Five Best Harrison Ford Movies

Has anyone actor appeared in more iconic films than Harrison Ford? James Stewart… John Wayne, maybe. But it’s true—Harrison Ford has not only appeared in three Star Wars movies and four Indiana Jones movies but a handful of other classics including American Graffiti, Apocalypse Now, Blade Runner, and many others.

He’s been making films for 45 years, but which are his five best? With Morning Glory opening this week, it’s time to look back at his very best motion pictures. See below for a surprising, potentially controversial list.

What Lies Beneath (2000)

It’s overlong and sometimes tedious, but this critically-reviled suspense film from director Robert Zemeckis has something no other Harrison Ford movie has—Ford as the bad guy! It’s chilling to watch Ford flip his heroic persona upside down during the last 30 minutes of this movie, and he’s effectively frightening. This Hitchcock-ian thriller also provides one of the last great Michelle Pfeiffer performances, as well as a terrifying and memorable bathtub scene.

Air Force One (1997)

Of all the cheesy action movies Ford made in the 1990s, this one’s the most fun, with Ford playing the President of the United States. When Air Force One is hijacked by a group of terrorists led by Gary Oldman, he has to take matters into his own hands. This movie starts rocking and rolling from minute one and never lets up the tension and suspense. Great supporting turns by Glenn Close and William H. Macy add to the mayhem.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

This isn’t the most popular point of view, but the best of the Indiana Jones movies is the darker prequel the original blockbuster that came out at the height of Steven Spielberg’s success in the mid-1980s. The original is the most loved of the four films that fluctuate in terms of their overall quality, but there’s a great danger and menace to the proceedings in the second installment, with one gleefully action-packed sequence after another. There’s man-eating crocodiles, mine chases, disgusting dinners, and hearts getting ripped out of bodies. What’s not to love?

The Fugitive (1993)

Everything a great thriller should be is all pieced together in this pitch-perfect early 1990s Harrison Ford picture co-stars the Oscar-winning Tommy Lee Jones. Oftentimes it’s lucky to find a single iconic scene in a popular movie Directed by Andrew Davis, this film has at least three, the most memorable of which takes place in a dam tunnel where Ford screams with innocence: “I didn’t kill my wife!” Jones’s hilarious answer: “I don’t care!” This film hasn’t aged a bit and still works today as an ingenious action thriller.

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

The first one is the most famous, the third one has some of the best action (and not to mention a superb, emotional finale), but the best of the Star Wars films is the second installment. Taking on darker themes and going places few sequels dare to go, the Irvin Kershner-directed masterpiece features the first appearance of Yoda and the striking revelation about a certain father figure. Ford seems positively bored in Return of the Jedi, but he’s at his witty, charming best in this film, further cementing his place in Hollywood history as one of the great movie stars of our time.