Tag Archives: Sam Neil

There was a need to do this. From the United States we only hear boasts and BS, from other places we see political settings and it tires me, but the shock I felt last night was just too real for me, the world lost a giant actor. Sam Neil has left us. I have seen his works going all the way back to the 80s. So lets take a look. I first noticed him in The Omen III (1981) followed by Reilly, Ace of spies (1983) it was a different spy story and it was only later that I learned that the man had actually existed. After that Dead Calm (which I watched because Nicole Kidman was in it), Kane and Abel (1985). I loved the story and Sam made it a better series, and together with Peter Strauss it brought a great setting where these two actors brought a book to life. After that I think I watched The Hunt for Red October (1990) which I saw because of Sean Connery, but Sam Neil was well noticed. In the 90s he was noticed by me, although he was not the reason I saw the movies he was in. I saw Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992), The Piano, Sirens and then there was Jurassic Park (1993) after which Sam became the reason to see movies. First there was In the Mouth of Madness (1994) Event Horizon (1997) Merlin (1998) and Bicentennial Man (1999), which I actually preferred over Steven Spielbergs A.I. and Sam gave stellar performances every time. Looking back at these works I am amazed how much he influenced some of the choices of movies I made because of his involvement. As I see it, he made these movies great because of his collaboration with other actors. As I go through the list like The Dish and Jurassic Park III and Wimbledon I am noticing that I missed some of his works over time. Which makes me a little sad, but these were times that I could only squeeze 24 hours out of any day and choices needed to be made. I reckon we all noticed him on a Cameo in Thor: Ragnarok (together with Matt Damon) giving it all a fun moment. As far as I can tell, the last thing I saw him in was Thor: Love and Thunder. I have seen other movies with him after that, but as far as I can tell, it was the latest  setting I saw him in. Weirdly enough, I feel no deep mourning. When I think of him in these movies it merely brings a smile to my face. He really livened up the movies he worked on. And even now I still consider watching the Blu-ray of Event Horizon today. This movie has a nice little story behind it. In a scene where he sees his eyeless wife I yelped in the cinema and a friend told me that an entire wave of watchers reacted to my yelp. That moment really got to me. As such I end this story with: 

I raise my glass to you in salute to an amazing career in excellence for over 4 decades. Mr Neil it was an honour watching your work and perhaps we get to meet for real in the next stage of our lives. You will be missed on the big screen. And not to forget, my condolences to his family and friends. 

I wish you all a great day today.