Got to go with John Wayne!!
The Greatest Movie Tough Guy of All Times
- Thread starter luvmysuper
- Start date
John Wayne
Lee Marvin
James Stewart
Toshiro Mifune
Bruce Lee
Sean Connery
Okay, the first three were the main guys in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. I'll tip my hat right now and say that The Duke deserves to win whatever poll comes out of this thread. Maybe we should just pick second place right now. Lee Marvin played a lot of roles where he could eat barbed wire for breakfast and poop out paperclips by noon.
Jimmy Stewart played a lot of "Wonderful Life type" characters, but when he played westerns, he was tough. Not really "I"m gonna punch you first or shoot fastest" tough, but more "I"m gonna take a lickin' and keep on tickin'" tough. And when Mister Smith went to Washington ... you gotta be tough to survive what he went through. (Plus, he actually flew bomber missions over Germany in WWII ... I know real life doesn't count in this thread, but still ... damn!)
"Tough guys" to me mean guys who aren't just big and muscled, but who have a certain mental toughness, along with the physical ability to back it up both in terms of withstanding the onslaughts of their enemies and in terms of putting the bad guy flat on his @$$ without much ado.
That's why I like Bruce Lee and Toshiro Mifune, but not Jackie Chan, for this list. Jackie's 'thing' is the more comical kung-fu, where he's always always in panic mode ducking and dodging, and improvising weapons ...
wonderful to watch, but not "tough guy" stuff. Jackie is miles ahead of Chuck Norris in terms of martial arts ability, but Chuck is going to be on this list long before Jackie.
Sean Connery ... not really for the Bond movies, but mainly for his work before and after. The Hill and The Untouchables ... throw in The Molly McGuires and Highlander ... The Man Who Would be King for good measure, maybe ... dang.
Lee Marvin
James Stewart
Toshiro Mifune
Bruce Lee
Sean Connery
Okay, the first three were the main guys in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. I'll tip my hat right now and say that The Duke deserves to win whatever poll comes out of this thread. Maybe we should just pick second place right now. Lee Marvin played a lot of roles where he could eat barbed wire for breakfast and poop out paperclips by noon.
Jimmy Stewart played a lot of "Wonderful Life type" characters, but when he played westerns, he was tough. Not really "I"m gonna punch you first or shoot fastest" tough, but more "I"m gonna take a lickin' and keep on tickin'" tough. And when Mister Smith went to Washington ... you gotta be tough to survive what he went through. (Plus, he actually flew bomber missions over Germany in WWII ... I know real life doesn't count in this thread, but still ... damn!)
"Tough guys" to me mean guys who aren't just big and muscled, but who have a certain mental toughness, along with the physical ability to back it up both in terms of withstanding the onslaughts of their enemies and in terms of putting the bad guy flat on his @$$ without much ado.
That's why I like Bruce Lee and Toshiro Mifune, but not Jackie Chan, for this list. Jackie's 'thing' is the more comical kung-fu, where he's always always in panic mode ducking and dodging, and improvising weapons ...
wonderful to watch, but not "tough guy" stuff. Jackie is miles ahead of Chuck Norris in terms of martial arts ability, but Chuck is going to be on this list long before Jackie.
Sean Connery ... not really for the Bond movies, but mainly for his work before and after. The Hill and The Untouchables ... throw in The Molly McGuires and Highlander ... The Man Who Would be King for good measure, maybe ... dang.
Good one!
- Thread starter
- #44
Had dinner tonight with friends and a few names came up that I had missed;
Kiefer Sutherland
Ron Perlman
Kirk Douglas AND son Micheal Douglas
Randy Quaid (especially for "Independence Day"
Roddy Piper (They Live) - "I have come here to chew bubble gum, and to kick ***... and I'm all out of bubble gum"
Mel Gibson for the Road Warrior persona
Kiefer Sutherland
Ron Perlman
Kirk Douglas AND son Micheal Douglas
Randy Quaid (especially for "Independence Day"
Roddy Piper (They Live) - "I have come here to chew bubble gum, and to kick ***... and I'm all out of bubble gum"
Mel Gibson for the Road Warrior persona
Ron Perlman played Firey Blaze in the live action of the Tick. Since then I can't take him seriously as a tough guy.
Liam Neeson in Taken I. Subtle but tough...the man has special skills.
- Thread starter
- #47
Kinda felt that way about him in Hellboy, but...
Bogart played a weasly thief in Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
Clint Eastwood. Period.
Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird was one tough dude without ever even raising his voice.
Oh yeah. Good catch. He was also tough and immovable in Gentlemans Agreement. Tough in both movies in a way that the average guy in real life is asked to be tough. Not to win a bar fight or a shoot out, but a battle over first principles either external or internal against steep, even impossible odds.
and then of course there's Sidney Poitier in "In the Heat of the Night". Why, Sidney, why don't you just go back to Philly?
- Thread starter
- #51
He was at the top of his form in "Twelve O'Clock High" as well. Tough, and uncompromising in his principles.
What he said!
John Wanye. Enough said!
Bruce Durn
Alejandro Jodorowsky in El Topo.
As far as newer actors go, I'm going to throw in Tom Hardy. In addition to the mainstream films most people know him from (Warrior, Dark Knight Rises, Inception) he did a smaller movie a few years ago called Bronson that's worth a look. Not saying he's the greatest movie tough guy of all time by any means, but I consider him a kindof under-the-radar BAMF in the newer generation of actors.
Wow, so many good entries.
Liam Neeson was a good late entry - but I don't think he has had his big tough guy role just yet, maybe Batman Begins is his "toughest" role right now?
I'd like to add a little Dolph Lundgren to the mix. Probably a bad guy to have as a partner in a potato sack race, but good to have on a tough guy list.
Liam Neeson was a good late entry - but I don't think he has had his big tough guy role just yet, maybe Batman Begins is his "toughest" role right now?
I'd like to add a little Dolph Lundgren to the mix. Probably a bad guy to have as a partner in a potato sack race, but good to have on a tough guy list.
Henry Fonda in The Grapes Of Wrath
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