HERO WORSHIP
We rank the best good guys featured on the big screen
How do you draw up a list of film’s greatest heroes and stop at 15? There were 29 in Avengers: Endgame alone, for goodness’ sake. The answer is to set some ground rules, and accepting only solo acts — no duos or groups — is a good place to start. Contenders should capture the essence of heroism itself, rather than just be great characters: Scarlett O’hara might be the quote-unquote heroine of Gone with the Wind, but she wouldn’t win any prizes for valour. And although we’re ranking the stature of characters, rather than actors, individual performers should appear no more than once in different roles.
15 Ethan Edwards Played by John Wayne in The Searchers (John Ford, 1956) No director-actor duo did more to market the American frontier hero than the Johns — Ford and Wayne. But the pair’s renowned 12th collaboration fascinatingly darkened the brand.
14 Det. John Mcclane Played by Bruce Willis in the Die Hard films (1988-2013)
For most of the 1980s, Hollywood’s heroes were glinting, preposterous he-men. Then along came John Mcclane, an average Joe in the wrong place who somehow comes out on top. Willis revitalized the action genre with his vulnerability, nonchalance and ribbed cotton T-shirt.
13 Chen Zhen Played by Bruce Lee in Fist of Fury (Lo Wei, 1972)
There were few more popular 1970s fantasies than sticking it to the man while staying true to your culture — in China,
Hong Kong, the U.S. inner cities, and elsewhere. Lee’s Shanghai martial artist who takes a stand against his smirking Japanese oppressors was his most politically charged role, and raised cathartic cheers around the world.
12 Mildred Pierce Played by Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1945)
Failed and betrayed by men, and buffeted by the dark forces of melodrama and noir, Crawford’s steely single mother does the only thing she can: knuckle down. Making a success of yourself in 1940s California is no mean feat, especially with a nightmarish teenage daughter around.
11 Zatoichi Played by Shintaro Katsu (1962-89) and Takeshi Kitano (2003)
A blind 19th century masseur with unparalleled sword skills; a trickster, a troublemaker and an unstoppable force for justice: Zatoichi is the kind of character who could run and run. And run he did — more than 25 films, a spinoff TV series, and a feature-length last hurrah, before Kitano’s acclaimed 2003 revival introduced him to a wider international audience.
10 Erin Brockovich Played by Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich (Steven Soderbergh, 2000)
What was it about this single mother-turned-scourge of corporate America that struck such a lasting, joyous chord?
The brass neck? The bras? Well, naturally. But the Roberts-soderbergh collaboration gave rise to a rare, larger-than-life Oscar-winning star turn with its high heels squarely planted in the real world.
9 James BondPlayed in the James Bond films by Sean Connery (1962-83), George Lazenby (1969), Roger Moore (197385), Timothy Dalton (1987-89), Pierce Brosnan (1995-2002) and Daniel Craig (2006-20)
Ian Fleming’s secret agent has 24 films, with a 25th imminent — we hope — which is some pedigree, even in our franchise-mad age. His secret? Knowing when to tweak the formula and when to just revel in it.
8 Atticus Finch Played by Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird (Robert Mulligan, 1962)
There’s a significant overlap between heroes and fathers, and Peck’s upstanding Alabama lawyer, who puts everything on the line to defend an innocent black man, is at the dead centre of the Venn diagram. From his daughter Scout’s perspective — and ours too — he’s a beacon.
7 Superman Played by Christopher Reeve in the first Superman film series (1978-87)
Cinema has already brought us five live-action Supermen. But the one true Kal-el was surely Reeve, who played the DC hero as the embodiment of decency and dependability.
6 T. E. Lawrence Played by Peter O’toole in Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)
The unparalleled sweep and magnificence of Lean, the cloud-piercing stature and intensity of O’toole. That was what it took for cinema to get its arms and head around the maverick First World War hero.
5 Juror No. 8 Played by Henry Fonda in 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957)
By doing his civic duty with diligence and care, Fonda’s lone holdout juror is a hero of the everyday sort. Yet in a New York courthouse on an abnormally hot day, he saves a life against the odds — then slips back into the world. 4 Ellen Ripley Played by Sigourney Weaver in the Alien films (1979-97)
Long before Imperator Furiosa, Sarah Connor and (ugh!) Lara Croft, there was Ripley. A role written for a man, the Alien hero’s gender was switched on the say-so of director Ridley Scott. But it was Weaver, with a taut and flinty charisma, who made the character catch fire.
3 Dr. Henry Walton ‘Indiana’ Jones Jr. Played by Harrison Ford in the Indiana Jones films (1981-2008)
Much like Kill Bill’s chop socky heroine, Indiana Jones started life as a loving pastiche — in his case, of the dashing matinée adventurers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas so admired.
2 Buster Played by Buster Keaton (1920-28)
Some of Keaton’s characters had names. Others didn’t. But they were ultimately all Buster: the little guy who knew the world was a) absurd and b) rigged against him. Yet he could outmanoeuvre it, mostly, through sheer nerve and resourcefulness. Never mind hero. He’s an inspiration.
1
Luke Skywalker
Played by Mark Hamill in the
Star Wars original and sequel trilogies (1977-2019)
When George Lucas reshaped his early Star Wars drafts in line with Joseph Campbell’s writings on mythology, he wasn’t just setting his young
Jedi apprentice on a particular time-honoured course. Lucas’s pop-fantasy revival of the “hero’s journey” Campbell had found in ancient faiths and myths went on to change the way we think about heroism outright. There are substantially cooler, sexier, more charismatic, less whingey figures than Luke on this list. Even in polls of favourite Star Wars characters, he never comes first. But like it or not, his shadow outstretches all the others combined. Lineage, predestination, holy gifts, hidden realities: It’s all there in The Matrix, Harry Potter, the Marvel multiverse and almost every other modern blockbuster craze around. Young Skywalker’s place at the top of this list is both hard-earned and inevitable. Call it destiny.