Comments on: Tom Hanks or Harrison Ford?

By: Clark

Clark — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:04:10 +0000

I bet the person who said that was blonde! (Just kidding, I was until around 30 fairly blonde although my hair’s been getting darker the older I get)

By: BrianJ

BrianJ — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 02:48:06 +0000

C’mon: “I really liked Ford’s character in the movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I can’t seem to remember the character’s name though.”

By: Clark

Clark — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:37:42 +0000

Brian. Sure it’s fair. Ford was in them. Hanks wasn’t.

By: BrianJ

BrianJ — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:17:50 +0000

Clark, you can’t really compare the memorability of characters in Ford’s trilogies versus Hanks’ one-shot movies. Who could watch a trilogy and not come away knowing the main characters’ names?

I will concede that Ford has a definite edge when it comes to action. I’m just giving comedy more weight than action, and Hanks clearly wins there. That’s surely just a difference of opinion between us.

And there were parts of Gump I really liked, including the whole concept. But after an hour I just needed that movie to stop (see “Titanic”).

Summer, Abby: As for Connery: it’s not even fair. The guy could say “I have bunions on my feet” and women would find it sexy and guys would think it sounded cool. Connery is voice—compare him with James Earl Jones or Morgan Freeman.

By: Clark

Clark — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:08:51 +0000

The prequel is his next film up on the queue for next year. I read a few pages at the bookstore and it was even worse written. We’re talking Robin Cook level of badness.

But yeah, he looked pretty creepy with that mullet.

By: Supergenius

Supergenius — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:42:44 +0000

I just can’t get over Hanks’ immensely creepy long hair in The Davinci Code. What a miserable train wreck of a movie.

By: Clark

Clark — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:34:29 +0000

Hanks really improved as an actor. I think he was quite good and certainly deserved all those academy awards and nominations. Ford did, I think, deserve the nomination for Witness. I thought his acting was pretty good in Mosquito Coast and Frantic as well. I do agree that by the 90′s he was calling it in more even in action films I otherwise enjoyed. He had a standard repertoire he kept going to. On the other hand that’s true of Jack Nicolson as well. Although Nicolson obviously had way more range than Ford.

I don’t understand why, after that period in the late 80′s, Ford stopped pushing himself as an actor.

Hanks was kind of a one note actor until Philadelphia although there were hints of his abilities in Sleepless in Seattle (of all films). Gump was, I feel, a very underappreciated performance. Even if you don’t like the film one hopes you can appreciate the skill Hank brought to the roll which really demanded a lot of subtlty.

BTW – greatest Hank quote is from A League of Our Own. (A film I didn’t really like). “There’s No Crying in Baseball!” Admittedly done in that overused style he used until the mid-90′s of shouting in this whiney voice.

By: Brian V

Brian V — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:22:22 +0000

I don’t really like either, but I have to go with Hanks because of Bachelor Party and The Money Pit. Ford’s unquestionably got a better filmography (American Graffiti, The Conversation, Indiana Jones, Blade Runner), but I don’t really think he’s all that great of an actor. With the exception of Indiana Jones, I wouldn’t really say any of the great items in his filmography are great because of him.

(No, I didn’t forget Star Wars – I don’t like those movies, sorry).

By: Abby

Abby — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:15:32 +0000

Clark, so I guess Sir Connery isn’t any better than Ford – in terms of their personal life. So, going strictly off of their films, I’ll change my vote to Ford. (Based off his early roles.)

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:07:38 +0000

Harrison Ford wins, IMO. Han Solo & Indiana Jones are far more classic than any of Hanks’ roles — though I do enjoy a lot of his work — especially “Woody” from “Toy Story.”