All 6 Baz Luhrmann Movies, Ranked

His campy style may be divisive, but we can’t help but love the flashy Aussie filmmaker.

The cinematic big businessman of maximalism , Baz Luhrmann is finally back in dramatic art this summer with his recent fantasia , Elvis , a biopic of another consummate showman . When it debuted atCannes Film Festival , Elviswas come across with mixed reactions . But is n’t that almost always the pillowcase with Luhrmann , one of those film maker who get " sleep together him " or " detest him " reactions with almost nothing in between ?

Luhrmann has histhing : He be intimate rooftops and fireworks and pop music and frenzied zooms . He love accuracy and beauty and sweeping , doomed romance . His movies are baldly emotional and visually overwhelming . There ’s a reason why Luhrmann became the favourite director to a whole gaggle of tweens between dousingLeonardo DiCaprioin rain inRomeo + Julietand havingEwan McGregorprofess his making love via song inMoulin Rouge !

In honour ofElvis , we ’re ranking Luhrmann ’s admittedly modified body of work from the sorry ( ahem , Australia ) to the great .

baz luhrmann movies

Design by Mallory Rosten for Thrillist

6.Australia(2008)

Oh , boy . Oh , human being . Aur naur . If anything , Australiahad the potentiality to be the most Baz Luhrmann flick the guy rope ever made : a historical epic set in a point of violent transition in the director ’s home country , starring almost every Australian doer who ever made it big in Hollywood ( and if they did n’t asterisk , you may bet the script at least scooted across their desk ) . The gloaming of the cattle ranch business stand for with two cosmos wars and the horrors of the Aboriginal Stolen Generations in a chaotic and compelling time in the state ’s past . Unfortunately for Baz , Nicole Kidman , Hugh Jackman , and the groovy nation Down Under , Australiamarks the low-water mark of his calling , a tonally confused , punishingly longsighted origin into absolute rage , like a couple thousand unlucky steers black market full inclination toward an impossibly orotund cliff . To the movie ’s credit , it also has a scene where Jackmanpours a bucket of fulsome water all over his bare torso , so there ’s that . — Emma Stefansky

5.Elvis(2022)

A heartthrob decked out in rhinestones who tempt hearing with his swinging articulatio coxae ? Of course , Elvis Presley makes horse sense as a Baz Luhrmann hero . And when Luhrmann ’s elaborate biopic is working in bicycle-built-for-two with Austin Butler ’s sensational performance as The King , it soars . At the same time , Elvisis a hatful — caught between Luhrmann ’s neural impulse and his desire to abide by a traditional biopic formula . On the flip side of Butler , who works perfectly , there ’s Tom Hanks as Elvis ' director Colonel Tom Parker . hank isgoing for itanditis advisedly goofy . While the rendition avowedly grows on you , it does n’t form for everyone . But what Luhrmann gets about Elvis is his showman ’s ability to make an intact gang see stars , and you might too . — Esther Zuckerman

4.The Great Gatsby(2013)

Some purists may scoff at Luhrmann ’s garish reading of F. Scott ’s Fitzgerald ’s classic , but there ’s also much to get it on in the director ’s adaptation of the novel most everybody reads in high school . For one , Luhrmann certainly infer how to throw a good company , and the introduction of Leonardo DiCaprio ’s Gatsby at his estate , frame by firework , is one of the most electrifying ( and memed ) reveal in recent cinematic history . And while the addition of a framing machine is labor and Tobey Maguire ’s Nick Carraway is lackluster , there are spectacularly energising performance from DiCaprio and then - freshman Elizabeth Debicki , a perfect Jordan Baker . Luhrmann may struggle when the champagne go flat and the dramatic event seep in , but he understands the excess that makes the idea of Gatsby so alluring . — EZ

3.Moulin Rouge!(2001)

Every Baz Luhrmann movie ray sumptuousness , but none of his pic are a fine example of thatspecial Baz opulencethan his Y2 K classicMoulin Rouge!The final entry in the " Red Curtain Trilogy , " his first three feature cinema that research ingredient ofthe field , this nickelodeon musical is a effete ode to Old Hollywood musical theater and music hall . The filmmaker orchestrated a Broadway - like set out of a soundstage to vivify the late-1800s Parisian nightclub of his dreams , spotlighting a beloved story between performer and courtesan Satine ( Nicole Kidman ) and a romantic immature poet ( Ewan McGregor ) . The production and costume design are decadent , the performances are as witty as they are seductive , and you ca n’t help but blab along to the iconic song choices — peculiarly the urge choice of " Smells Like Teen Spirit . " With all of its dizzying and stylish quirkiness , it ’s long been up for debate just how " good"Moulin Rouge!is . Let ’s be real : Its " featherbrained lovemaking songs " employment , and any pic that calls for a cover of " Lady Marmalade " performed by Christina Aguilera , Lil ' Kim , Mýa , and Pink is a keeper , no question . — Sadie Bell

2.Strictly Ballroom(1992)

A dance bacchanalia in romantic - comedy chassis , rigorously Ballroomestablished the Baz Luhrmann template : decadent , manic , hyperemotional . What bulge out as a play base on Luhrmann ’s own ground as a dance hall dancer became his big - screen startup when Australian producer thought to expand it into a movie . Compared to late task , this is Luhrmann at his most moderate . Still , you could see the colored effervescence that would before long define his directorial palette . In protagonist Scott Hastings ( Paul Mercurio ) , another Luhrmann stylemark emerges : the ambitious , misunderstood foreigner look for for love and success . Scott is too idiosyncratic to compete in the ballroom scene , so he ’ll have to convince his critics to take him gravely with the supporter of a new partner ( Tara Morice ) who catches his romanticistic middle . — Matthew Jacobs

1.Romeo + Juliet(1996)

It ’s a testament to Shakespeare ’s enduring power that Hollywood go along to be obsessed with making " modernised adaptation " of The Bard ’s peachy works , and it ’s a will to Baz Luhrmann himself that hisRomeo + Juliet , styled as a beachy , modern-day law-breaking dramatic play between two warring American mafia families , hits as well as it does . His maximalist , otherworldly sensibilities mesh so well with the over - the - top drama of one of the most famous romances ever written that you wonder why all Shakespeare version do n’t follow the same format . ( Imagine , if you will , the coked - up insanity of Baz Luhrmann’sA Midsummer Night ’s Dream . ) Leonardo DiCaprio , still baby - faced , and an prankish yet vulnerable Claire Danes match each other beat - for - metre as the nominal star - crossed lovers , while intermittent scenes are spice up with a few gamey - octane gangland gunfight . No one builds a cosmos like Baz does : The primitive weapon system of the play are interchange with grease-gun call " Dagger " and " tuck , " and the characters correspond with each other through a fictitious postal religious service call " Post Haste . " The film work itself up to a feverishness pitch , deftly capturing the swirling hysteria of vernal puppy love running rampant through costume party , up balconies , and down neon - lit metropolis streets , until at long last cut light much too soon . — ES

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