10 Most Memorable Original Film Characters

4. Han Solo (Harrison Ford in Star Wars)

A lot of lists have selected Darth Vader. And those lists are great! The reason why I have selected Han Solo is simple. I should have named this list €œThe top 10 heroes created for the screen€. You remember heroes if they overcome great odds, and greater villains. And isn€™t that what Han Solo is about: not only was he able to escape Darth Vader€™s clutches (with some help from Leia, of course!), but he was able to become a memorable character despite his lack of Midi-chlorians. Luke Skywalker is an amazing character in his own right, but he still gets outshined by Han Solo. Not only is Han Solo an incredible character that follows all the criteria set in my list, but he also becomes memorable before the end of the first episode (or Episode IV, if you€™re counting). Luke Skywalker really comes into his own in Episode V, during his training with Yoda. And Darth Vader becomes the memorable character that he is in Episode VI, once he redeems himself. But Han Solo didn€™t need three movies to become memorable. With his €œlived in€ costume and spaceship, with his great partner-in-crime, with his amazing bravura, cockiness and smile, he really is quite an unforgettable character. And to seal the deal, he is the audience: many reviewers have said that Harrison Ford was €œUs€, when we watched Star Wars: he didn€™t take himself seriously, nor the universe he lived in. But he still respected the story. And that made him trustworthy, and memorable. That€™s probably what the second trilogy was missing: a €œUs€ character. Runner-up: Marty McFly, from Back to the Future
 
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Francis Barel is a movie fan, a pop culture fan, and most of all a fan of Americana: everything that makes the American culture, whether it's baseball, entertainement or business. On the fun side, we're talking: John Williams, blockbuster movies, romantic comedies, and comic books. On the business side, we're talking: box-office returns, finance & banking, payments, and the corporate side of comic books.