20 Best Christoph Waltz Movies

Christoph Waltz is a textured German actor born in 1956. For many years he played in detective series (eg, “Commissioner Rex”), in independent and European films and was afraid to get involved with American cinema, not wanting to play Nazis for the rest of his life.

But one day Christoph Waltz did not resist Tarantino’s offer, and the world audience finally learned about this actor. Soon followed completely different images, but all – tough, mysterious and strong. For example, in the recent series “The Consultant” he played a mysterious manager, making this project a hit. But we focused on the most famous feature films of the XXI century with Christoph Waltz. With a list of the best of them and offer you, our esteemed readers.

The Portable Door

• IMDB Rating – 6.1
• Genre: Fantasy
• Production: Australia / 2021
• Worldwide box office receipts: $758,366
• Director: Geoffrey Walker
• Starring: Christoph Waltz, Patrick Gibson, Damon Herriman, Sophie Wilde, Sam Neill, Demi Harman, Rachel House, Miranda Otto, Chris Pan, Arka Das

Australian fantasy movie tells the story of an unusual London company, “J.W. Wells and Co.”, where the main characters, Sophie Pettingill and Paul Carpenter, find employment.

The interview is conducted by the charming gentleman, Humphrey Wells (Christoph Waltz), who later becomes Paul and Sophie’s supervisor. Their job is to track down powerful artifacts and investigate peculiar coincidences around the world. Wells is on a quest for a magical artifact – a unique door that can provide passage to other realms, and Paul is destined to play a crucial role in this search.

The movie is based on the book “The Portable Door” by Brit Tom Holt.

Dead for a Dollar

• IMDB Rating – 5.4
• Genre: Thriller, Western
• Production: Canada, USA / 2022
• Worldwide Box Office: $81,815
• Director: Walter Hill
• Starring: Christoph Waltz, Willem Defoe, Rachel Brosnahan, Warren Burke, Luis Chavez, Brandon Scott, Benjamin Brett, Hamish Linklater, FiDel Gomez, Guy Burnett.

Walter Hill’s spaghetti western is a movie starring Willem Defoe, Rachel Brosnahan, and Christoph Waltz. The latter portrays the tough bounty hunter Max Borlund, who roams the prairies of New Mexico in 1897. Hot on his trail is Joe Cribbens (Defoe), a gambler and murderer whom Max had imprisoned years earlier.

One day, Max is hired by a businessman named Price to retrieve his wife, who has been kidnapped by a deserter named Elijah. The mercenary quickly locates the woman, only to discover that she had willingly fled from her oppressive husband and has no intention of returning. Faced with this revelation, Max finds himself torn between the promise of a reward and his own conscience.

This is the second time Christoph Waltz has played a bounty hunter in the Wild West. The first image was in the movie “Django Unchained”.

Georgetown

• IMDB Rating – 6.2
• Genre: Drama, Crime, Biography
• Production: Germany / 2018
• Worldwide box office receipts: $39,163
• Director: Christoph Waltz
• Starring: Christoph Waltz, Vanessa Redgrave, Annette Bening, Corey Hawkins, Laura DeCartere, Dan Lett, Emin Bhatia, Jane Lewis, Sarah Jurgens, David Reale.

Based on a real event, the story revolves around a marriage scam artist who weds an affluent elderly woman and is later accused of her murder. The deceitful, duplicitous yet captivating conman is portrayed convincingly by Christoph Waltz.

Elsa Brecht, brilliantly played by Vanessa Redgrave, is a 70-year-old countess, a socialite with vast familial wealth. She falls head over heels for the younger, distinguished, and charming Ulrich Moth.

Soon after, with his sights set on his ‘beloved’s’ wealth, he becomes her husband, much to the chagrin of high society. He then dives into a whirlwind of activity, amassing his wife’s capital and connections, wielding them with confidence. As years go by, the lovestruck elderly lady shows no signs of passing, much to the frustration of her ambitious spouse.

This movie is Christoph Waltz’s directorial debut in a big movie. However, in 2000, he directed his very first movie for German television, Wenn man sich traut.

Alita: Battle Angel

• IMDB Rating – 7.3
• Genre: Fantasy, Action, Adventure
• Production: Japan, Canada, USA / 2019
• Budget: $170,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $404,980,543
• Director: Robert Rodriguez
• Starring: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, Kian Johnson, Jorge Lendeborg Jr.

