It has been a while since the last relay race (which was movie jail one), so time to kick off a new one. Through the movies we see a lot of stories, which come to life through its characters. A lot of these have become iconic. Some because we can really identify with, others because they are menacing and they represent fears within us.
For those unaware of the relay races I have done in the past, the rules are simple: A list of 10 iconic movie characters has been made. That list will be assigned to another blogger who can then change it by removing one character (describing why they think it should not be on the list) and replace it with another one (also with motivation) and hand over the baton to another blogger. Once assigned that blogger will have to put his/her post up within a week. If this is not the case the blogger who assigned it has to reassign it to another blogger. After you have posted your update leave the link in the comments here and I will make sure it gets added to the overview post. Now let’s get to the list!
Only picking out 10 iconic characters was extremely difficult and it took me a lot of time to decide which ones to include. I had to leave out some of my personal favorites because my feeling was that some of them would not last very long. I finally settled on these ten:
Indiana Jones
There is no question why Indiana Jones, brought to life by Harrison Ford has become such an iconic character. He’s extremely smart, goes on big adventures and has that iconic fedora and whip. Only seeing those two items alone will be enough for most movie fans to immediately name the character.
Ellen Ripley
Although cinema does have its fair share of strong women to me Ellen Ripley is the one who stands out most. She conquers her fear and finds solutions to fight an alien which seems unstoppable.
Terminator
With his strong accent, Arnold Schwarzenegger was the perfect actor to play a cybernetic organism who is sent back into time to murder. Not only his black leather jacket and glasses are iconic, so is the iconic line “I’ll be back”.
Darth Vader
The Star Wars universe has lots of iconic characters, but I decided to only pick one. The all black wearing villain of the movies, who strikes fear in everyone around him. He is a character who looks unlike any other and is instantly recognisable.
James Bond
This is a character who is widely loved and for good reason. He looks good, always dresses well, is always surrounded by beautiful women and cars and has cool gadgets. Those ingredients have made sure that even after so many years people will want to see a new movie starring the secret agent.
The Tramp
Movie characters don’t always have to speak for people to love them and Charlie Chaplin proved it with his creation of The Tramp. Just like with Indiana Jones you only need to see the hat, the cane (and maybe the mustache) to recognise him, so no question why he is included here.
Tony Montana
Now this isn’t a character you would immediately understand the appeal of if you just heard that he’s a Cuban immigrant who makes it big by selling drugs, but thanks to the amazing performance by Al Pacino he breathed life into Tony Montana in a way which makes the character one who still appears on a lot of posters in people’s houses.
E.T.
If you would just see his silhouette you would know who it is. E.T. is an alien design which stands out and through his actions in the movie and the charming situations he is in he is a character who won over hearts, both young and old.
Rocky Balboa
The fighter who just keeps on going, prepares for a fight by chasing chickens and beating against a dead animal. Rocky just has to be included on a list like this.
Jules Winnfield
That look, the most awesome way swear words are delivered, reciting Ezekiel 25:17. This hitman who thinks about what he wants to do with his life is extremely memorable and introduced the world to the awesomeness that is Samuel L. Jackson.
So who will be the first blogger the baton for this relay race will be handed over to? It is Keith from Keith & The Movies.
This one looks like fun! Great choices.
Thanks Brittani!
This looks fun! Can’t wait to see where this all goes.
Keith has already put his post up, so you can check that one out 🙂
Hey my friend. My post is up and here’s the link!
http://keithandthemovies.com/2014/03/26/the-ten-most-iconic-movie-characters-blogathon/
Cool! Will check it out and start preparing that overview post 🙂
Hi! I am a regular follower of Keith and the Movies and Ruth at Flixchatter. Just read about your blog, and what a great idea 🙂 Best wishes, Cindy
Thanks Cindy and welcome to My Filmviews! Hope to see you here more often 😉
This is a cool idea. Is the end of the race when all ten characters have been replaced or after a certain number of entries? I’m a little fuzzy on this but I will be watching the progress along the route. So far I’ve got to agree with Keith’s Substitution.
Thanks Richard. Usually these go on for quite a while. There isn’t really a certain number of entries where it stops. I try to follow it as long as I can.
Keith made a great substition indeed. Have to agree with you on that.
It’s a good one Nostra! I’m intrigued to see where this ends up.
Thanks..it had been way too long since I started one of these.
As am I Mark!
Superb idea mate! Looking forward to seeing this doing the rounds and seeing everyone’s choices.
Thanks a lot Chris. I know some of the choices will stay on the list for a long time (if anyone removes Indiana Jones for example they better have very good reasoning ;))
Nice list. I’m looking forward to what other bloggers will be adding.
Looking forward to seeing it as well!
Ellen Ripley being on this list …Amen.
Thank you 🙂
Yet another awesome Blog Relay Nostra! I see you kept up w/ your King of Blogathon reputation 😀 Well the baton has been passed to me from Keith, oh boy this is really tough but I’m up for the challenge!
Thank you Ruth, just got to keep these going as they are always interesting to follow. Looking forward to your entry!
wow such a tough list! I would have to say if you asked anyone old or young most of them would know who Darth Vader is! He is very iconic and long lasting. James Bond would be up there, but since he is played by so many people it could vary. I might have to use this for my own blog…
Hope someone will assign the baton to you so you can write your entry 🙂
Great post Nostra!!
I agree to all of them except for Jules Winnfield, I don’t think he is THAT iconic.
You weren’t the only one to think so as Keith has removed him already ☺
Here’s the link to my entry!
http://afistfuloffilms.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-ten-most-iconic-movie-characters.html
And here’s my entry!
http://www.themoviescrutineer.com/10-most-iconic-characters-in-film-history/
Just saw you have Tony Montana on your list, as well as Jules, and I considered adding both, lol. I removed Princess Leia and added Mary Poppins!
Here it is – http://cinematiccorner.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-10-most-iconic-characters-in-film.html 🙂
GREAT idea for a relay blogathon. Here’s my post! http://www.andsoitbeginsfilms.com/2014/04/the-10-most-iconic-movie-characters.html
I was asked to participate after Sofia at Film Flare: http://girlmeetscinema.blogspot.com/2014/05/top-10-iconic-movie-characters-relay.html
Here’s my entry – http://bigscreensmallwords.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-ten-most-iconic-movie-characters.html
Thank you, will update the overview soon.
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Here’s my entry: http://thevoid99.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-ten-iconic-movie-characters-blog.html
My entry:
http://moviesandsongs365.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-ten-most-iconic-movie-characters.html
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I do hope I’ll get a chance at this, though if I do I have no idea which one I’d take off. There’s a part of me that really, really wants to take off Bond because of how unbelievably sexist the franchise is and I don’t think he deserves the acclaim people give him but on the other hand I can’t argue that he isn’t iconic.
I guess I’ll just have to see what the choices are if the baton gets passed to me, though I’ve got one or two ideas.
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