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

[Fnord5]

Street cred?
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD2Mb8pM6E8[/YOUTUBE]

Was gonna post that

I agree with Rob about Marky Mark. Egads. And I am sorry but Ed Norton?!!!

Marky Mark was a bit of a thug when he was young. Did some time for stealing cars and all that.
Ed Norton though. American History X, and Fight Club. He might clean up nice, but he can play a dirty thug like the best of them.
If you haven't seen American History X, or had forgotten about it, it will change your mind about Smoochy.

 

[Kratos]

Oh, Diesel's counted out because he breakdanced, but Walker's in? Come on. How does breakin' make you less a man?

As far as Tierney goes, if that'd a been me he stabbed with that bottle I'd have blown his head clean off. Those guys were tough as Hell, sure, and times were different then, but being a lawless fool isn't what makes you a man. Most times it takes a bigger man not to act on your testosterone-induced impulses.

 

[Brodirt]

Oh, Diesel's counted out because he breakdanced, but Walker's in? Come on. How does breakin' make you less a man?

Hey, I admitted that Paul Walker is a pretty boy...but he is ripped. My secretary is missing hours in the morning because they are running Fast and Furious this month...I hate them both!

 

[Bertilak]

As far as Tierney goes, if that'd a been me he stabbed with that bottle I'd have blown his head clean off.

Lawrence Tierney was an exception. A hot head. On the Born to Kill DVD there is some extra material (perhaps it was in the commentary) where they discussed a fight scene. They used a stunt double for Tierney not to keep him from getting hurt but to keep him from hurting the other actor. They didn't think he could pretend to fight and pull a punch or swing to miss!

His on-screen presence in the 40s and 50s was very intimidating. Not because he was built like Arnold, but because of his attitude. Completely goal oriented with something less than saintly goals. He made it seem he wasn't acting and from what I hear on that commentary and on the Reservoir Dogs extra materials there is a good chance that if he was acting it wasn't much of a stretch.

Favorite Tierney quote (From The Devil Thumbs a Ride):

Young gas station attendant shows Tierney's character a picture of his new baby. Tierney says: "With ears like that he'll learn to fly before he learns to walk."

 

[Austin]

Forget all those pansies. Now this is one of the original tough guys.

George Raft

 

[Kratos]

Hey, I admitted that Paul Walker is a pretty boy...but he is ripped. My secretary is missing hours in the morning because they are running Fast and Furious this month...I hate them both!

I feel your pain. I just had to sit through Race to Witch Mountain because of the Rock. We did also watch Pitch Black, though, so it wasn't all bad(she likes Johnson and Diesel both).

I do agree about the air of menace of the guys from yesteryear. Most guys today just don't have it. A lot of them I feel had better not meet me in a dark alley, instead of the other way around.

 

[Fnord5]

I feel your pain. I just had to sit through Race to Witch Mountain because of the Rock. We did also watch Pitch Black, though, so it wasn't all bad(she likes Johnson and Diesel both).

I do agree about the air of menace of the guys from yesteryear. Most guys today just don't have it. A lot of them I feel had better not meet me in a dark alley, instead of the other way around.

Yeah, there really isn't anyone that would scare me now'days.
Maybe Steve Buscemi, but that guy is just a freak
Could break him in half, but he acts like a meth monkey, and I would be afraid he would end up chewing me to death.

 

[ClubmanRob]

As far as Tierney goes, if that'd a been me he stabbed with that bottle I'd have blown his head clean off. Those guys were tough as Hell, sure, and times were different then, but being a lawless fool isn't what makes you a man. Most times it takes a bigger man not to act on your testosterone-induced impulses.

I agree, he was a crazy SOB. I don't think his actions made him a man... I think they made him a tough guy.

Hey, I admitted that Paul Walker is a pretty boy...but he is ripped. My secretary is missing hours in the morning because they are running Fast and Furious this month...I hate them both!

But, see, this is what I was getting at... ripped abs and muscles don't make you a tough guy, or masculine. They just make you a big guy. Schwartzenegger is big, and ripped (or at least was), but he's not really... menacing. I'm not afraid of any of these guys. I want to see someone I'd be afraid to tangle with.

I do agree about the air of menace of the guys from yesteryear. Most guys today just don't have it. A lot of them I feel had better not meet me in a dark alley, instead of the other way around.

Damn straight!

 

[Ceezer]

What about a switch here, and someone like 2Pac? Obviously he wouldn't be up for the running now, since he's passed, and he wouldn't exactly fit the Harry Callahan mold, but he played a very convincing stone-cold tough guy on the screen and had the real-life experiences to back it up.

Similarly, what about DMX?

Ving Rhames? Ron Perlman? Delroy Lindo? (those 2 are getting old, like Madsen/Rourke)

One of my all-time favorite tough guys: R. Lee Ermey!

 

[Brodirt]

I agree, he was a crazy SOB. I don't think his actions made him a man... I think they made him a tough guy.




