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Top 100 Heroes & Villians

Sinclair

Sinclair

Moderator
The American Film Institute released its list off the top 50 heroes and the top 50 villians.

AFI's Top 100 Heroes and Villains

Overall, I think it's a great lis although I was surprised by some of the names on both lists, or lackthereof. Where was Peter Cushing's Grand Moff Tarkin at? :( I am saddened. :D
 
A lot of those felt wrong to me, actually. I suppose that's easily blamed on my lack of experience when it comes to having SEEN a lot of those films. :D And they should've had the French from Monthy Python and the Holy Grail in the Villains list! Evil French...
 
And #1 on the Hero list:

1. Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), "To Kill a Mockingbird."
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:cool:

It never would have occured to me that they were considering anything other than action-adventure type movies.

But they could not have chosen better, IMHO. :cool:
 
I watched this the other night. It was on the same time as the Miss Universe pagent roughly, and as some of you may have seen in NC-17, I watched that too.

I have to say I agreed with most of their picks. I LOVED that Indiana Jones was way near the top. But as for their #1 hero...ummm...WTF?!?!?
 
All right, you stand up to centuries of racial prejudice, standing in opposition to your friends and peers, at the risk of your own life and your family's. Just because you're standing on principle. And while you're at it, you make no effort to arm yourself, even though you're a crack shot, again because of a reluctance to do violence.

At the same time you're trying to raise your kids right, alone. Atticus could have taken about sixteen easier paths, but they wouldn't have been right, so he didn't.

Atticus is NOT your classic action hero, obviously. But Lord knows this world needs more people like him.
 
I quite like the idea of Rick from Casablanca being there. Simply for what he does at the end of the film, denying his own self interest and chance at true love, for something greater.

A film that show it's sometimes all about losing the girl not getting the girl, and a film that does not beat around the bush when it comes down to telling the audience just how hard the right choice can be, and how rough the consequences are... but neverttheless supports it as the right course of action.
 
All right, you stand up to centuries of racial prejudice, standing in opposition to your friends and peers, at the risk of your own life and your family's. Just because you're standing on principle. And while you're at it, you make no effort to arm yourself, even though you're a crack shot, again because of a reluctance to do violence.

At the same time you're trying to raise your kids right, alone. Atticus could have taken about sixteen easier paths, but they wouldn't have been right, so he didn't.

Atticus is NOT your classic action hero, obviously. But Lord knows this world needs more people like him.
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Yes, not your classic action hero, but the kind of hero that makes more than a "muscle difference" in this world.

As I said, I think that at least was very well chosen. I was surprised to see the list wasn't more superficial, actually.
 
All right, you stand up to centuries of racial prejudice, standing in opposition to your friends and peers, at the risk of your own life and your family's. Just because you're standing on principle. And while you're at it, you make no effort to arm yourself, even though you're a crack shot, again because of a reluctance to do violence.
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In my mind, it was Tom Robinson that stood up to centuries of racial prejudice, in opposition to the entire town and at the risk of his freedom, to admit on the witness stand that he -- a black man -- actually felt sorry for a white woman... imagine, a black man living in the South at that time who actually thought that he was as good as any white man, or white woman.

Was Atticus Finch a hero or was he simply the only white male character in the movie (other than Boo Radly) that had any decency? I, for one, believe that he was an admirable man but it was Tom Robinson that sacrificed all for his principles. It was Boo Radley who overcame a lifetime of abuse, neglect and ridicule and saved Jem and Scout -- by doing violence, I might add.

Even though I admire Atticus Finch, I also have to admit that he was also a selfish character. In reality, his principles meant more to him than the safety and well-being of his own family.... Scout gets picked on in school because of his priciples? So what. Angry mob armed to the teeth threatens to go through him to get to Tom Robinson? So what. He was willing to sacrifice his life and his children's lives for the sake of his principles... I think that's selfish.

At the same time you're trying to raise your kids right, alone.
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Aren't you forgetting about someone? How about Calpurnia? She was the one who raised Jem and Scout while Atticus was out following his principles. In the book, it's pretty clear that she's the closet thing to a mother they had ever known.

