Where to Watch Val Kilmer’s Films: ‘Batman Forever,’ ‘The Doors,’ ‘Top Gun’ & More!
Val Kilmer‘s long career was defined by range – the star became an ’80s and ’90s icon playing roles that ran the gamut from a slacker science savant in 1985’s Real Genius, to the titular Caped Crusader in 1995’s Batman Forever, to ’60s rock star Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s epic 1991 rock saga The Doors. A 2014 battle with throat cancer battle damaged his voice and mostly ended his acting career, but even that wasn’t enough to keep him out of his final film, 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, where he reprised his character Iceman and, with a little bit of Hollywood magic, spoke on screen for the final time.
Kilmer passed away on April 1 from pneumonia. Read on to look back at his amazing career, and find out where you can stream his biggest films.
Top Secret!
From the creators of the Airplane! movies, Top Secret! blends the Elvis musical with the Cold War espionage caper, all played strictly for laughs. Val Kilmer stars as an American pop singer hired to perform at a cultural festival in East Germany (Remember when there was a whole country called East Germany?) who joins a resistance movement trying to free an imprisoned scientist.
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Real Genius
An uptight teenage prodigy (Gabe Jarrett) enters a top engineering college, but feels awkward among the freewheeling students. When a professor aims to turn their laser project into a military weapon, he and his offbeat roommate (Kilmer) plot to ruin the plan.
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Top Gun
This ’80s megahit follows flyboys Maverick (Tom Cruise), Goose (Anthony Edwards), Iceman (Val Kilmer) and Jester (Michael Ironside) as they vie for glory at their elite Naval aviation training school, while Maverick attempts to win extracurricular attention from blond bombshell instructor Charlie (Kelly McGillis).
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Willow
This George Lucas-produced, Ron Howard-directed fantasy/adventure family favorite follows young Willow (Warwick Davis), who discovers a baby floating down the river near his village. After he learns that the child is destined to end the reign of the evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh), Willow embarks on a journey with swordsman Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) to return the child to her people and fulfill the prophecy. Also stars Joanne Whalley, who met Kilmer on the set of the film and later married him.
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Kill Me Again
A private investigator becomes embroiled in a deadly game when he’s hired by a seductive woman with mob loot to fake her murder.
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The Doors
Director Oliver Stone’s psychedelic homage to ’60s rock group The Doors also serves as a biography of the band’s lead singer, Jim Morrison (Kilmer). The movie follows Morrison from his immersion in the counterculture of Venice Beach and film studies in Los Angeles through his turbulent days with the band and his untimely death in Paris in 1971 at the age of 27. Also stars Meg Ryan, Kathleen Quinlan and Kyle MacLachlan.
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Tombstone
In the Wild West boomtown of Tombstone, Arizona, crime rules the streets and violence is a way of life. When Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell), a retired marshal, moves to the town, he is compelled to take a stand against the lawless and wrest control of the city from the clutches of anarchy. Kilmer won particular acclaim for his portrayal of Doc Holliday, Earp’s hard-drinking, tuberculosis-afflicted old friend. Also stars Sam Elliott, Michael Biehn, Powers Boothe and Stephen Lang.
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True Romance
Two unlikely lovers (Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette) get drawn into a whirlwind romance that propels them into a dangerous game of high-stakes negotiations and high-speed adventure. The pair accidentally comes across a half million dollars’ worth of cocaine owned by the mob — but their plans of selling the “coke” and beginning a new life could fall short when the mob and the police track them down. Kilmer has a short but very memorable cameo as Elvis. Also stars Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, and Christopher Walken.
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Heat
Neil McCauley (Robert DeNiro) is a hardened professional criminal who has spent many years behind bars and is determined never to go back. A highly focused loner, McCauley’s protection is that there is nothing in life that he can’t walk away from in 30 seconds flat. He and his crew are committing a series of well-planned, lucrative robberies in and around Los Angeles. Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) is a robbery/homicide lieutenant who searches through the remains of a crime for the scent of his prey and then hunts them down. This film follows the interlocking fates of these two men and their extraordinary drive to beat the other. Kilmer stands out as Chris, a member of McCauley’s crew, who is left to his own devices after a heist-gone-wrong. Also stars Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman and Ashley Judd.
