The Greatest Movie Badasses of All Time

[IrishCanadian25]

I was home from work sick the other day and had the chance to watch Death Wish 3 on AMC. Classic shit right there. And it made me think - Charles Bronson is a badass of the big screen. Where does he rank all time?

1. Bruce Willis. Ah, John McClain. A badass hero to Irishme everywhere. Face it - the guy knows how to blow shit up. He also was a big part of Pulp Fiction, Armageddon, The Fifth Element, Twelve Monkeys, etc.

2. Chuck Norris. The man himself. Walker, Texas Ranger. Delta Force. The only man to score a point on Bruce Lee in a karate contest. And of course - Dodgeball!

3. Clint Eastwood. This guy was tough before tough was cool. Dirty Harry. High Plains Drifter. Coogan's Bluff. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

4. Charles Bronson. He's been doing tough guy films since 1951. Death Wish 1-5. The Magnificent Seven. The guy was the face of vigilanteeism since the 70's.

5. Samuel L. Jackson. The hardest working man in Hollywood. Shaft, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Unbreakable, etc. The man is not only tough - he has style.

6. Robert DiNiro. The quintessential mobster. Taxi Driver, Cape Fear (!), Mean Streets, Godfather 2, Raging Bull, The Untouchables, Casino, Goodfellas, etc.

7. Harrison Ford. Indiana Jones. While I see no reason to go on, I will. Air Force One. Star Wars 4-6. Apocalypse Now. The Fugitive. Patriot Games. Clear and Present Danger.

8. Slyvester Stallone. Rocky and Rambo. There ya go! Over The Top. Demolition Man. And to have the balls to star in Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot! Dangerous!

9. Edward Norton. American History X. Red Dragon. Fight Club. Primal Fear. The man is so underrated it's ridiculous.

10. Other. I know you can do better than my list, right? Pick your own and post your reasons. Maybe Arnold Schwarzenneger. Jesse Ventura. Carl Weathers. Marlon Brando. Al Pacino. Chow Yun Fat. Joe Pesci. Pick you own and decide...

Who's the most badass actor in movie history!?​

 

["RAVEN"]

Only Edward Norton can make a racist skinhead and a schizophrenic seem like almost heroes. Plus, he curbstomped a guy. That right there should be enough to make him THE Badass.

 

[justinsayne]

For me this one is easy, when I looked over all those names the first one that stood out a screamed BAD ASS!!!, was Samual L. Jackson, the guy just oozes bad ass, no matter the movie or the role you just know his character is gonna be fucking sick, just they way he delivers his lines and and his mannerism when in character...not taking any thing away from every one else on that list, but none are more of a bad ass than Sam Jackson...I mean come on a shark fucking him, a shark fucking at him!!!!!....and he still looked like a badass in that movie...also he plays a bad ass villain in Jumper, and was the only fucking Jedi to ever carry a purple light saber....how do you get more bad ass than that?

 

[IrishCanadian25]

To further enhance Justin's point:

He was a pretty bad ass Jedi. I mean, the Star Wars fan base was raised on a whiney bitch like Mark Hamill (though he did toughen up) whose bad ass resume was FAR overshadowed by Harrison Ford's Han Solo. And a Purple Light Saber? Bad Ass to a T.

 

[Freedom 35]

for real who else could be more tired of those mothafuckin snakes on that mothafuckin plane. Samuel L Jackson can pull of anything I mean for real who fights snakes on an airplane? like whats been said before me who can pull of a purple lightsaber? and whose a classy ass mofo? Samuel L Jackson thats who, the mans the shit in any role he plays yet still manages to stay fresh to death

no contest Samuel L

 

[klunderbunker]

To me a tie between jackson and willis. Willis has the good lines and the explosions and the more human characters, while jackson has been shaft and a jedi. How do you top that combination? Simply put, you don't. Jackson.

 

["RAVEN"]

I just watched The Transporter 2, and realized Jason Statham has to be todays badass. He's fairly new, but look at his body of work; Transporter 1 & 2, Crank, Cellular, War, Chaos, and the upcoming The Bank Job. Just thought he'd be an honorable mention.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

[QUOTE="RAVEN";372806]I just watched The Transporter 2, and realized Jason Statham has to be todays badass. He's fairly new, but look at his body of work; Transporter 1 & 2, Crank, Cellular, War, Chaos, and the upcoming The Bank Job. Just thought he'd be an honorable mention.[/QUOTE]

Absolutely. Jason Statham just missed my list. I don't think his entire body of work is near that of guys like Jackson, Pacino, Willis, Bronson, etc. but he'd make a top 20. He's managing to set himself up as a future star in action films.