A futuristic post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk movie in which Christoph Waltz plays the role of a cybernetic surgeon named Dyson Ido, mourning the loss of his daughter. The setting is the year 2563, and Earth lies in ruins after a catastrophic war with Mars. The only remaining civilized human settlement on the planet is the hovering city of Zalem.

Below Zalem stretches a vast scrapyard inhabited by a diverse array of people. It is in this junkyard that the exiled Dr. Ido discovers a damaged cyborg. He repairs her and names her Alita. This cybernetic girl possesses remarkable combat skills but has no recollection of her past. Together with the doctor, she embarks on a journey to uncover her history and fight for a better future.

James Cameron penned a screenplay inspired by the well-known manga in the early 2010s. However, he chose to dedicate himself entirely to “Avatar” and offered the director’s role for “Alita” to Rodriguez. Tarantino was the one who brought Christoph Waltz on board for the project.

Downsizing

• IMDB Rating – 5.8
• Genre: Fantastic, Fantasy, Drama
• Production: USA, Norway / 2017
• Budget: $68,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $55,003,890
• Director: Alexander Payne
• Starring: Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, Kristen Wiig, Rolf Lassgaard, Ingjerd Egeberg, Udo Kier, Søren Pilmark, Jason Sudeikis, Marybeth Monroe.

A Norwegian sci-fi drama addresses an unconventional solution to Earth’s overpopulation: shrinking humans. The film stars Matt Damon as the main character, Paul Safranek. Christoph Waltz portrays Paul’s affluent neighbor, Dušan Mirković.

Paul, along with his wife Audrey, chooses to undergo the shrinking procedure, which, as advertised, promises a more economical and affluent life. However, after Paul undergoes the process, Audrey has second thoughts, leaving him to navigate his new reality alone.

His neighbor Dusan suggests that Paul visit Norway, where Asbjørsen, the innovator of the shrinking technology, has established a commune. He believes that, save for this community, the rest of humanity is doomed.

Matt Damon and Christoph Waltz are starring together for the second time. The first collaboration was in the movie “Zero Theorem”.

Tulip Fever

• IMDB Rating – 6.2
• Genre: Drama, Melodrama, History
• Production: UK, USA / 2016
• Budget: $25,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $9,204,549
• Director: Justin Chadwick
• Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dane DeHaan, Christoph Waltz, Zach Galifianakis, Judi Dench, Holliday Grainger, Jack O’Connell, Matthew Morrison, Cara Delevingne, Tom Hollander

A courtesan historical melodrama in which Christoph Waltz plays the role of a noble, rich and not young merchant Cornelis Sandvoort, who lives in Holland in the 1630s, at the time of the “Tulip Fever”.

Lonely and prosperous Cornelis, thinking about the future, takes a young orphan Sophie (Alicia Vikander) as his wife to give him an heir, not knowing that the girl is barren. A beggar painter Jean, hired by Cornelis to paint a portrait of his wife, becomes Sophie’s lover. To improve his situation, Jean, Cornelis’s maid Maria and her husband get involved in an adventure with tulips, which ends in ruin for all of them.

The movie is set in Amsterdam, but was filmed in Britain, in Norfolk and Suffolk.

«Spectre» (2015) and «No Time to Die» (2020)

• IMDB Rating – 6.8
• Genre: Action, Thriller, Adventure
• Production: UK, USA / 2015
• Budget: $245,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $880,674,609
• Director: Sam Mendes
• Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Rafe Fiennes, Monica Bellucci, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Batista, Andrew Scott, Rory Kinnear

This is the 24th and 25th movie about British spy 007, with Christoph Waltz playing the villainous Ernst Stavro Blofeld, James Bond’s half-brother and nemesis.

In Spectre, Bond is trying to reach out to a sinister secret organization, and his main adversary is a certain Blofeld, who turns out to be Franz Oberhauser, whose father once sheltered young James. Franz killed his father, faked his own death and changed his name.

In No Time to Die, Bond is sidelined, but is forced to forget about peace and save the world from a new superweapon that Blofeld is involved in creating.

By the way, in the Bond books and early Bond films, Blofeld is a major and significant character. This villain was even parodied by Soviet directors in the comedy “The Diamond Arm”, where he is portrayed as the gang’s chief.

