Most Inspiring Movie Character...

[Jerk Shapiro]

John Nash: Russell Crowe ( A Beautiful Mind)
Graham Hess: Mel Gibson ( SIGNS )
Maximus: Russell Crowe (Gladiator)

I'll post more as the thread goes along...

[RogueSpear]

Rudy Ruettiger - Rudy

[Grebdron]

Capt. John Miller-Saving Private Ryan

and

Oskar Schindler-Schindler's List.

[Antonio]

Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.

[Grebdron]

OOOOHHHH!!!! Dammit, Antonio. Good call!!
http://www.plauder-smilies.de/kopfpatsch.gif

[Jerk Shapiro]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by RogueSpear:
Rudy Ruettiger - Rudy</font>

Good Call!

[Cyclonus]

The Geoffrey Rush character in Shine. I really felt sorry for him, this guy had a lot of problems, including a mean dad. Yet, he was a really strong person, and successfully persued a career in music...and found true love. http://www.joblo.com/ubb/smile.gif

*spoilers*
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Just when they had a chance to patch things up, his dad died at the end, that was so sad, seeing him visit his grave. http://www.joblo.com/ubb/frown.gif


[This message has been edited by Cyclonus (edited 08-07-2002).]

[[SD] Bob Plisskin]

Whole-Heartadly agree with Atticus Finch top ten list time methinks:

1: Clarence Darrow (Darrow)
2: Bill Foster aka D-Fens (Falling Down)
3: Maximus (Gladiator)
4: Atticus Finch (TKAM)
5: R.P. McMurphy (One Flew Over)
6: Bruce Lee (Dragon or pretty much any real Bruce Lee film)
7: Andy Dufresne (The Shawshank Redemption)
8: William Wallace (Braveheart)
9: Wyatt Earp (Tombstone)
10. Frank TJ Mackey (Magnolia)

&lt;OB&gt;

[Jerk Shapiro]

Patch Adams (Robin Williams)in Patch Adams

[Sam Hain]

nash(crowe)-a beautiful mind
sam(penn)-i am sam

[Antonio]

BTW, Movie Maniac......GREAT FUCKING TOPIC! You're on a roll, brother...with mucho creative and meaningful ideas!

[Jerk Shapiro]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Antonio:
BTW, Movie Maniac......GREAT FUCKING TOPIC! You're on a roll, brother...with mucho creative and meaningful ideas!</font>

Thank ya budday

[El Bracamonti]

PATRICK BATEMAN IS BY FAR THE MOST INSPIRING CHARACTER IN ANY MOVIE. HA HA. THATS THE ANSWER ALL OF YOU SHOULD HAVE GIVEN

[electriclite]

Lester Burnham (American Beauty) On how not to live your life, i.e. finally taking stock of it a week before you die.

Chief Martin Brody (Jaws) Taking control of your fears.

Lt. Ellen Ripley (Alien 1-3) 1. For kicking Alien ass! 2. For kicking bigger Alien Queen butt and creating an assault rifle/flamethrower to 3. For making the ultimate sacrifice for the good of mankind. Tough broad!

[Jerk Shapiro]

And probably the most inspiring character ever: WILLIAM WALLACE

[Mick]

Tyler Durden.

"Would you rather be dead? Would you rather die here, on you're knees, in the back of a convenience store?"

The whole scene with Raymond made we want to get off my ass and do something with my life.

[docholiday_13]

Ferris Bueller

[ColinM]

I'm definitely say Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption.

[Da ShadiestBro]

How about Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump?

[Jerk Shapiro]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Da ShadiestBro:
How about Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump?</font>

Great ONE!

[notchreturns]

William H. Macy in Door to Door. It was a TNT movie that aired about a month ago, but he gave an amazing performance. I can't remember the name of the guy he portryaed, but the guy walked 10 miles a day, door to door, for about 35 years even though he had celrebal paulsy(sp?).

If that isn't inspiration I don't know what is...

