Sam Worthington Movies

Director Alex Proyas (I, Robot) revamps the mythos surrounding Vlad the Impaler in Dracula Year Zero, a Univeral Pictures release from a script by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. The horror tale is set to take place in Romania during the Turkish invasion as Vlad (played by Avatar's Sam Worthington) goes to the greatest of lengths to fight for his homeland -- even if it means selling his soul and becoming forever doomed as a creature of the night. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

An NYPD hostage negotiator (Elizabeth Banks) attempts to talk cop-turned-fugitive Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) down from a high ledge, but she learns that he may have a hidden motive for threatening to take his own life. A priceless diamond has been stolen, and the thieves responsible are using Nick as their scapegoat. An escaped convict with nowhere to run, Nick realizes that no one will believe he is innocent, and he decides to take extreme measures in order to expose the men who set him up. Stepping out on a ledge 25 stories above the bustling concrete streets of New York City, the notorious fugitive quickly becomes a media sensation as the entire world watches, awaiting his next move. Meanwhile, Nick's loyal brother races to help clear his sibling's name and ensure that the guilty pay for their crimes before the situation ends in tragedy. Jamie Bell, Anthony Mackie, and Ed Harris co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Freelance writer Joanna (Keira Knightley) and her businessman husband Michael (Sam Worthington) share a smart Manhattan apartment and a seemingly happy life, but their relationship is threatened when Michael goes off on a business trip with Laura (Eva Mendes), a sexy co-worker that Joanna knows he's attracted to. Meanwhile, Joanna bumps into old flame Alex (Guillaume Canet), a novelist, who talks her into going out to dinner with him and one of his publishers (Griffin Dunne). This is the debut directorial effort from screenwriter Massy Tadjedin. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

In this gritty spy thriller, Helen Mirren plays a retired Mossad agent named Rachel. Once upon a time, Rachel was part of a celebrated trio of secret agents who tracked down a Nazi war criminal in East Berlin in 1966 -- an incident so applauded in history, that now, three decades later, her own daughter has just published a book about the exploits. But one of Rachel's former partners in espionage, David (Ciarán Hinds), seems less than reverent about his memory of the time, and he proves his feelings with a decision that sends Rachel and her other former partner, Stephan (Tom Wilkinson), on a forced revisit through time. For 30 years, Rachel has been living one truth, but now, as the past collides with the present, a new and deadly story begins to emerge. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A paraplegic ex-marine finds a new life on the distant planet of Pandora, only to find himself battling humankind alongside the planet's indigenous Na'vi race in this ambitious digital 3D sci-fi epic from Academy Award-winning Titanic director James Cameron. The film, which marks Cameron's first dramatic feature since 1997's Titanic, follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a war veteran who gets called to the depths of space to pick up the job of his slain twin brother for the scientific arm of a megacorporation looking to mine the planet of Pandora for a valued ore. Unfortunately the biggest deposit of the prized substance lies underneath the home of the Na'vi, a ten-foot-tall, blue-skinned native tribe who have been at war with the security arm of the company, lead by Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). Because of the planet's hostile atmosphere, humans have genetically grown half-alien/half-human bodies which they can jack their consciousnesses into and explore the world in. Since Jake's brother already had an incredibly expensive Avatar grown for him, he's able to connect with it using the same DNA code and experience first-hand the joys of Pandora while giving the scientific team, led by Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) and Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore), some well-needed protection against the planet's more hostile forces.

On a chance meeting after getting separated from his team, Jake's Avatar is rescued by Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), a Na'vi princess, who brings him into her tribe in order to give the humans a second chance at relating to this new environment. When word gets out of his increasing time with the alien species, Quaritch enlists Jake to do some reconnaissance for the company, as they'd like to persuade the tribe to move their home before taking more drastic measures to harness the treasure hidden below. Yet as Jake becomes one with the tribe and begins to understand the secrets of Pandora, his conscience is torn between his new adopted world and the wheelchair-bound one awaiting him when the psychic connection to his Avatar is broken. Soon battle lines are drawn and Jake needs to decide which side he will fight on when the time comes. The film was shot on the proprietary FUSION digital 3D cameras developed by Cameron in collaboration with Vince Pace, and offers a groundbreaking mix of live-action dramatic performances and computer-generated effects. The revolutionary motion-capture system created for the film allows the facial expressions of actors to be captured as a virtual camera system enables them to see what their computer-generated counterparts will be seeing in the film, and Peter Jackson's Oscar-winning Weta Digital visual-effects house supervises Avatar's complex special effects. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

