All Hulk Hogan Movies Ranked From Worst To Best

Terry Bollea, better known as Hulk Hogan, was one of wrestling's first true superstars. Not only does he remain one of the most identifiable wrestlers in history, even by people who've never watched a single second of the WWE, but he's been a crossover celebrity outside of the ring as well for most of his career. Beyond all the ways he was a trailblazer in his primary field, Hogan was also the first pro wrestler to headline Hollywood movies.

That said, Hogan's filmography is quite a mixed bag. It took a long time for wrestlers to be taken seriously as actors and to get high-quality roles, especially playing anything other than a small cameo as themselves (we left such cameos off this list). Outliers like Andre the Giant in "The Princess Bride" and Roddy Piper in "They Live" notwithstanding, it really wasn't until Dwayne Johnson started racking up hit movies in the 2000s that any wrestler was able to successfully make the transition to acting as a legitimate, respected, and ongoing career.

But Hogan didn't have the blueprint for how to be a wrestler who acted on the side, and he did the best he could with the roles he was able to get. Some of them are pretty terrible, but there are definitely some cult classics — as well as a few legitimate hit movies — among his film roles.

Hulk Hogan's most recent film — beyond a small voice cameo in 2011's "Gnomeo & Juliet" — is the 2009 fantasy family movie "Little Hercules." It was primarily a vehicle for Richard Sandrak, who had gained fame as a child bodybuilder and martial artist and had already been given the nickname from which the film derived its title. In the movie, Sandrak plays a young Hercules who wants to leave Mt. Olympus and experience what it's like on Earth — and he conveniently chooses Burbank, California, for his terrestrial adventures. It's all very tired and corny fish-out-of-water stuff, not helped by the fact that Sandrak isn't much of an actor. 

Hogan, in an outfit that looks like it was borrowed from a local high school's drama department, mugs and overacts as Hercules's annoyed father, occasionally waving his arms around so some terrible-looking lightning effects could be applied to his gesturing in post-production. There are plenty of reasons why Hollywood wants no part of Hulk Hogan anymore, but given that this role was the best he could get by this point, the feeling is probably mutual. 

The period between 1996 and 1998 was Hulk Hogan's most prolific stretch as a movie actor, as the wrestler appeared in an impressive six different films during those years. Even more impressive is that a couple of those projects feature Hogan's better film work. "McCinsey's Island," however, is not one of them. After these six movies, Hogan would only appear in one more movie — "Muppets from Space," another cameo — before he was absent from the big screen — until 2009.

Perhaps trying to recapture some of that "Thunder in Paradise" magic, "McCinsey's Island" is a tropical island-set treasure hunting adventure that sees Hogan play former secret agent Joe McGrai. In the grand tradition of such movies, he discovers that he's got some competition, and the movie turns into a race to see who can get to the treasure first. Among the Hulkster's co-stars are Grace Jones — who generally makes the most of bad movies with an awesomely over-the-top performance, but even she seems bored here — and fellow wrestler Paul "Big Show" Wight. It should be noted that Wight is credited as "White," which tells you all you need to know about how much effort and quality control were put into this slapdash production.

Hulk Hogan might have eventually become a good enough actor to be able to consistently lead Hollywood films, but since he never really got the opportunity to continue polishing his acting skills, all we can do is speculate. Failing that, Hogan did do well when he was more of a side character, villain, father figure, and the like — and maybe that should've been the path he doubled down on if he had really wanted to carve out a more permanent place on the big screen.

A decent example of that is his supporting role in "3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain," the fourth film in the "3 Ninjas" series and the first that features the wrestler. Hogan plays Dave Dragon, star of a fictional TV show that the kids in the movie are fans of, and who joins forces with them against a criminal who has taken over an amusement park. With a 0% Rotten Tomatoes score, it's certainly one of the worst movies Hogan ever made. But despite that, it's still a decent showcase for him as a supporting player — not to mention seeming to showcase a willingness to slightly poke fun at himself by playing a TV hero whose show has been canceled and is therefore considered past his prime.

Hulk Hogan was a victim of bad timing in terms of when he was ready to embark on his film career. He was too busy being the biggest wrestler on the planet to do many movies in the 1980s, when the type of cheesy action movies that he would've been perfect for were at their peak. And he seemed to have given up on trying to be a prolific actor by the time of the direct-to-DVD action movie boom of the 2010s. Instead, he found himself in Hollywood during a period when his ideal style of movie just wasn't a particularly prolific genre.

Still, in 1998, he decided to go ahead and make the kind of movie he would've made in the '80s anyway with "The Ultimate Weapon." It's actually not half bad for what it is, and Hogan is pretty decent in it. The plot, such as it is, sees Hogan play a military contractor who gets on the bad side of the Irish Republican Army when he's tasked with destroying one of their weapons outposts. It's all just an excuse to see Hogan wear military fatigues and punch, stab, shoot, and blow up things/people. If you like this kind of movie, you'll be entertained, but it definitely feels like it came out a decade too late.

