The 10 Most Underrated Christopher Waltz Movies, Ranked (From Least to Most Underrated)

Christoph Waltz built an international reputation with unforgettable turns in ‘Inglourious Basterds’ and ‘Django Unchained’, yet his filmography stretches far beyond those towering highlights. Across dramas, comedies, animation, and big franchise swings, he has taken on roles that reveal a sharp eye for distinctive stories and filmmakers.

This countdown gathers ten titles that tend to sit just outside the usual conversations. Each entry notes the core premise, key creative partners, and where Waltz fits into the picture so you can easily track down the films that match your taste.

‘Downsizing’ (2017)

Alexander Payne’s social satire imagines a world where people shrink themselves to lower their cost of living and reduce environmental impact. Waltz plays Dusan Mirkovic, a hedonistic neighbor whose parties and side hustles pull the protagonist into a new circle inside the tiny community. The cast includes Matt Damon and Hong Chau, with production design that contrasts miniature-scale neighborhoods and full-size sets to sell the concept.

The film situates Waltz in a bustling expatriate microcosm where his character brokers luxury goods and business connections. Large sequences were staged on practical sets augmented by forced perspective and digital compositing, placing Dusan at the center of scenes that blend comedy with commentary about consumption and class.

‘The Green Hornet’ (2011)

Michel Gondry directs this superhero comedy built around the legacy of a newspaper publisher turned masked vigilante. Waltz plays the crime boss Chudnofsky, who rebrands himself as Bloodnofsky when he decides a new image will unify Los Angeles gangs. The movie pairs Seth Rogen’s Britt Reid with Jay Chou’s Kato and mixes slapstick with gadget-driven action.

Waltz’s villain anchors the underworld power struggle with deadpan menace and a fixation on style and reputation. The production leaned on practical car rigs for the Black Beauty set pieces, while Gondry’s visual flourishes and in-camera tricks add a distinctive rhythm to street fights and nightclub showdowns.

‘The Zero Theorem’ (2013)

Terry Gilliam’s science fiction drama centers on Qohen Leth, a reclusive data cruncher tasked with solving a formula that might explain existence. Waltz takes the lead as Qohen, acting opposite Mélanie Thierry and David Thewlis, with notable appearances by Tilda Swinton and Matt Damon. The film was shot in Eastern Europe with a collage of analog props and digital signage to create a hand-crafted near future.

Production design fills every frame with cobbled tech, neon color, and repurposed machinery that echoes Gilliam’s earlier work while giving Qohen a tactile world to retreat from and resist. Waltz’s performance is framed by tight interiors, VR rigs, and a corporate surveillance network that channels the story’s questions about work, identity, and purpose.

‘The Legend of Tarzan’ (2016)

Director David Yates revisits the jungle hero after years of life in England. Waltz portrays Captain Léon Rom, a colonial official whose scheme draws Tarzan and Jane back to Central Africa. The film features Alexander Skarsgård, Margot Robbie, and Samuel L. Jackson, with large scale river chases and encounters with digitally realized wildlife.

Extensive studio work in the United Kingdom combined with location plates and visual effects to construct rainforests, savannas, and ports. Waltz’s antagonist is staged amid riverboats, military outposts, and diamond trading routes, placing him at the crossroads of politics and profit that drive the plot’s rescue and revenge arcs.

‘Horrible Bosses 2’ (2014)

This sequel switches from overthrowing managers to a misguided start-up plan. Waltz plays investor Bert Hanson, whose offer to buy a novelty shower device sparks a chain of betrayals that pushes the trio into a kidnapping scheme. Chris Pine appears as his son and business partner, while Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Sudeikis return with their scheming dynamic.

The production balances boardroom negotiations with slapstick mishaps, staging chases, stakeouts, and warehouse set pieces around the botched plan. Waltz’s character drives the contractual twists that keep the protagonists scrambling, grounding the plot mechanics in deal terms, supply agreements, and strategic sabotage.

‘Water for Elephants’ (2011)

Adapted from Sara Gruen’s novel, this period drama follows a veterinary student who joins a traveling circus during hard times. Waltz plays ringmaster and animal trainer August Rosenbluth, whose marriage to headliner Marlena complicates the arrival of a new performer. The film stars Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson and features extensive circus sets, costumes, and animal work.

Set construction recreated big top interiors, rail cars, and back-lot encampments, while period costuming and lighting evoke a grand show on the brink of collapse. Waltz’s role threads through rehearsal spaces, performance rings, and train corridors, tying financial pressures and personal loyalties to the circus’s nightly spectacle.

‘Big Eyes’ (2014)

Tim Burton chronicles the real dispute over the authorship of a wildly popular series of paintings. Waltz portrays Walter Keane, the businessman who claimed credit for the works created by his wife Margaret, played by Amy Adams. Courtroom scenes reconstruct testimony and public demonstrations that tested painting authorship before a judge.

The film maps the rise of mass-market art through San Francisco galleries, newspaper features, and merchandising. Waltz’s character operates across showrooms and press events that highlight how contracts, publicity, and distribution shaped the fortunes of the Keane brand long before the legal resolution.

‘Carnage’ (2011)

Roman Polanski adapts Yasmina Reza’s stage play about two sets of parents meeting to discuss a fight between their children. The action unfolds almost entirely inside a Brooklyn apartment, with Waltz as corporate lawyer Alan Cowan opposite Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, and John C. Reilly. The production uses contained blocking and shifting camera positions to emphasize changing alliances and buried grievances.

The film preserves the real-time structure of the play, making small gestures and prop business feel pivotal as the conversation derails. Waltz’s character toggles between phone calls and face-to-face negotiations, reflecting the intersection of professional habits and personal strain that powers the escalating exchanges.

‘Alita: Battle Angel’ (2019)

Robert Rodriguez directs this adaptation of a cyberpunk manga with performance capture and large scale visual effects. Waltz plays Dr. Dyson Ido, a cyberphysician who repairs a discarded core and becomes guardian to the reborn Alita. The cast includes Rosa Salazar, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, and Ed Skrein, with action that blends live action stunt work and digital doubles.

Production partnered Lightstorm Entertainment with effects houses to create Iron City, motorball arenas, and cybernetic combat. Waltz’s character bridges clinic interiors, scrapyards, and bounty hunter networks, providing exposition on body upgrades, registration systems, and the rules that govern the film’s layered society.

‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio’ (2022)

This stop-motion reinterpretation places the story in a turbulent historical setting while keeping the tale of a carpenter and his wooden son. Waltz voices Count Volpe, an impresario who recruits Pinocchio for a traveling show and uses contracts and performance schedules to control the troupe. The ensemble voice cast features Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Tilda Swinton, and Cate Blanchett.

The production combines hand-built puppets, replacement facial animation, and meticulously dressed miniature sets. Music cues, stage lighting, and touring logistics frame Volpe’s scenes, while the film’s awards run culminated in major recognition for animated feature craftsmanship across festivals and industry guilds.

Share your own picks for overlooked Christoph Waltz films in the comments.