On June 3, 2003 the American Film Institute continued the ass-kissing festival known as their 100 Years... series of television specials. This time it was “100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains”, hosted by Arnold Schwartzenegger (obviously slumming for T3) The title is a bit misleading, there are only 50 heroes and 50 villains covered. I was surprised at the number of classic characters present, as most of these lists have been skewed toward the present in order to sell more DVDs.
50 Heroes
- Atticus Finch (To Kill A Mockingbird)
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Indiana Jones
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James Bond
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Rick Blaine (Casablanca)
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Will Kane (High Noon)
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Clarice Starling
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Rocky Balboa
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Ellen Ripley (Alien)
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George Bailey (It’s A Wonderful Life)
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T.E. Lawrence
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Jefferson Smith (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington)
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Tom Joad
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Oskar Schindler
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Han Solo
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Norma Rae Webster (Norma Rae)
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Shane
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“Dirty” Harry Callahan
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Robin Hood
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Virgil Tibbs (In the Heat of the Night)
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Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
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Gandhi
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Spartacus
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Terry Malloy (On the Waterfront)
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Thelma & Louise
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Lou Gehrig
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Superman
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Woodward & Bernstein (All the President’s Men)
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Juror #8 (12 Angry Men)
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George S. Patton
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Cool Hand Luke
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Erin Brockovich
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Phillip Marlowe
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Marge Gunderson (Fargo)
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Tarzan
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Sgt. York
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Rooster Cogburn
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Obi-Wan Kenobi
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The Tramp
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Lassie
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Serpico
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Mr. Chips
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Father Flanagan
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Moses
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Popeye Doyle (The French Connection)
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Zorro
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Batman
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Karen Silkwood (Silkwood)
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T-800
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Andrew Beckett (Philadelphia)
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Maximus (Gladiator)
Personal Bitching - Heroes: I agree that Atticus Finch is certainly a heroic and noble character, but I just don’t think he embodies that larger-than-life character that comes to my mind when I think of movie hero. He just doesn’t seem right for Number #1. I was glad than Han Solo got the nod over that whiny bitch Luke. Does anyone else feel weird about real people being on the list? The lives of Gandhi, Patton, Lou Gehrig, Oskar Schindler and the others just don’t feel right placed in the context of the same list as the T-800 and Lassie. I’m surprised that Ripley was placed so high while Sarah Conner was left off altogether.
Notable Missing: Scarlett O’Hara, The Magnificent Seven, The Man With No Name, R2-D2, Ben-Hur, Quint.
50 Villains
- Hannibal Lecter
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Norman Bates
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Darth Vader
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The Wicked Witch of the West
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Nurse Ratched
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Mr. Potter (It’s A Wonderful Life)
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Alex Forrest (Fatal Attraction)
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Phyllis Dietrichson (Double Indemnity)
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Regan MacNeill (The Exorcist)
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The Queen (Snow White)
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Michael Corleone
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Alex DeLarge (A Clockwork Orange)
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HAL-9000
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the Xenomorph (Alien)
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Amon Goeth (Schindler’s List)
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Noah Cross (Chinatown)
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Annie Wilkes (Misery)
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Bruce the Shark (Jaws)
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Captain Bligh
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Man (Bambi)
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Mrs. John Iselin (The Manchurian Candidate)
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T-800
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Eve Harrington (All About Eve)
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Gordon Gekko (Wall Street)
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Jack Torrance (The Shining)
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Cody Jarrett (White Heat)
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The Martians (War of the Worlds)
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Max Cady (Cape Fear)
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Rev. Harry Powell (The Night of the Hunter)
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Travis Bickle
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Mrs. Danvers (Rebecca)
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Bonnie & Clyde
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Count Dracula
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Dr. Szell (The Marathon Man)
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J.J. Hunsecker (Sweet Smell of Success)
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Frank Booth (Blue Velvet)
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Harry Lime
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Little Caesar
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Cruella De Vil
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Freddy Krueger
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Joan Crawford (Mommy Dearest)
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Tom Powers (The Public Enemy)
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Regina Giddens (The Little Foxes)
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Baby Jane
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The Joker
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Hans Gruber (Die Hard)
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Tony Camonte (Scarface)
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Roger “Verbal” Kint
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Goldfinger
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Alonzo Harris (Training Day)
Personal Bitching - Villains: Is it just me, or is there a big fall off after the top four? We go from four of the most evil and scary characters of all-time to a nurse, a crippled old man and two crazy women? Sure they were manipulative and bad, but not scary evil. Are Michael Corleone, Travis Bickle and Bonnie & Clyde really villains? They were the main characters! They did bad things according to the law, but they were not the villain of their movies. Why Freddy but not Jason or Leatherface? Why the Alien but not the Predator? Why the T-800 but not the T-1000? How can Hans Gruber be a great villain but the much more popular John McClane is not a great hero?
Notable Missing: the Predator, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Leatherface, T-1000, Agent Smith, Emperor Palpatine, Frankenstein’s monster, Ethan Edwards, John Doe, Biff Tannen.