Horrible Bosses 2

• IMDB Rating – 6.3
• Genre: Comedy, Crime
• Production: USA / 2014
• Budget: $42,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $107,645,357
• Director: Sean Anders
• Starring: Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Chris Pine, Jennifer Aniston, Christoph Waltz, Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey, Jonathan Banks, Lindsay Sloan

The second installment of the hilarious comedy follows three friends – Nick, Kurt, and Dale, who after taking revenge on their unbearable bosses (in the first part), decide to launch their own business.

They strike a deal with a seasoned investor, Bert Hanson (played by Christoph Waltz). However, at the last moment, he goes back on his word and refuses to invest. In response, the trio concocts a plan for revenge and a chance to make a profit off the deceitful investor. They kidnap his grown son, Rex, but as always, they find themselves entangled in a series of comical misadventures where nothing goes as planned.

Tommy Lee Jones and Jack Nicholson were considered for the role of Hanson, but the director settled on Christoph Waltz.

Big Eyes

• IMDB Rating – 7.0
• Genre: Drama, Melodrama, Crime, Biography
• Production: USA, Canada / 2014
• Budget: $10,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $29,253,166
• Director: Tim Burton
• Starring: Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz, Danny Huston, Krysten Ritter, Jason Schwartzman, Terence Stamp, John Polito, Delaney Ray, Madeleine Arthur, James Saito

Once again, Christoph Waltz brilliantly portrays a rather unflattering character. He steps into the shoes of street artist and renowned plagiarist Walter Keane, who for years took credit for the works of his wife, Margaret Ulbrich, the central figure of this biographical film about artists.

In 1958, Margaret flees from her oppressive husband, taking her daughter to San Francisco, where she takes on any available job. There, she encounters Walter Keane, who soon becomes her spouse. Walter starts selling Margaret’s paintings alongside his, falsely claiming them as his own creations.

As the family’s wealth grows due to Margaret’s artwork, Walter becomes increasingly tyrannical and exploitative. Pushed to her limits, the artist decides to stand up for herself and her craft.

Christoph Waltz wanted to adjust his accent for the role, but director Burton felt it wasn’t necessary. As a result, Waltz’s distinctive accent is clearly heard in the movie. 🙂

The Zero Theorem

• IMDB Rating – 6.0
• Genre: Fantasy, Thriller, Drama, Comedy
• Production: UK, Romania, France / 2013
• Budget: $8,500,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $1,428,362
• Director: Terry Gilliam
• Starring: Christoph Waltz, Gwendoline Christie, Rupert Friend, Ray Cooper, Lily Cole, David Thewlis, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Peter Stormare, Ben Whishaw, Melanie Thierry

Intriguing sci-fi brimming with symbolism, featuring Christoph Waltz in one of his rare non-villainous roles. He portrays the computer genius, Cohen Lat, living in a dystopian future within an ancient, crumbling temple. Lat spends his life awaiting a divine call to enlighten him on the nature of existence.

From a distance, Lat works for the “Mancom” corporation, tackling their most complex challenges. One day, he’s tasked with proving the “Zero Theorem”, which posits that life in the universe is the result of sheer absurdity and that there’s no God. The corporation is eager to optimize Lat’s productivity, but he begins to push back, seeking the true purpose of his existence.

Originally, Christoph Waltz was one of the producers of the project, and they wanted to cast Bill Murray for the main role. However, he declined due to commitments to other projects.

Django Unchained

• IMDB Rating – 8.4
• Genre: Western, action, drama, comedy
• Production: USA / 2012
• Budget: $100,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $425,368,238
• Director: Quentin Tarantino
• Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Walton Goggins, Dennis Christopher, James Rimar, Don Johnson, Laura Caillouette

Epic spaghetti western marks the second collaboration between director Quentin Tarantino and Christoph Waltz, who portrayed Dr. King Schultz and once again won all three prestigious film awards: the Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA.

The story is set in 1858. German bounty hunter King Schultz frees a black man named Django from slave traders, believing he knows the whereabouts of the Brittle brothers – the bandits Schultz is pursuing. Django assists Schultz and proves to be so competent that Schultz offers him a partnership. Together, they set out to find and rescue Django’s wife, who was sold separately from him.

When Christoph Waltz was practicing riding a horse, he fell and broke his pelvic bone. Afterward, Jamie Foxx, who played Django, gave Waltz a saddle with a seatbelt.

Carnage

• IMDB Rating – 7.1
• Genre: Drama, comedy
• Production: France, Germany, Spain, Poland / 2011
• Budget: $25,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $30,722,632
• Director: Roman Polanski
• Starring: Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly, Elvis Polanski, Elliot Berger, Joseph Rezvin, Nathan Rippy, Tanya Loper, Julie Adams.

