Make the Case: 5 Essential Harrison Ford Films

Before we actually get started with what will hopefully be the first of a monthly series:

– The movies that will make up each list are not necessarily going to be the best overall movies of that person’s career. They are going to be the best examples of that actor’s work (as far as I’m concerned), even if that means a great example exists in an otherwise awful movie. In a perfect world, the movie is going to be great, too.

– With sequels/franchises, I’m going to try really, really hard to limit the list to just one movie. I reserve the right to break this rule, under the classic nuts-to-you-for-believing-me-in-the-first-place defense.

Being a Harrison Ford fan has not been particularly entertaining over the past fifteen or so years. While Ford has been fine-to-quite-good in a number of films in the 2000s and 2010s, very little stands up to his most successful decades of the 80s and 90s. It could simply be that Ford’s transition from action movie star to the cranky guy in some scenario or another hasn’t worked out as well as Ford had hoped. However, even films that attempted to bring Ford back to proven formulas (Hollywood Homicide, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Cowboys and Aliens) have had mixed results with viewers and the box office. If Ford didn’t really care, this would make sense, in terms of the projects he accepted, and certainly in terms of his actual performances.

Yet to watch Ford in even a banal, unpleasant film like Extraordinary Measures, it’s clear that Ford still has something to offer as an actor.

Or the reason for Ford’s lengthy absence from critical/commercial success could simply be that people don’t want to see him grow old. If that is indeed the case, fair enough, but considering he is in better shape than most people half his age or younger, that doesn’t seem like a logical argument either.

At any rate, if The Force Awakens trailer is any indication of things, Ford is as popular as ever. Regardless of what happens to Han Solo in the upcoming seventh Star Wars film, it is pretty clear that Ford coming back as Solo is going to play a big part in the fever pitch this movie is going to reach before release.

In the meantime, it is well worth your time to either revisit the following, or watch them for the very first time:

1. Witness (1985)

Harrison Ford in Witness
Image source: citizenscreenings.com

Ford’s only Oscar nominated performance is a good one. It is further enhanced by a strong supporting cast, with a story and atmosphere that remain genuinely tense after thirty years. Ford’s career is filled with battered, desperate heroes. John Book is not generally put in the same mythos as Han Solo or Indiana Jones, but the character is every bit as engaging and strong as those and others Ford has played through the years. Why did Ford get the nomination for playing a cop who is forced to hide out in an Amish community with a child who witnessed a murder in Philadelphia? Perhaps, it is because of all the heroic roles Ford assumed through the years, Book is one of the most grounded. There is nothing particularly fantastic or unreasonable about him. He is just a cop, and he is simply doing what he feels is the right thing. John Book and Witness as a whole are not nearly as flashy as other Ford heroes in other Ford films. The knack for being able to keep standing after a beating is definitely here, but we are far more aware of the bruises than usual. Combine that with Peter Weir’s fantastic direction, and it is not hard to understand why this movie remains phenomenal across the board. Blink, and you will probably miss Viggo Mortensen in his film debut.

 

2. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Raiders of the Lost Ark
Image source: drafthouse.com

Purely to annoy people, a small part of me wanted to put Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on this list. I actually don’t hate that movie nearly as much as some people do, but in the end, I’m obviously going with the first, and to many, the best. Raiders is another film that has seemingly managed to avoid aging to any noticeable degree. This could be due to the fact that Spielberg and Lucas utilized the movie serials formula of the 1930s, added their own touches, and created something that possessed a timeless quality from the moment it was released. Ford and Indy will be connected long after someone else assumes the fedora. Raiders is proof of why that’s not a bad thing. With a movie that literally never stops being exciting for even a moment, Ford is able to create one of the great film heroes of all time. He is instantly likable, and instantly believable as a fearless adventurer who also occasionally teaches to pay the bills. Ford is natural in the role, and seems to effortlessly create a heroic ideal. Raiders is good, but it is absolutely nothing without Harrison Ford.

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