With the 2006 MacBeth, controversial Australian director Geoffrey Wright (Romper Stomper, Metal Skin) launches his fourth big screen outing and continues the trend of reinventing Shakespeare by contemporizing the bard's plays. As in other recent efforts (Richard Loncraine's Richard III (1996), Michael Almereyda's Hamlet (2000)), Wright uses a distinctly postmodern context to extract related themes from the original work. Here, Wright reworks the brutal tragedy Macbeth, retaining its Elizabethan dialogue, but resituating the events within the arena of modern Australian gang violence. His Macbeth (Sam Worthington) is a drug baron and pimp, his Lady Macbeth a Valium-addicted, narcoleptic burnout and manipulator, his Duncan the head of Melbourne's criminal underground. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth murder Duncan in cold blood (framing the servants as responsible), but soon after Macbeth takes the throne, he is undone - and beheaded - by usurper Macduff. Like former adapter Roman Polanski, Wright ups the quotients of bloodletting, sadism, and underlying iciness. He filmed much of the picture with HD photography - thus capturing a broader range of imagery and a much blacker darkness in his nighttime sequences - and lit a pivotal action scene exclusively with red laser gun sights. The result is a thoroughly unique and unprecedented work. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Heidi (Abbie Cornish) is a pretty teenager who leaves home after getting caught making out with her mother's boyfriend. She impulsively travels to Jindabyne, a snowy ski resort town, because she once met a man from there who said she should call him if she was ever in town. When that connection doesn't materialize, Heidi is forced to fend for herself with little money. Her first night in town, she goes to a bar, drinks, meets a boy, and goes home with him. She doesn't even notice Joe (Sam Worthington) watching her. The next morning, Heidi is dismayed to find that the guy she slept with has a girlfriend, and is on his way back to Sydney. Desperate and broke, she goes looking for work. Despite her good looks and charm, she's a bit too aggressive in trying to win friends and influence people. That night, she hooks up with Joe, and senses a connection between them. Instead of taking her home, he takes her to a motel. He seems reluctant to get involved with her, but she is persistent. The next morning, he hurriedly leaves for work. Joe works for his father, a wealthy farmer. Heidi meets the motel owner, Irene (Lynette Curran), who kindly offers to let her stay a couple of days, until she finds a job. Heidi ends up working at the local gas station with Bianca (Hollie Andrew). She begins to settle in, but her relationship with Joe deteriorates, her emotional instability takes hold. Somersault marks the feature debut of writer/director Cate Shortland. The film won 13 of the Australian Film Institute's annual awards in 2004, and was selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art for inclusion in the 2005 edition of New Directors/New Films. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Australian filmmaker Jonathan Teplitzky directs the crime comedy Gettin' Square. Barry Wirth (Sam Worthington) is an ex-con who just wants to stay on the right side of the law. David Wenham plays Johnny "Spit" Spitieri, a zany, lovable drug addict who knew Barry in prison. They both get paroled by officer Annie Flynn (Freya Stafford) and plan to play it straight this time. They get jobs at the Texas Rose, a restaurant owned by Darren Barrington (Timothy Spall), another ex-con trying to go straight. Barry, Spit, and Darren team up against the local gang boss Chicka Martin (Gary Sweet).Things get messed up when Darren's shifty accountant Warren Halliwell (Steven Tandy) finds himself the interest of the Criminal Investigation Commission. Gettin' Square was the opening film at the 2003 Brisbane Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Directed by David Caesar, Dirty Deeds is an Australian crime picture inspired by real-life Sydney mobsters, and is set in the Sydney crime underworld of 1969. Bryan Brown stars as Barry Ryan, a prominent gangster whose ruthlessness rivals some of the toughest in the trade. He lives with his downbeat wife, Sharon (Toni Collette), and their son, but spends the majority of his time either with fellow mobsters or his mistress, Margaret (Kestie Morassi). Ryan's business is threatened when a Chicago Mafia boss dispatches two of his goons to scope out the poker machine scene for a potential takeover. Tony (John Goodman) and Sal (Felix Williamson), however, are lost when it comes to Australian culture, and stick out like a sore thumb. Negotiating with the Americans will be difficult enough for Barry, but the real blow comes when he learns that one of his own gang members has been deceitful. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi