Unfortunately, this post is not about sandwiches. I’ve written two previous times about the “bad guys” in movies, both about favorite villains, and the most evil movie characters. Those characters were always more interesting and entertaining to me. Heroes often seemed pretty “vanilla”, and they didn’t always matter to the movie, whereas, a great villain seemed to propel a movie to greatness. However, that was a short-sighted view, since, with a little examination, there are plenty of great movies whose quality is, in no small part, due to the quality of the hero role.
Hero is a tricky word that means different things to different people. Does this person have to possess superhuman abilities? Does this person have to be inherently good-natured? For this post, I will be using a definition from MasterClass, where, quite simply, “the hero is someone we can all relate to, and his downfall will fill us with pity and fear. The hero is the ‘good guy’ — the type of virtuous protagonist the audience roots for and wants to succeed.” This definition makes the most sense to me. After all, in most stories, we usually root for the “hero”, and root against the “villain”. There is an element of virtue, but the person doesn’t have to be Mother Teresa, just someone who is good enough, and whose goal is good enough for us to get behind.
I tried to minimize overlap between the types of characters I was talking about, although naturally, there are a few action movie badasses.
SPOILERS – As always, I will try to avoid them where possible, but often we need the full story arc in order to properly contextualize or explain an entry.
To the list!
Most honored of honorable mentions: My only reader and I share a love of the movie, The Silence of the Lambs. Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) just missed out on my top 10, but I wanted to give her a shout out here. She’s a great character: tough, brave, ambitious, smart.
One issue for me with Clarice is just how overpowering Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill are. When I think of this movie, that’s where my head goes first. It isn’t a slight on Clarice. If Foster’s performance was any less great, the movie doesn’t work as well. She’s at Hannibal’s level. However, I’ve watched this movie so many times that I’m beyond rooting for someone, I just love the story and how it unfolds. Clarice does not evoke the same feeling for me as the ten entries on this list.
10). Peter Bretter – Forgetting Sarah Marshall; portrayed by Jason Segel
A bit of a curveball for this first entry. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is often thought of as a comedy, but in all honesty, it’s really a rom-com. I do not traditionally like rom-com’s, but this movie is significantly funnier than any other genre movie I can think of.
Peter certainly isn’t what most of us picture when we hear the word “hero”. First of all, he’s a regular person. For 95% of the movie, he is a big, blubbering mess, heartbroken over losing his girlfriend, the titular, Sarah Marshall. He is also unfulfilled by his job, a musical composer for TV shows, and per Sarah Marshall, he seemed to have been in a major personal rut prior to their breakup. So why is he heroic?
Well, for one thing, despite Peter’s sadness, he is in a very relatable situation. Additionally, the movie is funny enough that his depression, while heartfelt, never overwhelms the movie and irrevocably depresses the audience. I suppose that is a long-winded way of saying that we are all rooting for Peter to overcome his personal and professional funk.
One thing that is important, and heroic, to note about his depression is that, we catch him when he just starts to take action. He may have been wallowing before, but he decides to buy a plane ticket to Hawaii, and goes, even if his plan is just to see what happens. Additionally, he asks out Rachel, he takes a surf lesson, he performs the Dracula musical for a live audience. We may have caught him at his bottom, but he is reacting against his feelings, and is no longer just a silent victim to them. He is making active choices.
Additionally, Peter, in the most rom-com way possible, helps Rachel (Mila Kunis). She is also in a funk, though she doesn’t necessarily realize it, and I suppose, we all wish that our funks left us living and working in Hawaii. Peter’s active pursuit and challenging of her status quo, help get her wheels turning about overcoming her own issues.
It isn’t the sexiest pick for this list, but from a genre perspective, I’ve ever been more invested in a heartbroken character from a rom-com, than I have been in Peter. We are on his personal journey with him, and it feels more real than just about any other romantic movie.
9). John Wick – John Wick franchise; portrayed by Keanu Reeves
John Wick is certainly not the most “virtuous” movie character. He kills many people over the course of the three movies, and it is implied that he killed an above average amount of people in his past. So, how is he on this list? Because he is so easy to root for. We basically get tricked.
The movie picks up after Wick is done being a hitman, and shows him grieving the loss of his wife. Of course, there’s also the dog. So, we sympathize with Wick almost immediately. Additionally, everyone he kills is a piece of garbage, so we don’t feel bad to see them violently removed from the earth. It is also clear that Wick is a supremely talented fighter and killer. Real life is one thing, but in movies, we are attracted to characters who are good at something, regardless of what that “something” may be. We are set up to root for him.
It’s worth noting again that Wick is technically, retired, when the movie starts. We don’t see him kill anyone for money. Everyone he kills is basically a criminal who was sent after him. Also, the non-antagonist characters in the movies seem to like Wick, implying that although he’s a violent criminal, there’s a traditionally respectful element to his character. Perhaps other characters just respect/fear his skill and professionalism.
