If there's a more iconic Harrison Ford role than Indiana Jones, it's Han Solo. The vest! The blaster! The roguish ne'er-do-well grin! The giant dog sidekick! He is the dashing space pirate by which all future dashing space pirates will be measured - and found wanting. We chose ‘The Empire Strikes Back' over the original; ‘Star Wars' not only because it features more Han Solo, but because the…
Show notes
If there's a more iconic Harrison Ford role than Indiana Jones, it's Han Solo. The vest! The blaster! The roguish ne'er-do-well grin! The giant dog sidekick! He is the dashing space pirate by which all future dashing space pirates will be measured - and found wanting. We chose ‘The Empire Strikes Back' over the original; ‘Star Wars' not only because it features more Han Solo, but because the movie hangs more on Ford's portrayal of the character - not just as a hero, but as an oddly contemporary aspect of the film. Amidst the flying monsters and space wizards, Ford's presence keeps the movie human - but not so much that he's winking at all the made-up stuff. It's a fine line. We also enjoyed - as many have before - the bravura of the film. Somebody makes a surprise hit space adventure with the good guys flying around and blowing up the bad guys and you gotta figure the studio wanted “that, but more” for the sequel, but instead, George Lucas and company gave us a story about failure and sacrifice, rather than triumph. Luke flunks out of Jedi school and they cut off his hand and Han Solo gets frozen in carbonite. Good stuff.
We have come to the end of our Harrison Ford season of the Ten Movies podcast and - in so coming - have learned many truths about Mr. Ford, America, and ourselves. We have learned what makes Harrison Ford a relatable everyman in his action hero roles - specifically, an air of befuddlement. The Rock and Jason Statham could never. For the rest of our findings - and for The Definitive Ranking of…
3 yrs ago · 34:20
Though some of his other roles are more iconic, ‘Blade Runner' is perhaps Harrison Ford's most celebrated movie, at least in the world of genre films. Which, of course, made his career and has since gone on to entirely swallow contemporary cinema. But unlike Star Wars or Indiana Jones, Blade Runner is not a beloved franchise suitable for additional revenue generation in the form of lunchboxes and…
3 yrs ago · 43:22
This is an odd duck in the Harrison Ford canon. Instead of his usual decent everyman hero, here he plays a deranged libertarian inventor who becomes increasingly unmoored from reality - endangered a young River Phoenix and the rest of his hapless family in the process. Brian and Hemal had mixed feelings about ‘The Mosquito Coast'. It's a movie with a strong point of view. And it's some of the…
3 yrs ago · 33:46
Harrison Ford had it all - a beautiful wife, a flourishing medical career and a big chunky beard. But then a sinister one-armed man murdered his wife and the bumbling cop blamed him and he had no choice but to become The Fugitive. Being The Fugitive is a tough business. He spends most of the movie running around Chicago being resourceful - forging documents, stealing other documents, and looking…
3 yrs ago · 31:35
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