Top 10 Greatest Film Characters

Revolver66Revolver66 Melbourne, AustraliaPosts: 470MI6 Agent
edited February 2017 in Off Topic Chat
Just for fun :)) :))

Though I have a sneaking suspicion what most people's number 1 choice will be -{ I think it would be interesting to see what everyone's favourite film characters are.

We can do it including Bond or excluding, I don't mind, but here's mine.

1. James Bond - I feel the need to elaborate no further

2. Michael Corleone - Al Pacino (The Godfather, The Godfather Part II)

3. Hannibal Lector - Anthony Hopkins (The Silence Of The Lambs)

4. Rick Blaine - Humphrey Bogart (Casablanca)

5. Norman Bates - Anthony Perkins (Psycho)

6. Vito Corleone - Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro (The Godfather, The Godfather Part II) - I include Robert De Niro's brilliant portrayal of him in Part II in the reasoning of my vote on this. Though admittedly, the character is here because of Brando.

7. Indiana Jones - Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones Trilogy)

8. The Man With No Name - Clint Eastwood (The Dollars Trilogy)

9. Daniel Plainview - Daniel Day Lewis (There Will Be Blood)

10. Travis Bickle - Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver)

Honourable mentions - Darth Vader (Star Wars series), Holly Golighty (Breakfast At Tiffany's), Colonel Hans Landa (Inglourious Basterds), Charles Foster Kane (Citizen Kane), Tony Montana (Scarface), The Joker (The Dark Knight), Anton Chigurgh (No Country For Old Men), The Dude (The Big Lebowski), Jake Gittes (Chinatown), Alexander De Large (A Clockwork Orange), Norma Desmond (Sunset Blvd.), Tuco (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly), Quint (JAWS)

Comments

  • always shakenalways shaken LondonPosts: 6,287MI6 Agent
    in no order of favouritism :D these characters really hit the mark for me some make me laugh some make me cry , some just float my boat
    (1) Matt Hooper from Jaws, he just does it for me,
    (2) Odd ball in Kellys heroes ,says it all
    (3) Dr Richard Treave in the Elephant man ,now he makes me cry due to his kindness
    (4) granddad played by the wonderful lionel Jeffries in chitty chitty bang bang (a true English nut case ) :)
    (5) Benny hills professor in the Italian job (shes big I like em big)
    (6)James Bond ,need I say more
    (7) Steve Mcqueen in Bullit ,sultry cool viualy facialy expressive no dialogue needed by him ,his face says it all
    (8)colour sgt Frank Bourne played by the talented Nigel Green in the classic film ZULU a true British hero
    (9) Michael Caines ,Harry Palmer ,a real spy ,
    (10) Peter sellers as the mad Inspector Clouseau, in the pink panther films

    I hope your memories of these characters I love bring a smile or a tear to your face at the magic they bring to us on the big screen
    By the way, did I tell you, I was "Mad"?
  • Golrush007Golrush007 South AfricaPosts: 3,421Quartermasters
    Difficult to pick out 10, and I must say that in a few days I will probably want to change a few of these.

    In the order that they came to mind:

    James Bond
    Darth Vader - Star Wars
    Harry Lime - The Third Man
    Hannibal Lecter - Silence of the Lambs
    Sherlock Holmes - the Basil Rathbone series
    Indiana Jones - Raiders of the Lost Ark
    Vito Corleone - The Godfather
    Blondie/The Man With No Name - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
    Marge Gunderson - Fargo
    Inspector Clouseau - The Pink Panther
  • walther p99walther p99 NJPosts: 3,416MI6 Agent
    in no order:
    James Bond (Skyfall)
    Indiana Jones (Raiders of the lost ark)
    Captain Willard (Apocalypse Now)
    Rick Deckard (Blade Runner)
    Vincent (Collateral)
    Cooper (Interstellar)
    Captain Miller (Saving Private Ryan)
    Driver (Drive)
    Han Solo (Empire Strikes back)
    Vesper (Casino Royale)
  • Unloved SeasonUnloved Season Denton, TexasPosts: 48MI6 Agent
    In No Order, and just off the top of my head

