One of those actors who has, to film viewers at least, probably seemed like he got notable roles quite late in his career, Ian McKellen has been acting for decades, but a lot of his work before the 1990s was on the stage, rather than the screen. Also, lots of his work since appearing on the big screen has remained on stage, so he’s prominent in both worlds nowadays. Further, one of his best movie roles was one he’d previously done on stage to great success, so that’s worth noting. He’s an acting pro, to put it bluntly and maybe a bit crudely. Even when the movie’s not good (see Cats and arguably the somewhat disappointing Hobbit films), he tends to be one of the better parts of such movies.

As for finding his very best movies? Admittedly, most of these belong to two pretty big franchises, and so there aren’t too many surprises below, but the surprise was back in the early 2000s, when a stage actor as good as McKellen so seamlessly transitioned to not only the world of film, but genuine blockbuster movies. He can do both, and is revered for often treating those “broader” roles with the kind of gravitas you might more often associate with non-blockbusters or stage productions. To just focus on the film side of McKellen’s career, he’s been in a few absolute classics, and they’re worth shouting out.

6

‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ (2014)

Image via 20th Century Fox

There’s a massive ensemble cast in X-Men: Days of Future Past, so Ian McKellen might well fade into it a bit compared to the other movies mentioned here, but he’s still very good in it, and the film is an overall great one. There’s one other X-Men movie that might well be better, or if it’s about as good, then it’s being ranked higher here because McKellen is in it a little more, but still, this 2014 one is great. It’s a time travel movie and it smashes together many of the cast members of the original three X-Men movies with the ones from X-Men: First Class, doing a big old crossover the way those sorts of event superhero movies should be done.

And time travel is different from multiverse-hopping, which is more the rage nowadays, but both are ways to get different actors playing more or less the same roles, which is usually fun. X-Men: Days of Future Past keeps the stakes wildly high throughout, but it mostly balances its characters well, even though there are so many moving parts and people doing different things at different points (with, regrettably, a few individuals getting the short end of the stick screen time-wise). But the amount crammed into a little over two hours here is impressive, and X-Men: Days of Future Past remains one of the undeniable highlights of the entire – and sometimes messy – X-Men film series.

5

‘Richard III’ (1995)

Image via Guild Film Distribution

That previously alluded to role of Ian McKellen’s that he did on stage and on screen was that of the titular character in Richard III. This film adaptation was done in 1995, a few years before McKellen’s early blockbuster roles, and he was also co-credited with writing the adaptation (Shakespeare, of course, wrote the original play). It maintains the premise of the original play but transports the action to the 1930s, with the central character’s scheming and ruthless ambition playing out against the backdrop of something that more than alludes to the rise of Fascism from around this point in history.

In the end, the choice makes Richard III feel almost like an odd kind of World War II movie, though maybe an alternate history one, and still, it does admittedly play out before the start of World War II. But it’s got that feel, and seems that way visually, particularly with the costumes and what’s seen of the battle sequences near the end. Richard III works really well, even though it might look odd on paper, and McKellen is incredible in the lead role. The supporting cast is also worth noting, because Richard III has a ton of recognizable faces (Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Robert Downey Jr., Kristin Scott Thomas, and Maggie Smith, among others) all turning in strong performances.

4

‘X2: X-Men United’ (2003)

Image via 20th Century Fox

If you want an X-Men movie packed with tons of iconic scenes, then there’s really no better option than X2: X-Men United. Everything that was good in the first movie, released in 2000, is made great here, and that goes for the story, too. Here, Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (McKellen) have to form a temporary alliance when a greater threat to the mutant population as a whole emerges. So, the dynamic between two key characters is made more complicated here, and similar things can be said about various other returning characters from the first movie.

In 2003, the superhero craze hadn’t peaked, but it was definitely taking off, and X2: X-Men United coming out the year after the first Spider-Man certainly helped all that. It’s just a really good sequel, and at the time of release, it was pretty much as good as superhero movies got (with the arguable exception of more “classic” releases like 1978’s Superman and 1989’s Batman). If you wanted to argue that the X-Men films were all downhill after this point… well, that would be bold to say outright, considering the existence of Days of Future Past and Logan, if that one counts. But the argument that this was, nevertheless, still the peak of the series? Maybe that’d be a fair one.

3

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ (2001)

No alarms, no surprises. Here comes The Lord of the Rings. There was just going to be one movie picked here, or a single entry done for all of them, since Ian McKellen is a pretty big part of the entire trilogy, but each movie is worth having its own spot. Maybe they shouldn’t be in chronological order, since it’s The Fellowship of the Ring that gives McKellen the most to do (arguably), but thinking about these movies out of order is a bit of a headache, so they’re here, they’re in order, and deal with it.

The Fellowship of the Ring is a very skilled adaptation of one-third of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The world immediately feels alive, the characters are all introduced well, and the conflict/hardships to come are hinted at or set up very well. All the while, The Fellowship of the Ring still manages to have a great deal of action and excitement. The amount of spectacle here is still impressive, but things do only get bigger. As for McKellen, he’s great. He deservedly earned an Oscar nomination for this role, and this is also technically the only one in the trilogy where he played Gandalf the Grey.

2

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’ (2002)

Image via New Line Cinema

That’s because in The Two Towers, he comes back as Gandalf the White. Still Gandalf, but he’s also kind of come back from the dead and has a new look, as the slight change in name suggests. You could argue it does undermine one of the most powerful moments from The Fellowship of the Ring, but you do also get more Ian McKellen in his single most iconic movie role, so… that takes away the sting a little. Also, if you were genuinely sad about Gandalf exiting the picture, his return is the thing that’ll take away the sting, so there. Everybody wins?

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers has the whole war for Middle-earth really take off, thanks mainly to Helm’s Deep and a few other big sequences that push things further than any of the action scenes seen in the first movie. It does not represent the trilogy at its absolute peak, but it is an essential part of the overall The Lord of the Rings, without a doubt, and if it’s a 9/10 compared to the 10/10s that the first and third movies are, that’s not so bad, right?

1

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ (2003)

Image via New Line Cinema

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the one where it all ends, to no one’s surprise, and so it’s being included here, at the end of all things. Also, as an ending to the entire trilogy, it’s incredible. The common criticism is that there are too many endings for one movie, but when you consider how the final scenes of The Return of the King had to conclude three long movies, instead of just one epic, it makes more sense and feels fitting.

Also, beyond the emotional heft of it all, The Return of the King really delivers as a fantasy film and another action-packed epic. Every actor here is great, and most of them stand out particularly so, since this most emotionally heightened film in the trilogy provides – for the majority of the cast – the most intense material to convincingly act. Ian McKellen is therefore one pro among many, but this is probably the best film he has ever starred in, just as you could say it’s probably the best film any member of the cast here has ever starred in. And Elijah Wood was in North, remember? Crazy! But that’s how good The Return of the King is.