William Sadler’s Typical Vibe
Signature vibe

Highest-ranked title
Highest-ranked title
William Sadler has 29 titles in the CriticCrunch catalog across a career spanning the 1980s through the 2020s. 1 sits in the Top 1% of all titles we track — including The Shawshank Redemption.
Recurring themes

The Mist
2007 · Movie · Actor
Top 4%Prime Video · Included

The Unholy
2021 · Movie · Actor
Top 15%Hulu · Included

The Pacific
2010 · Mini · Actor
Top 18%Max · Included

The Highwaymen
2019 · Movie · Actor
Top 47%Netflix · Included

Rush
1991 · Movie · Actor
Top 52%Prime Video · Included

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey
1991 · Movie · Actor
Top 62%Prime Video · Included

Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
Dir. Frank Darabont · With Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton

After a violent storm, a dense cloud of mist envelops a small Maine town, trapping David Drayton and his five-year-old son in a local grocery store with other local residents. They soon discover that the mist conceals deadly horrors that threaten their lives, and worse, their sanity.
Dir. Frank Darabont · With Thomas Jane, Laurie Holden, Toby Jones

Evan, a musically gifted orphan, runs away from his orphanage and searches New York City for his birth parents. On his journey, he's taken under the wing of the Wizard, a homeless man who lives in an abandoned theater. After discovering his talent, the Wizard gives Evan the name "August Rush" and devises a plan to profit from his talent. Little does Evan know that his parents, Lyla and Louis, are searching for him too.
Dir. Kirsten Sheridan · With Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Ex-soldier Frank Brayker is the guardian of an ancient key that can unlock tremendous evil; the sinister Collector is a demon who wants the key so he can initiate the apocalypse. On the run from wicked mercenaries for almost 90 years, Brayker finally stops in at a boarding house in New Mexico where — with the help of its residents — he plans to face off against the Collector and his band of ghouls, preventing them from ever seizing the key.
Dir. Ernest R. Dickerson · With Billy Zane, William Sadler, Jada Pinkett Smith
One year after his heroics in Los Angeles, John McClane is an off-duty cop who is the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. On a snowy Christmas Eve, as he waits for his wife's plane to land at Washington Dulles International Airport, terrorists take over the air traffic control system in a plot to free a South American army general and drug smuggler being flown into the US to face drug charges. It's now up to McClane to take on the terrorists, while coping with an inept airport police chief, an uncooperative anti-terrorist squad, and the life of his wife and everyone else trapped in planes circling overhead.
Dir. Renny Harlin · With Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, William Sadler

Alice is a young hearing-impaired girl who, after a supposed visitation from the Virgin Mary, is inexplicably able to hear, speak and heal the sick. As word spreads and people from near and far flock to witness her miracles, a disgraced journalist hoping to revive his career visits the small New England town to investigate. When terrifying events begin to happen all around, he starts to question if these phenomena are the works of the Virgin Mary or something much more sinister.
Dir. Evan Spiliotopoulos · With Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Cricket Brown, William Sadler

Track the intertwined real-life stories of three U.S. Marines – Robert Leckie, John Basilone, and Eugene Sledge – across the vast canvas of the Pacific Theater during World War II. A companion piece to the 2001 miniseries Band of Brothers.
Dir. Bruce C. McKenna · With James Badge Dale, Jon Seda, Joseph Mazzello

Jaye Tyler, a recent Brown University graduate with a philosophy degree, holds a dead-end job as a sales clerk at a Niagara Falls gift shop. Jaye is the reluctant participant in conversations with various animal figurines — a wax lion, brass monkey, stuffed bear, and mounted fish, among others — which direct her via oblique instructions to help people in need.
Dir. Todd Holland, Bryan Fuller, Tim Minear · With Caroline Dhavernas, Tyron Leitso, Tracie Thoms

Police Chief Jesse Stone's relationship with his ex-wife worsens, and he fears he's relapsing into alcoholism. To get his mind off his problems, Jesse begins working on the unsolved murder of a bank teller shot during a robbery. Also, his investigation of an alleged rape draws him into conflict with the town council — which hopes to preserve Paradise's reputation as an ideal seaside resort.
Dir. Robert Harmon · With Tom Selleck, Kathy Baker, Kohl Sudduth

Police Chief Jesse Stone, who was suspended by the Paradise, Mass. Town Council, begins moonlighting for his friend, State Homicide Commander Healy, by investigating a series of murders in Boston, leaving Rose and Suitcase to handle a crime spree in Paradise on their own. Jesse pours his energy into his work in an effort to push away his twin demons: booze and women. When his investigation leads to notorious mob boss Gino Fish, Jesse's pursuit becomes hazardous.
Dir. Robert Harmon · With Tom Selleck, Kathy Baker, Kohl Sudduth

In 1934, Frank Hamer and Manny Gault, two former Texas Rangers, are commissioned to put an end to the wave of vicious crimes perpetrated by Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, a notorious duo of infamous robbers and cold-blooded killers who nevertheless are worshiped by the public.
Dir. John Lee Hancock · With Kevin Costner, Woody Harrelson, Kathy Bates
Private eye Rafe Guttman is hired by repressed, born-again Katherine to find her missing bad-boy brother. The trail leads him to a whorehouse run by a thousand-year-old vampire and secretly backed by Katherine's boss, televangelist Jimmy Current.
Dir. Gilbert Adler · With Dennis Miller, Erika Eleniak, Angie Everhart