    Han Solo
    James Bond
    Irwin M. Fletcher - from the Fletch movies/books
    Khan - Star Trek II and a preceding episode from the TV series
    Jack Burton - Big Trouble In Little China... (or anytime Kurt Russell and John Carpenter get together. Snake Plissken/RJ MacReady)
    Indiana Jones
    Biff (and his relatives) - Back To The Future I-III
    Rocky Balboa
    Quint - Jaws

    And on my last one I'm going to cheat with a duo, as both are so great together and deserve to both be on the list but I hate to take up two spaces with one movie.... Dr. Richard Kimble and Deputy U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard from The Fugitive.
  • James SuzukiJames Suzuki New ZealandPosts: 2,406MI6 Agent
    James Bond!
    Forrest Gump
    Darth Vader
    Mary Poppins- Julie Andrews
    Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio)- Inception
    Holly Golightly- Breakfast at Tiffany's
    Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) - Singing in the rain
    Charles (Hugh Grant- Four weddings and a funeral
    Phil Connors (Bill Murrary)- Groundhog Day
    Michael Corelone (Al Pacino)- Godfather
    “The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning. "
    -Casino Royale, Ian Fleming
  • always shakenalways shaken LondonPosts: 6,287MI6 Agent
    Harrison Ford in one guise or another seems to be popular :D
    By the way, did I tell you, I was "Mad"?
  • Mr SnowMr Snow Station "J" JamaicaPosts: 1,736MI6 Agent
    In random order – I’ve excluded James Bond from my list and these are the other ones that first came to mind. As you all know with rankings, this list will undoubtedly change over time.

    Phiilp Marlowe – Humphrey Bogart (The Big Sleep)
    Randle McMurphy – Jack Nicholson (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)
    Sean Maguire – Robin Williams (Good Will Hunting)
    Clarice Starling – Jodie Foster (The Silence of the Lambs)
    Sean Devine – Kevin Bacon (Mystic River)
    Inspector Clouseau - Peter Sellers – (The Pink Panther - various)
    Marion Crane - Janet Leigh – (Psycho)
    Rubin Carter – Denzel Washington (The Hurricane)
    Atticus Finch – Gregory Peck (To Kill a Mockingbird)
    Blondie – Clint Eastwood (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly)
    "Everyone knows rock n' roll attained perfection in 1974; It's a scientific fact". - Homer J Simpson
  • Revolver66Revolver66 Melbourne, AustraliaPosts: 470MI6 Agent
    Harrison is featuring prominently. Interesting lists guys! Bond aside, it will be interesting to see which character features the most
  • VesperMelogranoVesperMelograno The SouthPosts: 901MI6 Agent
    In a random order:

    Scarlett O'Hara- Vivien Leigh (Gone with the Wind)
    Susan Vance- Katharine Hepburn (Bringing Up Baby)
    Plato- Sal Mineo (Rebel Without a Cause)
    Michael Corleone - Al Pacino (The Godfather, The Godfather Part II)
    Rocky Balboa- Sylvester Stallone (Rocky)
    Margot Tenenbaums- Gwyneth Paltrow (the royal tenenbaums)
    Shane- Alan Ladd (Shane)
    The Dude- Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski)
    John Ferguson -James Stewart- (Vertigo)
    Lassie :))
    I've always wanted to have Christmas in Turkey
  • VesperMelogranoVesperMelograno The SouthPosts: 901MI6 Agent
    Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) - Singing in the rain
    I read a wonderful interview with Debbie Reynolds where she said that Gene slipped her tongue during the first take of the kissing scene so she slapped him. And that is why they have such an incredibly awkward kiss.
    I've always wanted to have Christmas in Turkey
  • Revolver66Revolver66 Melbourne, AustraliaPosts: 470MI6 Agent
    In a random order:

    Scarlett O'Hara- Vivien Leigh (Gone with the Wind)
    Susan Vance- Katharine Hepburn (Bringing Up Baby)
    Plato- Sal Mineo (Rebel Without a Cause)
    Michael Corleone - Al Pacino (The Godfather, The Godfather Part II)
    Rocky Balboa- Sylvester Stallone (Rocky)
    Margot Tenenbaums- Gwyneth Paltrow (the royal tenenbaums)
    Shane- Alan Ladd (Shane)
    The Dude- Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski)
    John Ferguson -James Stewart- (Vertigo)
    Lassie :))