Atticus is NOT your classic action hero, obviously. But Lord knows this world needs more people like him.
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I'll at least agree with you there.
 
So perhaps it's not as open-and-shut as I thought, I haven't seen the movie in years. But Tom Robinson didn't take much of a stand, in my opinion. He didn't set out to fight prejudice, he was backed into it. Atticus had a choice to do so, and he chose to fight it. In his own way, minus muscle and guns.

As for being selfish -- in a way, it was. And the one time I could accept compromising principles would be for the sake of family. But I am of the opinion that when you stick to your guns on matters of decency, honor, and justice, you are not serving yourself but something greater.
 
Well put, Koshfan.

If you don't stand up for what is right because you are afraid, you become one of the masses who said "we didn't know they were murdering those Jews...".

Of course standing up for what is right is difficult when social pressures make it dangerous to do so. But where would we be if everyone just said "hell, this might hurt, I think we'll just skip it this time...".
 
So perhaps it's not as open-and-shut as I thought, I haven't seen the movie in years. But Tom Robinson didn't take much of a stand, in my opinion. He didn't set out to fight prejudice, he was backed into it. Atticus had a choice to do so, and he chose to fight it. In his own way, minus muscle and guns.
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Now that I remember, his principles really did jeopordize his children's lives, especially during the scene at the jail where the angry mob wanted to get Tom. As I recall, Jem and Scout showed up, refused to leave, and the mob was about to go through them anyway (because Atticus refused to move) until Scout recognized one of the men as the father of a little boy she knew. I guess you could call that brave, or you could call it stupid, or you could call it selfish... it's a matter of perspective I suppose.

As for Tom Robinson not taking much of a stand because he was backed into to it.... I'm not so sure that Atticus was out to fight prejudice either... As I recall, Atticus was appointed to represent Tom Robinson, he certainly didn't do it pro bono. He didn't seek Robinson out to represent, he waited until the court asked him to represent Tom and he did his job. To his credit, he didn't refuse to represent Tom (like most of the other lawyers in town).

I would argue that it was just as likely that he was following the ethics of his profession as it was that he was out to fight prejudice... when lawyers are asked by the court to represent someone, they have an ethical obligation to do it regardless of their own prejudices or anyone else's. In the end, Atticus may have only been doing his job.

Of course standing up for what is right is difficult when social pressures make it dangerous to do so. But where would we be if everyone just said "hell, this might hurt, I think we'll just skip it this time...".
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Standing up for what is right is all well and good when you only have yourself to think about. When you have two small children that you're raising on your own (with some help) it adds another dimension to the equation... you have to ask yourself, "Do I stand in the path of a gun for my principles?" or "Do I walk away and get my children to safety?" I think that choice is a little more complex than the one you just proposed.
 
I think they did a little better with the villians than the heroes. Rocky and Lassie? Come on.

I guess it depends on your perspective. A hero is defined differently by everyone, while a villian is pretty standard.

The man in Bambi is something that would have never occurred to me.
 
I've a few nominations. First, one hero, Gregory Peck as Captain Horatio Hornblower.
then, some villians:
In 1947 Lawrence Tierney made two classic films noir, where he played totally amoral, cold blooded killers, some of the most villianous people I have ever seen on the screen:
Steve Morgan in The Devil Thumbs A Ride, and
Sam Wilde in Born To Kill
He was also in Reservoir Dogs, much older, of course.

Edward G. Robinson, as Wolf Larsen in The Sea Wolf was meaner than a snake, even worse than Captain Bligh

Now for some ordinary guys gone very bad from their twisted misperceptions of their own friends:
Humphrey Bogart as Fred C. Dobbs in The Treasure Of Sierra Madre
John Wayne as Captain Ralls in The Wake Of The Red Witch
 
It's worth noting that he considered Atticus his finest role. Captain Hornblower was one of his favorites too. He also starred in Hitchcock's Spellbound, one of Hitch's best, it was Peck's fourth film, and one of my favorites.
 
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