I am surprised nobody has brought up Sean Connery yet. James Bond, Highlander, Last Crusade. Does he rate anyone's top 10 list?

 

[klunderbunker]

With Connery, I don't see Bond as being a badass. To me bond is smooth. A badass can be smooth but is more toughness than style. Bond is definatley a great character and Connery played him perfectly with just enough toughness and style, but in my mind this just doesn't equal badass. Sicne this is his signature role, that brings him down on my list.

 

[Bentallica]

I'm gonna have to go with the underdog, Edward Norton, for all the above reasons, and for the fact that he's The Hulk. THE HULK!!! That's enough for me. But if I had to pick another, it would definately be Samuel L.

 

[jmt225]

See, to me, I'd have to go with Matt Damon. I know that seems like a lame answer, but man.... he made that Jason Bourne character so fucking cool and believable. I'm not a big fan of action films, but the Bourne series was fantastic beyond words. Not only did you get the cool fights and shit, but the intelligence as well. That's what really made him so awesome in those films.

 

[Evan Snow-Wolf]

Ugh. I saw the title of the thread and knew that not only would Sam Jackson be on the list, he'd have the lead in votes.. and I was right.

He really does not impress me. At all. He's a fine actor, but I wouldn't place him on the Pedestal that people put him on.

I vote Stallone. Anyone that hasn't seen the latest installement of Rambo has no clue what a badass is.

 

[Straight_Edge_Mystic]

I voted other simply for the fact that Bruce Campbell wasn't on the list. He's more badass than any of them. Bruce has constantly defeated zombies in all three Evil Dead films. Not to mention, he cut off his own hand and replaced it with a chainsaw to be later replaced with a steel glove hand. What's more badass than that? That is also the sign of true manhood and toughness. More recently, he has, while not in a physical fight, contributed 1/3 good and 2/3 bad to the life of Peter Parker in the Spider-Man films. He names him in the first, defeats him in the second, and puts the final straw on his relationship with MJ, which in essence ruins his life. Have you seen his Old Spice commercial? Amazing and completely badass. Bruce Campbell= Truest and baddest badass of them all.

 

[Father:_Polley]

it's all well and good saying they were badasses in films, but out of those, there's only one who created his own martial art, is an honourary marine, has a cult fact website, and still managed to act occasionally while being on the committee of the american dodgeball association of america and thats carlos norris.

the guy is one of those people that in real life you wouldn't like to piss off in case he roundhouse kicked your head off. the others, yeah they've been some tough guys in movies, and on film, you know you're not coming off well against them, but i think with chuck there's that real life badass edge to him

 

[finchy]

I voted for Bruce Willis and if you appreciate the die hard movies for what they are then Bruce Willis is a shoe in for Hollywoods biggest bad ass... Honestly though watch Crank and see what a true bad ass is. I forget his name and dont feel like going on IMDB to find out but hes sickening in that flick. Which is a pretty fly movie by the way...

 

[Father:_Polley]

Jason Statham's the guy in crank. and yeah, pretty scary guy. he's one of the guys you wouldn't like to have to get into a real fight with.

he's just one of those quiet guys you feel could kill you if he wanted.

 

[X]

Statham is a fantastic movie badass. No one can even pretend to deny that; he's got the look. Toughest Brit ever. (I am now waiting for Jake to return and correct me)

The list is okay. It's nothing to write home about. I won't go so far as to call it a "joke" but some of the choices are rather laugh-inducing. Such as Jack Sparrow.

Is that a joke? Seriously? How again is he a badass? He spends most of the trilogy of films being goofy and bumbling about. How does this guy strike you as a badass? I'm pretty sure I could kick his ass.

I think an honorable mention deserves to go to Benicio Del Toro in Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas. Not your typical badass per se, but the look in his eyes in some scenes are enough to make you cringe at how very, very insane this character is.

 

[finchy]

Idk if you guys saw 300 (everyones favorite movie) but the dude w/ the razor arms? I know he counts for nothing seeing how the actor was an Oddity member from back in the day but that dude was not playing games. He was a a character bad ass that I personally wouldnt have fucked w/. But yeah that Stathom dude is nuts. Falling from a helicopter to the ground and give the notion that your alive. wtf

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Statham is a fantastic movie badass. No one can even pretend to deny that; he's got the look. Toughest Brit ever. (I am now waiting for Jake to return and correct me)

It depends. I guess he has ''the look''. But In my area everyone looks like that, so it doesn't mean much to somebody like me.

In films it depends. He's not a great actor. But he looks like a bear which helps when you're doing those type of roles. So long as he doesn't try to do an American accent then he's cool.

Proper movie badasses are normal looking people. Robert Carlyle is a proper movie badass. Well in Trainspotting he is. As is Joe Pesci in Goodfellas.