American actor Val Kilmer has died of pneumonia at the age of 65, leaving behind him a $3.7 billion filmography that made him one of Hollywood’s most successful stars.
His acting career began when, at the age of just 17, he became the youngest person to be accepted into the prestigious Juilliard School and he quickly found success on stage, starring in a production of The Slab Boys alongside Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn.
His big screen break came in spy comedy Top Secret!, but global stardom came in 1986 when he starred as ‘Iceman’ alongside Tom Cruise in Top Gun - a role he would later return to in Top Gun: Maverick.
His long career saw him star in a sting of blockbusters which grossed over $3.7 billion including Willow, The Doors, Tombstone, True Romance, Heat, Batman Forever, The Saint and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Here are his 10 most critically-acclaimed films - according to reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
1. Kill Me Again (1989)
Val Kilmer's most critically-acclaimed role is far from his most well known. In crime thriller 'Kill Me Again' he plays a widowed orivate investigator who is hired by a woman to help fake her own death as she flees her controlling ex and the mobsters they stole from. Joanne Whalley and Michael Madsen costar. | Contributed
2. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Val Kilmer's final film is his second most critically-acclaimed, with Top Gun: Maverick earning a 96 per cent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Pretty much credited with saving cinema post-lockdown, it saw Kilmer reprise his role as Iceman from the first Top Gun film, with Tom Cruise returning as Maverick, training a group of younger Top Gun graduates for a dangerous mission. | Contributed
3. Val (2021)
A documentary showcasing the life and career of Val Kilmer, the documentary Val has a 93 per cent postive Rotten Tomatoes score. It uses footage shot by Kilmer himself throughout his career and includes intimate accounts of the death of his brother and his battle with throat cancer. | Contributed
4. True Romance (1993)
Written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Tony Scott, True Romance sees a couple of newlyweds, played by Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette, on the run from the mafia after stealing a shipment of drugs. Kilmer plays the spirit of Elvis Presley, who appears to mentor Slater's character Clarence. The film has a 93 per cent Rotten Tomatoes rating. It also stars Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, and Christopher Walken. | Contributed