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Last
year, AFI posted their acclaimed list “The Greatest Cinematic Heroes and
Villains.” Taking great umbrage with their many choices, I decided to
sit down and think about it. Who were my Ten Cinematic Heroes? Who were
ten people I'd strive to be, or would want to be in a perilous
situation? I'm one of those weirdos who really always side with the
heroes. Whether it's an epic science fiction film, or swords and dragon
fantasy film, the heroes have always appealed to me. Comics, Video
Games, Cartoons, it's always about the good guys overcoming an obstacle
and or villain who wants to take over the world, or just plain ruin
their life.
A hero
isn't always made, a hero is often a figure of circumstance, an
individual who blossoms from a horrible situation, or someone who just
decides they have to do the right thing against everyone else's
frustration. A hero is one who is willing to lay it down and sacrifice
just to help someone they love, or possibly someone they've never met.
They rarely ever get a pat on the back, or a reward, nor is their
decision always justified, but they do what's right, and that's enough.
These are my top 10 Cinematic heroes.
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10. Captain John H. Miller
Saving Private Ryan |
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Why: He suffered from crippling
anxiety attacks and a horrific worry disorder that
often caused him to tense up in the heat of combat
and lose all of his senses. On the front he was a
power house of a leader. He was given orders and
decided for the good of a family that had just
suffered the loss of their many sons that he had to
find James Ryan (the last son of the Ryan family)
once, and for all. He did it because it was the
right thing to do. And of course, he suffered the
consequences. Going through the battlefield he lost
many of his men to a hail of gun fire and vicious
battle conditions. In the opening of "Saving Private
Ryan" he's a man faced with his own nerves, battling
his greatest foe, and defying his own mental state,
just because he felt a duty to his country to fight
on the front line.
And in a miserable
barrage of bullets and blood and a hail of dead
bodies and detached limbs, he managed to survive
long enough to see his mission through to the end.
He wanted to make sure that Ryan came home to his
family and keep the blood line going, and he saw it
through right until the end looking out onto a
horrific war where men destroyed each other for
their country's common goals. Not just that but he
allowed merciful deaths to his partners on the
field, spared the life of a few enemies, and even
brought together his distrusting and jaded platoon
to engage in this mission with him. It takes a man
to fight for what he believes in, but it takes a
hero to risk your life just to help someone out.
Miller was a truly admirable character of "Saving
Private Ryan," and a wonderful leader.
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Why: Yet
another flawed hero of a sort, Chief Martin
Brody had a terrible fear of water, and
ironically enough enforced law over a town by
the seaside where incidentally they were being
ravaged by a man eating vicious shark that began
picking off residents left and right. Forced
with the decision of embarking on the ocean
floor to find the beast, Brody confronted his
paralyzing fear with the water to stare down the
always moving great white shark in the middle of
the ocean on a quickly losing vessel (I guess a
bigger boat wasn't as good an idea as it
sounded). Brody is a hero because his reluctance
to go out on the water was beaten due to his
battle to convince the town mayor that this
threat was real and very lethal. In the process,
his threats and warnings were ignored and he
suffered the bile of town’s residents who not
only blamed him for the deaths, but blamed him
for not doing enough to protect them.
Take the hard slap
he endures after a funeral of a local boy. Brody
is the prime example of the hero who is not only
ignored by almost everyone when an apparent
threat is looming, but he also suffers the wrath
of those who blame him for a situation that's
out of his control. So to stop this thing and
save face, he risked life and limb and battled
the sea creature armed with a rifle, a hell of a
great aim, and some pressurized air tanks that
Brucie just had to chomp on. Closing one eye,
launching a single shot, and growling "Smile you
Son of A--" Brody beats the beast, he saves the
entire town from the finned scourge and he looks
out for his children, which of course was his
primary focus. It's just too bad that bastard
came back three more times.
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9.
Police Chief Martin Brody
Jaws |
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8.
Mr. Incredible/Robert "Bob" Parr
The Incredibles |
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Why:
Yes, his intentions were selfish, I'll give
you that. Mr. Incredible, a victim of
vanity, was a man stuck on his glory days
after it was ripped away from him, much like
an ex-football player. And he dressed in his
old costume and risked certain death getting
in major trouble with the law in his pursuit
to feel young again, after he'd reflected on
a life of marital discord, and troubled
children begging for attention. Bob is one
who is faced with the fact that his children
are special, but has to force them to remain
mediocre and hide their gifts. But, once Bob
realized that the obnoxious but dangerous
"villain" Syndrome was threatening the life
of the people he loved, suddenly it all
became clear.
It's all about
family, and powers or not, he had to take
care of them. And he does after he thinks
they've died, and seeks vengeance. But once
he learns they're alive, he now has to lead
them in a battle with Syndrome and his
Omnidroid to protect their city from the
equally selfish and self-absorbed fan boy
now wielding an indestructible killing
machine that has rebelled from its master.
The pursuit to protect his family now
extends to complete strangers with an
inherent xenophobia and helps them to
realize that there's a need for a hero, even
if it’s a slightly pudgy balding middle-aged
man getting over a mid-life crisis.
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Why: A
hero of coincidence and obligation, when
we first meet Obi Wan in “Star Wars,”
he’s named Ben Kenobi, an old hermit who
has lived in seclusion for many years.
He’s an old man who can barely walk
without collapsing from exhaustion, but
he when fate drops on to his doorstep,
he discovers that he has to guide one
more hero into the struggle of his life.
Kenobi is a man forced with many
decisions and conflicts. Should he tell
Luke about his father? Should he indulge
the young boy on finding the source of
the message left by the princess?
Will Luke
begin as a wide eyed young boy and end
up a bitter menace to the Jedi as Anakin
Skywalker once was? Leading the perilous
journey, Obi-Wan knows his purpose in
the circle of the prophecy. He has to
sacrifice himself. And this sets the
stage for the rise of Luke Skywalker to
lead the rebels to defeat the empire,
and come to grips with his father’s lust
for power and evil. Obi-Wan is that one
piece of the puzzle Luke has always
lacked: the father, the mentor, and the
spiritual guide, and he takes it upon
himself to direct him and simply hope
for the best after he’s been killed in
the heat of battle.
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7. Obi-Wan Kenobi
Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back,
Return of the Jedi |
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6. Laurie
Strode
Halloween |
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Why:
A hero of circumstance, Laurie
Strode was a very forgettable part
of Haddonfield. She was a typical
teenager who essentially did nothing
to spawn any life threatening events
beyond smoking marijuana and
slightly ignoring the children she
was assigned to baby sit. Carpenter
never really intended Michael and
Laurie to be brother and sister, and
before we even knew this outlandish
development, Laurie was instead a
victim of fate who has to stare down
and battle a menace that’s trickled
into the town of Haddonfield. Before
the cheesy family dysfunction and
curse of Thorn entered the canon,
Michael was merely evil trying to
corrupt and destroy Laurie Strode.
Hinted
to be sexually fascinated with his
sister in the opening sequence,
Michael gains a fascination with
Laurie after she fearlessly enters
the Myer’s house to deliver a
package. This triggers his
infatuation and whether she likes it
or not, he’s doom and mindless evil
manifested who she has to ward off
while protecting the children she’s
agreed to watch. Laurie is one of
the few final girls of the slasher
genre who made considerably smart
moves in her attempts to evade
Michael, and remained victor even in
spite of the masked killer getting
up to walk again. |
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Click to
see who made our Top 5 >>
-
Felix Vasquez Jr.
4/21/08
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