean, Sinbad. Drew Carey, Michael Richards, Eddie Griffin, Phil Hartman, Adam Sandler, Jason Alexander, Laraine Newman, Garrett Morris, Kevin Nealon, Jan Hooks, Parker Posey, Ellen DeGeneres, Peter Akroyd, Jon Lovitz, and Tom Arnold.
39. Silverado (1985)
Columbia Pictures.
Ensemble Cast: Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Danny Glover, Kevin Costner, Brian Dennehy, Rosanna Arquette, John Cleese, Jeff Goldblum, Lynne Whitfield, Linda Hunt, and Amanda Wyss.
40. Black Hawk Down (2001)
Ensemble Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, William Fichtner, Jason Isaacs, Sam Shepard, Jeremy Piven, Ioan Gruffudd, Ewen Bremner, Hugh Dancy, Tom Hardy, Orlando Bloom, Ty Burrell, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
41. Clue (1985)
Ensemble Cast: Tim Curry, Eileen Brennan, Christopher Lloyd, Madeline Kahn, Michael McKean, Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren, Colleen Camp, Howard Hesseman, and Kellye Nakahara.
42. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Ensemble Cast: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Maximilian Schell, Werner Klemperer, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, William Shatner, and Montgomery Clift.
43. The Player (1992)
Ensemble Cast: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Whoopi Goldberg, Peter Gallagher, Brion James, Cynthia Stevenson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Sydney Pollack, Lyle Lovett, Gina Gershon, Scott Glenn, Jeff Goldblum, Andie MacDowell, Bruce Willis, and Julia Roberts.
44. Airport (1970)
Ensemble Cast: Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bisset, George Kennedy, Helen Hayes, Van Heflin, Maureen Stapleton, Barry Nelson, Lloyd Nolan, Dana Wynter, and Barbara Hale.
45. Tombstone (1993)
Ensemble Cast: Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Dana Delany, Charlton Heston, Billy Bob Thornton, Jason Priestley, Billy Zane, Michael Rooker, John Corbett, Stephen Lang, Michael Biehn, Paula Malcomson, Harry Carey Jr., Tomas Arana, Paul Ben-Victor, Terry O’Quinn, and Robert Mitchum (narrator).
46. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Ensemble Cast: Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Jude Law, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Jason Schwartzman, Léa Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Owen Wilson, and Tony Revolori.
47. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Ensemble Cast: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Bernard Hill, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Karl Urban, John Noble, Andy Serkis, Ian Holm, and Sean Bean.
48. Nashville (1975)
Ensemble Cast: David Arkin, Ned Beatty, Karen Black, Barbara Baxley, Ronee Blakley, Jeff Goldblum, Timothy Brown, Geraldine Chaplin, Keith Carradine, Robert DoQui, Henry Gibson, Shelley Duvall, Allen Garfield, Lily Tomlin, Scott Glenn, Barbara Harris, David Hayward, Michael Murphy, Allan F. Nicholls, Dave Peel, Cristina Raines, Gwen Welles, Bert Remsen, and Keenan Wynn.
49. The Women (1939)
Ensemble Cast: Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine, Lucile Watson, Mary Boland, Florence Nash, Virginia Grey, Marjorie Main, Phyllis Povah, Ruth Hussey, Virginia Weidler, Butterfly McQueen, Theresa Harris, Butterfly McQueen, and Hedda Hopper.
50. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Ensemble Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Zoe Saldaña, Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Tom Hiddleston, Dave Bautista, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Elizabeth Olsen, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jon Favreau, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chadwick Boseman, Cobie Smulders, Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Mackie, Vin Diesel, Sebastian Stan, Marisa Tomei, Tilda Swinton, Letitia Wright, Tessa Thompson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Douglas, Natalie Portman, Rene Russo, Linda Cardellini, Ken Jeong, and Josh Brolin as Thanos.
Top 25 Popular TV Shows That Would NEVER Be Made Today
There is no contesting that pop culture is evolving, and what was acceptable in the past is being corrected for today. For example, many hit TV series were massive successes and would never be made today. Here are the top 25.
A Dish Best Served Cold: 12 Movies to Satisfy Your Thirst for Revenge
Some of the most exciting films have been based on this desire for revenge. These films are suspenseful, full of action, and hard to figure out morally, with both vigilantes and people looking for payback. From classic Westerns to current thrillers and thought-provoking dramas, these films will satisfy your thirst for revenge.
16 Popular Movies That Bombed at the Box Office With Cult Followings Today
Success doesn’t always come immediately in the unpredictable world of movies, and the first box office numbers don’t always tell the whole story. Some films that didn’t do well when they were in theaters have since developed a loyal cult following.
These movies were once ignored or passed over, but they have now won over viewers in ways that no one could have predicted based on how poorly they did at the box office.
15 Saturday Morning Cartoon Favorites From the ’60s and ’70s
Step into a time machine and return to the 1960s and 1970s, when Saturday morning cartoons were bright and exciting. These two decades were an excellent time for cartoon entertainment.
TVs came to life with various fun characters, crazy adventures, and catchy theme songs that people who grew up watching them still remember. Let’s dive into the magical world of classic Saturday morning cartoons.
25 Nostalgic Movies Everyone Needs to See at Least Once in Their Lifetime
Take a trip down memory lane with this hand-picked list of classic films that have forever changed the face of cinema. These movies represent the spirit of different times and genres, from inspiring stories of friendship and adventure to terrifying suspense and beautiful romance.
Elizabeth Ervin is the owner of Sober Healing. She is a freelance writer passionate about opioid recovery and has celebrated breaking free since 09-27-2013. She advocates for mental health awareness and encourages others to embrace healing, recovery, and Jesus.