The 51 greatest movie heroes of all time, ranked

John Woo’s answer to “Dirty Harry” and “Die Hard” is this Hong Kong classic, “Hard Boiled,” in which star Chow Yun-fat plays a hard-drinking, clarinet-playing cop who will shoot anyone and blow up anything for justice.

There are many action heroes, but few like this one.

John Carpenter is known best for crafting one of the greatest villains of all time with Michael Myers, but he also created a memorable hero in “Big Trouble in Little China.”

For this late 1980s action comedy, Carpenter casts Kurt Russell as a fast-talking truck driver who gets thrust into a fantasy world beneath San Francisco’s Chinatown when he must help rescue his friend’s fiancée.

The result is one of Russell’s best performances and a hero that, to this day, we wish had his own franchise.

At the height of his career, Eddie Murphy took on the role of a Detroit detective who finds himself in Beverly Hills to track down a killer in the “Beverly Hills Cop” franchise. It resulted in the creation of an iconic hero.

Mixing the fish-out-of-water plot with Murphy’s X-rated comedic style led to a box office sensation and a character in Axel Foley that was unlike anything we’d seen before in a cop hero role.

Teaming up with Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio crafts the closest thing he’s ever done to a secret agent in “Inception.”

A professional thief who can infiltrate people’s dreams but is also haunted by his wife’s death, Cobb is the hero of his own story as he navigates through dreams and reality to return to his children.

Having already cemented his hero status playing Neo in “The Matrix,” Keanu Reeves wasn’t through as he brought to life another one with John Wick.

A retired hitman thrust back into a crime world filled with gold coins and a hotel that caters to killers after the death of his dog; Wick elevates the action genre with his “gang-fu” fighting style.

In “The Tramp,” Charlie Chaplin’s iconic character, who sports a weird walk, cane, mustache, and bowler hat, was featured in dozens of shorts and feature-length films during the silent film era.

Often living as a vagrant but with a posh swagger, The Tramp found himself having countless colorful adventures in which he often walked away with a smile. The character would come to be a means of escapism for both adults and children during hard times in the country, including in the Depression era.

In “It’s a Wonderful Life,” James Stewart delivers one of his greatest performances in this timeless Christmas classic from Frank Capra.

Bailey is a hero because he’s relatable. He must begrudgingly curb his big aspirations to be a responsible parent, husband, and community leader. His troubles mirror what many people have struggled with in their own lives.

Bailey realizing that what he actually has in his life is much more rewarding than the things he passed up on gives us all hope that the same can be true for us, too.

In “Barbie,” Margot Robbie’s portrayal of the legendary doll tapped into the zeitgeist beyond anyone’s expectations. A big reason for that is director/co-writer Greta Gerwig, who gave this hero layers that could resonate with young and old audiences and cemented why the doll, with her “you can do anything” attitude, has been an American obsession for decades.

As much as this Marvel character does not want to be the hero — he takes pains to make sure he’s dropping F-bombs and making crude jokes — the not-so-secret secret is that Ryan Reynolds’ superhero is someone worth rooting for in “Deadpool.” The box office agrees.

In “The Silence of the Lambs,” Jodie Foster plays Clarice Starling, an FBI trainee hunting a serial killer thanks to the guidance of an imprisoned serial killer. Foster is truly thrust into the deep end to gain her hero status.

It took years for this DC Comics icon to get to the big screen, but when it finally happened in 2017 with “Wonder Woman,” starring Gal Gadot in the lead role, it was worth the wait.

From taking on Ares, the Greek god of war, to her stand at No Man’s Land, Wonder Woman’s bravery proves why she’s one of the great heroes.

Harper Lee’s beloved book “To Kill a Mockingbird,” which taught generations of schoolchildren about racism, was adapted for the big screen in 1962. Gregory Peck played the widowed father, Atticus Finch.

Atticus Finch was already an iconic hero, and Peck’s performance as the good-hearted lawyer instantly made the character memorable.

