Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The 6 Greatest Roles of Kurt Russell

This week's assignment from the League of Extraordinary Bloggers is stunningly beautiful in its simplicity:

Kurt Russell

Since the field's wide open, I'm going with a pictorial trip through the man's greatest roles. Probably not any surprises here, but my aim is to celebrate, not educate. Let me know in the comments if I missed something.

In chronological order:

1. Snake Plissken (Escape from New York, Escape from L.A.)



2. R.J. MacReady (The Thing)



3. Jack Burton (Big Trouble in Little China)



4. Wyatt Earp (Tombstone)



5. Col. Jack O'Neil (Stargate)



6. Michael Zane (3000 Miles to Graceland)



Honorable mention: The jungle boy on that one episode of Gilligan's Island.

What's your favorite Kurt Russell role?

11 comments:

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

Whenever I read any sort of article about how to establish or introduce a character in a movie, MacReady is almost always near the top of the list of examples, often on par with Indiana Jones. Its so simple and yet subtle. We see during his chess game that he'd rather destroy everything than admit to defeat.

Michael May said...

With that one observation I now want to re-watch The Thing. Very cool.

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

MacReady's also a drinker. When Mac sees the camp on fire and believes "the job is done", he is about to take a drink, but then Childs appears and MacReady offers him the bottle instead.

In both the beginning and the end when Mac has an encounter with a "cheating opponent", he gives them a drink. During that chess game, the drink killed the computer. In the end with Childs, well...

I think Mac poisoned the whiskey, intending to do himself in when the job was done so he wouldn't risk potential infection, but found that The Thing still had one piece in play.

He's kind of on par with Captain Kirk in Wrath of Khan (which also came out in 1982). Neither of them believes in no win scenario.

Moncynnes said...

I read somewhere that Kurt Russell was almost the lead in the 1980 "Flash Gordon." That would have been something to see!

Michael May said...

I'm in the minority, but I didn't enjoy that version of Flash Gordon. Putting Kurt Russell in it might have changed my opinion (though most of my problems are more about the tone than the lead actor).

spiderkev said...

I loved him as "Stuntman" Mike in the underrated DeathProof.

Michael May said...

I still need to see that. Did they ever release a Grindhouse collection that includes both films and all the trailers? That's what I'm waiting for.

Michael May said...

Hmm. I see that there's a Blu-Ray version like that, but no DVD. Rassum frassum...

Kal said...

Can't beat him for Snake Plisken. I personally have fond memories of all those Disney movie he did as a teenager -

Michael May said...

I missed all those as a kid and have always wondered if they were any good. Do you have a recommendation?

Claymation Werewolf said...

Great images sir. What a career!

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