Liam Neeson Reveals His All Time Favorite Film: “It’s Unbelievably Exciting”
Liam Neeson has spent decades playing men who wrestle with duty and conscience. From historical dramas to action thrillers, he has seen the industry from almost every angle. So when he talks about the movies that move him most, people tend to lean in.
He has often praised old school craft and the feeling of watching a story unfold with patience. The way he describes a great cinema experience sounds like a memory you can still touch. It is not about nostalgia. It is about how a film can fill a room and hold your attention without rushing.
Asked to name the single film that sits at the top for him, Neeson has pointed to William Wyler’s Ben-Hur from 1959. He lights up when he recalls what it felt like to see it on a huge screen, sharing that “I just remember the gut feeling of watching Ben-Hur on that big Cinemascope screen.”
That choice makes sense if you have heard him talk about the movie’s most famous sequence. The chariot race still grabs him because it was built with the sweat of stunt teams and the precision of practical filmmaking. As he put it, “That chariot races still hold up — it’s unbelievably exciting.”
Neeson has also allowed that his heart is big enough for more than one favorite. In another chat he smiled and said, “Well, there’s two actually,” before adding, “There’s one I was talking about the other night with a friend of mine – Once Upon a Time in America – and Ben-Hur with Charlton Heston and Stephen Boyd.” That pairing tells you he is drawn to grand scale storytelling that takes its time and earns its emotions.
You can hear the craftsman in him when he compares past and present. He admired the nerve and planning it took to stage that legendary race and he has even contrasted it with modern set pieces he knows well. In his words, “The Phantom Menace had a chariot race, didn’t it? But that was all CGI. Not in 1959 when they did Ben-Hur.” It is the kind of observation only a veteran would make, delivered with clear affection for the older methods.
There is a neat symmetry in his pick. Neeson’s career has balanced intimate character work with sweeping spectacle, and his favorite reflects that blend. Ben-Hur is both a personal story and a thunderous production. Once Upon a Time in America fits the same mold, a long meditation on friendship and regret built on towering filmmaking. His answers hint at what he values most on a set and in a theater. You feel the weight of the world and the craft behind it.
In the end his choice is less about ranking and more about feeling. He remembers the room, the screen, the gasp. He talks about those moments like a fan who never lost the buzz. That is why his pick lands. You do not just hear the title. You sense the whole experience he is reliving right along with you.