Harrison Ford returns to perhaps his most famous role this weekend in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”
This is the fourth time Ford has taken up the battered fedora, leather jacket and bullwhip of his two-fisted archaeologist alter-ego — and the first time in almost 20 years.
You’d think that if director Steven Spielberg and company wanted to jump-start this franchise after such a long interval, they could have found someone younger to wear Indiana Jones’ costume. Apparently, this wasn’t close to being an option.
There’s a reason the American Film Institute ranked Ford’s Indy as the second greatest screen hero (behind Gregory Peck’s Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird”). Who besides Ford best embodies the agreeable and accessible combination of He-Man and Everyman that Indiana Jones carries into pursuit of fame and glory?
But Ford’s no one-trick pony. He’s played another iconic character, Han Solo, in the “Star Wars” films. And he’s shone in other roles. Here’s a look at some of Ford’s best work over the years. [ redeye contributed. ]
Blade Runner 1982
Ford all but disowned this futuristic noir thriller when it was first released because, among other things, he wasn’t fond of the off-screen narration. Since the movie’s rerelease under director Ridley Scott’s revisions, even Ford has come to share the prevailing opinion that this is a classic of science fiction filmmaking — and that, just maybe, his sour, sodden robot killer Rick Deckard is the role for which he’ll be best remembered no matter what the real future looks like.
The Mosquito Coast 1986
Ford should have received serious Oscar consideration as the quixotic engineer who moves himself and his family to a Central American rain forest where he wants to build an ice factory. Trivia note: The late River Phoenix, who portrayed the young Indy in 1989’s “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” played Ford’s son here.
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Star Wars Episode VI: The Empire Strikes Back 1980
This remains, by far, the best of the Skywalker Chronicles and it’s Ford’s show for much of the way. When we think fondly of Han Solo in his wiseacre, swashbuckling glory, this is the movie we think of first. Apparently, it was Ford’s idea to say “I know” to the “I love you” of Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia just before Han gets put in deep freeze. That moment may have been all Ford needed to make him a star, leading him inexorably to …
Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981
“I’m just making it up as I go along,” Ford’s Indy says at one point. Never was the essence of can-do Americana better encapsulated in a movie where poisonous snakes, with and without Nazi armbands, figured prominently. In both this film and “Empire,” one is struck by how totally loose and funny he is throughout. (Maybe he needed Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote both scripts, on permanent retainer.)
Witness 1985
Ford’s only Oscar nomination came for his performance as a Philadelphia police detective hiding in an Amish village to protect a young boy and his mother (Kelly McGillis) from crooked cops. It was a droll, deft and often touching performance, if not necessarily his best.
Honorable mention
Frantic 1988
This Hitchcockian thriller by Roman Polanski remains undervalued, as does Ford’s performance — one of his very best — as a doctor scampering along Paris streets and rooftops in search of his missing spouse.
Air Force One 1997
Ford drives home the ludicrous idea of a butt-kicking chief executive literally shoving ruthless terrorists off his plane.
Hollywood Homicide 2003
Ford allowed a welcome view of his wry-guy side to leak into his portrayal of an LAPD detective moonlighting as a real-estate agent for Southern California’s nouveau riche.
Patriot Games 1992
Ford was, by this time, too old to play Tom Clancy’s dauntless CIA analyst Jack Ryan. Yet his leathery professionalism served him well enough to carry him into a second, if more lugubrious, Ryan movie, “Clear and Present Danger” (1994).
Working Girl 1988
As workaholic investment broker Jack Trainer, Ford was sexy and sweet, winning the heart of Melanie Griffith’s corporate ladder climber.