Once upon a time, in the years before 2009 when Taken somehow hit theaters, Liam Neeson was in all different kinds of movies. Before "Taken" and its many sequelsNeeson has starred in films ranging from the ultra-saccharine Christmas romantic comedy Love Actually to genre-bending remakes of The Haunting and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. He played Jean Valjean in the 1998 adaptation of Les Misérables and brought to life numerous historical figures, including Irish Republican Army founder Michael Collins, 18th-century Scottish mountaineer Rob Roy and German industrialist and humanitarian Oskar Schindler.

Unfortunately, since Taken, Neeson has only starred in action thrillers like his absolutely abysmal 2022 film Blacklight, which is currently the prolific actor's lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating. However, before that he starred in many great films, including one of director Steven Spielberg's best films: the multiple Oscar winner Schindler's List. It should come as no surprise that Schindler's List is Neeson's best film Rotten tomatoesas it has a 98% fresh critic rating (and the ever-equally impressive 97% audience approval score). It's also a brilliant, haunting film that forces its audience to confront some very hard truths about humanity in one of its darkest hours. "Schindler's List" topped ours the best selection of Liam Neeson moviesalso, so let's take a look at what makes his performance in this film so special.

The 1993 historical war drama Schindler's List is an absolutely devastating account of the deeds of Oskar Schindler (Neeson), a German industrialist who managed to save more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees from the Nazis by employing them in his factories. Neeson is phenomenal in the role, and although he didn't win, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance. Filming Schindler's List was difficult for the cast due to the subject matter and filming locations, as they were actually filming certain scenes in the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp, which caused Neeson to have a bit of a breakdown before his first scene. The cast kept the constant darkness at bay spending time with each other and the locals in Krakow, Poland, reminding them of the goodness of humanity that exists alongside absolute evil.

Schindler's List is Neeson's best film by a long shot, and honestly, it's one of the best films ever made, with everyone involved doing their best to haunt us and a horrifying reminder of the holocaust while warning us how easily it can be repeated. Neeson is excellent as the complicated Schindler, who was an alcoholic and capitalist forced to come face-to-face with the worst of human nature, and it's honestly a shame that he only starred in action schlock for so many years.

Frankly, it's frustrating that Neeson has only starred in action thrillers since then Taken blew up the box office and turned him into an action star. It's understandable that he capitalized on the success of "Taken," but he used to play much more complex, interesting roles. His 1996 turn as Michael Collins in the Neil Jordan biopic of the same name is phenomenal and he's up against Alan Rickman's best as former Irish president Eamon de Valera, no easy feat. (Actually, Neeson cites Michael Collins as one of his favorite rolesthough not enough people have seen him!) He's honestly the best part of Love Actually, he's the scariest super-antihero ever in Sam Raimi's Darkman, and he's even the best part of The Phantom Menace, along with Ewan McGregor and Ray Park.

Since Taken, Neeson has starred in a few decent movies, including Steve McQueen's terribly underrated Widows, and has done some fun TV cameos and voiceovers (his appearance on "Atlanta" was honestly kind of wild), but nothing comes close to his pre-Taken filmography. Someone hire Liam Neeson to play a complicated and potentially controversial historical figure, stat! It's been too long.