Two Arkansas firemen, Vince and Don, get hold of a map that leads to a cache of stolen gold in an abandoned factory in East St. Louis. What they don't know is that the factory is on the turf of a local gang, who come by to execute one of their enemies. Vince sees the shooting, the gang spots Vince, and extended mayhem ensues. As Vince and Don try to escape, gang leader King James argues with his subordinate Savon about how to get rid of the trespassers.
Dir. Walter Hill · With Bill Paxton, Ice-T, William Sadler

Bizarre things start happening in the little New Mexico town where UFOs were spotted in 1947. Cut to 1999, when a cute high-school student saves the life of a teenage waitress. Surrounded by cliques of clever, angst-filled classmates, the two form a bond that threatens the survival of a secret universe involving superhuman powers, a yen for hot sauce and an alien gene pool.
Dir. Jason Katims · With Jason Behr, Shiri Appleby, Katherine Heigl

Undercover cop Jim Raynor is a seasoned veteran. His partner, Kristen Cates, is lacking in experience, but he thinks she's tough enough to work his next case with him: a deep cover assignment to bring down the notoriously hard-to-capture drug lord Gaines. While their relationship turns romantic during the assignment, they also turn into junkies, and will have to battle their own addictions if they want to bring down Gaines once and for all.
Dir. Lili Fini Zanuck · With Jason Patric, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Sam Elliott
A group of young horror fans go searching for a film that mysteriously vanished years ago but instead find that the demented killer from the movie is real, and he's thrilled to meet fans who will die gruesomely for his art.
Dir. Dave Parker · With Sophie Monk, Tad Hilgenbrink, William Sadler

Police Chief Jesse Stone now presides over the quiet, seaside village of Paradise, Massachusetts. When the facts don't add up in a brutal Boston-area murder case, Jesse opens an investigation filled with surprises, unlikely suspects and grave danger. Though it's widely believed the murder was committed by an incarcerated serial killer, Jesse suspects another killer is at large and is hell-bent on bringing him to justice.
Dir. Robert Harmon · With Tom Selleck, William Devane, Gloria Reuben

Amiable slackers Bill and Ted are once again roped into a fantastical adventure when De Nomolos, a villain from the future, sends evil robot duplicates of the two lads to terminate and replace them. The robot doubles actually succeed in killing Bill and Ted, but the two are determined to escape the afterlife, challenging the Grim Reaper to a series of games in order to return to the land of the living.
Dir. Peter Hewitt · With Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, William Sadler

Upon arriving to a small town, a drifter quickly gets into trouble with the local authorities — and the local women — after he robs a bank.
Dir. Dennis Hopper · With Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly

Mason Storm, a 'go it alone' cop, is gunned down at home. The intruders kill his wife, and think they've killed both Mason and his son too. Mason is secretly taken to a hospital where he spends several years in a coma. His son meanwhile is growing up thinking his father is dead. When Mason wakes up, everyone is in danger - himself, his son, his best friend, his nurse - but most of all those who arranged for his death
Dir. Bruce Malmuth · With Steven Seagal, Kelly LeBrock, William Sadler

A typical night for veterans at a VFW turns into an all-out battle for survival when a desperate teen runs into the bar with a bag of stolen drugs. When a gang of violent punks come looking for her, the vets use every weapon at their disposal to protect the girl and themselves from an unrelenting attack.
Dir. Joe Begos · With Stephen Lang, Martin Kove, William Sadler

Ava is recovering from demonic possession. With no memory of the past month, she must attend a Spirit Possessions Anonymous support group to figure out what happened. Ava's life was hijacked by a demon, now it's time to get it back.
Dir. Jordan Galland · With Louisa Krause, Whitney Able, Deborah Rush

A young inductee into the military is given the task of looking after some chimpanzees used in the mysterious 'Project X'. Getting to know the chimps fairly well, he begins to suspect there is more to the secret project than he is being told.
Dir. Jonathan Kaplan · With Matthew Broderick, Helen Hunt, William Sadler

Yet to fulfill their rock and roll destiny, the stakes are higher than ever for the now middle-aged Bill and Ted who set out on a new adventure when a visitor from the future warns them that only their song can save life as we know it.
Dir. Dean Parisot · With Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, Kristen Schaal
Friends become increasingly addicted to a video game that has an evil agenda.
Dir. David Winkler · With Jensen Ackles, Shannyn Sossamon, Dominique Swain
After a young mother murders her family in her own house, a detective attempts to investigate the mysterious case, only to discover that the house is cursed by a vengeful ghost. Now targeted by the demonic spirits, the detective must do anything to protect herself and her family from harm.
Dir. Nicolas Pesce · With Andrea Riseborough, Demián Bichir, John Cho
Steve Clark is a newcomer in the town of Cradle Bay, and he quickly realizes that there's something odd about his high school classmates. The clique known as the "Blue Ribbons" are the eerie embodiment of academic excellence and clean living. But, like the rest of the town, they're a little too perfect. When Steve's rebellious friend Gavin mysteriously joins their ranks, Steve searches for the truth with fellow misfit Rachel.
Dir. David Nutter · With James Marsden, Katie Holmes, Nick Stahl

An accident-prone and obnoxious geek joins a NASA space mission to Mars. During the flight, he manages to put himself and the entire crew in jeopardy, but is in danger of emerging as a hero when his new colleagues need him to save them from the unforgiving surface of the red planet.
Dir. Stuart Gillard · With Harland Williams, Jessica Lundy, William Sadler

A Texas Ranger investigates a series of unexplained deaths in a town called Helena.
Dir. Kieran Darcy-Smith · With Woody Harrelson, Liam Hemsworth, Alice Braga
Top Collaborators
Directors with 2+ shared titles, ranked by frequency