Everyone has a favorite action/adventure movie, and with that comes a favorite hero/heroine and every person has one fictional character that they feel they have a deep connection with.
For some reason, my favorite growing up was Indiana Jones. With so many action/adventure movies, looking back, it seems weird to me that I connected with Indy over all the others.
Maybe it was his faulty human nature - which always meant he would trust people he shouldn't - or his ability to get out of situations I could only dream of.
Either way, Dr. Jones was the reason I pretended to outrun gigantic boulders in my backyard and asked my parents for a whip at the age of 8.
Over the years, the idea of the action hero has changed, and I now find myself watching movies about covert assassins and injustices being committed around the world.
But I still look for those heroes of my youth, and have spent a great deal of time pondering who the top three are.
That being said, here is my current list of the top action/adventure heroes - besides Indy of course.
No. 3 - James Bond (Casino Royale"")
While I am a huge fan of Sean Connery, and in some cases still consider him to be the best overall Bond, there is no doubt Daniel Craig's version is the most badass. Craig's Bond bleeds, almost dies and is still level-headed enough to make the witty comment that everyone loves.
In ""Casino Royale"" it is hard to pick the best moment, as Bond continuously out-thinks his enemies. The most hilarious moment has to be when Bond is being tortured by Le Chiffre, his nemesis in the film. I won't go into detail, but the sequence that leads to Bond saying, ""Now the whole world's gonna know that you died scratching my balls,"" basically sums it up.
No. 2 - Jason Bourne (""The Bourne Identity,"" ""The Bourne Supremacy,"" ""The Bourne Ultimatum"")
If there is an assassin who deserves to be on this list, it's Bourne. Who would have thought that being a puppet killer for the C.I.A. could ever go wrong? But as we have seen with Jason, it can. While the main narrative of this trilogy is the mystery of Bourne's past, it is hard not to enjoy the amount of butt-kicking that he does in between.
The epitome of Bourne's ability has to be in ""The Bourne Ultimatum,"" when Bourne beats up a fellow assassin with only a book and a towel. Everyone knows that one weird guy who boasts about knowing 50 ways to kill a person - well, Bourne is him on steroids, for real.
No. 1 - John McClane (""Die Hard,"" ""Die Hard 2: Die Harder,"" ""Die Hard with a Vengeance,"" ""Live Free or Die Hard"")
""Yippee Ki Yay"" John, you are No. 1. Anyone who has seen the first three installments of the ""Die Hard"" series knows exactly why McClane is at the top spot. He can single-handedly take down massive amounts of terrorists within a two and a half hour time frame.
The latest chapter in Lt. McClane's fight against terrorists - ""Live Free or Die Hard"" - once again proves his worthiness, as John drives trucks through building walls and into elevator shafts, and takes down a helicopter by driving a car off of a toll booth median. While his antics may seem ridiculous and unbelievable, in the world of action cinema, he defines the genre.
So, let the debating begin. This list is in no way complete or - depending on your own movie tastes - accurate. It is just the point of view of one man.
As for me, I'm waiting to hear from A.F.I. I think they may like my ideas.
If you would like to make a case for either Timothy Dalton or Roger Moore as the most badass of the Bonds, email Nate at ncarey@dailycardinal.com.
