Premiere's 100 Greatest Movie Characters

I loved the Voice Of Sauron. The Nazgal and Boramir.

 

19. Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) - Casablanca

Now here's one of the great characters of cinema. He's cynical, witty and haunted by the tragedies of the past. At the start of the film, he's profoundly selfish, egocentric and arrogant. He, as he says, sticks his neck out for nobody. As the film progresses, his journey mirrors that of the United States as whole, from isolationism to heroism. From the small glimmers, as when he helps the young married couple that Renoit is attemping to corrupt, to his final self sacrificial actions on the runway, this is perhaps the best example ever of how to write and explicate a character. And I see he didn't crack the top ten . . . that's strange.

18. Carl Spackler (Bill Murray) - Caddyshack

Let's see . . . he lusts after women and chases a gopher. Yes, he certainly deserves to rank above Rick Blaine . . . (Note: the above should be read with the maximum of eye rolling and sarcastic inflection)

17. Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) - The Wizard of Oz

Hmm, an interesting choice. I'll admit she has some moving character moments, most notably the heartfelt and poignant Somewhere Over the Rainbow. And, like E.T. (and a ton of other great characters) she has a moving primary motivation in the simple desire to return home. I have to admit I wouldn't have thought of her, but she's not a bad choice.

16. Robin Hood (Errol Flynn) - The Adventures of Robin Hood

Not as much depth as some, but a bit. Not a bad choice, though a tad overrated.

15. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) - The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, Red Dragon

A good choice. One of the most profoundly threatening villains in recent memory and he was inside a cell for the majority of the first film. Evil but attractive. Cultured but crude. Artistic but violent. A mass of contradictions. Best moment: during the jailbreak, after having brutalized the two guards, blood smeared across his face and hands, he pauses, struck by the beauty of the music that is playing. He closes his eyes, moves his hand for a just a mometn and then seems to remember what he's doing. A gorgeous moment.

14. Randal Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

A rebellious free spirit, the activist who goes a bit too far, the in your face arrogant problem solver who hates authority, this is the character of R.P. McMurphy. A dark edge permeates this character and he's never quite a hero, just shading into anti-hero. His intentions are good. His methods at times irresponsible. His impact, unforgettable. A complex character and a good one.

13. Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) - To Kill a Mockingbird

A truly moving character. The progressive who sees his goal, but not his path. A man who loves his children. A true hero. I'm talking about the book now, but it relates, I suppose. . . Atticus Finch changed my life. He is a true hero.

12. Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) - Citizen Kane

"Mr. Kane was a man who got everything he wanted and then lost it. Maybe Rosebud was something he couldn't get or maybe something he lost." "He was always trying to prove something." "To love, Jedediah, on my own terms." A complex, tragic, unhappy, unfulfilled character who never forgot the simple things. Well deserving.

11. Margo Channing (Bette Davis) - All About Eve

This film has a multitude of great characters. Addison DeWitt, Eve herself, the playwright . . . too many to count. Margo is one of those. Selfish, self destructive, petty, a tyrant or at least she wants to be. She clings to hard to those people who love that she kills them or frightens them away. A tragic figure and an excellent choice.

I think I'll do the top ten one at a time, just for a break . . .

 

Moving into the top ten:

10. Gollum (Andy Serkis) - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

This is not a bad choice at all. Gollum is a tragic character, bent, twisted, scarred by his addiction. He's a great symbolic character for the power of evil to grasp and hold innocent individuals. And his schizophrenic ramblings are amazing to watch and heartbreaking. His shifts from anger to reasonableness, from violence to timidity, are all stunning and well done. A great choice.

 

9. Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) - Fast Times at Ridgmont High

The freaking hell?! Penn's the only thing worth watching in this film, but that doesn't make him a great character. He's a joke, a pot head who clashes with the teacher . . . wow, originality, depth, maturation, he's got it all. (Please read the previous in a tone of extreme sarcasm). My God, this is the most brain dead choice yet and that's saying something. I suppose he has a bit more depth than most pot head characters, given his attempts to succeed in school, but still . . . criminy, a supporting character who's not even in the damn film that much (more's the pity) and just gets off one liners while he is. This is idiotic.

 

8. Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) - Alien, Aliens, Alien3

A nice choice. She's a great heroine, tough, no nonsense, and she even has depth. Not a lot but some. She's always sympathetic, haunted, sometimes a little angry. Not a bad choice at all.