[LAW]

Simon Birch

[Jerk Shapiro]

Can't believe anybody's said this one yet:

ELIJAH WOOD (FRODO BAGGINS) THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING

[Jerk Shapiro]

A little more:


EVERYONE IN THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING

Ya know: Aragon, Legolas, Dwarf guy, Pippen and Sam

[austin2408]

i have to go with forrest gump (sr.)


or verbal kint (usual suspects)

[YF Manson]

William Wallace: Braveheart

[jbuck_919]

He really existed and is not fictional, but Thomas More. A Man for All Seasons has been filmed twice; they're both good but I prefer the classic one with Paul Scofield over the newer one with Charlton Heston.

[Jerk Shapiro]

Captain John Miller: Saving Private Ryan

Haley Joel Osment: The Sixth Sense

[Just AnotherSchmoe]

Rocky Balboa

[Jerk Shapiro]

William H. Macy's Character in the TNT movie DOOR TO DOOR...was his name Bill Porter?

[samiam418]

haley joel osment (bad spelling) Pass it forward

Sally Field- Norma Rae
Chrstian Bale-Newsies
Heath Ledger- A knight's Tale
Tom Hanks- Forrest Gump
Denzel Washington-The Hurricane

[Eliar Swiftfire]

Heh.

Rick Blaine from Casablanca.

[Favourite end]

Jodie Foster in Contact (my first choice, since I`m a girl)
However as general:
Maximus in Gladiator
John Nash Jr. in A Beautiful Mind
William Wallace in Braveheart

I almost forgot my favest most inspiring character: Juliette Binoche in Chocolat.

[This message has been edited by Favourite end (edited 08-16-2002).]

[Bullet Tooth Tony]

Lester Burnham for sure, as I feel the same way about my job at the moment...

"I can't remember the last time I felt this...sedated."

[Grebdron]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by samiam418:
haley joel osment (bad spelling) Pass it forward
</font>

That's funny, cause you actually spelled his name correctly, but got the name of the movie wrong. Pay it Forward.

And no, I'm not nitpicking, just an amusing aside.

[BunnyNoises]

Anand- ANAND
Atticus Finch- TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Guido- LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

[NumberMSO52]

Good calls on Frodo and Sam from LOTR, D-Fens from Falling Down, Tyler Durden from Fight Club, Andy from the Shawshank Redemption, and Atticus Finch of to Kill a Mockingbird, but also i gotta add one...

Randal Graves from Clerks

[This message has been edited by NumberMSO52 (edited 08-21-2002).]

[NumberMSO52]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Mick:
Tyler Durden.

"Would you rather be dead? Would you rather die here, on you're knees, in the back of a convenience store?"

The whole scene with Raymond made we want to get off my ass and do something with my life. </font>

I agree with you on that, that scene in both the book and the movie really had a huge impact on me.

[couchpotato head]

DONNIE DARKO in Donnie Darko
ASH WILLIAMS in Evil Dead series
FOREST GUMP in Forest Gump

I can't believe that no one has listed those first two! I'll list more if I see any

[Crippler]

Sarah Connor - The Terminator

ON YOUR FEET SOLIDER !!!!!

[Trinity]

Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) - "Contact"

[Gigolo Jay]

Peter Gibbons in Office Space. I worked in an office like that when I saw the movie. I went "Jesus, I'm a bum" and quit. My new job doesn't pay as much, but fuck am I glad to get out of "cubicle hell"

[rockerbaby604]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Mick:
Tyler Durden.

"Would you rather be dead? Would you rather die here, on you're knees, in the back of a convenience store?"

The whole scene with Raymond made we want to get off my ass and do something with my life. </font>

Thats a good one, I agree when I saw him do that, it gave me will to really try and do something with my life.

[Jerk Shapiro]

The Greatest Story Ever Told. JESUS ...Max Von Sydow...Pretty damn inspirational in my book!

[couchpotato head]

I thought of another one!
Chris Chambers in STAND BY ME It's a shame River Pheonix died!
(starts crying):(
:cool:

[Tom Samborski]

Andrew Beckett(Tom Hanks) in Philidalphia. He inspires you to fight for your rights.

