Robert Redford is one of the greatest movie stars of his generation, and it's great to see him appear in his first real blockbuster. He's had big movies, sure, but Captain America: The Winter Soldier is by far his biggest. He's not the lead in the Marvel movie, but he has a very substantial role as S.H.I.E.L.D. and World Security Council official Alexander Pierce.

A lot of younger audiences flocking to the Captain America sequel might not be too familiar with Redford, either as actor, Oscar-winning director or founder of the Sundance Film Festival and Institute. Hopefully they'll be inspired by his stint as Pierce to seek out his past work, from last year's acclaimed All Is Lost back to his breakout performance in 1965's Inside Daisy Clover. 

To help them out, we're highlighting the movies you think are the highest priority. We polled users on Twitter and looked at popularity and acclaim via box office numbers, critical reception and ratings on sites like IMDb to determine his five best. There were a few leftovers worth mentioning as runners-up, too, including Three Days of the Condor, which was a huge influence on The Winter Soldier. 

1. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 

This 1969 Western is such a significant movie for Redford that he named his film festival and institute after his character, the Sundance Kid. It also received the most mentions in our poll, by a good measure, and it's his second highest grossing movie (third once The Winter Soldier's opening weekend is through). He plays one of two real-life train robbers (Paul Newman is his partner, Butch Cassidy) who run from the law to South America.

 

 

2. The Sting

Before Redford boarded the Avengers franchise train, this 1973 caper was his top-grossing movie of all time. According to IMDb, it's his best rated of the movies he stars in. It's also, surprisingly, the only movie for which he earned an Oscar nomination for acting -- he lost, though the movie itself won Best Picture. Reuniting with Newman, here he plays one of two con men, inspired by a real-life duo who swindle a crime boss. 

 

 

3. All the President's Men

Critics favor this true account of the Watergate investigation above all Redford's other movies as an actor, while audiences rank it almost as high. The topical drama, in which he plays journalist Bob Woodward to Dustin Hoffman's Carl Bernstein, was one of the highest grossing movies of 1976 and another Oscar nominee for Best Picture.

 

 

4. The Way We Were

Less acclaimed than other movies making the cut for this list, Sydney Pollack's 1973 politically fueled romance costarring Barbra Streisand is a fan favorite and one of Redford's top five moneymakers as a leading man (along with The Sting, it was among the top five highest grossing movies of its year). Again, he's sort of playing a real person, as the screenplay by Arthur Laurents is a semiautobiographical work. 

 

 

5. Jeremiah Johnson

Another critical favorite, another fan favorite, another directed by Pollack, another Western, another box office success. Oh, and it's also somewhat based on a true story, with Redford's mountain-man title character supposedly inspired by a man by the name of Liver-Eating Johnson.