To me, these movies are about the proverbial “last straw”, and the consequences of actions. They aren’t movies about redemption, or sacrifice, or anything like what we normally associate with heroes. Although it’s technically the real world, John Wick takes place in a fictitious criminal underworld. “Virtuous”, in this case, is a relative term.
8). Dr. Richard Kimble – The Fugitive; portrayed by Harrison Ford
I didn’t kill my wife…
This is the first of three movies on this list with a plot that includes what I would have to imagine is someone’s worst nightmare. Dr. Kimble’s wife was killed by an assailant in their home. Bad start. Even if he’s off the hook, that’d ruin his life. Now he’s a suspect, and his wife, who spent her drying moments dialing 9-1-1, and just says his name, “Richard”. So now he has to go to jail for the murder of his wife. He’s remanded, in chains, and on a bus to prison. Only the bus crashes!
I can’t imagine there’s anyone who is not rooting for Kimble at this point. Just for good measure, after the bus crashes on a train track, he saves an injured security guard, hurling him from the bus before the train comes. Though we technically don’t know for sure, we feel good that he didn’t kill his wife. Now he’s on the run and has to evade capture and prove his innocence. I’m all the way in on Kimble coming out on top.
It is an exciting, well-paced action/thriller, where we’re following a desperate hero, who has the intelligence to realistically piece the conspiracy together, while evading the U.S. Marshals. The beginning is more action-oriented, while the middle and end involve a more cerebral piecing everything together.
Intelligence is a difficult thing to portray in movies. Too many facts being blurted out feels too deliberate and unnecessary. A sequence like the bar scene in Good Will Hunting rarely works in a movie. It’s often more effective to portray intelligence in reaction to a threat, with creative problem-solving and quick thinking. That adds stakes to the situation, and makes it easier for viewers to understand and appreciate the character’s choices.
The Fugitive affords us the opportunity to experience Kimble’s quick wits while being pursued, but also allows us to see his bigger picture thinking, while he tries to figure out what happened to his wife. Dr. Kimble’s intelligence is admirable, and makes it easy to be invested in his survival and redemption.
7). Dalton – Road House; portrayed by Patrick Swayze
I thought he’d be higher…
Dalton is like an 80’s, small-town, hyper-specific, James Bond. He’s the coolest character on this list, and most men of a certain age would love to be him, particularly since James Bond was kind of stale in the 80’s.
For those of you who don’t know, Dalton is a “Cooler”, a job that is basically a head bouncer who also oversees all of a bar’s operations. He calms the trouble, he spots theft and scammers – he’s basically Jon Taffer before there was Bar Rescue, but like, 10x more awesome.
Early in the movie, Dalton, who has a Philosophy degree from NYU, leaves his New York City cooling job (at a moment’s notice), to be the Cooler at a shithole in Jasper, Missouri, called “The Double Deuce”. His badassery is on display early, but eventually, his exploits catch the attention of town criminal, Brad Wesley. It ultimately becomes a battle of Brad Wesley, who is trying to protect his criminal interests, against the moral citizens of Jasper, who don’t want to be at Wesley’s mercy any more.
Dalton becomes the leader of the townspeople, and helps them overcome Brad Wesley, despite Wesley’s considerable influence on the local police, his violent thugs, and Dalton’s ridiculous girlfriend, Dr. Clay, who somehow thinks he’s as bad of a person as Wesley.
Patrick Swayze was so crazily likeable, I can’t imagine anyone rooting against him in any movie. Dalton’s actions save a whole town from violence and corruption, so, yeah, I’d say he’s a hero.
6). Captain Miller – Saving Private Ryan; portrayed by Tom Hanks
World War II is often portrayed as a war with little nuance. The Allied forces were good, the Axis powers were bad, world peace was at stake. Saving Private Ryan is the biggest, and probably best movie made on the topic. The above scene is an excerpt from a larger scene depicting when the Allied troops stormed Omaha Beach, aka D-Day. It is arguably the best scene in any movie ever.
The fictional Captain Miller is obviously a hero just for storming the beach. Then he leads a group of soldiers on their seemingly unusual assignment to find another soldier and help him get home safely. He deals with their bickering, their impulses, their fears, and their general cynicism toward the mission.
Captain Miller is as American as apple pie, an idyllic representation of the greatest generation. He is a brave leader of men under the most extraordinary circumstances.
Saving Private Ryan is a near masterpiece. The great William Goldman pointed out one glaring flaw with the movie that is hard for me to un-see, but, with the exception of that one plot point, it is the most moving depiction of the Allied forces in WWII. Captain Miller is played by one of the best and most likeable actors of all-time. He is an essential inclusion on this list.