But, see, this is what I was getting at... ripped abs and muscles don't make you a tough guy, or masculine. They just make you a big guy. Schwartzenegger is big, and ripped (or at least was), but he's not really... menacing. I'm not afraid of any of these guys. I want to see someone I'd be afraid to tangle with.



Damn straight!

Well, then, shouldn't we be listing rappers?

 

[ClubmanRob]

Well, then, shouldn't we be listing rappers?

You're intimidated by rappers? They make me chuckle.

 

[Fnord5]

You're intimidated by rappers? They make me chuckle.

Seriously.

Ooooh scarrrrry

 

[ClubmanRob]

Please don't hurt me Mr. Fiddy!

 

[Fnord5]

'Nuff Said.

 

[Brodirt]

'Nuff Said.

Flava Flav is the man! I have actually hung out with and drank with him on several occasions. I used to run a valet parking business and he hung out at a club where I had an account. He would hand out at the club on Friday nights and when I stopped by at between 1-3 he was always in the club. He is a cool guy and the persona doesn't seem to be an act.

As for people we are threatened by. I am not threatened by anyone because of their physique. I find unpredictability the most menacing thing in a person and I think many of these rappers seem to be very unpredictable people. What else but unpredictability could account for the desire for otherwise very successful people to randomly shoot each other.

In this regard I think an actor that I find menacing and scary is Cilian Murphy...specifically in Red Eye. His physical presence is nothing, but he is one damn scary dude in that movie. He could easily take the place of the bad guy in Dirty Harry.

Action heroes aren't supposed to be scary. They are supposed to be capable. Whether that capability is from pure braun (Arnold), brains (Harrison Ford, as Indy, maybe), pure charisma (Bruce Willis), or some combination of the above (any Bond) they aren't supposed to be menacing. Eastwood was never menacing...neither is/was Russell Crowe, well not unless your a paparazi and Russell has a hotel phone in hand.

If you want to pick one guy that seems to be menacing, smart, physically capable, fit, good looking and charismatic I would have to agree with the choice of Clive Owen. I might even consider Eric Bana after Black Hawk Down and Munich, but he lacks the menace..even as Chopper.

 

[Fnord5]

Flava Flav is the man!
In this regard I think an actor that I find menacing and scary is Cilian Murphy.

LOL Flava is just goofy, and the least threatening celeb I could think of.

I had to look Cilian up, but I know his work
One ***'n creepy dude.
To the point if I met him in an alleyway, I would not think twice before punching him right in the throat.

 

[ClubmanRob]

Flava Flav is the man! I have actually hung out with and drank with him on several occasions. I used to run a valet parking business and he hung out at a club where I had an account. He would hand out at the club on Friday nights and when I stopped by at between 1-3 he was always in the club. He is a cool guy and the persona doesn't seem to be an act.

As for people we are threatened by. I am not threatened by anyone because of their physique. I find unpredictability the most menacing thing in a person and I think many of these rappers seem to be very unpredictable people. What else but unpredictability could account for the desire for otherwise very successful people to randomly shoot each other.

In this regard I think an actor that I find menacing and scary is Cilian Murphy...specifically in Red Eye. His physical presence is nothing, but he is one damn scary dude in that movie. He could easily take the place of the bad guy in Dirty Harry.

Action heroes aren't supposed to be scary. They are supposed to be capable. Whether that capability is from pure braun (Arnold), brains (Harrison Ford, as Indy, maybe), pure charimsa (Bruce Willis), or some combination of the above (any Bond) they aren't supposed to be menacing. Eastwood was never menacing...neither is/was Russell Crowe, well not unless your a paparazi and Russell has a hotel phone in hand.

If you want to pick one guy that seems to be menacing, smart, physically capable, fit, good looking and charismatic I would have to agree with the choice of Clive Owen. I might even consider Eric Bana after Black Hawk Down and Munich, but he lacks the menace..even as Chopper.

There's action hero... and there's antihero. Dirty Harry was an antihero, and it took a special type of actor to play him. Clint Eastwood was not the first choice for the role, though I'm glad it went to him. Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster and Robert Mitchum were all up for the movie before it went to Eastwood. All three of those guys were tough guys, but I don't think they could have pulled it off like Eastwood. His "Man With No Name" character was probably the first real popular film antihero of the sixties after James Bond.

Clint is pretty damned chilly to me. You mention Cilian Murphy but downplay Clint Eastwood's natural screen menace. I don't know.. the Dirty Harry movies, the Man With No Name trilogy, The Unforgiven, Escape from Alcatraz... these are movies that leave me with the impression that Clint is not to be effed with. Cillian Murphy is about as menacing to me as a whiny fourth grader.

 

[Fnord5]

Cillian Murphy is about as menacing to me as a whiny fourth grader.

But he looks and acts like he wouldn't have a problem sticking you with a syringe full of poison when you walk by.
Not menacing, just scary.

 

[Austin]

I don't think anyone has mentioned Michael Chiklis from The Shield. I thought he was quite menacing in the role of Mackey.

 

[ClubmanRob]

But he looks and acts like he wouldn't have a problem sticking you with a syringe full of poison when you walk by.
Not menacing, just scary.

I just don't get that vibe from him.