[Kastman]

Rubin "hurricane" carter
Morgan Freemans character in shawshank,redding or something

[Jasonite]

Inspiring movie character? For me that'd be

Ben Kingsley: Gandhi


J

[Gregorious8]

Originally posted by Jasonite
Inspiring movie character? For me that'd be

Ben Kingsley: Gandhi


J

Yeah man great choice, I just saw that movie at school.

I would pick Tyler Durden

"You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world."

[James Logan]

William Wallace (Mel Gibson) in BRAVEHEART

[Jerk Shapiro]

Tom Hanks' character in Saving Private Ryan ( John Miller )

The whole cast of Black Hawk Down

[Jerk Shapiro]

Upon my first review of The Shawshank Redemption, I'm definetly saying : Andy.

God he was inspirational.

[Jerk Shapiro]

Let me see that body go "BUMB BUMP BUMP"

[Hucksta G]

Tyler Durden
Lester Burnham
Ricky Fitts
Ferris Bueller

[Hannibal21]

Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) in The Grapes of Wrath

[syxxpac]

Lester Burnham (American Beauty) and Andy Dufresne (Shawshank Redemption) are my new personal heroes :D

[TheGodSon]

William Wallace.

His speech when the Scots are up against the English still gives me chills. (battle of sterling was it?) And I've seen it has to over 100 times.

[Raoul Duke]

Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull

Ed Norton in American History X (not the fact he was a skin head, the fact he reformed)

[Sugar Magnolia]

No one has mentioned these 2 yet...

Christy Brown(Daniel Day-Lewis) in MY LEFT FOOT
Jim Graham in EMPIRE OF THE SUN

[Friggin Jawas]

John Nash (Beautiful Mind)
Maximus (Gladiator)
Sam (I am Sam)
Hannibal Lecter (the Silence of the Lambs series)
Shrek (Shrek)
Harry/Lloyd (Dumb and Dumber)
Stu (Phone Booth)
Vin Diesal's character (A Man Apart)


there are more i just am tired of typing.....

[Jerk Shapiro]

Originally posted by Raoul Duke
Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull




Same here, + Tyler Durden.

[Tagia_Romero]

Andy Dufresne (The Shawshank Redemption)
Ellen Ripley (The "Alien" series)
Atticus Finch (To Kill A Mockingbird)
Jerry Dandrige (Fright Night)
Hannibal Lecter
Ash Williams (The "Evil Dead" series)
Sarah Connor (The "Terminator" films)
Wolverine (X-Men)

[acohrs02]

Lt. Col. Hal Moore (Mel Gibson) in We Were Soldiers

[Annie Hall]

1. Lester Burnham from American Beauty
2. John Prentice from Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
3. Ethel Thayer from On Golden Pond
4. Rod Tidwell from Jerry Maguire
5. Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird
6. Ferris Bueller from Ferris Bueller's Day Off
7. Donnie Darko from Donnie Darko
8. Bud White from L.A. Confidential
9. John Keating from Dead Poets Society
10. Silent Bob

[Scooter]

Stifler~ American Pie & American Pie 2 he's inspired me to be a chick magnet

[RicochetShaw]

Besides the obvious choices, I was really inspired by Donnie Darko.

[DaveyJoeG]

William Wallace from Braveheart
Andy Dufresne from The Shawshank Redemption
Chuck Noland from Cast Away
Jeffrey Wigand from The Insider
Gandhi from Gandhi
Jim Kurring from Magnolia
Wladyslaw Szpilman from The Pianist
Oskar Schindler from Schindler's List
Jules Winfield from Pulp Fiction
Jesus Christ from The Last Temptation of Christ
Lester Burnham from American Beauty
Marge Gunderson from Fargo

[Sugar Magnolia]

Originally posted by DaveyJoeG
William Wallace from Braveheart
Andy Dufresne from The Shawshank Redemption
Chuck Noland from Cast Away
Jeffrey Wigand from The Insider
Gandhi from Gandhi
Jim Kurring from Magnolia
Wladyslaw Szpilman from The Pianist
Oskar Schindler from Schindler's List
Jules Winfield from Pulp Fiction
Jesus Christ from The Last Temptation of Christ
Lester Burnham from American Beauty
Marge Gunderson from Fargo

All excellent choices...