5). Andy Dufresne – The Shawshank Redemption; portrayed by Tim Robbins
Like The Fugitive, the early part of Shawshank might be the greatest possible nightmare for a man who doesn’t have kids. Your spouse cheats on you, then gets murdered and you get blamed for it, so you have to go to prison. Then you have to deal with “the sisters” for a couple of years. That’s enough to make me not want to leave my house ever again.
We immediately feel bad for Andy, and want him to get out of the horrible situation in prison. As the movie goes on, Andy seems to adjust to prison life, he’s no longer being assaulted, and he has a nice group of friends. More and more, he’s using his intellect to make life more enjoyable for his fellow inmates, while laundering money for the Warden, and helping the guards with their finances.
Andy helps Tommy to get his GED, he helps many of them learn to read, and gives his friends jobs in the library. Most importantly, when he plays the opera over the PA system, he reminds all of the inmates that there is life outside those walls. Andy helps many of them, namely Red, feel hope.
Yet, all the while, in one of the greatest twists in movie history, Andy has been tunneling his way out of the prison, and ultimately escapes. When Andy gets out of the shit-filled pipes, and into the river, it is one of the most pleasant and satisfying turns in any movie. His plan to break out, and his execution show his grit, his patience, and his acumen, qualities he shares with many commonly cited heroes. Andy is among the most easy characters to root for, in any movie.
4). Bryan Mills – Taken; portrayed by Liam Neeson
Taken is the ultimate hero fantasy. Some movies have reluctant heroes, some have heroes fighting a battle they know they’ll be fighting from the beginning, and some establish a little bit of chemistry before one party is kidnapped and then most of the movie is spent retrieving the kidnapped person. Taken gives us a bit more character development, which really allows us to internalize Bryan’s struggle, and be there with him at each step.
Early on, we learn that Bryan was some type of retired black ops badass in the CIA. After spending a lot of time overseas, he is divorced, and has retired to try and reconnect with his daughter, Kim. His ex-wife, who remarried a rich guy, is always breaking his chops about how he was never around. The daughter is always happy to see Bryan, which suggests he is a good guy that just had a demanding overseas job, and missed a lot of family time. However, the new husband gets Kim a pony, and is paying for her to go to Europe; we see what Bryan is up against.
It’s easy to feel for Mills, his wife doesn’t like him, and often references how he was always away when they were married. He is working on his relationship with his daughter, which starts out nicely enough, but ends up hinging on whether or not he grants her permission to go to France with a friend (no parents), which he does, begrudgingly.
Mills wants to spend time and reconnect, but it’s difficult; he kind of needs to reprove his worth/value to his daughter. Kim seems like a nice girl, but to be frank, she’s a spoiled rich girl. Her stepfather can buy her anything, and does. So what does Bryan have to offer?
When the girls are kidnapped in Paris by sex-traffickers, Mills responds. In the above clip, he notes his “particular set of skills”, and is put in position to go execute. It is a highly unfortunate way to prove one’s worth to their daughter, but this is a situation almost tailor-made for Bryan to save the day.
What follows is an onslaught of ass-whoopin’ by a desperate man hellbent on finding his daughter. Every person that gets in his way is either a sex-trafficker, or working with the sex-traffickers, so it’s okay whenever he kills anyone. There isn’t much nuance. Though he does shoot Jean Claude’s wife, but “it’s just a flesh wound!”
Spoiler alert, Bryan saves the day, coming home with his daughter in-tact (though the friend dies). It’s obviously a horrible ordeal, but how lucky was Bryan that when it really mattered, he had the skill-set necessary to bring his daughter home? He is brave and tough and cerebral in his efforts to save his daughter, and semi-incidentally, stop a sex-trafficking ring. There are quite a few action movies with a kidnapping or revenge plot line, but few of them have that extra hook early on, the fact that our hero wants desperately to reconnect with his daughter, and would do literally anything to achieve that. It ever so slightly raises the stakes for him, and adds that much more weight when he ultimately succeeds.
3). Rocky Balboa – Rocky franchise; portrayed by Sylvester Stallone
Many think of Rocky as the quintessential underdog. He’s always overcoming something. Every sequel sets him up as an underdog, and Rocky spends the duration of the movie working in an effort to defeat whatever and whomever defeated him early in the movie. In the first two movies he’s battling Apollo Creed, the heavyweight champion, and a superior fighter. In the third movie, it’s Clubber Lang, a vicious mauler from the streets, who is bigger, stronger and hungrier than Rocky. In the fourth movie, it’s Ivan Drago, a statuesque, steroid-using fighter who is marketed by the Russians as a perfect specimen.
