Greatest Movie Heroes

[Lew]

Criteria: Hero - One who shows great courage, valor, bravery, self sacrifice, in the face of danger or injustice, and who is admired for their noble qualities and achievements. These Movie characters best demonstrate the 'heroic' nature.

Edited By: Lew
Last Updated: 2017-10-01

https://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/movi ... _hero.html

Character (Actor) - Movie Title (Year)

1. Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) - To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
2. James Bond (Sean Connery) - Dr. No (1962)
3. Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) - Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)
4. Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) - Casablanca (1942)
5. Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) - Schindler's List (1993)
6. T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) - Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)
7. Will Kane (Gary Cooper) - High Noon (1952)
8. George Bailey (James Stewart) - It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
9. Moses (Charlton Heston) - The Ten Commandments (1956)
10. Mahatma Gandhi (Ben Kingsley) - Gandhi (1982)
11. Jefferson Smith (James Stewart) - Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)
12. Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) - On The Waterfront (1954)
13. Shane (Alan Ladd) - Shane (1953)
14. Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) - Rocky (1976)
15. Juror #8 / Mr. Davis (Henry Fonda) - 12 Angry Men (1957)
16. Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) - Aliens (1986)
17. Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) - The Grapes Of Wrath (1940)
18. Han Solo (Harrison Ford) - Star Wars (1977)
19. Norma Rae Webster (Sally Field) - Norma Rae (1979)
20. Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) - Spartacus (1960)
21. Robin Hood (Errol Flynn) - The Adventures Of Robin Hood (1938)
22. Alvin C. York (Gary Cooper) - Sergeant York (1941)
23. Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) - In The Heat Of The Night (1967)
24. Joan of Arc (Ingrid Bergman) - Joan of Arc (1948)
25. Detective Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) - Dirty Harry (1971)
26. Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) - The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
27. William Wallace (Mel Gibson) - Braveheart (1995)
28. Superman / Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) - Superman (1978)
29. Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts) - Erin Brockovich (2000)
30. Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) - Die Hard (1988)
31. Annie Sullivan (Anne Bancroft) - The Miracle Worker (1962)
32. Henry "Lou" Gehrig (Gary Cooper) - The Pride Of The Yankees (1942)
33. Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein (Robert Redford / Dustin Hoffman) - All The President's Men (1976)
34. Lucas "Luke" Jackson (Paul Newman) - Cool Hand Luke (1967)
35. Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) - The Big Sleep (1946)
36. Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn (John Wayne) - True Grit (1969)
37. Ben "Obi-Wan" Kenobi (Alec Guinness) - Star Wars (1977)
38. Father Edward J. Flanagan (Spencer Tracy) - Boys Town (1938)
39. The Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) - City Lights (1931)
40. Lassie (Pal) - Lassie Come Home (1943)
41. General George Patton (George C. Scott) - Patton (1970)
42. Mr. Chips (Arthur Chipping) (Robert Donat) - Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
43. Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep) - Silkwood (1983)
44. Frank Serpico (Al Pacino) - Serpico (1973)
45. Zorro (Don Diego De Vega) (Tyrone Power) - The Mark Of Zorro (1940)
46. Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) - Ben-Hur (1959)
47. Batman / Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) - Batman (1989)
48. Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) - Tarzan The Ape Man (1932)
49. Emiliano Zapata (Marlon Brando) - Viva Zapata! (1952)
50. T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) - Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
51. Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) - The French Connection (1971)
52. Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) - Fargo (1996)
53. Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) - The Departed (2006)
54. Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) - The Natural (1984)
55. Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) - Saving Private Ryan (1998)
56. Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon) - Dead Man Walking (1995)
57. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) - Star Wars (1977)
58. Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) - Forrest Gump (1994)
59. Stanley Kowalsky (Marlon Brando) - A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
60. Abraham Lincoln (Henry Fonda) - Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
61. Lt. John W. Dunbar (Kevin Costner) - Dances With Wolves (1990)
62. Private Witt (James Caviezel) - The Thin Red Line (1998)
63. Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle) - Hotel Rwanda (2004)
64. Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) - Philadelphia (1993)
65. Wilm Hosenfeld (Thomas Kretschmann) - The Pianist (2002)
66. Malcom X / Malcom Little (Denzel Washington) - Malcolm X (1992)
67. Steve Biko (Denzel Washington) - Cry Freedom (1987)
68. Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis) - The Last Of The Mohicans (1992)
69. John Book (Harrison Ford) - Witness (1985)
70. Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) - The Untouchables (1987)
71. General Maximus Decimus Meridus (Russell Crowe) - Gladiator (2000)
72. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) - Mission: Impossible (1996)
73. Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
74. Daniel Lai Iijsso (Ralph Macchio) - The Karate Kid (1984)
75. Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks) - Apollo 13 (1995)
76. Col. Davy Crockett (John Wayne) - The Alamo (1960)
77. Coach Don Haskins (Josh Lucas) - Glory Road (2006)
78. Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise) - Born On The Fourth Of July (1989)
79. Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
80. Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) - Speed (1994)
81. Dr. Richard Kimbel (Harrison Ford) - The Fugitive (1993)
82. Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) - The Insider (1999)
83. Sanjuro Kuwabatake (Toshiro Mifune) - Yojimbo (1961)
84. Trip (Denzel Washington) - Glory (1989)
85. Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) - JFK (1991)
86. Neo (Keanu Reeves) - The Matrix (1999)
87. Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) - Iron Man (2008) / Iron Man 2 (2010)
88. Rudy Ruettiger (Sean Astin) - Rudy (1993)
89. Captain Davenport (Howard E. Rollins, Jr.) - A Soldiers's Story (1984)
90. Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) - The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
91. Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) - Philadelphia (1993)
92. John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) - Shaft (1971)
93. Chesley Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) - Sully (2016)
94. William Munny (Clint Eastwood) - Unforgiven (1992)
95. Liu Jian (Jet Li) - Kiss of the Dragon (2001)
96. Celie (Whoopi Goldberg) - The Color Purple (1985)
97. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
98. Rebecca Morgan (Cicely Tyson) - Sounder (1972)
99. Spider-Man (Toby Maguire) - Spider-Man 2 (2004)
100. John J. Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) - Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

