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Welcome to this week’s Top 5 movies. This week we would like to take a look at 5 of the best Marlon Brando films, in honor of his Birthday. Not an easy task, Brando is a legend who has taken on many roles that both challenge and compliment his skills. Some of his roles can be considered minor, but even when his screen time is minimal Brando has always found a way for his characters to light up the big screen.

1. The Godfather

   I do not think it is a coincidence that Brando’s best role came from the #1 ranked film of all time by the users of IMDB. Don Vito Corleone is the foundation on which The Godfather films were built. The film and Brando’s performance have produced numerous copycat films and practically invented the gangster film genre.

2. Apocalypse Now

   Perhaps the greatest character actor ever, Brando showed immense depth with this performance as Colonel Walter E. Kurtz. Francis Ford Coppola took a role that seemingly could have never been right for Brando and entrusted him to carry the film through its climactic ending.

3. On The Waterfront

   Winner of 8 Oscars, On The Waterfront is without a doubt one of Brando’s best leading performances. A classic story where the little guy refuses to let the big guys win, Brando carried this film into cinema history.

4. A Streetcar Named Desire

   The film that began Brando’s legacy, is also the film that legitimized him as a leading man. Not to overshadow Viva Zapata!, Brando showed that in 1952 he was not only willing to drive box-office success, but also willing to experiment with less typical roles.

5. Julius Caesar

   As convincing a Marc Antony as cinema will ever see. Brando took a mediocre film that otherwise probably wouldn’t have received much attention and in the end received 6 Oscar nominations and one win.