[The Young Son]

How about George Monroe in Life As A House?

[MarkItZero]

The Dude

"Ah Fuck IT!"

"Fuck it! Yes! That's your answer for everything! Tattoo it on your forehead!"

[quoth_the_raven]

Oskar Schindler.


Also under consideration were Andy Dufresne and William Wallace, but i feel oskar was so much more inspiring than either.

[MickeyKnox]

Tyler Durden(Fight Club)
Jake LaMotta(Raging Bull)
William Wallace(Braveheart)
John Bender(The Breakfast Club)
Lester Burnham(American Beauty)
Leon(Leon:The Professional)
Clarence Worley(True Romance)
The Dude(The Big Lebowski)

[johnny2blades]

In no particular order...

William Wallace (Braveheart)
Tyler Durden (Duh)
Henry Sagan (Fisher King)
Vincent Freeman (Gattaca)
Ron Kovic (Born on the Fourth)

[Razorblade Smile]

Any character ever played by the late great Jimmy Stewart!

Most specifically:

Jeff Smith in Mister Smith Goes to Washington

Elwood P Dowd in Harvey

George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life

The man can do no wrong.

[bankholdup]

Andy Dufresne - The Shawshank Redemption
Mike - Swingers
Lloyd Dobler - Say Anything...



Dobler rules. He had balls enough to just ask the girl out, which I totally dig. And the way he did it is just good. Maybe it's just me, I don't know.

[WaLkEnSAnGeL]

Sean Penn in I am Sam
Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs
Christina Ricci in Sleepy Hollow
Ralph Fiennes in Red Dragon
Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man
Jimmy Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life
Rosalind Russell in Trouble with angels
Jack Nickolson in As Good as it gets
Chris Walken in The Prophecy
Donald Pleasence in the Halloween movies
Leo Dicaprio in Whats Eating Gilbert Grape?
Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Prink
Sam Neill in In The Mouth of Madness
Kevin Spacey in Pay it Foward
Anthony Perkins in Pyscho

[DaveyJoeG]

Originally posted by Sugar Magnolia
All excellent choices...

Thanks, I like yours too. I thought I was the only person who enjoyed Empire of the Sun.

[JCLC11]

- Dorothy Boyd (Jerry Maguire)
- Lester Burnham (American Beauty)
- Donnie Darko (Donnie Darko)
- Sam Dawson (I Am Sam)
- Lloyd Dobbler (Say Anything)
- Andy Dufresne (The Shawshank Redemption)
- Tyler Durden (Fight Club)
- Forrest Gump (Forrest Gump)

[Grim H.]

Atticus Finch-To Kill a Mockingbird
Colonel Robert Gould Shaw-Glory

[Jerk Shapiro]

2004 gave us many inspirational movie characters...but, one takes the cake:

Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) in Million Dollar Baby.


Wow. What a performance.

[Kraxpelax]

This one is easy. It's Julia Ormond as Smilla Jaspersen in Smilla's Sense Of Snow .

[Gian-Sergio]

Kikuchiyo in THE SEVEN SAMURAI
Vito Corleone in THE GODFATHER AND THE GODFATHER PART II
Jake La Motta in RAGING BULL
Maria in WEST SIDE STORY
Kanji Watanabe in IKIRU
Jill in ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
Kilgore in APOCALYPSE NOW
El Chivo in AMORES PERROS
Rocket and Knockout Ned in CITY OF GOD
Elvis and JFK in BUBBA HO-TEP
Jeffrey in THE KILLER

[morricone]

ROCKY! ROCKY! ROCKY!