One of the things that hurt Hulk Hogan's film career is that he didn't really have the backing of the WWE for most of it. In 2002, an entire WWE Studios company was launched for the specific purpose of producing movies starring WWE wrestlers. But other than "No Holds Barred," which was produced by then-WWE boss Vince McMahon, Hogan had to mostly go it alone when trying to be a movie star. At least, until he joined World Championship Wrestling.

During his time with WCW, Hogan made two direct-to-television movies for TNT, which just so happened to be the same network that aired the series "WCW Nitro," as Ted Turner owned them both. Those movies were billed as "Nitro Originals," part of an effort to expand WCW into non-wrestling media with projects that starred its wrestlers. 1999's "Assault on Death Mountain" was the second of those movies, serving as the sequel to the previous "Assault on Devil's Island." Hogan again plays Mike McBride, a military contractor doing military contractor things — this time, trying to stop a terrorist attack against Seattle. A few of the more noteworthy co-stars from the original didn't return for the sequel, which takes things down a peg, but "Assault on Death Mountain" is still perfectly a perfectly capable B-movie action cheesefest that suits Hogan's talents well.

At some point, every tough guy action star veers into family comedy territory with child co-stars. Arnold Schwarzenegger had "Kindergarten Cop," Vin Diesel had "The Pacifier," Dwayne Johnson had "Tooth Fairy," and Hulk Hogan had "Mr. Nanny." One of only a few times he actually plays a pro wrestler in a movie, Hogan is Sean Armstrong, wrestler-turned-bodyguard who finds himself tasked with keeping an eye on the children of a weapons tech company CEO.

While we eventually get big action set pieces when Sean finally has to take on the bad guys, much of "Mr. Nanny" sees Hogan playing a glorified babysitter who his two young charges quickly wrap around their tiny fingers. Hogan is decent at comedy, especially physical comedy, and manages to wring a few laughs from an otherwise tired premise and its by-the-numbers jokes and story beats. The fact that he would go on to make several more movies in a similar vein after this proves that he enjoyed making "Mr. Nanny" and/or it did well on video. And, honestly, given the fact that this is one of the lowest-ranked of his family comedies, it's clear that he got better as he continued to star in them.

What if a bodybuilder gets knocked out while wearing a Santa Claus costume, and when he comes to, his head injury causes him to believe that he really is Santa Claus? That's the ridiculous premise behind "Santa with Muscles," Hulk Hogan's attempt at a Christmas movie. Besides the kids who saw the movie at just the right age and hold a nostalgic fondness for it as a result, the movie failed to become a holiday classic — but that doesn't mean that "Santa with Muscles" is a terrible movie.

It also doesn't mean it's particularly good, either. If it wasn't for the presence of Hogan — and, retroactively, a very young Mila Kunis in her theatrical debut — "Santa with Muscles" would've joined the massive pile of forgotten Christmas movies that nobody talked about beyond their first holiday season. What helps are funny supporting performances by the always-reliable Clint Howard, as well as "SNL" alum Garrett Morris and Kunis' future "That '70s Show" co-star, Don Stark.

Movies like this live and die by their casts and how game they are for the task at hand, and everyone does seem to be having a good time, Hogan included. It might not be one of the best Christmas movies you haven't watched yet, but you might find yourself smiling more often than you'd expect if you gave "Santa with Muscles" a chance.

There are a number of great movies like "Home Alone" that are perfect for the whole family. There are a lot of pretty good movies like "Home Alone" that are decent for the whole family. And there are a ton of sort of okay movies like "Home Alone" that are fine for the whole family — if it's all that's on in the hotel you're staying at and you're forced indoors because the weather is bad. "The Secret Agent Club" falls into that last category.

Described in the trailer as a hybrid of "Home Alone" and "True Lies" — though only in premise, not in the actual quality that such a statement promises — "The Secret Agent Club" is about a dad who leads a double life as a mild-mannered guy by day and a butt-kicking secret agent at night. The premise made for the best balance between funny, kid-friendly slapstick Hogan and tough guy action hero Hogan of any of his movies. While those individual elements might work better in other films — especially tough guy action hero Hogan — "Secret Agent Club" is one of the wrestler's better movies specifically because of the way it incorporates both equally without the other feeling like a tacked-on afterthought. 

After the unpleasantness surrounding Hulk Hogan taking a role in "Rocky III" — he injured several people, including Sylvester Stallone, and taking the part temporarily ended his relationship with Vince McMahon — Hogan and McMahon put their differences aside and joined forces for Hogan's first big movie as a headliner. The result was 1989's "No Holds Barred," the first WWE-produced movie. Hulk Hogan basically played Hulk Hogan, although his character's name was technically Rip Thomas. The movie is built around the rivalry — and eventual climactic wrestling match — between Rip and a wrestler named Zeus, played by Tommy Lister Jr., who would subsequently bring the character over to the actual WWE for a time.