    Great list! John Ferguson is a fascinating character, though a tad creepy :p
  • Mr_Sable_BasiliskMr_Sable_Basilisk BerlinPosts: 50MI6 Agent
    in no order

    Sam Spade The Maltese Falcon (1941)
    Rick Blaine Casablana (1943)
    Tom Ripley Ripley movies (1960, 1997, 2002)
    Frank Bullitt Bullitt (1968)
    Blondie The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
    Harry Calaghan Dirty Harry I - V (1971-1989)
    Indiana Jones Raiders of the lost Ark (1981)
    Han Solo Star Wars (1977)
    Keyser Soze The Usual Suspects (1996)
    Vicomte de Valmont Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 22,334MI6 Agent
    Here are mine (I think):

    James Bond

    Marge Gunderson - Fargo

    The Dude - The Big Lebowski

    Indiana Jones

    Captain Mal Raynolds - Serenity

    Ripley - Alien and sequels

    Gromit - Wallace and Gromit

    Frank Drebin - The Naked Gun

    Ethan Edwards - The Searchers

    Ludvig - the Pinchcliffe Grand Prix (may not be universally known :) )
    f80f9b049ee58efca0834628c6f12ad5.jpg
  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 7,211MI6 Agent
    Lucas Jackson (Paul Newman - Cool Hand Luke)
    James Bond
    Dirty Harry Callahan
    J B Books (John Wayne - The Shootist)
    Vin (Steve McQueen - Magnificent Seven)
    Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart - Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance)
    John Mallory (James Coburn - A Fistful Of Dynamite)
    Rambo
    The Bride (Uma Thurman - Kill Bill)
    Juror 8 (Henry Fonda - 12 Angry Men)
    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • VesperMelogranoVesperMelograno The SouthPosts: 901MI6 Agent
    Revolver66 wrote:

    Great list! John Ferguson is a fascinating character, though a tad creepy :p
    He would make an amazing boyfriens :p

    I had a hard time choosing between Lassie and Harvey the rabbit.
    I've always wanted to have Christmas in Turkey
  • VesperMelogranoVesperMelograno The SouthPosts: 901MI6 Agent
    Number24 wrote:
    Here are mine (I think):


    Gromit - Wallace and Gromit

    Frank Drebin - The Naked Gun
    Both picks make me very happy :x
    I've always wanted to have Christmas in Turkey
  • BlackleiterBlackleiter Washington, DCPosts: 5,615MI6 Agent
    Revolver66 wrote:
    Just for fun :)) :))

    Though I have a sneaking suspicion what most people's number 1 choice will be -{ I think it would be interesting to see what everyone's favourite film characters are.

    We can do it including Bond or excluding, I don't mind, but here's mine.

    1. James Bond - I feel the need to elaborate no further

    2. Michael Corleone - Al Pacino (The Godfather, The Godfather Part II)

    3. Hannibal Lector - Anthony Hopkins (The Silence Of The Lambs)

    4. Rick Blaine - Humphrey Bogart (Casablanca)

    5. Norman Bates - Anthony Perkins (Psycho)

    6. Vito Corleone - Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro (The Godfather, The Godfather Part II) - I include Robert De Niro's brilliant portrayal of him in Part II in the reasoning of my vote on this. Though admittedly, the character is here because of Brando.

    7. Indiana Jones - Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones Trilogy)

    8. The Man With No Name - Clint Eastwood (The Dollars Trilogy)

    9. Daniel Plainview - Daniel Day Lewis (There Will Be Blood)

    10. Travis Bickle - Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver)

    Honourable mentions - Darth Vader (Star Wars series), Holly Golighty (Breakfast At Tiffany's), Colonel Hans Landa (Inglourious Basterds), Charles Foster Kane (Citizen Kane), Tony Montana (Scarface), The Joker (The Dark Knight), Anton Chigurgh (No Country For Old Men), The Dude (The Big Lebowski), Jake Gittes (Chinatown), Alexander De Large (A Clockwork Orange), Norma Desmond (Sunset Blvd.), Tuco (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly), Quint (JAWS)

    Your top two choices are the first ones that popped in my mind. -{
    "Felix Leiter, a brother from Langley."
  • Revolver66Revolver66 Melbourne, AustraliaPosts: 470MI6 Agent
    edited February 2017
    Revolver66 wrote:
    Just for fun :)) :))

    Though I have a sneaking suspicion what most people's number 1 choice will be -{ I think it would be interesting to see what everyone's favourite film characters are.