I'm gonna have to go with Rocky Balboa on this one. He inspired us all, and the entire city of Philadelphia.

[Jamesadin]

Im suprised no one has said this one yet:

Capt. Winters - Band of Brothers

http://people.zeelandnet.nl/haroldvdb/bandofbrothers/acteurs/Winters21.jpg

[Antonio]

Since AFI is airing theirs (most inspirational movies instead of characters)...resurrecting this old fossil.

[Hannibal21]

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Film/Pix/gallery/2003/06/13/mockingbird.jpg

[Brando @$$ Fat]

Harold Abrahams from CHARIOTS OF FIRE
Oskar Schindler from SCHINDLER'S LIST
R.P. McMurphey from ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
George Bailey from IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
Ron Kovic from BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY
Rocky Balboa from ROCKY
Vincent Gambini from MY COUSIN VINNY
Hoke Colburn from DRIVING MISS DAISY

[ilovemovies]

I'll put a list later (a top 10 or 20) later on. But for now, I'd say the most inspiring movie character ever is:

James Braddock, played by Russell Crowe, in Cinderella Man.

The man was dirt broke and had to fight to keep his family together but he got that second chance and soared! Amazing character, amazing performance and totally AMAZING movie!

[X-Nightcrawler]

Great thread. Some of my favorites already-been-mentioned:

Forrest Gump, Andy Dufresne (Shawshank Redemption), William Wallace (Braveheart).

Others:

-Hamlet (pick an incarnation/Simba (Lion King)/any "Grow a pair of balls!" character.
-Justin Quayle (The Constant Gardener)
-Joshua Rose (Savior).
-Aslan (Narnia)*.
-Hiroki Sugimura (Battle Royale).

*for nostalgia motives, I took the character more seriously than I should've.

[Terror Australis]

Originally posted by Antonio
Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.

Amen to that!

[cuckoo2]

Definitely this guy...Beautifully acted by daniel day lewis, it doesn't seem like many of you guys have seen the movie because if you have, then you would've put him up here for sure.


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2c/Myleftfoot1.jpg/200px-Myleftfoot1.jpg

[The cinema]

Al Pacino in Sent of a woman

[lunatic]

Emmanuelle in EMMANUELLE :p

[Sh8dy Milkman]

Originally posted by The cinema
Al Pacino in Sent of a woman

Nice One...

[The_Raging_Bull]

R.P. McMurphy-One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Rocky
Maximus-Gladiator
Cool Hand Luke

[Deckard]

11 that inspired me- (Off the top of my head- In no order

Yoda- there is no try, only do

1. Cool Hand Luke (Paul Newman) in Cool Hand Luke
2. Pappilon (Steve McQueen) in Papillon
3. Grady (Micheal Douglas) in Wonderboys
4. Larry Flynt (Woody Harrelson) in The People Vs Larry Flynt
5. Superman (Christopher Reeves) in Superman
6. Indiana Jones/Han Solo (Harrison Ford) in Star Wars/Raiders Of the Lost Ark
7. Josh Waitzkin (Max Pomeranc) in Searching For Bobby Fischer
8. Edward ScissorHands (Johnny Depp) in Edward Scissorhands
9. Llyod Dobbler (John Cusack) in Say Anything
10. Randal (jeff Anderson) in Clerks
11. Lightfoot (Jeff Bridges) in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

These are a few that inspired me to get off my butt and do something with life.....

[FilmKing2000]

These two guys:

http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/warner_brothers/the_shawshank_redemption/_group_photos/morgan_freeman2.jpg

[SIREN30]

Atticus Finch of COURSE. :D

[powersauce]

As much as I hate Tom Cruise personally, Jerry Maguire is the most inspiring IMO. It's one of the few performances where he's NOT playing himself.

[Jerk Shapiro]

Originally posted by powersauce
As much as I hate Tom Cruise personally, Jerry Maguire is the most inspiring IMO. It's one of the few performances where he's NOT playing himself.

Gotta agree. Jerry Maguire is one of my favorite movie characters of all-time.