Michael Madsen 1957-2025

Yet another figure from the action movie world has passed. (I wasn't planning on making any obit posts but this week had other plans.) The first thing I remember Madsen from was Reservoir Dogs (1992), which I saw in the cinema. IIRC it had a very long theatrical run as an "unrated" film in a few cinemas in the UK because at the time the BBFC indicated they would give it an 'X' rating, precluding normal cinema or VHS release.

But I must have seen him before that, in Thelma & Louise and War Games. But his performance in Reservoir Dogs was what caught my eye and what sold the torture scene that got the film "banned" (not really) in the UK.

• Obituary from the Hollywood Reporter
• Wikipedia
• IMDb

For those who want to see some more of Michael, here are some free, legal streams for Michael Madsen movies.

• Tubi
• Fawesome
• Plex
• Mometu
• Flixhouse
• Mercado Play (Latin America. Default language is Spanish but on some films you can change to English audio, e.g. Sin City)
• YouTube - FilmRise Has a few. Do a channel search for 'madsen'

Several services have Papertrail (1997), a.k.a. Trail of a Serial Killer with Michael Madsen, Chad McQueen and Chris Penn. That might be a hard watch with all three now gone.