    We can do it including Bond or excluding, I don't mind, but here's mine.

    1. James Bond - I feel the need to elaborate no further

    2. Michael Corleone - Al Pacino (The Godfather, The Godfather Part II)

    3. Hannibal Lector - Anthony Hopkins (The Silence Of The Lambs)

    4. Rick Blaine - Humphrey Bogart (Casablanca)

    5. Norman Bates - Anthony Perkins (Psycho)

    6. Vito Corleone - Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro (The Godfather, The Godfather Part II) - I include Robert De Niro's brilliant portrayal of him in Part II in the reasoning of my vote on this. Though admittedly, the character is here because of Brando.

    7. Indiana Jones - Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones Trilogy)

    8. The Man With No Name - Clint Eastwood (The Dollars Trilogy)

    9. Daniel Plainview - Daniel Day Lewis (There Will Be Blood)

    10. Travis Bickle - Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver)

    Honourable mentions - Darth Vader (Star Wars series), Holly Golighty (Breakfast At Tiffany's), Colonel Hans Landa (Inglourious Basterds), Charles Foster Kane (Citizen Kane), Tony Montana (Scarface), The Joker (The Dark Knight), Anton Chigurgh (No Country For Old Men), The Dude (The Big Lebowski), Jake Gittes (Chinatown), Alexander De Large (A Clockwork Orange), Norma Desmond (Sunset Blvd.), Tuco (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly), Quint (JAWS)

    Your top two choices are the first ones that popped in my mind. -{

    Great minds my friend ;) -{ James Bond aside Michael Corleone is the greatest film character of all time in my book. His character arch is truly chilling and Al Pacino's performance is in a class of its own. Pure genius
  • Charmed & DangerousCharmed & Dangerous Posts: 7,358MI6 Agent
    Great thread! Here's mine...

    Bond - obviously -{
    Captain (!) Jack Sparrow - Pirates of the Caribbean
    Indiana Jones - Raiders of the Lost Ark
    Han Solo - Star Wars
    The Man with no Name (except maybe Blondie!) - a Fistful of Dollars
    Wade Wilson - Deadpool
    Roger Thornhill (or is George Kaplan? :D ) - North by Northwest
    Kaiser Soze - The Usual Suspects
    Stanislaw Spielman - The Pianist (not a fictional character as such but just such a moving film)
    Larry Talbot (the Wolf Man), and both Frankenstein & the monster as played by Karloff in The Bride of Frankenstein are also among my favourite cinematic characters -{
    "How was your lamb?" "Skewered. One sympathises."
  • Unloved SeasonUnloved Season Denton, TexasPosts: 48MI6 Agent
    Revolver66 wrote:
    Harrison is featuring prominently. Interesting lists guys! Bond aside, it will be interesting to see which character features the most

    It figures he probably would, I guess my list had him three times though I wasn't really thinking about it. He was in a lot of popular films and film franchises, and ones that it figures James Bond fans would also enjoy. He was in a lot of fun action/adventure stuff and teamed up with Connery in the third Indy movie. Plus he was Jack Ryan: America's half-ass James Bond. They're cool movies though, however he wasn't in The Hunt For Red October which was the best one.
  • Revolver66Revolver66 Melbourne, AustraliaPosts: 470MI6 Agent
    Great thread! Here's mine...

    Bond - obviously -{
    Captain (!) Jack Sparrow - Pirates of the Caribbean
    Indiana Jones - Raiders of the Lost Ark
    Han Solo - Star Wars
    The Man with no Name (except maybe Blondie!) - a Fistful of Dollars
    Wade Wilson - Deadpool
    Roger Thornhill (or is George Kaplan? :D ) - North by Northwest
    Kaiser Soze - The Usual Suspects
    Stanislaw Spielman - The Pianist (not a fictional character as such but just such a moving film)
    Larry Talbot (the Wolf Man), and both Frankenstein & the monster as played by Karloff in The Bride of Frankenstein are also among my favourite cinematic characters -{

