Running With Quills: An array of Heroes!

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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

An array of Heroes!

What's your favorite type of hero?
You know, they come in all sizes, professions, mind sets and personalities. I was pondering a movie to see this weekend and it got me thinking of some of my favorites, and how the heroes varied a lot.
I know you'll say you love them all, but you gotta have a preference, right?

What about the tortured guy who has to overcome his own baggage to be truly heroic?
Like... MAN ON FIRE!

Wasn't Denzel just incredible in this movie?
I loved it, and it became a favorite for me and my youngest son. Denzel was so wounded and shut off from the world, but he still had the heart of a hero, and it only took a little girl to make him see that.

What about the quiet guy with abilities that make him an outcast in society? He'll never fit in, never be trusted or accepted, but he still gives his all to defend the innocent.

Yep, I'm talking about BLADE!
Luv me some Blade.
If they'd make them, I'd be first in line to see a Blade 4, 5, and 6!
And speaking of Blade...

Don't you love a character who is heroic to his core, but clowns around and pretends not to take anything or anyone seriously? Hubba hubba that Ryan Reynolds is one FINE young man, and I adored his role in Blade Trinity!

I think my favorite is the secretive guy, the one who is so quiet and contained and in control of himself that he keeps everything bottled up inside.

You'd never know this guy could be so lethal until you get him going. Then, when you push him hard enough to make him break loose - look out!
Matt Damon isn't the typical kick-butt hero by any stretch, but he's such an incredible actor that he carries off any role with awe-inspiring skill.

I also love the average guy, the man who does what he can without special fighting skills or paranormal ability. He gets beat up in the process, and almost never gets the credit he deserves. But then, he doesn't do it for credit - he does it because it's his nature to protect.

These are just a few of my examples.
Do you have any to add?
What are YOUR favorites?

Happy reading, watching, and hero-analyzing!

21 Comments:

DFender said...: Lori,
I can't post a picture so you won't get the whole drool effect but Adrian Paul in The Highlander Series...rowwwwrrrrr...is my favorite hero of all time.

Dean Cain as Superman
Sean Connery as James Bond
Al Pacino as Serpico
Liam Neeson in Shindler's List
Keanu Reeves in The Matrix
Russell Crowe in The Gladiator
Spencer Tracey as Father Flanagan

Those are just a few... I'll think of more... haha; 10:39 AM
Anonymous said...: Can't forget some of those TV heroes too

Jack Bauer on 24
Jonas on The Unit
Dr. Greg House on House
Jack, Kate and even Sawyer on Lost
and the emerging heroes on the show Heroes
The Quinn brothers in Nora Roberts Chesapeake Bay series

Could go on and on, but these are a few of my current favs.

Kathy; 10:49 AM
nellsquirrel said...: Viggo in LOTR. *sigh*

My hubby. He's my real hero. He is the easy going type but he'd fight to the death for me or, more importantly, for our son.; 12:44 PM
Anonymous said...: Damn Nell, you took the words right out of my...keyboard. Word for word actually ;)

But aside from reality, then yeah, I can name a few. Denzel in Man on Fire is the definition of hero. I LOVE that movie because of the role he played and he played it so well.

And the heroic clown - ok some may not agree with me, but Matthew McConaughey in Sahara. For an exSEAL and scientist that he was supposed to be, he was a fun-loving guy.

And to add to this - the older hero - Robert Duvall in Second Hand Lions. I adore him in that role.

KathyLynn; 1:31 PM
Lori Foster said...: Hey all!
I get to see some REAL heroes tonight live in Columbus at the Nationwide arena witht the UFC event. Only a few more hours! Can't wait.

Nel and anon, yes, yes. I agree. Hubby is the best man I know!

I also liked Matthew M in Sahara, and that's about the only thing I've liked him in. LOL.
Old Clint Eastwood movies... yum. PERFECT soft spoken but deadly hero.
And Sean Connery... oh, any day!!!

HUGS to all!

Lori; 2:18 PM
Jayne Ann Krentz said...: Great blog, Lori: I think one of the best things about romance novels is that they keep alive the concept of the true hero.

--Jayne; 7:24 PM
Anonymous said...: I'm an Amanda Quick fan and I have to tell you, my favorite book is "Deception." Jared is my perfect man/hero. I've read the book a million times and he is perfect.

On the other hand, my husband, is hero in training. He tries and for a flesh and blood man, he's pretty close.

Kelly Ann; 8:49 PM
Pia said...: There are a lot of movie actors who play such great heroes to me. I also agree with a lot that my husband too is one hero.
As for those actors here are some...
Daniel Day Lewis in Last of the Mohicans (When he told Madeleine Stowe that he would find her, I never doubted that he would)

Josh Duhamel and Topher Grace in Win a Date with Tad Hamilton

Humprey Bogart in Casablanca

Carey Grant in most of his films like An Affair to Remember

Vin Diesel in Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick

John Corbett in Sex and the City, My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Orlando Bloom (just as Legolas) in LOTR Trilogy...

There are so many more but I'm afraid it might take a lot of space. There are also a lot of heroes in the books I've read and here's a few...
Amanda Quick's Gabriel Jones
Jayne's Luke Danner
Nora Robert's guys like Cian in the Circle Trilogy...
There are much much more heroes but these 3 are the ones who first came to mind.
Thanks.; 11:34 PM
Lori Foster said...: You know, I think after reading the posts that I like the quiet but confident hero the most.
Pia mentioned Vin Diesel... love him in Pitch Black!
And a lot of my favorite book heroes - including a lot by authors on this blog - are the quiet but kick-but guys who know what they want and go after it without a lot of fanfare. :-)

Lori; 6:23 AM
Suzanne Simmons said...: I enjoy all kinds of heroes in books and films: he must be strong, honorable, and willing to sacrifice himself for his loved ones without playing the martyr.