The face of the blaxploitation genre of the 1970s, Richard Roundtree’s performance in “Shaft,” as a private detective who won’t take any crap whether it be from Italian mobsters or the cops, and looks super cool doing it, brought to the movies a hero that has since been often imitated but never duplicated.

The vampire hunter from the Marvel comics found instant acclaim when Wesley Snipes put on the black coat and shades to play the character for the “Blade” movies, which first hit the box office in 1998.

His action hero credentials, matched with the loads of material to work with from Marvel, made a perfect combination.

The big standout with this hero is the quiet confidence Russell Crowe gave Maximus, a warrior on the battlefield and later as a gladiator. in In “Gladiator,” he does it with brooding strength.

In “The Terminator” franchise, Sarah Conner starts out as a quiet waitress at a diner. Once she’s terrorized by The Terminator, her life changes forever, and she’s transformed into an amazing movie hero.

That would come in the movie’s sequel, 1991’s “Terminator 2: Judgement Day.” Actor Linda Hamilton transformed her body into what you would expect the badass mom of the future leader of the resistance to be.

From the jacked arms to the intimidating stare, Sarah Connor becomes unforgettable.

Speaking of someone evolving, Neo’s growth into “The One” in “The Matrix” franchise is a major reason he’s such a great hero.

Finally believing in his abilities and realizing his full potential is an experience many people watching the movies can relate to.

Whether we’re taking about Alec Guinness or Ewan McGregor, both interpretations of the Jedi master in the “Star Wars” franchise are captivating because of this hero’s unwavering ability to do the right thing.

During the evolution of the MCU, it became clear that this Marvel superhero was the most interesting. Played with a perfect “aw shucks” quality by Chris Evans in various movies in the Marvel franchise, his Cap delivers on being an egoless hero who is only focused on making the world free of terror.

You cannot ignore what this hero did for comic book movie audiences in the last decade.

That’s definitely because of the actor behind the tin suit, Robert Downey Jr., who played the character in various movies within the MCU.

Still, his talents, mixed with the qualities of this character, led to the Marvel craze on the big screen.

It’s the role that made Sylvester Stallone a superstar thanks in large part to the underdog hero quality of Rocky in the eponymous franchise.

How can you not root for a fighter who just wants a shot at the best? That drive has made him an inspiration for generations of movie and sports lovers.

Regardless of which actor plays your favorite Spidey, they all showcase hero qualities that have made them so memorable on screen in the “Spider-Man” movies.

From Tobey Maguire to Tom Holland, each Spider-Man uses their superpowers for good.

Perhaps one of the greatest anti-heroes onscreen, Batman lurks in the shadows, a mystery to all. Still, his methods of bringing justice to the biggest crime figures — while never killing them in the process — is why he’s so beloved in his franchise.

From the first moment we saw him on screen in “Star Wars,” it was evident Luke Skywalker was a hero. Then we followed him through his progression from Death Star destroyer to Jedi knight and finally a Jedi master who defeats his foe without even really being there.

Mark Hamill’s talents in evolving the character from a wide-eyed boy ready to take on an empire to a grizzled old man with one more fight left in him are why Skywalker will always be one of the most beloved heroes ever to grace the screen.

Already on the Mt. Rushmore of heroes in pop culture before ever having a movie, once it finally happened in 1978 with Christopher Reeve in the role, Superman became arguably the most beloved comic book superhero.

Maybe it was his incredible acting talents or his perfect embodiment of what Superman stands for — truth, justice, and the American way — Reeve’s Superman inspired a nation.

Since Reeve, there have been other Superman portrayals on the big screen, and more to come, but Reeve continues to be the gold standard.

Some of that might be because of the heroic acts Reeve did after hanging up the cape. In 1995, the actor was paralyzed from the neck down after being thrown from a horse during an equestrian competition.

Afterwards, Reeve dedicated his life to improving spinal injury research. He died in 2004.