Top 5 Movie Heroes

"Get away from her, you bitch!"
Here are the finest five of them all.

5) Luke Skywalker
I was really doubtful about this one. He is a poorly written character that gets all the praise and glory after the first Star Wars' huge success. He initially is a terrific pilot, but in the movies to come we witness the skillfull swordsman, heroic figure who dares to mess with the "Man". Were it not for the arm-chopping and the effects-driven chases, I doubt he would have earned this one. But still, Luke has so much potential as a character, plus he has been worshipped and loved by a whole generation, and not without a reason I might say. Put the blame on good timing, cause if this character was in a B-movie Sci-fi and not on the most successful trilogy of the 20th century, then he would have been a footnote on this list.

4) James Bond
He's a spy for the British govenment, accompanied by gorgeous women, expensive cars, fancy gadgets, cheesy one-liners and carries a license to kill. It doesn't get any cooler than this. Don't search for human qualities on this character, oversee the invisible cars and stuff, and you shall see why this is the most successfull movie character ever. With 20 movies, 5 different actors and counting, you can't judge James Bond subjectively, since every actor contributed different qualities to him. It wasn't until Die Another Day that we saw him imprisoned and abused, an unsucuccessfull attempt to show some dark fearures of his. With Casino Royale out in some weeks, he could be higher in this list, or not at all. I hope it's the first one.


3) John McClane
He is the definition of the all-time American cop action-hero type. I'm not sure whether that's a good or a bad thing, but with Bruce Willis on it, we see a dark character with balls and attitude instead of some stupid untouchable hero-wannabe persona. Talk about right person at the wrong place, at the wrong time, John is reluctant to do his job, but saves the day afterall. Tough and grumpy, this man doesn't know when to give up. He combines Indy, Bond and Mel Gibson's Martin Riggs qualities, which translates into a bruised and battered, break-every-rule kind of guy with an attitude problem. You don't mess with this one.

2) Ellen Ripley
This woman fights for survival ever since the Nostromo discovered the alien race. The character of Ripley was originally written for a man, but it makes so much more sense with Sigourney Weaver. She has logic, she tries to outsmart the alien, she has moral principles, that's why she survives the first movie. In the second one, we see her maternal instincts, her kick-ass side and her sensitivities. In the third one she's the definition of the word survivor, while in the last one she combines rather ineffectively all the above. Alien invented the space horror genre and Aliens is one of the best action movies ever made, and don't get me started on how this franchise affected movie monsters. Nobody else could possibly fill in Sigourney's shoes, she offers us an action heroine unlike anything we had ever seen, but many times badly immitated since.

1) Indiana Jones
He teaches archaeology and at his spare time he discovers hidden treasures and fights the Nazis.He knows how to handle a whip, plus he's pretty good with his fists too. He hates snakes and he doesn't say no to exotic cuisine. Indy was something completely different when he first appeared. He wasn't this macho, trigger-happy guy with an atitude, nor was he an out-of-this-world carricature. No stupid one-liners, no fancy gadgets, this man doesn't get out of trouble without bruises. His girls actually have a pesonality. He's a real, believable character, and this is due to Harrison Ford's performance and Spielberg's inventive direction. They gave us three Indiana Jones movies filled with stunning action sequences, horror elements, lots of humour, but above all things, stories that didn't defy our IQs. If this is not movie magic then I don't know what is. Real entertainment for all tastes. Mr Spielberg, get to work please.

Contenders
Ash, the crazy, girlfriend-killing, arm-chopping, demon-possesed, chainsaw-using, monster-fighting, mean motherfucker from the Evil Dead franchise would have taken Luke's place, but came sixth. The other main contenders were The Bride, Han Solo, Neo and Ethan Hunt. In a random order, Rocky, Rambo, Conan, Harry Callahan, Martin Riggs, Mad Max, Clarice Starling, Jack Ryan and Aragorn would fill in the Top 20. Only franchise characters were considered, which means two or more movies with the same character. And no, sniveling brats like Harry Potter were not considered either.