Biggest Movie Badass

[IrishCanadian25]

2011 Zonie Awards

Nominees for Biggest Movie Badass (actor / actress)

Sylvester Stallone

Jason Statham

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Charles Bronson

Chuck Norris

Bruce Lee

Jet Li

John Wayne

Clint Eastwood

Samuel L. Jackson

Bruce Willis

Dolph Lundgren

Jeff Bridges

Kurt Russell

Mel Gibson

(apologies to honorable mentions Brandon Lee, Brad Pitt, and James Caan...)

*discussion will be open until Monday, May 23rd, on which date the polls will open and voting will be permitted. No spamming, no flaming.


​

 

[Smooth Sexual Chocolate]

Chuck Norris is the biggest TV badass of all times, and he does have a chunk of great 80's films filled with all kinds of ass kicking; but I think it's gonna have to go to someone else on the Big Screen.

Comes down to two people for me:

Clint vs. Arnold, Dirty Harry vs the Terminator, both where the top Bad Ass of their generations, and both did it in completely different ways. I've yet to make up my mind, hopefully someone can convince me one way or the other.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

I think this is the hardest category to choose, and will also be the best to discuss. You cannot go wrong with ANY of these guys. Look at the resumes!

Sly Stallone was Rocky Balboa and John Rambo.

Jason Statham has cemented himself in the all time badass pantheon with his performances in Crank, the Transporter, and Expendables.

Ahnold is a real life bad ass Mr. Olympia, and was in Predator and Terminator. Do Kindergaten Cop and Last Action Hero hurt his cred?

Charles Bronson was Paul Kersey in the Death Wish series. He was a regular guy - an architect who was a conscientious objector to Vietnam, who wastes punks.

Chuck Norris is meh on the big screen, like SSC says. He's a TV guy.

Bruce Lee - Enter the Dragon. Amazing.

Jet Li was always awesome, but unless you see him opposite Bob Hoskins in Unleashed, you haven't seen his full bad-ass-ness. He may end up getting my vote. Plus, as he reminds us in the Expendables, when he falls, he falls farther, because he is smaller...

John Wayne, along with a snub in Steve McQueen, are the yardsticks against whom many bad asses are measured.

Clint Eastwood is John Wayne 2.0. His trademark sneer is omnipresent.

Samuel L Jackson. He made Mace Windu bad ass, and that's not easy. Pulp Fiction, hell even Snakes on a Plane!

Bruce Willis had the Die Hard saga to his credit, Fifth Element, Armageddon, etc. A great choice. He's a Montclair State guy! (one of a handful of famous alumni from my college)

Dolph Lundgren, don't forget, was not only Drago, but also He-Man in Masters of the Universe. I think he was also in Red Scorpion.

Jeff Bridges is phenominal, and he had a tough job in True Grit, playing a character John Wayne played.

Kurt Russell was Snake Pliskin, one of the original anti-hero good guys.

And Mel Gibson. Lethal Weapon. Mad Max. Braveheart. Ransom. Patriot. Payback. Just the scenes from Lethal Weapon where he snaps the Vietnamese dude's neck with his shins and in LW2 when he dislocated his shoulder to escape drowning in a straight jacket - awesome!

I haven't made a choice yet, but this is one great poll!

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Clint Eastwood. Without Clint Eastwood there is no John McClane, there is no Martin Riggs, hell there is no Frank Castle. Clint Eastwood, whether it's as Dirty Harry, Blondie or pretty much any other role is a force of sheer intimidation. He's scary without over doing it and is totally believable every time he snarls his way through a film. Dirty Harry is the man and Blondie isn't too far behind. Clint Eastwood is the king of bad-ass.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Clint Eastwood. Without Clint Eastwood there is no John McClane, there is no Martin Riggs, hell there is no Frank Castle. Clint Eastwood, whether it's as Dirty Harry, Blondie or pretty much any other role is a force of sheer intimidation. He's scary without over doing it and is totally believable every time he snarls his way through a film. Dirty Harry is the man and Blondie isn't too far behind. Clint Eastwood is the king of bad-ass.

Without Lord Landsdowne there is no Ric Flair. Doesn't mean that just because Landsdowne was the first and was the influence that he's the best. That's like arguing that Wizard of Oz is the greatest movie ever because without its foray into technicolor, there are no color movies. Even without Clint Eastwood, the other characters would have still happened in some capacity.

I'm not saying Clint is a bad choice, I'm merely saying that influence alone does not an argument make.

 

[JGlass]

I'm picking Samuel L. Jackson as a personal favorite. Sure, he doesn't crack as many skulls as Willis or Bruce Lee or or Arnold, but he doesn't have to. Why? Because he plays the dead serious black man better than anyone in the world. Even in movies where his character isn't particularly threatening he still manages to be a total badass. He's played a government agent, mobsters, a farmer, a piano player, a Jedi, and he's fucking rocked every single role.

I'm rollin' with Sammy on this one.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Eastwood, like most in the list he has appeared in some right of crap. However unlike most in that list it took until Million Dollar Baby for him to finally break down and show real emotion. John Wayne is a maybe, but other than The Searchers, True Grit and a handful of others his films all merge into one for me. The Man With No Name, Dirty Harry, Bill Munny, all bad asses.

