15 Best Movie Thrillers From The 1980s

In perhaps his best performance, Harrison Ford is perfectly cast as detective John Book, a surly but ultimately caring Philadelphia cop. After an Amish boy witnesses a brutal murder, Book must protect him and his mother from being snuffed out by the mob - many of whom work for the city’s police department.

The Amish backdrop gives the film much of its mojo as Book, trapped in his big city ways, clashes with, then comes to understand, their quaint lifestyle. Lukas Haas is terrific in his role as the frightened, titular witness, and Kelly McGillis embarks on an admittedly predictable affair with Book.

One of Ford’s best qualities as an actor is his confidence: he never doubts that an audience will be fully behind him, even when he’s acting quite the surly jerk, like here. The softening of John Book is as key as the central mystery, and Ford is effortlessly charming in the part.

Directed by the great Peter Weir (who’d get more career highlight work from Ford in The Mosquito Coast), Witness is a truly timeless classic. It’s that strangest of combos: a hard boiled, yet feelgood movie.