A film depicting a dispute between two families evolves into a chamber tragicomedy and an epic confrontation within the confines of a single apartment. Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz star as the Cowan couple, who seek explanations from Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly, portraying the Longstreet couple.

The cause of the contention is a brawl that took place between their children at the park. Both boys are left with bruises, and neither reveals the reason for their quarrel. The parents of Zachary Cowan (portrayed by the director’s own son, Elvis) visit the home of Ethan Longstreet’s parents (with young actor Eliot Berger playing Ethan)… And so the drama unfolds!

Christoph Waltz worked with a diction coach to get rid of his Austrian accent for this movie.

Water for Elephants

• IMDB Rating – 6.9
• Genre: Drama, Melodrama
• Production: USA / 2011
• Budget: $38,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $117,094,902
• Director: Francis Lawrence
• Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, Christoph Waltz, Paul Schneider, Jim Norton, Hal Holbrook, Mark Povinelli, Richard Brake, Steven Monroe Taylor, Ken Foree.

A charming romantic movie about elephants and betrayal, circus and love. August Rosenbluth (Christoph Waltz) is the despotic manager and husband of the lovely rider Marlena in the Benzini brothers’ traveling circus during the Great Depression.

One day, Jacob, a young veterinarian, takes a job at the circus and falls in love with Marlena. Alongside her, who reciprocates his feelings, he takes care of an elephant brutally beaten by August. The lovers plan to escape, but August isn’t about to let go of what he considers his property, referring to his wife.

The movie is based on the book of the same name by Sarah Gruen.

The Green Hornet

• IMDB Rating – 5.8
• Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
• Production: USA / 2011
• Budget: $120,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $227,817,248
• Director: Michel Gondry
• Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz, Tom Wilkinson, David Harbour, Edward James Olmos, Jamie Harris, Chad L. Coleman, Edward Furlong.

In 1936, Stryker and Trendle introduced a superhero known as “The Green Hornet”, who initially debuted on the radio and later became a popular figure in the 1960s television shows. In 2011, a comedic action film about this character was released, with Seth Rogen in the leading role.

Christoph Waltz portrayed the antagonist, Benjamin Chudnofsky, a Russian-born gangster intent on killing The Green Hornet, who dares to disrupt his organized crime empire. All presented with the high-energy and witty action that we’ve come to love in many superhero movies.

Initially, Nicolas Cage was chosen to play Chudnofsky, but he wanted to play the role with a Jamaican accent and dropped out of the casting to his great dismay.

The Three Musketeers

• IMDB Rating – 5.7
• Genre: Action, Adventure
• Production: USA, Germany, France, UK: / 2011
• Budget: $75,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $136,714,484
• Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
• Starring: Logan Lerman, Milla Jovovich, Matthew McFadyen, Ray Stevenson, Luke Evans, Mads Mikkelsen, Gabriella Wilde, James Corden, Orlando Bloom, Christoph Waltz.

Paul Anderson’s adventure movie is a free fantasy on the theme of Dumas’ The Musketeers. Christoph Waltz traditionally plays the most insidious villain of history – Cardinal Richelieu.

The events unfold in the early XVII century. Three Musketeers and Milady, a friend of Athos, steal from the secret vault da Vinci blueprints of a flying ship. Milady betrays everyone and escapes with the loot to give the blueprints to Buckingham. Soon d’Artagnan arrives in Paris, classically meets the Musketeers, and Richelieu comes to power in France, seeking to seize the throne.

The movie received mostly negative reviews from the world’s movie critics. But Tarantino included it in his list of the best films of 2011.

Inglourious Basterds

• IMDB Rating – 8.3
• Genre: Action, Drama, Comedy, Military
• Production: Germany, USA / 2009
• Budget: $70,000,000
• Worldwide Box Office: $321,455,689
• Director: Quentin Tarantino
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laurent, Daniel Brühl, Diane Kruger, Michael Fassbender, August Diehl, Eli Roth, Til Schweiger, Gedeon Burkhardt.

This masterpiece of military action movie in the genre of alternative history probably does not need to be presented. It made it to the list of the best movies of the XXI century and the coolest action movies in the history of cinematography.