23 More Worth Mentioning

101. Captain America / Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) - Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
102. "Crazy" Joe Clark (Morgan Freeman) - Lean On Me (1989)
103. Stephen 'Bull' McCaffrey (Kurt Russell) - Backdraft (1991)
104. D'Artagnan (Douglas Fairbanks) - The Three Musketeers (1921)
105. Dian Fossey (Sigourney Weaver) - Gorillas In The Mist (1988)
106. Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) - Mad Max (1979)
107. Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) - The Bourne Identity (2002)
108. Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) - The Terminator (1984)
109. Todd Beamer (David Alan Basche) - United 93 (2006)
110. Buford Pusser (Joe Don Baker) - Walking Tall (1973)
111. Bernard 'Bernie' Laplante (Dustin Hoffman) - Hero (1992)
112. Michael (Robert De Niro) - The Deer Hunter (1978)
113. Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) - Death Wish (1974)
114. Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) - Predator (1987)
115. Sir Percy Blakeney (Leslie Howard) - The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
116. Lt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) - Top Gun (1986)
117. Father Merrin (Max Von Sydow) - The Exorcist (1973)
118. Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin) - Billy Jack (1971)
119. Sydney Carton (Ronald Colman) - A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
120. Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) - Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2003)
121. Atreyu (Noah Hathaway) - The NeverEnding Story (1984)
122. Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith) - Independence Day (1996)
123. Casey Ryback (Steven Seagal) - Under Siege (1992)

Honorable Mentions

• The Dirty Dozen
(Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Trini Lopez, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Clint Walker, Ben Carruthers, Tom Busby, Stuart Cooper, Colin Maitland) - The Dirty Dozen (1967)

• The Fellowship
(Eiljah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, and Billy Boyd) - Lord Of The Rings: Two Towers (2002)

• The Three Musketeers
(Van Heflin, Gig Young, Robert Coote) - The Three Musketeers (1948)

[ManPerson]

Ingrid Bergman's Joan of Arc being the highest, and only, ranked depiction on the list feels very wrong.

[Tim]

59. Stanley Kowalsky (Marlon Brando) - A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Seems a fucked-up entry too.

[Zach]

Yeah, WTF...

[Dubrow555]

This list desperately needs to be revisited from the ground up.....

[Lew]

Somebody update it.
I took it over from someone long gone and added more names but didn't remove anything.

[DmitryXenon]

Ingrid Bergman's Joan of Arc being the highest, and only, ranked depiction on the list feels very wrong.

Maybe replace her with Falconetti?

[Tim]

Another thing is

18. Han Solo (Harrison Ford) - Star Wars (1977)
37. Ben "Obi-Wan" Kenobi (Alec Guinness) - Star Wars (1977)
57. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) - Star Wars (1977)

I'd rather have them as Luke > Han > Obi-Wan myself.

[Zach]

I'd go with that, too.

[Dubrow555]

Honestly Skywalker might be top ten worthy.

[Tim]

Looked at this list again and it honestly kinda rips off AFI's one with some changes here and there. Here's their top ten:

1. Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch - To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
2. Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones - Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)
3. Sean Connery as James Bond - Dr. No (1962)
4. Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine - Casablanca (1942)
5. Gary Cooper as Marshal Will Kane - High Noon (1952)
6. Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling - The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
7. Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa - Rocky (1976)
8. Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley - Aliens (1986)
9. James Stewart as George Bailey - It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
10. Peter O'Toole as T. E. Lawrence - Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

[Dubrow555]

I like it - was gonna suggest both Ripley + Starling get a boost.

[Tim]

Something like this:

1. Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch - To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
2. Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones - Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
3. Sean Connery as James Bond - Dr. No (1962)
4. Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine - Casablanca (1942)
5. Gary Cooper as Marshal Will Kane - High Noon (1952)
6. Peter O'Toole as T. E. Lawrence - Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
7. James Stewart as George Bailey - It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
8. Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa - Rocky (1976)
9. Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley - Aliens (1986)
10. Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling - The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

[pauldrach]

What's the objective criteria?

[Tim]

I don't know, maybe the usual popularity, acclaim, influence?

[ManPerson]

I feel like James Bond should be #1.