While well-known for his "The Man With No Name" performances in Sergio Leone's "Dollars" trilogy, Clint Eastwood has spent the past several decades cultivating a legacy entirely independent of his Western identity.
Dabbling in Westerns himself early on as a filmmaker in the 1970s, Eastwood branched beyond the genre countless times over. The following ten films represent the best non-Westerns he has churned out in that time. He may not have directed them all, but an entertainer of his stature holds shot-calling power on just about any film set.
Flags Of Our Fathers (2006) - 7.0
Starring Ryan Phillippe, Barry Pepper, John Slattery, Jamie Bell, Paul Walker, and more, this historical/adventure film covered the life stories of the six men who raised the American flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. A moment documented via an iconic photograph that, thanks to Eastwood and Co., now had a grippingly mobile companion piece. The film went on to receive Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing Oscar nominations at the 2007 ceremony.
In The Line Of Fire (1993) - 7.2
By the early 1990s, Eastwood was settling into a habit of only fronting pictures he himself directed. Making this Wolfgang Petersen's action-thriller all the more compelling. Eastwood played as a Secret Service Agent plagued by his failure to save John F. Kennedy who is in a quest for redemption amid the incumbent facing his own assailant.
Bird (1988) - 7.2
Eastwood irably remained exclusively behind the camera on the biopic tackling the tumultuous life of jazz legend, Charlie "Bird" Parker.
With a young Forrest Whitaker in the titular role, the film garnered director and acting nominations for Eastwood and Whitaker, respectively, at the Golden Globes. Yet the pair peculiarly went unrecognized for their efforts at The Academy Awards.
American Sniper (2014) - 7.3
While promoting his acclaimed directorial debut A Star is Born in 2018, Cooper cited that getting to watch "a master" like Eastwood while he worked was the best filmmaking tutorial one could receive.
Eastwood and Cooper connected on The Mule.
Escape From Alcatraz (1979) - 7.6
By longtime collaborator Don Siegel's direction, Eastwood solidified himself even further in film history as a criminal one cannot help but root for in this pre-John Carpenter 'Escape From..' prison breakout saga.
As real-life Alcatraz escapee Frank Morris, Eastwood leads himself and two others in prepping a middle-of-the-night escape. His real-life counterpart has still never been found to this day, thereby technically remaining the only prisoner to ever successfully escape the island.
Dirty Harry (1971) - 7.7
A perfectly-timed step away from the Western genre at the time called for another franchise-generating character to reach heights either equivalent to or even grander than "The Man With No Name." With private detective Harry Callahan, Eastwood had found his man.
Dirty Harry captured San Francisco in gritty, suspense-packed ways only outdone by Hitchock prior. Plus, it added a full arsenal of tough-as-nails antics and laughter-inducing quips on the part of its fearless-and-unrelenting lead.
Letters From Iwo Jima (2006) - 7.9
Impressively released in the same year as its Flags of Our Fathers predecessor, Eastwood by design sought to, and successfully, captured the other side of the same coin with Letters From Iwo Jima. The film tells the story of the Iwo Jima battle from the perspective of Japanese soldiers. While Flags garnered a pair of sound nominations at the 2007 Oscars, it was Letters that saw Eastwood recognized himself - with nominations for both Best Picture and Best Director.
Mystic River (2003) - 7.9
Perhaps the best Boston-set crime film directed by a non-native, Mystic River's adherence to the source material - Dennis Lehane's original novel - is indicative of Eastwood's second-to-none, hyper-commitment to the scripts he is supplied.
The film stars Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, and Kevin Bacon - the former two both winning Oscars for their performances - as a trio of estranged childhood best friends who are brought back together years down the line when one of their daughters is brutally murdered.
Gran Torino (2008) - 8.1
With Gran Torino, Eastwood dared to invite audiences to sympathize with a bigoted loner as he improbably becomes a fiercely protective guardian for his Hmong next-door-neighbors. In the same vein as And yet another is on its way.
Million Dollar Baby (2004) - 8.1
As hardened boxing trainer Frankie Dunn, Eastwood is only outperformed by his co-stars - Hillary Swank and Morgan Freeman - in Million Dollar Baby, for which they both took home Oscar trophies. Moreover, Eastwood - who once said the Academy would never recognize him, earned his second Best Director award, having earned one for Unforgiven (1992) as well.
