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Looking to create a playoff bracket of action heroes

Atreus21

Atreus21

Lifer
Criteria
  • Movies only, with multiple movies comprising a franchise.
  • Must be a human being, not part of any superhero universe (no Batman, for example), nor considered super-human.
  • One character per actor.
So far I've come up with the following names, in no particular order:
  • Bryan Mills (Taken)
  • Jason Bourne
  • James Bond
  • John Wick
  • Robert McCall (The Equalizer)
  • Ethan Hunt (Mission Impossible)
  • Mike Banning (X Has Fallen)
  • John McClane (Die Hard)
  • Frank Martin (The Transporter)
  • Sarah Connor (Terminator)
  • Ellen Ripley (Alien)
  • Alan "Dutch" Schaefer (Predator)
  • John Rambo
  • Indiana Jones
  • Harry Callahan (Dirty Harry)
  • Martin Riggs (Lethal Weapon)
  • Snake Plissken (Escape from New York)
  • Lara Croft (Tomb Raider)
  • Ash Williams (Evil Dead)
  • James Braddock (Missing in Action)
  • The Bride (Kill Bill)
  • Detective Lee (Rush Hour)
Having collected 22 characters, I need to seed them before I create the bracket. Please take my survey below, if you'd like to give your opinion on seeding.

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Seeding - Action Heroes

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I would have gone with John Matrix over Dutch for Arnie.

lol, how obvious is that name?


and Jack Bauer! that dude dies about 4 times every "day." oh, missed movies "only"
 
OccamsToothbrush said:
Snake Plissken
Ash Williams
Lara Croft
James T. Kirk
Jack Ryan
Click to expand...

I was conflicted about Jack Ryan because of Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones. I think Ford has played Ryan more than any other single movie actor.

I also didn't consider Kirk. Is he rightly considered an action hero?

I've added the other three. Don't know how I overlooked Ash.
 
Atreus21 said:
I was conflicted about Jack Ryan because of Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones. I think Ford has played Ryan more than any other single movie actor.

I also didn't consider Kirk. Is he rightly considered an action hero?

I've added the other three. Don't know how I overlooked Ash.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Ford played Ryan twice, but it's not like any actor is really associated with the role. 4 different actors in 5 films and plus another for the TV series. Kirk was definitely an action hero albeit a cheesy one, christ, he must have had 50 fight scenes.

 
OccamsToothbrush said:
Yeah, Ford played Ryan twice, but it's not like any actor is really associated with the role. 4 different actors in 5 films and plus another for the TV series. Kirk was definitely an action hero albeit a cheesy one, christ, he must have had 50 fight scenes.

Click to expand...

Considering that Star Trek is not straightforwardly an action franchise, and is also first and foremost a TV show, I propose to add him in the event that the final list yields an odd number.
 
Kirk is a man of action, but not an action hero.

Would any of the Bruce Lee characters count? Or, other martial arts practitioners, such as The Bride?

Because, while i get what you wanted to do, once you start to look past the first initial 4-5 badasses that immediately come to mind, you get a whole lot of subgenre action characters that start to push the limits of what is realistic. This still while applying the rule of "no supernatural abilities".

Remember the old adage "who would win between Superman and Mickey Mouse"?
 
I'm also not at all familiar with Steven Seagal movies. Was he in any movies that qualify?
 
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DigDog said:
Kirk is a man of action, but not an action hero.

Would any of the Bruce Lee characters count? Or, other martial arts practitioners, such as The Bride?

Because, while i get what you wanted to do, once you start to look past the first initial 4-5 badasses that immediately come to mind, you get a whole lot of subgenre action characters that start to push the limits of what is realistic. This still while applying the rule of "no supernatural abilities".

Remember the old adage "who would win between Superman and Mickey Mouse"?
Click to expand...

Right, exactly. I was originally just looking for the secret agent/assassin types, like James Bond and similar. But guys like Indiana Jones complicated things.

I'm inclined to exclude straightforwardly kung fu/martial-arts franchises, even though there aren't that many with recurring main characters, excluding Rush Hour or Kill Bill.

EDIT: Screw it. I'm adding them both.

There's gonna be mismatches. So be it. I'll let the bracket sort it out.
 
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glenn1 said:
Lee Mu Bai from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

Mad Max.

Takeshi Kovacs from Altered Carbon.
Click to expand...

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is more straightforwardly a kung fu movie, and also isn't exactly a franchise.

Mad Max is Mel Gibson. I already got Riggs from Lethal Weapon. Unless you think the Mad Max character is a stronger candidate.

Altered Carbon is a TV series. Doesn't meet the criteria.

zinfamous said:
I would have gone with John Matrix over Dutch for Arnie.
Click to expand...

Me too, but Commando isn't a franchise.
 
So, I know its not directly related, but your post reminded me of this:

Local sports radio guy semi-recently(2011) did a "what would a football team of superheroes look like?" multi-part piece. Pretty cool stuff, if you're into football and superheroes. He did one for Marvel and one for DC.

chicago.cbslocal.com

Holmes: Superhero Football Team, Part I

I've taken my love for football and my love for comics and tried to combine them. In putting together the team, I tried to make it to scale with the bigger players closest to the ball.
chicago.cbslocal.com chicago.cbslocal.com
 
As far as some others that I can think of:

Ip Man (Donnie Yen) EDIT: You posted above: "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is more straightforwardly a kung fu movie, and also isn't exactly a franchise. " ....not sure if this counts then?
Casey Ryback (Steven Seagal, Under Siege)
 
I need to seed the characters we've collected. Please take the survey below if you'd like to contribute your opinion:

www.surveymonkey.com

Seeding - Action Heroes

Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.
www.surveymonkey.com www.surveymonkey.com
 
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