Harrison Ford: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

By Nathan Bartlebaugh /

Boy is it good to see Harrison Ford back on the deck of a starship, even if this time he's the stuffy old guy with the big speeches. With Ford stepping into the battle mantra of Colonel Graff for Gavin Hood's adaptation of Orson Scott Card's classic Ender's Game this weekend, we thought it would be a great opportunity to look at some of his strongest€”and weakest€”performances over the years. Where does one even begin when looking at Ford, who's really a massive icon for anyone who grew up in the 70's and 80's? There are the classic and quintessential characters that he gave face and shape to€”Solo, Indy, Jack Ryan€”and yet there's an entire wealth of strong work covering many different approaches and genres. If you're given to Ford's softer side you might have warm memories of Regarding Henry, or recall his Hitchcock-tinged dalliances in Presumed Innocent and Frantic. There are more than enough great performances in the man's resume to do the great films about three times over, but unfortunately the latter part of his career has a good number of performances that simply lack passion. Not every modern outing for Ford has been a bust€”I've enjoyed his work as recently as Cowboys and Aliens, Morning Glory and 42€”but it's clear that he's grown a little less vigilant in choosing roles and certainly he's not always afforded the same kinds of opportunities he had when he was a little more spry. Still, the thing that stands out when looking at Harrison Ford€”then and now€”is that the man has an unshakeable presence when he's tuned into a film and passionate about what he's doing. With an appearance in the upcoming Expendables movie as well as an alleged reunion with Han Solo in the next Star Wars all on the horizon, there's no sign of Ford slowing down. Here's hoping there's still greatness waiting to be discovered.