Or its Sean Conney, the guy is in his 80's and he still looks like he could kick the shit out of anybody. The Rock, Bond, Rising Sun, Indiana Jones, Highlander, bad ass in all.

 

[JWGunslinger]

All of these guys are very much deserving of this title but if I have to pick one it would be Arnold Schwarzenegger. Reasoning for that, just watch Predator, True Lies, Commando or Terminator. He is the ultimate ass kicking badass. I have to throw John Wayne, Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee in honorable mentions because I feel like Arnie just fits this catagory best, major respect to all of those guys too.

 

[Alex]

To be a badass has to be someone who not only can kick ass, but also say things that shows he's a badass (and it has to come naturally as well), Arnold, Sly, Bruce Lee, Jet Li and Dolph Lundgren sort of fall at this hurdle (Don't get me wrong I like them but they don't really seem like bonafide badasses)

This leaves the other guys (unfortunately I haven't seen some of their films) but guys like Clint Eastwood, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and (to a lesser extent) Jason Statham can kick ass and spout one liners that seem natural and show just how much of a badass they are.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Biggest Movie Badass


Sylvester Stallone - If he had done a great film outside of Rocky, I might consider him. But, he didn't/hasn't. A few guys on this list who are just better, and more important.

Jason Statham - Who?

Arnold Schwarzenegger - Personally, I couldn't care less about Arnold. But, he's definitely one of the biggest movie stars still living, so yeah, he gets some consideration. Not from me, but I can see it.

Charles Bronson - The actor, or Tom Hardy in Bronson?

I really enjoyed a lot of films Bronson took part in (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Battle of the Bulge, The Dirty Dozen, and Once Upon A Time in the West). I also really enjoyed Death Wish, but the sequels were trash. Too bad Bronson isn't remembered for the great work he did in earlier films. Definitely a bad ass, though.

Chuck Norris - He's a joke. And a legitimate bad ass.

Bruce Lee - Speaking of legitimate bad asses... Wow, this guy would probably kill any man on this list. Couldn't possibly care less about his movies, but he gets consideration for being one dangerous bastard.

Jet Li - I don't care about Jet Li, at all.

John Wayne - Maybe the biggest movie star of all time, and definitely a bad ass. Not a huge fan, but he is in the top two or three, without question.

Clint Eastwood - Clint gets my vote. Man With No Name, Marshall Jed Cooper, Hogan, Harry Callahan, Joe Kidd, The Stranger, Josey Wales, Tom Highway, William Munny, Walk Kowalski... that's not even the half of it. Clint wins, easily.

Samuel L. Jackson - He yells a lot, we get it

Bruce Willis - So overrated, in every aspect, that I cannot vote for him, ever, for anything.

Dolph Lundgren - Another legitimate bad ass. Outside of Bruce Lee, he would tear apart any one of these guys. Terrible actor, though.

Jeff Bridges - Seriously have no idea how he made this list. Might be the best actor of the bunch, but a bad ass? What?

Kurt Russell - I like Russell, but, no.

Mel Gibson - This guy, in real life, is a monster. Physically, not much to talk about. Spoken words? He'll kill any one of these guys.

Brandon Lee - Bruce Lee's kid. Tragic death...then what?

Brad Pitt - Underrated as a bad ass, no question.

James Caan - His roles in The Godfather and Thief alone should put him on this list.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Sylvester Stallone is by far the biggest movie badass.

As Rambo, on 4 seperate occasions he has kickd ass, maimed, murdered and destroyed entire armies. I think in Rambo 4 he kills over 200 people by himself, including taking out shit loads with an anti aircraft gun mounted on the back of a 4X4. Rambo is a machine.

As Rocky he took unbelievable punishment before managing to become World Champion. He beat Mr T, he beat Drago, he beat Apollo. He was the man.

He was Cobra, another bad ass but this time with a laser mounted machine gun and an even badder attitude, and most recently he was the lead in the Expendables, where he delivered yet more punishment, caused more carnage and fought Stone Cold Steve Austin.

No more needs to be said, Stallone is fucking bad ass.

 

[Smooth Sexual Chocolate]

This was a really tough call for me, there's certainly more than one legit selection and there's I'd be happy with at least three of the guys winning it, if not more.

Stallone comes in at number three for me, Rambo is one of the most legit ass kickers of all time, the body count in those movies if quite impressive,.

Clint is coming in at number two, I didn't grow up watching any of his films, but have more so enjoyed them in the last five or so years, you have no argument from me if you've got him on the top of your list.

My vote for the biggest movie Bad Ass is going to the one and only Governator, I grew up on Arnold films, he was easily my favorite actor as a child and even in kid films like Kindergarten Cop and Jingle All the Way he still plays a total bad ass, and obviously roles as The Terminator, as a good guy or bad guy, doesn't matter, he's still a bad ass, or Conan the Barbarian. I also do believe he accumulates one of the largest body counts in cinema history in the movie Commando.