 

#7 Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) - Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones 4 (forthcoming)

A good choice. He's a character with some depth, given his relationships with friends and with his father. He's a great character to root for, always managing to get by through sheer luck and the skin of his teeth. He's making it up as he goes along, he says, and we believe him. And, ooh, look, a heroic character who's given a legitimate phobia. What a concept! A great choice.

 

And, ooh, look, a heroic character who's given a legitimate phobia. What a concept!


His fear of snakes is so hilarious.. I agree, Indiana Jones was a great choice

 

Interesting list. I may post my own commentary soon.

 

Oh! please do! I like reading people's commentaries. Unfortunately, there are too many of the movies I havent seen for me to make a commentary of my own.

 

6. Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) - Annie Hall

This is a fun character and Keaton brings her to life marvelously. She's complex, neurotic, loopy, bizarre, wacky . . . she's a very, very funny comedy character. Put your foot on my heart.

 

I like Alvy a little more, but Annie's great, nonetheless.

 

5. James Bond (Sean Connery) - Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, Never Say Never Again

I'm not sure about this one. I'll quote Zaz, a forumite here, who once remarked, "James Bond isn't a character, he's a wet dream." I think I agree with him.

That said, he was for a while. Dr. No is pure Bond, he's cold hearted, arrogant, bitter, cynical. Same with From Russia With Love (also the last film to approach Bond and his sexual liasons with any form of reality). He was still something of an anti-hero, smacking his women around, shooting people in cold blood, just because they ticked him off, that kind of thing.

Almost instantly, however, he smoothed out and became a cardboard character. Goldfinger was Connery's last great film as Bond. After that, the Bond films went downhill and damn fast. And let's not even get into Roger Moore who has sucked the life from my body both times I've tried to watch his films as Bond.

You want Bond as a character? On Her Majesty's Secret Service. That's where you want to go. Not here.

 

I liked Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me, but that's it. Connery was, no doubt, the best Bond.

 

Rogue 1 and a Half: I'd like to address a mistake you made earlier. Blondie is a name for Clint Eastwood's character in The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Not the Penny Singleton character whoever the hell she is.

 

Okay, that makes a heck of a lot more sense. Though, I think, the Penny Singleton character is such a brain dead choice that she actually fits in quite well on the list as it stands.

 

4. Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) - Psycho, Psycho II, Psycho III, Psycho IV: The Beginning

An excellent choice, at least in the first film. An interesting character. I don't know, I think everything's been said about this one.

 

3. Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) - Gone With the Wind

A great choice for this ranking. Watching her is like watching a train wreck. She's immature, juvenile, petty, cruel . . . for a while. Then, through the hardships, she's forced to mature and become, well, frankly, even crueler. A classic character of anti-heroic proportions, self deluded, shallow, vicious, angry, bitter. Classic.

 

2. Fred C. Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) - The Treasure of the Sierra Madres

An interesting choice. All the characters here are interesting. They're all different and the appeal of the film is seeing how the different characters react to the lure of gold. Bogart makes Dobbs' slow descent into total madness a beauty to watch. Good choice.

 

I agree, Scarlett O'Hara was a great choice. She's cruel and unscrupulous, yet we love her to death. Possibly the greatest heroine of all time.


I would have also liked to see Melanie Hamilton on this list. She is one of my favorite characters, although I have to admit she doesnt have as much "character" as Scarlett OHara, but I think she is the perfect representation of everything that is good.. virtue, forgiveness, unconditional love.

 

1. Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro) - The Godfather, The Godfather, Part II

This is an interesting choice for number one. He's an intriguing character for certain with complex motivations and a legitimate character arc. I'm not sure ranking him number 1 is legitimate . . . but he's one of the better choices on the list as a whole.

 

True, the movies are also ranked up there as well.

 

I've decided to start my own commentary.

100. Roger "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey)

Verbal is a great character. The one thing he knows how to do is talk. Talking he does very well and he weaves an excellent story to Agent Kujan (Chazz Palmetieri), which may or may not be true. When we think we have him all figured out...well, you just have to see the movie (The Usual Suspects)!

99. Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin)

I sincerely hope that this was a joke. Tha kid from Home Alone? What is so great about this character? How is he a better character than Verbal Kint, or anyone on this list for that matter?

98. Antoine Doinel (Jean Pierre-Leaud)

I have only seen The 400 Blows of all of his films, but the expression on Doinel's face during the last frame of the film shows more depth than anything that Ace Ventura, or half the people on this list, show in an entire film.

97. Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey)

And he shows more depth than Antoine Doinel and is more interesting than Verbal Kint, how? If Truman Burbank from The Truman Show was put in this spot I would've been much happier.

96. Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci)

He can be joking around one second, and then he'll smash someone's head in with a cinder block in the next. Very interesting character. He was the best part of GoodFellas. Funny how?

95. Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg)

I didn't like Ghost (like most people did) but I did think that Whoopi was the best thing in the film (which is still not enough to be happy with this choice)

94. Rose Sayer (Katharine Hepburn)

I haven't seen The African Queen as much as I'm ashamed to admit it.

93. Harry Lime (Orson Welles)

Though he only has a few (15-20) minutes of screen time in The Third Man, Lime gives an unforgettable speech, fakes his death, and makes one of the best entrances in cinema history. Harry Lime is one of the great villains of cinema and I'm disappointed he isn't higher

92. Dil (Jaye Davidson)

I haven't seen The Crying Game

91. Mrs. Iselin (Angela Lansbury)

An excellent choice! Iselin, who shows more than motherly love for her son in The Manchurian Candidate, made me never trust my mother for at least a month. That is affective.

90. John Malkovich (John Malkovich)

I love this film (Being John Malkovich). Let me start off by saying that Malkovich isn't playing himself. One proof is that screenwriter Charlie Kaufman changed Malkovich's middle name so it is a fictionalized version of Malkovich. He is one of the most intruiging characters of the 90s. His best scene (And the one that should've won JM an oscar)? When he goes into his portal that connects to his brain.

 

Good commentary on the Bond thing, Rogue. Roger Moore did unspeakable things to Bond, and to Fleming; only slightly redeeming himself with "For Your Eyes Only."

And OHMSS? Agreed, 110%.

E_S

 

89. Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John)

Please. Let me say it right now: Grease is a highly overrated film and there's nothing remotely interesting about Sandy as a character.

88. Raymond Babbitt (Dustin Hoffman)

Rain Man is overrated too. Hoffman does make his character interesting and gives an excellent performance.

87. Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp)

Capt. Jack is on this list because he singlehandedly made POTC one of the best films of 2003. Johnny gives an excellent performance. Who knew the perfect pirate would be Keith Richards crossed with Ed Wood?
He might crack my top 100, but he is very interesting nonetheless.

86. Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren)

The Birds is about the thrills, not the characters.

85. Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando)

An excellent choice. He has more depth than most characters on the list and he is played brilliantly by Brando.

84. Darth Vader (James Earl Jones and David Prowse)

So much has been said about Vader that I don't need to discuss him much. All I'm saying is: he should be higher.

83. William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting (Daniel Day Lewis)

Talk about carrying a film. Daniel Day-Lewis made Gangs of New York. Without him, Gangs would be terrible. His "fearsome acts" are forever etched into our mind. By the middle of Gangs
we're no longer rooting for Leonardo Dicaprio, the hero, as much as Bill.

82. Jack Torrence (Jack Nicholson)

Jack Nicholson creates one of the best and scariest cinematic villains of all time in The Shining. "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy." Nicholson's work was really playing with his role. As a result, Jack is no dull boy, but crazy and horrifying.

81. Aurora Greenway {Shirley MacLaine)

This is more of a great performance than great character. Though Shirley MacLaine is perfect in Terms of Endearment (she almost made me cry), the character isn't as interesting as other characters that missed the list.

80. Sam Spade (Humpherey Bogart)

Sam Spade, from The Maltese Falcon), is the original film noir detective hero. He is seeking vengeance for his partner's death and he wears a trenchcoat and a hat. He was the original, and this is a Bogart character in a great film, so this is a good choice.

 

Here's my Top 25, not nessessarly the greatest, but my favorites.

TOP 25. List subject to change!

25. El Mariachi
24. James Bond
23. Tony Montana
22. Ellen Ripley
21. Sgt. Hartman
20. Harry Callahan
19. Kikuchiyo (Seven Samurai)
18. Winston Wolf
17. Klaatu
16. Quint
15. Mr. William Munny 'outta Missouri
14. The Man With The Harmonica
13. The Dude/ Jeff Lebowski
12. Jackie Brown
11. Indiana Jones
10. Dr. Strangelove
9. Travis Bickle
8. Norman Bates
7. The Bride
6. The Predator
5. The Terminator
4. Jason Voorhees
3. Luke Skywalker
2. Darth Vader/ Anakin Skywalker
1. The Man With No Name



I had like 50 names and wanted to narrow it down to make it easier. But none the less, this is one of the hardest things I've done. Seriously!