With all of the sequels, it’s easy to forget how Rocky started out. He was a lonely guy, with no friends or family, working as a low level debt collector for the mob, and a prize fighter. He didn’t have any respect for himself or for the life he had chosen. The boxing gym he worked out at gave his locker away to a more promising contender. As part of a publicity stunt, Rocky got a shot to fight the heavyweight champion of the world. In addition to earning money, he saw this as a way for him to be a respectable fighter, and a respectable person. It’s very difficult not to root for him. He eventually became the heavyweight champion, but Rocky struggled with the same kind of self-doubt as an average, everyday person.
More than anything, Rocky’s ability to stand in and take punishment, well beyond what anyone else can dish out, is what’s truly inspiring about these movies. Life, Drago, etc., can throw their best shot at him, and he keeps coming back. That’s his gift. No matter what hits him, he keeps coming back.
Is Rocky virtuous? He helped America, defeat Russia. He basically ended the Cold War. Next question…
2) Maximus – Gladiator; portrayed by Russell Crowe
Yeah, so, that clip shows the coolest thing anyone’s ever done in a movie. Similar to #5, I think Gladiator represents someone’s biggest nightmare if they were alive back then. The acting emperor has your family killed and tries to have you killed. You escape, but are sold into slavery, and not just hard labor, you’re a gladiator and have to fight each time they have an event, and risk dying. Similar to Taken, Maximus is lucky that his main skill set is ultimately what is emphasized in the life or death situation.
Maximus was an honorable man, and a good general. He was too humble and self-aware to accept Caesar’s request that he take over the reigns to the empire. Then he battled back from horrible misfortune and gained everyone’s admiration as a gladiator. He is ultimately doomed, but we’re with him on the journey back up.
1). John McClane – Die Hard franchise; portrayed by Bruce Willis
The anti-action hero. “The fly in the ointment.” I hate to show a not badass clip for the #1 entry, but I think one of the keys to why John McClane is the best hero is because, as The Ringer’s Chris Ryan noted, “they almost break this guy.” Unlike many action heroes McClane breaks down toward the end of the movie. He knows the odds are stacked against his survival. His feet are bloody and filled with glass. He is beat up and worn out, physically and mentally. He expresses his regrets about how he handled his marriage. In the middle of a crazy movie like this, John is vulnerable.
McClane isn’t a musclebound, ex-black ops/Navy Seal/Green Beret/”something really cool that I don’t even know about”. He’s a New York City cop. He looks like an average guy – regular build, somewhat receding hairline. He doesn’t have a “particular set of skills.” He’s not geared up for battle. McClane shows up at his wife’s office Christmas party, which is taken over by terrorists, and he has to figure out a way to stop them. It’s not what he signed up for, it’s not what he’s trained to do. Life put him in a tough situation that meant life or death for many people. He’s not technically responsible for figuring it all out, but he stepped up and reacted to it.
Similar to Dr. Kimble in The Fugitive, McClane basically spends the whole movie thinking on his feet, improvising solutions to high-stakes problems. How does he get downstairs or upstairs when the terrorists are watching the stairs and elevators? How does he get off the roof when the FBI is shooting it up from a helicopter? His attempts to alert the police have all failed, how does he get their attention? The answers may surprise you…
McClane is also a wiseass, though his jokes or one-liners don’t sound like typical movie fare. The remarks aren’t necessarily clever, where it’d be impossible to believe someone would think them up in that situation. They feel more off-the-cuff, like something said by a regular person who was just sarcastic.
Like many great characters, McClane stands out from the pack by subverting expectations. The plot of the first movie was an original idea, at the time. There have been plenty of movie heroes, overcoming great odds, conquering “bad guys”. None of them did it like McClane. Another win for Die Hard…Yipeee-kayaaayy Motherfucker!
Honorable mentions: Rudy – Rudy (Sean Astin); James Bond – Dr. No – Spectre (Sean Connery & Daniel Craig, only); Lucas Jackson – Cool Hand Luke (Paul Newman); Sidney Prescott – Scream franchise (Neve Campbell); Blade – Blade (Wesley Snipes); Frank Martin – The Transporter franchise (Jason Statham); Juror #8 – 12 Angry Men (Henry Fonda); Jason Bourne – Bourne franchise (Matt Damon); Shoshana Dreyfuss – Inglourious Basterds (Melanie Laurent); Driver – Drive (Ryan Gosling); Macready – The Thing (Kurt Russell); Ethan Hunt – Mission Impossible franchise (Tom Cruise); Colonel Nicholson – The Bridge on the River Kwai (Alec Guinness); Captain Jack Sparrow – Pirates franchise (Johnny Depp); Tony Stark/Iron Man – MCU (Robert Downey Jr.); Bruce Wayne/Batman – Dark Knight trilogy (Christian Bale); Deadpool – Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds); The Dude – The Big Lebowski (Jeff Bridges)
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