Val Kilmer left us with a filmography full of iconic performances, but there’s always been one of his movies that I’ve felt has never received the full measure of recognition it deserves: 2004’s Spartan. Written and directed by David Mamet, this taut, razor-sharp espionage thriller isn’t just one of Kilmer’s best movies — it’s one of the most criminally underrated films of its kind, period.
The 65-year-old Kilmer died in Los Angeles on Tuesday from pneumonia, a tragic loss of a towering Hollywood talent who, throughout his career, brought a smoldering rock star aura to one blockbuster after another. And though he embodied unforgettable characters like Iceman in Top Gun, Doc Holliday in Tombstone, Batman in Batman Forever, and Jim Morrison in The Doors, my favorite movie of his has been, and always will be, Mamet’s rather obscure spy thriller, in which Kilmer plays an enigmatic and no-nonsense special ops operative tasked with recovering the daughter of the president.
As military intelligence badass Robert Scott, Spartan features Kilmer delivering one of the coolest, most measured performances of his career. Scott is a man of few words, a professional who doesn’t waste time explaining himself. He moves through the film like a shark — focused, relentless, and dangerously competent, while Mamet’s signature rapid-fire dialogue gives him lines that are endlessly quotable.
At one point, for example, Scott is asked if he has a plan, to which he deadpans in response: “I’m on a need-to-know basis. I need to know.”
In another great scene, Scott asks a sergeant on a military base: “What have they got you teaching here, young sergeant?”
Edged weapons, she tells him — more specifically, knife fighting. This is early in the movie, when Scott is looking for a partner who will accompany him on his mission to get the girl back.
“Don’t teach ‘em knife fighting,” Scott instructs the sergeant. “Teach ‘em to kill. That way, they meet some sonofabitch who studied knife fighting, they send his soul to hell.”
Later on, he imparts a memorable bit of wisdom to the partner he chooses for his secret mission. “I ain’t a planner, I ain’t a thinker. I never wanted to be. You’ve got to set your motherfucker to receive. Listen to me. They don’t go through the door; we don’t ask why. That’s not a cost. It’s a benefit. Because we get to travel light. They tell me where to go. Tell me what to do when I get there.”
As for the movie’s plot, it’s straightforward and perfectly executed. Basically, a high-profile kidnapping leads Kilmer’s character deep into a conspiracy that threatens to reach the highest levels of government. The film eschews flashy action sequences for gritty realism, building tension through sharp dialogue and unpredictable turns.
Mamet’s direction and writing are in top form here, creating a world where information is currency and trust is non-existent. Every scene crackles with intensity. A New York Times review sagaciously opines that “the pleasures of Spartan should not be undervalued.”
It continues: “The first two-thirds of the film, in which Val Kilmer hurtles down the dark corridors of a cleverly designed narrative labyrinth, should be assigned in film-school classes, if only to provide today’s hyperactive young sensation-mongers with a lesson or two in economy, clarity and the virtues of indirection.”
Kilmer’s passing is a heartbreaking loss to cinema, and I contend that his work in Spartan is just waiting to be rediscovered. It’s a hidden gem for anyone who loves hard-hitting, intelligent thrillers.