 

[nightmare]

Arnold. Why, you ask?


Commando
The Terminator series
Conan the Barbarian\Destroyer
The Running Man
Total Recall
Predator
True Lies


Fucking hell, he can whoop ass in different time periods, human\alien- dont matter. He is a machine, a barbarian, a hands down box office draw.

 

[Dave]

Upon realising that the poll for this thread is not destined to go up until next week, I have closed it. I will re-open it when it should have been opened in the first place.

Votes will be carried over.

 

[jmt225]

I voted for Sylvester Stallone.

It came down to him and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and while I love Arnie, the fact is his biggest badass performances are as a machine and prehistoric slave arena fighter. Sly, on the other hand, dealt with mostly modern-day human characters who were simply bad motherfuckers.

John Rambo, for example, was just a Vietnam vet, but Stallone was able to (believably) turn him into what is perhaps the most iconic "war hero" in the history of film. Seriously... John Rambo shits on even G.I. Joe.

Rocky Balboa... name another fictional film character with more heart and toughness? Can't do it.

And I even loved Sly's characters in Cliffhanger, Demolition Man, Cop Land, and The Expendables. All bad ass roles with high entertainment quality.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Rocky Balboa... name another fictional film character with more heart and toughness? Can't do it.

I was gonna say Rudy, but then I realized that Rudy is a real person and the film is based on that story. Of course, Rocky Balboa is rumored to be based on Bayonne NJ's own Chuck Wepner, who once came from out of nowhere to go the distance with Ali.

The fact that Rocky Balboa - as a fictional character - is often considered one of the greatest and most revered sports figures in Philadelphia sports history - speaks volumes. I mean, it says a lot about how shit Philly sports have been since the Flyers and Sixers of the 1970's, but even more about how realistic and life like the Balboa character is.

I may not vote for Stallone when all is said and done, but I'd challenge anyone to tell me that Rocky Balboa isn't the greatest cinematic sports figure in history.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I may not vote for Stallone when all is said and done, but I'd challenge anyone to tell me that Rocky Balboa isn't the greatest cinematic sports figure in history.

I cannot challenge you, because you are most definitely right. Rocky Balboa is easily the greatest sports character in film history. He is tough, brave and makes you actually care about him. You desperately want to see him succeed, knowing where he came from and how he was nothing until his one big break. You feel for the guy as he gets the crap beat out of him in his fights, but will never quit, will never back down and eventually comes out on top.

I already knew that he beats Clubber Lang, I already knew that he beats Ivan Drago, but I still was really getting into the movies, thinking how the hell can Rocky win this?! Not many other film characters can make you react in that way.

Rocky Balboa is the fucking man, and therefore Stallone gets a big tick in the box of bad-ass in my book.

And thats without focusing on why Rambo is also awesome. I could go on about that guy for ages, he is the baddest of all the asses

 

[Mac Attack]

Eastwood

This guys is your stereotypical bad guy. He almost always portrays a bad guy and through history usually does it very well. I think the amount of bad ass bad guy he has played over the years makes him quite the best bad ass bad guy. He generally takes no prisoners and can be quite scary guy. Personally he almost never shows a kind side which a lot of the other guys on the list have. I think clearly he deserves to be the best bad ass because of this.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

I see a lot of love for Sly in Rocky and, yes, he fully deserves it. As an underdog, he is an excellent contender. But, at the end of the day, he is a professional boxer taking on professional boxers.

Die Hard's John McClane is your common or garden street cop who takes down terrorist cells, as underdogs go - Balboa doesn't come close. Or how about Armageddon's Harry Stamper, who despite every obstacle that is thrown in his way, defeats an ASTEROID and saves the world. And the most direct link to the Philly slugger is Pulp Fiction's Butch who not only wins the fight he has no right to win, he kills his opponent and then goes on to blow away an assassin, take's down a crime lord and decimates a buggery ring (& without a Vince DiCola montage).

If you want to talk about a juggernauts like John Rambo or most of Mr Schwarzenegger's portfolio, we have the Fifth Element's Korben Dallas who is more than a match for Police, Army, Aliens and saves both the girl and the world (again). Or how about Unbreakable's David Dunn, who can come away from a train wreck "without a scratch" and appears to have, pretty much, unlimited strength. Or his world's best assassins in The Jackal, Lucky Number Slevin or RED (and he didn't have to be sent back from the future).

Comparisons with Eastwood's seemingly endless array of 'Blondie' type characters isn't easy. The closest would be John Smith in Last Man Standing a prohibition update of A Fistful Of Dollars, which is itself an update of Yojimbo were the major criticism is that it doesn't exhibit the same humour as Eastwoods... which isn't to say Smith isn't more badass than Blondie. However, comparing cop types is easier, the Last Boyscout's Joe Hallenback, Sin City's Hartigan or a certain aforementioned Mr McClane can all give Harry Callaghan a run in the bad ass department.

These three guys have great action credentials at the flicks, but they just don't diversify to the level Willis does. Bruno is the all round bad ass action hero (or when needed - villain).