One of my favorites in film was Russell Crowe's character in "Gladiator." Another was Bruce Willis as the policeman-hero in the original "Die Hard." I loved the fact that he did it all to save his wife.

And I totally agree with pia: I still get chills when I watch that scene in which Daniel Day-Lewis says he will find her. She believes him. I believe him.

~Suzanne; 10:10 AM
Stella said...: Russell Crowe--Master And Commander.
Denzil Washington--any role, any film.
Kiefer Sutherland--24
Daniel Day-Lewis--can just stand there and be heroic.
Josiah Washington--Gray's Anatomy--until he made anti-gay slurs.

Stella; 11:01 AM
Julie Rowe said...: Matthew McConaughey as Dirk Pitt in Sahara.

Nicolas Cage in National Treasure (or anything else for that matter).; 12:52 PM
Anonymous said...: I just watched "Dear Frankie" and it made me think of what an unusal hero the Stranger is. He's played by Gerard Butler and the movie is so wonderful. The Stranger (you never learn his name) is hired by a mother (Emily Mortimer) to act as her son's Dad. It is very touching. He gives this small family hope and love. It's amazing to see the kindness the Stanger. I don't want to give it all away because I highly recommend it.
Also, Mel Gibson in "Braveheart." He was amazing. He has such love for his wife and his country.

FilmPhan; 5:23 PM
jackietoo said...: The hero that pops into my mind is any Harrison Ford character!

He is so good at playing the average guy who has to go up against seemingly insurmountable odds to win the day, usually to protect others. Ahhh!; 6:23 PM
Shoshana said...: I like best the hero who is SURE he is not a hero, quite positive, really, and what ABOUT what he just did? It wasn't anything special...

The ones who are comfortable with being ordinary and who never think they might be extraordinary. Those are the ones I like. The ones who treat heroism as an every-day, take-it-for-granted thing.

I don't care how heroic a guy is, if he's arrogant with it I don't like him. I may admire him in a cerebral sort of way, but that just isn't the same. Lol, come to think of it, I think every fight I ever picked with my brother (who is another hero) was when I thought he was getting too big for his britches.
Hey, what else is a sister for? ;); 11:09 PM
Anonymous said...: I DEFINITELY agree with Daniel Day Lewis in The Last of the Mohicans. And with Dean Cain as Superman (TV). And with Adrian Paul as Highlander.

Dang, now I gotta go watch one of them.; 1:15 AM
Anonymous said...: My fav hero of the moment is Harry Dresden on the Dresden Files. I agree that Matthew M. in Sahara was a great hero though!; 7:07 AM
elizabeth said...: Lori, my fave are the quiet, no fuss type who get the job done.; 11:42 AM
Ranurgis said...: I, too, like the ones that are deep waters, the ones who make no fuss at what or who they are. They sort of sneak up on you as heroes.

Definitely I'll go with Denzel Washington in any role I've seen him in. Remember, though, that I'm the one that's seen very few movies lately.

One of my favorite heroes is the one in, I think the 1939 version of "The Four Feathers". He quietly fights back after being accused of cowardice.

A lot of other heroes and movies mentioned here would also get my vote--at least the ones before the 90s.

One of my favorite films is "12 Angry Men" with Henry Fonda as the foreman of the jury. There are a lot of heroes in that one but he is the one that embodies them all the best.

Another great one is "The Day the Earth Stood Still". This one has Michael Rennie as a visitor from outer space who risks his life to tell our world what his world has learned.

Neither of these latter films has much actual fighting in it. Yet the heroes stand for something important. Just think of Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Lincoln Memorial. A hero in my eyes has to be someone who lives by his code and doesn't just talk it.; 5:27 PM
Yasmine Galenorn said...: I like a wide variety of hero-types.

Vin Diesel: Pitch Black, Chronicles of Riddick
Keanu Reeves: Matrix
Denzel Washington: Any role, but especially as Quinn, in The Mighty Quinn
Hugh Jackman: X-Men
Stuart Townsend: Any role he's in (but esp. LeStat in QOTD)
Harrison Ford: as Indiana Jones & Han Solo
Oded Fehr: as Ardeth Bay in the Mummy movies
Brenden Fraser: George of the Jungle
Ralph Fiennes: as Lenny Nero on Strange Days

And animated:
Sesshormaru, the ultimate power antihero on InuYasha *grins*

Yasmine; 1:06 PM
Ranurgis said...: I just finished a book which I found recommended somewhere. I think it was on a blog.

I'm sure at least some of you might know this book in its film version "Shane" by Jack Schaefer. I've seen it several times but never knew before that it was based on the first book by this journalist-turned-author. I do remember reading his book "The Canyon" which came out in 1953, four years after "Shane".

Since it was in our library system, I thought I'd read it. Of course, it is somewhat different from the movie and brings out certain aspects that I at least had not seen in the movie.

I think that Shane is the epitome of the hero whose waters run very deep. Even the family who takes him in and for whom he works never finds out anything about his past.

However, when danger threatens, he makes sure that he is the one to take up the cudgels, aka gun, to save the family he's come to appreciate and the woman he's come to love. The latter fact is not obvious unless you're looking for it.

It's certainly not a romance in our sense but more in the original way that the troubadors sang the romances of the Middle Ages: the heroic adventures of knights.

BTW, both French and German use part of this word "romances" to indicate a novel: le roman and der Roman, respectively. In German, a novella or short story is called eine Novelle.

I'm not sure what the French equivalent to that would be but possibly it's "la nouvelle".; 5:27 PM

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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

An array of Heroes!

21 Comments: