Top 10 Heroes

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Top Ten Heroes

10. Lt. Pete "Maverick" Miller: Top Gun may be one of my favorite all-time movies. "I feel the need, the need for speed" every time I watch this movie. Maverick is the perfect character that is carefree until he has to watch "Goose" his partner die. From then it is about a man that will not quit (OK...so he quits and then they bring him back, whatever).

9. Rick Blaine: Casablanca is a classic movie. Blaine is a great hero.

8. Capt. John H. Miller: Tom Hanks makes it with the first of two of his top ten heroes. This is off Saving Private Ryan. The cast is great, but Hanks shines in his role.

7. Forrest Gump: The second Hanks character. Forrest is an endearing character that everyone cheers for (except that guy throwing rocks at him). The fact that it has so much history makes it a favorite of mine.

6. Batman: A favorite of mine, because he does not have super powers. All the gadgets he has are great as well.

5. T.E. Lawrence: I watched this movie with my grandfather when I was about 12. It was so long it had a 15 minute intermission. I still thought this guy was the coolest though.

4. Indiana Jones: A great character. I am contemplating buying the trilogy with my Christmas money. Harrison Ford makes him a funny/everyday kind of hero. With brains and a little brawn Indiana Jones is a great hero.

3. Rocky Balboa: My personal favorite. If I were being completely biased in this list he would be number 1. I love all the Rocky's (except 5, which is Jamey's favorite). I just bought the 5 DVD set and have seen the new one (which I will add when it comes out on DVD). The steps of Philadelphia are forever popular because of Rocky. Rocky 4 is my favorite as we watch the U.S.A. vs. USSR in the ring.

2. James Bond: An all-time favorite. I put the picture with Sean Connery because I think he was the best Bond. Many agree with that assessment. Either way this character has made it through the years and is my number 2...just barely behind...

1. Atticus Finch: A classic character. Jamey and her mother would have never let me live it down if he was not number one. With the younger students still reading the book he is likely to stay high for a long time.

Well, what did you think? Who did I leave off? Who should not be on the list?

Top 10 Villains

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Top Villains

10. Nurse Ratched: One flew over the Cukoo's Nest is a classic movie. And she is a major reason that Jack Nicholson's character went "cukoo". Scary in a way only a women can be. No yelling, just intimidation and manipulation by actions and looks.
Not that I know any women that do that.

9. The Wicked Witch of the West: Another classic and the highest ranking woman on the list. This green witch will forever be rememebered. "I'm melting..."

8. Terminator: Only character to make both lists. In the first terminator, which I think is almost as good as the more popular T2, Arnold is evil. He does a great job at it too.

7. Count Dracula: Another character that is in several different movies played by several men. The character remains a great villain.

6. Freddy Krueger: A nightmarish character. The picture above says enough for me.

5. Predator: A great villain. I now think of all the football players with their dreadlocks hanging out as a version of him.

4. Michael Corleon: The Godfather's are a great series of movies. He might be the ultimate villain on some lists. He makes mine as number 4.

3. Norman Bates: Psycho is a great movie. I have not even seen it, or at least all of it. Which may explain why he is not higher on the list.

2. Hannibal Lecter: Great villain. The series of movies he puts out are great. Although the first stands out as the best. Really, a man that will eat other people has to be a great villain. "Hello Clarice..."

1. Darth Vader: My number one villain for several reasons. I think he is known to all. His voice is great (every time someone even breaths hard you think of him). And above all he is the father to the hero of the movie.

Villains 19-11

Here are villains 19-11

19. Michael Myers: Halloween is one of the original scary movies. Myers is a great villain who many are probably still scared of.

18. Scrooge: Every Christmas most of us watch a movie with Scrooge in it. Even though he comes around in the end, he is a great villain.

17. Dr. Evil: A great villain. The Austin Powers movies would be nothing without this guy. Who else could make putting you pinky in your mouth funny. "Lasers", "One million dollars" and "release the globe" are some of my favorite quotes from him.





16. The Mask from Scream: A great villain. I know there were many that got behind the mask, but every time you see it you are reminded of these movies.





15. Booth: In the Line of fire is a classic movie. This villain does a great job of being evil in his quest to shoot the President.

14. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker: Older movie. But the names are still known by many who haven't even seen the movie.

13. Amon Goeth: Schindler's list villain is a terrible person. Watching this movie is very moving and this character does a good job at being such an awful person.

12. The Queen from Snow White: Another Disney villain. Probably the most classic of them all.

11. Mr. Smith: The Matrix is a great series of movies. This villain is well known and has super powers. Has great lines in the movies as well. The seen where he has copied himself and like a million of him are attacking at once is classic.

Heroes 19-11

Heroes list 19-11.

19. Terminator: A great movie. This is the Terminator in T2, the other might be on the villain list. So as Arnold would say "He'll be back". Arnold is great in this role (one where he doesn't talk too much).

18. Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh: I love the Lethal Weapons. With the brawn and comedy you cannot go wrong. Gibson and Glover are a great team.

17. Oskar Schindler: Powerful movie. A guy that in no way wants to help the Jews, who becomes their only salvation.

16. Austin Powers: Might be one of the best comedies ever done. But you would have to ask my friend Jake Bennett about the final spot for this comedy. Yeah baby yeah.



15. Han Solo/Luke Skywalker: The Star Wars trilogy (now 6-part series) is a classic and has a cult type following. If I were in that group these two would be much higher. I'm not, so they're not. But I am a Harrison Ford fan and he does a great job.

14. Superman: The ultimate Superhero makes the list at number 14. The last Superman movie was good, just not great.

13. Zorro: I love the Zorro movies. Antonio does a great job with this character and Catherine Zeta Jones is great in the movie as well. BTW: I got some "Antonio" colognue for Christmas (it is actually pretty good).

12. General Maximus Decimus Meridius: One of my favorites. Gladiator is a classic movie (with a villain that also made the list). When he avenges his wife/child in the end (and then joins them) it is a great scene.


11. William Wallace: Braveheart is a great movie. Mel Gibson makes the list again (he is on 4 times which is the most of any actor). I could watch this movie once a week. It is very inspirational (even with the awful accent of Gibson). Jamey and I even watched it while we were in Paris.


Any guesses on the top 10?

Villians 29-20

Here is the next part of the villians/heroes series. Let me know if this is worth dragging out or I should just get it over with.

29. Harry Lime and Barry Merchants: The home alone villains are some of my favorite. This movie is a classic and they provide some great scenes. When the guys hair catches fire is still my favorite.


28. Cruella De Ville: The 101 Dalmations would have no arguement here. "If she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will".

27. The Shark: In Jaws this is the main character. I know he doesn't act, but he still gave me many-a-nightmares.

26. The Joker: Batman is a great hero (not superhero because of no supernatural powers), and he has his villain.

25. Max Cady: Cape Fear is a great movie. And this villain makes the movie.

24. Scarface: Great movie. Great character. Great acting.


23. Eleanor Islen: Manchurian Candidate is a great movie. What kind of woman would do that to her son?

22. Castor Troy: This character is great because he is played by two actors (John Travolta and Nic Cage) in the same movie. I love the movie face off. And this character under both men is a great villain.


21. Lady Tremaine: The evil stepmother of Cinderella. Didn't you just want to hit her? She also continues are woman villain theme :)

20. Tyler Durden: Fight club is a classic movie. Brad Pitt does an outstanding job in this movie. To be a fictional character in the end, he makes one great villain.

Heroes 29-20

The next part of the heroes...

29. Spiderman: Great character. I'd probably have him higher on the list if the movies did not have the two worst actors ever (Toby Mcguire and Kristen Dumb).

28. Creasy: Man on Fire is another great Denzel movie that is under-rated. Creasy is a great tough guy that falls for a little girl and in the end...well, rent the movie and see.

27. Rudy Ruettiger: Who doesn't at least know of Rudy? Every time some scrub on a team makes something happen you here jokes about Rudy. If he hadn't played for Notre Dame he would move up at least 5 more spots.


26. John Rambo: Sylvester Stallone is one of my favorite actors and he has two on the list. Bet you can guess the other one. But Rambo is another great series.

25. Ethan Hunt: Mission Impossible is a great series of movies. And as much as Tom Cruise is crazy in real life, he is a great actor.

24. Sparticus: Classic movie. Great character. I still remember the pepsi commercial that referenced the movie with the whole "I am Sparticus" scene.

23. Jefferson Smith: I love the older movie "Mr. Smith goes to Washington". Jimmy Stewart is great in this role as a young senator that learns of the corrupt politics in Washington and then defeats it.

22. Detective John Mclain: Die Hard is classic. I am also a huge Bruce Willis fan. His role as this tough guy is great.





21. Daniel Larusso: Jamey's favorite character of her teen years. The Karate Kid is a classic movie and the kick in the end will forever be remembered.


20. Thelma Dickerson and Louise Sawyer: Classic movie again with characters everybody knows.

39-30 Villains

Here are villains 39-30. Let me know what you think.

39. Jack Torrance: The shining. Great villain played by Jack Nickolson.

38. Carl Lee Hailey: Actually I would consider him to be the good character in the film "A time to kill", but he did kill two people. Samuel Jackson does a great job in this movie.

37. Capt. Frank Ramsey: Crimson Tide. This guy does a great job as the officer that is too hard nosed to look at other options. Hackman does another outstanding job. The scenes with him and Denzel are great.



36. Ursula: The Little Mermaid is one of my favorite movies. Ursula is a great villain. "Those poor unfortunate souls..."

* Just a side note here: There seem to be a lot more women in the villains list than the heroes list.

35. Ed Rooney: The principle in Farris Bueller's Day off. Does a good job of being the "villain" in this comedy.

34. Captain Hook: Another Disney character. I love this story and he will always be remembered.

33. John Patrick Mason: The rock. Another villain only in the technical sense. Sean Connery does a great job as a man that comes out of prison to help save the day in The Rock.

32. Col William Tarvington: The Patriot is one of my favorite movies of all time. This character makes one of the best arrogant villains in any movie. After all, he killed a boy. The scene where he is attempting to get Mel Gibson to fight by bragging on the killing of his son is intense.

31. Commodus: The evil Emperor who kills his father and attempts to kill Maximus is a great villain in Gladiator. He can make your skin crawl with the way he acts.

30. Lex Luther: A more famous villain. It would be hard though, to always be against Superman. What kind of chance is that?

Heroes 39-30

Here is a continuation of the Heroes/Villains list. The Villains will be posted tomorrow.

39. Three Musketeers: These guys have been famous for awhile. I enjoyed the latest movie about them, although it did not top the Charlie Sheen, Keifer Sutherland, Chris O'Donnell, Tim Curry, Rebecca De Mornay version which I feel was a classic.

38. Tarzan: Famous character. I prefer the cartoon version, but Brendan Fraiser did a good job as well.

37. Robin Hood: A classic pick here. There have been several great movies with this story. Men in Tights is my favorite though.

36. Luke Jackson: From Cool Hand Luke. Paul Newman does a great job in this movie.



35. Lt. John Dunbar: Dances with wolves is a classic. As a white-man turned indian this character will not be forgotten.

34. Dr. Richard Kimball: Harrison Ford does a great job with Kimball as
"the fugitive". Ford will be on the list with a few other greats as well.

33. Anne Porter and Jack Tarven: Speed was a great movie. Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock will be forever linked to this as their big breaks.

32. Mary Poppins: The classic lady that had everything you could want...all in one bag.

31. John Q: Another Denzel character. He makes you feel for him in this movie where he comes within seconds of killing himself for his boy. You almost forget that he is holding an entire hospital hostage. Great movie.

30. Dirty Harry: A great character.

More to come. Let me know what you think.

Top Heroes/Villains

I have a new list, imagine that. After watching several good movies over the break I got to thinking of all the great characters I have watched.
I am going to unveil my list of top movie villains and heroes in a series of blogs over the next few days/weeks. I have done my ranking of the top 50 heroes and the top 50 villains using several lists (inluding American Film Institute's list. The criterea I went with was movies in the last 100 years that have been somewhat widely viewed. The character must be known (at least by name to the average person over the age of 20. The heroes were easy to pick (although not to rank), but the villains were a different story. Some are people that you actually cheer for, while some you root for their death. Some are funny, and some are pure evil. Either way I enjoyed ranking these characters (with the help of my wife and mother-in-law). Here are numbers 50-40 with heroes first.

Heroes

50. Jason Arnold: The character played on the Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Identity. Great action hero.

49. Lt. Chris Sabian: In the Negotiator. Great movie, great character.

48. Harry Stamper: Bruce Willis character in Armageddon. He does a great job as the tough, but ultimate hero of a father.



47. Dr. Stanley Goodspeed: Played by Nicholas Cage in The Rock. Comedy mixed with a character we can relate to who adapts to his situation.

46. Trip: The character played by Denzel Washington in Glory. One of three Denzel characters to make the list. A great movie that had many heroes to pick from, his role was very memorable.

45. Simon Templar: In the movie The Saint. Jamey and I love the newer version with Val Kilmer in this role. His many costumes/roles are great. The older version, I have heard, is great as well.

44. Doc Holliday: The second Val Kilmer character. This movie is great and the alcoholic gunslinging Doc Holliday is a great movie character.

43. Chon Wang: The only Jakie Chan character to make the list is hillarious in both Shanghi noon and Shanghi nights.

42. Coach Norman Dale: The ultimate coach in the ultimate sports movie. Gene Hackman does a great job in this underdog story.



41. Benjamin Martin: A Mel Gibson character in the Patriot. He does a great job as the father and the soldier.

40. Jack Ryan: Harrison Ford in Patriot games. Great movie. Harrison Ford does a great job.


Villains

50. Shooter McGavin: The crazy golfer in Happy Gilmore. He does a great job of making you hate him.

49. The Clown in IT: This has made my generation fear clowns.

48. Biff Tannen: The Back to the Future Trilogy is one of my favorites. And this character is perfect (all 4 generations of him) as the villain to Michael J. Fox.

47. Jigsaw: In the first two Saw movies. Jamey still has nightmares of this one. He does a great job, and most of his role is just his voice. The situations he puts people in still make me cringe.

46. Rachael Phelps: The owner of the Indians in the great movie Major Leagues. Makes you hate her and root for the bunch of misfits she has put on the field.

45. Jack Sparrow: One of the villains you love. Although I was not as impressed with the second movie, Jonny Depp did an outstanding job with this villain we love.



44. Gaston: The first of a few disney characters to be on this list. He is the Beast hunter in Beauty and the Beast. "No one fights like Gaston..."

43. Chucky: One of my little brothers is still scared of this doll.

42. The Grinch: I know we are all "Christmased out" but this character is a great one. I am not a Jim Carrey fan, but he does a good job with this one.

41. Senator Joseph Paine: The Senator in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". He is a great character that does come around in the end.

40. Dr. Malcolm Crowe: In the sixth sense. Bruce Willis (one of the few to make both lists) does an outstanding job with this character. Even though he is a good character he technically is the villain (he is a ghost).

Well that is the first ten in each list. What do you think? I am going to release 10 more heroes in a few days and then 10 more villains.