MovieChat Forums > Steve McQueen Discussion > McQueen in the 80s

McQueen in the 80s

posted 8 years ago by mattjoes
7 replies | jump to latest

What kinds of films do you think he would've made? With which filmmakers?

I can see him making a cop film with Walter Hill. Maybe The Bodyguard would've finally seen the light of day, too.

During his absence from Hollywood in the seventies, many big parts were offered to him: Brando in Apocalypse Now, Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Scheider in Sorcerer. Can you see other filmmakers offering such roles to him in the following decade? I think his last two films didn't do great, critically and financially, but he was McQueen, after all, so he had plenty of goodwill left in the business, I guess.

[–] Sandoz (2021) 6 years ago

The Hunter did ok financially. Steve looked pretty long in the tooth as an action-movie hero in it and the critics weren't too impressed, but it turned a profit.

[–] christomacin (4686) 4 years ago

As per Walter Hill, McQueen instead of Nolte in 48 Hours? Hmm... might have been interesting.

I must admit I have a hard time picturing McQueen in Close Encounters, Apocalypse Now or The Sorcerer. The right actors clearly got the right part in Close Encounters and The Sorcerer. Of course, Brando's casting in Apocalypse Now has generated much debate, but I can't really see McQueen in that part, either. Lee Marvin would have been a better fit for the role than McQueen. I think a more interesting question is what films might McQueen have done between 1974 and 1980 instead of (or in addition to) the three final films he did make.

[–] Jones70 (6644) 4 years ago

Maybe Witness, al capone in the untouchables, Robert Loggia's role in Big, Sam Shepard's role in The Right Stuff, Ronny Cox's role in Beverly Hills Cop, Gene Hackman's role in The Package, Tom Skerrit's role in Top Gun

[–] Owlwise (1536) 4 years ago

I could easily see him in those roles.

[–] liscarkat (18960) 4 years ago

Too old for the Yeager role in "The Right Stuff", but it would have been a good role for him twenty years earlier.

[–] ebhaynz (3724) 3 years ago

McQueen could have played the role of the old drunk in Pacho's desert bar, which was played by the real Chuck Yeager.

[–] rudeboymurray (3281) 4 years ago

Some good calls... I can certainly see him in Witness (and The Mosquito Coast) in Ford's place, along with various grizzled character roles as he aged. Perhaps something like the Robert Duvall role in Colors.

He also seems like the type of actor who would have eventually won a sentimental Oscar on career points, probably playing a washed-up alcoholic cop or cowboy or something similar.