He was “one of the lions,” as Meryl Streep put it, an American touchstone who changed filmmaking and opened the gates for new generations of storytellers, becoming a central force in independent cinema.
To understand the impact his films have had – on previous generations, on our culture, on so many other films – we’ve picked four of Robert Redford’s most influential movies to stream this week.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
The movie that made him a major star and inspired his renowned institute and festival, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid marked a major departure from the heroic myth-making that defined American Westerns throughout the 50s and 60s.
It was the first movie to launch the dynamic on-screen duo that was Redford and Paul Newman, two men who redefined star power while playing outlaws on the run resisting authority, something that resonated with audiences in the Vietnam era of the late 60s.
Smart but accessible, Butch Cassidy was a new kind of buddy story, told with wit and underscored with melancholy, and the screenplay by the legendary William Goldman left such a mark on audiences, it was turned into a mass-market paperback.
Where to stream Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Fandango at Home ($14.99)
The Sting (1973)
On the surface, The Sting was a playful, crowd-pleasing caper, a film designed to re-team the now-iconic duo of Redford and Newman while aiming squarely for box office success. Yet the film surprised even its leads when it took home seven Academy Awards in 1974, including the Best Picture Oscar.
Set during the Great Depression, Redford and Newman play con men who take revenge on a corrupt boss who killed their mutual friend. It’s a story that reframes grifting as resistance, and it tapped into the economic anxieties of the early 70s while influencing everything from music revivals (download the soundtrack) to fashion. In its wake, “vintage” clothes were suddenly in demand, with fedoras, three-piece suits, pinstripes and herring bone appearing everywhere. Underneath all of that, The Sting is a masterfully-built puzzle that will reward you during repeat viewings, which are often required before the architecture of “the long con” finally reveals itself.
Where to stream The Sting: Prime Video ($3.79)
The Way We Were (1973)
A sweeping love story set between the late 30s and the post-war 50s, Redford plays a wealthy WASP who falls in love with a politically outspoken Jewish woman played by Barbara Streisand. As their romance unfolds from their college years to midlife, their political and class differences come up against the pressures of the McCarthy era to push and pull them in different directions. It was groundbreaking for its time, as The Way We Were melded history with a passionate romance, and it made the Jewish identity, activism, and political persecution central to the plot of a mainstream blockbuster. It’s a profound look at some of the big American divides that are still at the heart of so much strife today, and it lays bear the costs of having the courage of your convictions.
Where to stream The Way We Were: Apple TV ($3.99)
All the Presidents Men (1976)
The film that captured Watergate’s historic turning point – when transparency and institutional accountability became central civic values – All the Presidents Men also represented a turning point for Robert Redford. No longer just an actor, he bought the rights to make the film from Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, and he pushed to get it made, insisting on a fact-driven approach where the investigative reporting techniques, source protection, and footwork were the engine of the drama. He used his power to protect the film from political and commercial pressures, and its themes are especially relevant to today’s debates about the role of the media in holding power to account.
Where to stream All the Presidents Men: Google Play ($3.99)
In the wake of All the Presidents Men, Redford pursued more socially consequential films, and he ultimately became more invested in independent filmmaking — creating and growing the internationally-renowned Sundance Institute and Festival. The organization he founded has launched thousands of movies and first-time filmmakers, and today, they paid him a special tribute: “Bob’s vision launched a movement that, over four decades later, has inspired generations of artists and redefined cinema in the U.S. and around the world.”
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