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Batman Forever
It’s a new day for Gotham’s dark knight and a brand-new nightmare for Gotham City. Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones), formerly known as District Attorney Harvey Dent until a courtroom accident left him disfigured, and the Riddler (Jim Carrey), formerly known as Edward Nygma who was an overlooked employee of Wayne Enterprises, join together to overtake the minds of the citizenry and destroy their sworn archenemy Batman and his new partner Robin. Director Joel Schumacher replaced Tim Burton, and Kilmer replaced Michael Keaton in this third entry in the Batman franchise — a campier, more whimsical spectacle than the films that came before it. Also stars Nicole Kidman, Chris O’Donnell, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle and Drew Barrymore.
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While British forces constructed the final bridge over the Tsavo River in 1896 Africa, two powerful, elusive and incredibly tactical lions brought the 3,000-member workforce to a standstill. Only two men were brave enough to set out to find and kill these demons that appeared to hunt humans for pleasure. Also stars Michael Douglas, Brian McCardie, John Kani, Tom Puri and Emily Mortimer.
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When Edward (David Thewlis) is rescued after being stranded at sea, he is brought to a remote island in the South Pacific, where he is exposed to the human-animal hybrid experiments of the sinister Dr. Moreau (Marlon Brando). Kilmer plays Montgomery, a doctor-turned-enforcer for Moreau who glories in his status above the island’s mutants.
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The Saint
Simon Templar (Kilmer) is rich, sophisticated and almost supernaturally skilled at stealing even the most guarded treasures. He is also cold and cynical, until his path crosses that of Emma Russell (Elisabeth Shue), a young scientist whose life is in terrible danger. Emma has discovered the key to Russian billionaire Ivan Tretiak’s overwhelming ambition — to crown himself the first czar of the new Russian Empire — and he will do anything to neutralize the danger she represents. Stirred by long-dormant feelings, Simon desperately fights to protect Emma while struggling to master the one identity he cannot assume with ease — himself. Also stars Rade Serbedzija and Valery Nikolaev.
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At First Sight
This offbeat romance is based on a short story by Oliver Sacks, the real-life doctor whose life was the basis of the movie Awakenings. Kilmer stars as Virgil Adamson, a blind, charismatic masseur who falls in love with New York City architect Amy Benic (Mira Sorvino). When Amy convinces him to undergo experimental surgery that will allow him to see the world as she sees it, they soon learn that all gifts come with a price and that vision is comprised of a multitude of senses. Also stars Kelly McGillis and Steven Weber.
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Red Planet
A mission to Mars in 2050 goes horribly wrong, crash-landing a team of astronauts on the planet’s surface. While their commander struggles from high orbit to save them, the crew of space explorers discovers that some odd events are unfolding on the red planet, including the birth of an oxygen-creating life form and the lethal paranoia among one of their own. On top of that, a trusty military robot companion has been damaged and is now hunting them as prey. Can the crew stay alive, or will they one by one fall victim to the lethal dangers of Mars? Also stars Carrie-Anne Moss, Tom Sizemore, Benjamin Bratt and Terence Stamp.
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The Salton Sea
Part of the post-Memento boom in dark, unconventional mysteries about tormented men looking to right past wrongs, The Salton Sea follows a methamphetamine-addicted man (Kilmer) seeking answers about his wife’s murder and his fall from a jazz trumpet player to a tattooed speed freak.
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Wonderland
In the summer of 1981, four bodies were found in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood known as Wonderland. By the time the investigation into the grisly murders was completed, the case had all the trademark elements — drugs, guns, death, gore, sex — plus a mysterious connection to porn legend John Holmes (Kilmer).
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Harry (Robert Downey Jr.) is a petty thief with no prospects, until a chance meeting with a Hollywood producer leads to dreams of becoming an actor. Flown to L.A. to audition for the role of a detective, Harry teams up with an actual private eye, Gay Perry (Kilmer), and before long the two of them are embroiled in a real-life murder mystery, in this clever neo-noir.
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Feel the need for speed again as this summer 2022 blockbuster brings Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) back as a test pilot who, after more than 30 years of service, is just trying to stay in the air. Capt. Mitchell takes a new group of flyers through the paces to prepare for combat like no pilot has seen before.
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Val
Follow along with Kilmer on his lifelong journey through images he captured himself. An early adopter of the video camera, the actor shot countless hours of footage over 40 years that takes you behind the scenes of his amazing ride.
Remind