John Travolta: a career in 5 clips

From Paris With Love sees John Travolta back on our screens as a wise-cracking, trigger-happy cliché that his penchant for hamming it up makes him perfect for. So, what better time to look back over a 35-year career that proves his diversity is the key to his longevity...

John Travolta: Dancer



Travolta danced his way to the big-time in Saturday Night Fever and Grease, which resulted in an inexplicable need to dance in pretty much every movie since. Perhaps the best example of his dancing skill is in Perfect - a crotch-thrusting performance where his growing excitement is all too apparent.

John Travolta: Mid-life crisis



Any actor should go by this general rule of thumb - if Martin Lawrence is also in the cast, it's probably not a good career choice. Travolta ignored this advice with Wild Hogs but tries his hardest to save the day by doing what he does best - singing and dancing - by breaking into Bobby Brown's 'My Prerogative' for no apparent reason. Well here's your reason - he's John Travolta. It's what he does.

John Travolta: Alien tyrant



John Travolta credits Scientology for his remarkable success and in 2000 he wanted to give something back to L. Ron Hubbard by starring in the adaptation of his novel, Battlefield Earth. The result is regularly featured on worst ever movie lists, but surely John Travolta cannot be blamed? He gave it his all as the dreadlocked alien security chief trained to CONQUER GALAXIES. On second thoughts, he may be partially responsible.

John Travolta: Salesman



You have to wonder if the Hollywood stars that flooded to Japan in the eighties to appear in embarrassing commercials would still have done it if they realised they'd be available at the click of a button a couple of decades later. Given the huge payouts, and a general lack of shame, they probably would have done. Travolta danced through three ads for the imaginatively titled Tokyo Drink, the best of which sees him dressed as a police officer.

John Travolta: Bad guy



But if there's one role that John has excelled at in recent years it's when he's playing the bad guy. Broken Arrow, Face/Off, Swordfish and The Punisher feature in this clip, that shows that Travolta can bring his talents to a varied range of complex bad guys, always finding a unique way to bring the character to life.