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Next "tough" guy to play Dirty Harry or Gladiator?

This was a tough call for me as "tough" guy characters or a man's man kinda character is getting harder to choose as the supply is getting less as the years go on?

In the old days you had the magnificent seven, clint eastwood of course, john wayne, the dirty dozen, denzel washington, de niro, vinnie jones, russel crowe, robert mitchum, bruce willis, brando, stallone and cagney etc etc.

Out of "today's" actors my picks would be Christian Bale or Daniel Craig for Dirty Harry and Gerard Butler for Gladiator.

So who's your "tough" guys?
 
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Maybe the fellow that was the cyborg from Terminator: Salvation. I believe he is also Perseus in the remake of Clash of the Titans. Leo Di Caprio and Marky Mark Wahlberg (maybe)?
 
Maybe the fellow that was the cyborg from Terminator: Salvation. I believe he is also Perseus in the remake of Clash of the Titans. Leo Di Caprio and Marky Mark Wahlberg (maybe)?

Mark Wahlberg definately. When I think of a modern tough guy in hollywood he is who I immediately think of. Dudes a straight badass.
 

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Maybe the fellow that was the cyborg from Terminator: Salvation. I believe he is also Perseus in the remake of Clash of the Titans. Leo Di Caprio and Marky Mark Wahlberg (maybe)?

Yep. When I think "tough", I think Leonardo Di Caprio.:biggrin:
 
The movies I've seen that Clive Owen has stared in I've liked him. Mark Wahlberg plays a pretty good badass. I also think Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) plays a good tough guy (not counting the Disney movies).
 
Michael Clarke Duncan is pretty badass.
especially as Kingpin in Daredevil.
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Jason Statham would be an interesting modern choice for the part of dirty harry.

I'll give a tentative +1 on this. Can't say I'm fond of his work in the Transporters/Cranks but he was great in Snatch, and he's definitely got the "I'll beat you senseless and not get a drop on my suit" look.
 
Dirty Harry would never be made today nor is there a reason to remake it. The attitude of Dirty Harry (or Death Wish or the original Taking of Pelham 123 for that matter) is too critical of Government and too poignant and the violence dealt out too deserved to be made by Hollywood today.

Anti-gov't films coming from Hollywood these days are reserved for broad topics like the Middle East and seem to be reserved (sometimes deservingly so) for the GOP.

The cop/crime films of the 70s (certainly those I mention above) deal with what is either a specifically Democrat, inept, overly political Govt figure or one that is suggested to be a "liberal" one, pitted against an aggressive law and order figure who is arguably a "conservative." This "conservative" vigilante then goes out and metes out violent justice to those deserving of receiving it while thumbing his nose at and blackening the eye of the inept "liberal" policy makers.

Can you imagine if they re-made Dirty Harry today...in SF with a Gavin Newsome figure as mayor? Can you imagine what Elvis Mitchell's review would sound like?

Sorry for tangentializing.
 
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I had to jog my memory by sprinting on my elliptical...and the winner for me is: Hugh Jackman
He looks so much like Eastwood and a good actor to boot, it would be a shame to let anyone else have the part.
 
I like the idea of Alexander Skarsgard. He makes a damn scary vampire on HBO's True Blood, brings the physical presence of a Crowe or a Bale and can even deliver lines in Swedish if needed. He was considered for Thor which would have been in his sweet spot being he's from Sweden but lost the role. However, Eastwood defined the role and they would have to do a serious reboot to make this work no matter who the actor is.
 
Although he's more of a 'pop sensation' these days, in his first few movies Vin Diesel played a pretty BA 'tough guy'.

He's a little older, which might be suitable for a role like Dirty Harry, but Liam Neeson can be pretty BA, as well.

Owen, Marky Mark, Norton & Statham (although, like Vin, he's become more of a 'pop sensation' lately) are also who would come to mind.

I don't mean to get off-topic (it's slightly related), but I happened to pick up the last 2 issues of Muscle & Fitness to read the articles on Hugh Jackman & Tripple H and each of them had an article from Stallone talking about the lack of action heroes these days. How we've migrated from the Slys, Arnolds and Dolphs to the more slender/fit physiques of Statham, Craig, etc. These guys, while I'm sure are at their physical peaks, just don't have the same on-screen presence of the powerhouse builds we were exposed to in the 80s.
 
How we've migrated from the Slys, Arnolds and Dolphs to the more slender/fit physiques of Statham, Craig, etc. These guys, while I'm sure are at their physical peaks, just don't have the same on-screen presence of the powerhouse builds we were exposed to in the 80s.

Did anybody see Taken...Liam Neeson could have had a great career as a plausible action star. He made that movie far better than it should have been.

I'm more likely to believe the current action movie star physique than I am to believe the steroid/hgh freakshows from the 80s.

Who would you rather look like? I'd go with Craig or Statham any day.

Daniel Craig
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80s Arnold
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Jason Statham
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Rambo (II)
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