"No Holds Barred" was savaged by critics, and while it wasn't the box office smash that McMahon and Hogan had hoped for, it was said to have at least broken even, bringing in about what it cost to make. At the time, only the hardest of the hardcore Hulk Hogan faithful defended the movie. But it would go on to join the ranks of box office bombs that became cult classics, particularly among WWE fans who enjoy it both for its camp value and how it serves as a great time capsule of a particular moment in not only wrestling history, but pop culture history in general.

The other of the two aforementioned WCW-branded TNT movies Hulk Hogan made is "Assault on Devil's Island," which is definitely the better of the pair. A big part of the difference in quality is that it's the first movie, so everything feels fresher and everyone seems more excited than they did in "Assault on Death Mountain." This one also stars iconic movie villain actor Billy Drago as well as Tae Bo creator and Olympic medal-winning martial artist Billy Blanks, whose absences are greatly felt in the sequel.

For a 1997 made-for-basic cable movie, "Assault on Devil's Island" — also known as "Shadow Warriors" in some parts of the world — looks and feels surprisingly polished and expensive. With just a bit more cash behind it, it probably could've made it as a theatrical release. It might be the hardest Hogan ever tried in terms of acting, and while his chops are shaky, this is where it seems like he could've eventually gotten at least Dwayne Johnson-good if he had continued to work at it. It helps that he has the great Carl Weathers as a co-star, an actor who always knows when to take a scene seriously and when to play it with a subtle wink at the camera. Had this been released in theaters and had a Hollywood budget and marketing behind it, it might've been Hogan's signature film and a legitimate box office success.

Though nobody would ever try to classify it as one of the best one-season TV shows, 1994's syndicated series "Thunder in Paradise" did burn pretty hot for its one season with Hulk Hogan as its star. It was so hot, in fact, that it even got its own video game the following year. It's possible that it could've gotten additional seasons if Hogan had been game, but before the first season was even done airing, he was already talking as if he didn't want to keep doing it. In his defense, balancing an ongoing TV show with being a full-time wrestler must have been pretty difficult.

"Thunder in Paradise" started out as a made-for-TV movie, and honestly, it should've stayed the way. The premise was fun; the movie follows two mercenaries fighting crime along the coast of Florida with the help of their tricked-out boat. It works well as a movie, and Hogan had good chemistry with his co-lead, Chris Lemmon. It just got stretched too thin trying to turn it into an entire TV series, with subsequent episodes never coming close to the quality of the original pilot film. They should've just done a series of "Thunder in Paradise" TV movies, one every year or so, and it might've stuck around awhile — and Hogan would've probably been a lot more willing to stay on board.

When "No Holds Barred" didn't end up being a massive hit, WWE took a long break from making movies — basically until Dwayne Johnson got bit by the acting bug a decade later — a move that left Hulk Hogan to forge his own way in Hollywood. After a fun cameo in 1990's "Gremlins 2: The New Batch," Hogan made his non-WWE-produced movie premiere as a headliner the following year in "Suburban Commando," a film about an intergalactic warrior who gets stranded on Earth and finds himself confused by the planet's people and customs.

While "Suburban Commando" starred Hogan, the role was intended for Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the production was unable to offer the actor the salary he was looking for (the action icon subsequently made "Twins" instead). At the time, Hogan was still a big draw with kids, so it made sense that he would shift gears to family-friendly action movies rather than doubling down on the violence and edginess of "No Holds Barred." Though it was a critical and box office failure, it found life on video and through television and quickly became a favorite of the children of the era — and a cult classic to the adults those kids have grown into. It's definitely Hogan's most fun film, and seems to be the most he ever enjoyed being on screen.

The only Hulk Hogan movies that Rotten Tomatoes considers fresh are cameo roles and "Rocky III." In the Sylvester Stallone-led sequel, Hogan plays wrestling champion Thunderlips, who has a charity exhibition match against boxer Rocky Balboa (Stallone). It's not a huge role, and playing a wrestler is hardly a stretch for Hogan, but it still ended up being a memorable turn in a smash-hit film. 

The fact that Rocky's trainer, Mickey (Burgess Meredith), first shows signs of the heart issue that would later result in one of the biggest tragedies in the entire "Rocky" franchise during the Thunderlips match also helps lend a gravitas to Hogan's appearance. It was Hogan's very first screen credit as an actor, and it would be a role he would never be able to top throughout his entire acting career. If only Stallone would've later brought Hogan along for an "Expendables" appearance or two — now that's a franchise the pro-wrestler superstar would've been perfect for.