    Great call on Roger Thornhill! What a great character that is. And what a great film! Cary Grant was just the man :)
  • walther p99walther p99 NJPosts: 3,416MI6 Agent
    Revolver66 wrote:
    Harrison is featuring prominently. Interesting lists guys! Bond aside, it will be interesting to see which character features the most

    It figures he probably would, I guess my list had him three times though I wasn't really thinking about it. He was in a lot of popular films and film franchises, and ones that it figures James Bond fans would also enjoy. He was in a lot of fun action/adventure stuff and teamed up with Connery in the third Indy movie. Plus he was Jack Ryan: America's half-ass James Bond. They're cool movies though, however he wasn't in The Hunt For Red October which was the best one.
    His 3 most famous roles are in my top 10 as well.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Western Mass, USAPosts: 9,062MI6 Agent
    edited February 2017
    Here goes:

    James Bond
    Indiana Jones
    Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness- Man in the White Suit)
    Jack Burton
    Apollo (Original Battlestar Galactica)
    Luke Skywalker
    Superman (Chris Reeve)
    Regina Lampert (Audrey Hepburn- Charade)
    Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando- On the Waterfront)
    ronin (Toshiro Mifune- Yojimbo, Sanjuro)
    Dalton & Connery rule. Brozz was cool.
    #1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
  • Unloved SeasonUnloved Season Denton, TexasPosts: 48MI6 Agent
    chrisisall wrote:
    Here goes:

    James Bond
    Indiana Jones
    Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness- Man in the White Coat)
    Jack Burton
    Apollo (Original Battlestar Galactica)
    Luke Skywalker
    Superman (Chris Reeve)
    Regina Lampert (Audrey Hepburn- Charade)
    Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando- On the Waterfront)
    ronin (Toshiro Mifune- Yojimbo, Sanjuro)

    Nice, I had Jack Burton too. I couldn't decide on which Russell/Carpenter character was the best. They all could have been on the list but I think Jack was probably the best overall character of the three. Snake and MacReady were more of the silent/cool type.
  • Mr MartiniMr Martini That nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,707MI6 Agent
    Trying to stay away from the obvious choices. I'll start with 5 off the top of my head and come back when I've had time to put more thought into it.

    Jules Winfield (Samuel L Jackson ~ Pulp Fiction)
    Richie Cusack (William Hurt ~ A History of Violence)
    Ferris Buller (Matthew Broderick ~ Ferris Bullers Day Off)
    Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid ~ Various Nationa Lampoon Vacation movies)
    Mitch Leary (John Malkovich ~ In the Line Of Fire)
    Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
  • Ens007Ens007 EnglandPosts: 863MI6 Agent
    In absolutely no particular order (other than JB of course):

    James Bond
    Yoda
    Hannibal Lector
    Indiana Jones
    Quint (Jaws)
    Rocky Balboa
    Dirty Harry Callahan
    Ted - just love the concept of a sex-mad, permanently stoned teddy bear :D
    Patrick Bateman (American Psycho)
    Blondie (the Good, the Bad & the Ugly)

    Other mentions would be Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor, Christopher Reeve's Superman, John Rambo, Jack Nicholson's Colonel Nathan R Jessop, Leslie Neilsen's Frank Drebin, Jim Carrey as Ace Ventura, Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, David Prowse / James Earl Jones as Darth Vader etc etc.
  • Mr MartiniMr Martini That nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,707MI6 Agent
    Mr Martini wrote:
    Trying to stay away from the obvious choices. I'll start with 5 off the top of my head and come back when I've had time to put more thought into it.

    Jules Winfield (Samuel L Jackson ~ Pulp Fiction)
    Richie Cusack (William Hurt ~ A History of Violence)
    Ferris Buller (Matthew Broderick ~ Ferris Bullers Day Off)
    Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid ~ Various Nationa Lampoon Vacation movies)
    Mitch Leary (John Malkovich ~ In the Line Of Fire)

    Adding to my five above:

    Goldfinger (Gert Frobe ~ Goldfinger)
    Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey ~ The Truman Show)
    Joker (Heath Ledger ~ The Dark Knight)
    Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving ~ All Three Matrix Movies)
    Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones ~ The Fugitive)
    Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
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