American Aldo Raine and his group terrorize Nazis in occupied France, scalping them and killing them in packs. One day he gets the chance to blow up Hitler, who is scheduled to attend a screening of the film at a theater owned by Shoshanna Dreyfus, a Jewess who has changed her name.

Her family has been destroyed by Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), and she decides at this screening to burn down the movie theater along with the Führer. Both Raine, Shoshanna, and Landa collide in the ill-fated establishment, setting off an unbelievable mess from which few will escape alive.

Christoph Waltz has been called “Tarantino’s Secret Weapon”, he delighted all critics and audiences with his role as Hans Landa and, of course, won an Oscar (the film’s only statuette), a Golden Globe and a BAFTA award plus two more carloads of assorted awards.

Das jüngste Gericht

• IMDB Rating – 6.2
• Genre: Thriller
• Production: Austria / 2008
• Director: Urs Egger
• Starring: Tobias Moretti, Silke Bodenbender, Christoph Waltz, Christian Rödl, Steven Berkoff, Tim Seifi, Petra Morce, Lawrence Rupp, Julia Rosa Stokl, Julian Sharp.

A two-part terrific Australian thriller, after which Tarantino took an interest in German actor Christoph Waltz. Here he plays Peters, the partner of the main character, Commissioner Thomas Dern.

Together with Peters and a young detective Monika Thomas begins to investigate the strange murder of a prostitute who was stoned to death. Another grim and brutal murder follows – a man’s hands are chopped off. Pretty soon Thomas realizes that all these deaths are connected with the Ten Commandments of the Bible, which means that in the city is a serial killer turned on religion …

The movie was filmed in Vienna, Croatia, Burgenland and Lower Austria.

Die Zürcher Verlobung – Drehbuch zur Liebe

• IMDB Rating – 5.0
• Genre: Melodrama, comedy
• Production: Germany / 2007
• Director: Stefan Meyer
• Starring: Lisa Martinek, Christoph Waltz, Tim Bergmann, Hannelore Hoger, Susan Anbech, Pierre Besson, Jan Fedder, Sonja Kirchberger, Antoine Monod Jr.

The beautiful duo of Christoph Waltz and Lisa Martinek star in this extraordinary German romcom about Julianne, a famous writer who dreams of meeting her love.

One day she meets the charming Jean from Switzerland and falls in love with him. However, the man soon goes home, and the string is cut. Julianne is in despair, but fate gives her another chance.

Jean’s friend, director Arbogast nicknamed “Buffalo” (Christoph Waltz), offers her a trip to Switzerland, to which she immediately agrees, secretly dreaming of meeting Jean. Of course, she runs into him without even noticing how gentle the gruff Arbogast is with her.

This movie is a remake of the classic 1957 German comedy “Engagement in Zurich”.

Death, Deceit & Destiny Aboard the Orient Express

A thriller about terrorists, hostages and extortion. In the plot, an anonymous benefactor sends invitations to very rich businessmen and celebrities to spend a few days before the new millennium in the Orient Express. Greed and a craving for eccentric pleasures prompts most of them to accept the invitation.

After some time, the guests are finally introduced to their “host”. This is Tariq, a ruthless international terrorist, wanted by all the intelligence agencies of the world. He, by the way, played by Christoph Waltz. So, the train is mined, the rich are taken hostage, and Tariq proclaims the victory of faith over corruption and demands from each “guest” a part of his fortune.

Tariq’s character is based on the identity of Osama bin Laden.

Falling Rocks

• IMDB Rating – 5.4
• Genre: Thriller, Drama
• Production: Germany / 2000
• Budget: €1,700,000
• Director: Peter Keglevich
• Starring: Claudia Michelsen, Cohen De Bowe, Christoph Waltz, Anica Dobra, Chiara Shoras, Aleksandar Jovanovic, Andre Hennicke, Kevin Basel, Candice Hillebrand.

A slow-paced road crime thriller about mysterious murders, an unexpected discovery and with difficult moral choices. Christoph Waltz plays Louis, one of a group of tourists, the protagonists of this suspenseful story.

The six friends are hiking through the beautiful South African countryside and stumble upon a dead skydiver carrying a box of rough diamonds worth a huge sum. They begin to debate whether they should keep the treasure for themselves, or tell the authorities about it? Either way, they still have time until the friends reach civilization. But on the road, one by one they begin to die…

Austrian director Peter Keglewicz was inspired by Agatha Christie’s novel Ten Negroes, and the movie was shot in beautiful locations in the Kalahari Desert.