3. The Deer Hunter - Nick
Walken's role in The Deer Hunter is conventionally his most celebrated - after all it did win him his Oscar. The actor stars as Vietnam POW, Nick, and captures the cruel (and lasting effects of the) conditions in these camps. With Walken starring alongside fellow screen giant, Robert De Niro, The Deer Hunter is chock-full of intense performances. Michael Cimino's direction is unbearably tense, making the film a challenging watch - best captured in the stirring Russian roulette sequences that prove particularly harrowing - even more so if you believe Cimino's statements that a real bullet was put in the gun to enhance the sense of tension. It's not a pleasant watch, but a hard-hitting one and it is impossible to deny the brilliance of Walken's performance. Without relying on any of his trademark "Walkenisms", the actor proves just how talented he is.