Thursday, June 20, 2013

Reader Top Ten Greatest Science Fiction Film Characters: Cannon


Reader and writer Cannon today offers his selections for the top ten science fiction film characters. He uses dialogue from the films in question to describe the characters, which is a pretty neat approach, if you ask me.

Here's Cannon:

1. R.J. MacReady – Simply put, MacReady is me. I relate to the guy. I AM that guy ...occasionally. MacReady is a loner and outsider who doesn't want anything to do with society/humanity at large. That's why he's out there on the Antarctic ice, half a world away from anywhere, residing in his shack with a bottle of Scotch whiskey and a computer Chess Wizard as his only company. I also dig how he finds the most elegant solutions to unsolvable problems: when said computer beats him fair and square, he pours his drink into its hard drive; when a giant space monster crashes up through the floor board, he responds, "Yeah, fuck you too!"before throwing a stick of dynamite. In the end, when left to his own doom -- when the darkness closes in -- MacReady faces it with the indifference of a guy who's had a rough day at work.
2. Ellen Ripley – "This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off."
3. Allan Grant – "The point is, you are alive when they start to eat you."
4. Dredd – "She’s a pass."
5. James T. Kirk – "What does God need with a starship?"
6. Mr. Spock – "The sensor. It must contain some special meaning. I must try to mind-meld with it."
7. T-800 – "Sarah Connor?"
8. Otto Maddox – "Excuse me while I fold my pants."  
9. Rick Deckard – "Enhance fifteen to twenty-three ...give me a hard copy right there."
10. Kenneth Calloway  "My calibrations are flippin' pinpoint, okay?"

On a personal note, I'm thrilled to see Dredd on the list, as well as the T-800, both cinematic bad-asses.  
The same could be said to be true for MacReady, a character who was on my mind as I composed my own list..

4 comments:

  1. Righteous pic of Macready. I’m compelled to add my extended runner-ups:

    Buckaroo Banzai
    Predator
    Snake Plissken
    Max Rockatansky
    Douglas Quaid

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Cannon,

      Thanks for sharing your awesome list. In the 1990s, I got my hair cut and styled like MacReady...but I'm no Kurt Russell! :)

      Still, he looks bad ass in that picture.

      Glad to see Snake Plissken on the runner-up list.

      I toyed with including Jack Burton on the list. If Big Trouble in Little China had gotten a sequel, he would so be there...

      best,
      John

      Delete
    2. John, very cool idea getting the Macready hair cut back then.

      SGB

      Delete
  2. Cannon, brilliant having the quote with each character.

    SGB

    ReplyDelete

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