Which movie "tough guys" do you rate as the most/least impressive?

Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade.

Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis, Will Smith, Denzel, George Clooney (do I need to go on?). For the bad guys, there’s these losers. Hahahahahah!

Tyler Durden is pretty damn impressive. For that matter, Mickey O’Neill is, too. So, um, Brad Pitt with tattoos and no shirt. Shlurp.

Clint Eastwood and John Wayne are two of my favorites.Lena Olin in Romeo is Bleeding was very tough;)
Steven Segal,Vin Diesel,Bruce Willis don’t impress me.

Most impressive: Harrison Ford as Han Solo or Indiana Jones. Sean Connery as James Bond. Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino (and pretty much any other movie). Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. (Not technically a tough guy, but there isn’t a soul on Fluther who would volunteer to fuck with him, I guarantee it).

Least impressive: Shia Lebouf. I can’t believe people are touting him as the figurehead of a new generation of action hero. He’s so dopey.

Vinnie Jones: impressive.

Chuck: not so.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard – I totally agree about Shia LeBeef. Also, Adrien Brody.

I’ll second Tyler Durden as most impressive. Holy hotness. Denzel Washington. Jackie Chan is always fun… does he count as a “tough” guy? He always plays such awkward roles, but he kicks a lot of ass.
Steven Seagal in anything is pretty lame, imho.

This is an action hero.
This is an action hero.
This is an action hero.

This is not.

Ellen Ripley played by Sigourney Weaver in Aliens is still one of my favorite stand their ground and KSA roles I have ever seen! She was a baaaaadass in that movie and could even kick John Wayne’s ass!! ;)

I still have a soft spot for Rambo and even Rocky characters. Stallone is not on my top ten list of actors but he really brought life to those roles.

And the “get out of town” wannabe tough guys would be Woody Allen and Lou Diamond Phillips! Get packing ya weenies!

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Lol.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard HAHA! I really hadn’t thought about it before your post, but the message is loud and clear.

Yeah, a guy that says no too many times is not a hero.

Oh, Woody Harrelson as Tallahassee in Zombieland was another goody. I’m a little biased because I have this weird celebrity crush, but he was still pretty badass.

Hey I gotta run, well my son is shouting for me to watch a dvd with him, Lee Evans for those who know.
Cheers for some spot on answers so far, back in de morning to view some more :¬)

@ANef_is_Enuf oh yeah, I completely agree. I loved him in that flick.

Oh, and in the interest of fairness and all that, this is also an action hero.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard all your action heros have guns. :P
Oh, wait…Indiana Jones was pretty awesome with a whip though.

@Plucky I like several action heroes that don’t have guns, including Rorshach from Watchmen—though he’s more of an anti hero. I just didn’t mention them.—

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard…It’s ok ..I’m just poking fun at you. Tee hee.

Others in the Shia LeBouf “are you freaking kidding me” category: Seth Rogan. Michael Cera. Steve Carrell. Adam Sandler. Will Ferrell. Jonah Hill. Pretty much any man who’s ever been in a Judd Apatow movie.

@Aethelflaed I actually liked Michael Cera in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I agree with you on the rest of your list, though.

@plucky, no worries.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard I did not get Scott Pilgrim at all. People kept telling me “Oh, I’m not normally a fan of Michael Cera, but Scott Pilgrim was awesome!” But to me, it was a typical Michael Cera film.

@Aethelflaed oh it definitely was a typical Michael Cera film. There’s no denying that. Have you read the graphic novels?

Hmm, I’ve always loved Indiana Jones. Loooove Denzil Washington. I like the old Rambo movies too. I admit, I loved Arnie in the Terminator movies ..and Linda Hamilton was awesome in the second one. I also liked Jean-Claude Van Damme back in his Bloodsport days. Sigourney Weaver = awesome as any heroine. Oh and I really liked Uma Thurman in the Kill Bill movies. And, well…Milla Jovovich = delicious as a heroine. Bruce Lee was pretty cool. Sean Connery is a favourite as well. It’s hard to find more recent action heroes that I like though.

I despise Steven Segal in anything. Vin Diesel = boring. I like Shia Lebouf but not as an action hero at all. Hmm, there has to be more. Pamela Anderson as some bitch hero in some movie…lol I can’t remember the name but it was horrible.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard No. Which leads me to another issue with it, that the movie should be awesome enough to stand alone, even if you haven’t read the comics. But I’m not sure I’d like them, anyway, they seem to be big for being the epitome of a certain youth that I didn’t partake in.

@Aethelflaed funny you should say that, because I haven’t read them either. I was just curious. I dug the movie though. Then again, Youth in Revolt (also starring Cera) is one of my favorite movies. And I’ve read and love the book it was based on.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard I’ve heard the comic books are good, so if you liked the movie and enjoy graphic novels, you’d probably like it.

The toughest? The gang from the Godfather.

These Guys? Not so much.

@filmfann Google? Or did you make a link mistake there?

Most:
Bruce Lee
Jet Li

Good:
Humphrey Bogart
Clint Eastwood
Jackie Chan
Sean Connery
Harrison Ford
James Coburn
Toshiro Mifune
Steve McQueen
Daniel Craig
Lee Van Cleef
Robert De Niro
Charlton Heston
Uma Thurman in Kill Bill vol. 1
Mel Gibson

Not:
Bruce Willis
Steven Segal
Vin Diesel
Leonardo Di Caprio
Anakin Skywalker
Kurt Russel
Tom Hanks
Tony Curtis
Grace Jones
Richard Geere
Kevin Costner
Tom Selleck
John Travolta
Nicolas Cage

Least:
Natalie Portman
others

Some actors, such as Chuck Norris and Arnold Schwarzenegger, need to be broken down by film. For example, early Chuck Norris had some impressive fighting skill, while late Chuck (Delta Force, Texas Ranger) Norris makes some of the worst action fiction ever.

@Blackberry LOL!

Edward G. Robinson is a bad, bad man in Key Largo

So is Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast

Keyser Söze, of course, is the most fearsome of all.

@Aethelflaed That should be a link for a picture from Shakes The Clown.

@Zaku I like your list.

For me, the best movie tough guys——Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood. Always composed and cool, but not overly aggressive or violent.

The worst movie tough guy——Steven Segal. Overweight, chunky, slow, too serious, and “what’s with that ponytail on a middle-aged guy?!”

And yes, Chuck Norris. Kind of a joke too, if you ask me.

Oh, I got to add Darth Vader as one of my favorite movie “tough guys”. He’s cool, not like Luke Skywalker.

@MRSHINYSHOES Yeah, Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood have a great style, and they tend to do things well and not excessively.

Yeah, Chuck Norris makes some of the worst action fiction ever. There exist some decent early Norris films, but I think it was just that he had some fighting skill and he was well-directed in those, and they didn’t let him try to act much.

And yes, Darth Vader is great, too.

@Zaku Thanks for the clip, as I said in my pm to you, I’ve never seen the movie before.

@Zaku Natalie Portman was pretty badass in Leon the Professional though.

I just thought of another horrible action hero – Brendan Fraser.

@8Convulsions Ok, I still haven’t seen that one. I was thinking of Star Wars and the part I saw of V for Vendetta.

Most impressive: Bruce Lee.
Least impressive: Mel Gibson.

@SavoirFaire Have you seen Payback? Really good, tough, film.

Haven’t seen it. But I guess even Mel has to have some good days!