Alternate Best Actor 1986: Results

5. Gene Hackman in Hoosiers- Hackman avoids the cliched route instead giving a realistic yet still inspiring depiction of the coach of the underdogs.  

Best Scene: Norman Dale convinces Shooter to help out on the team.

4. Jeremy Irons in The Mission- Irons gives a very moving portrayal by making his character's goodness only ever come across as genuine and very poignant.

Best Scene: Gabriel argues for non-violence to Rodrigo.

3. Gary Oldman in Sid and Nancy- Oldman rather surprisingly gives a mostly quit and always believably portrayal of his drug addled character. The louder moments though are well earned and effective in bringing to life the unique stage presence of Sid Vicious.

Best Scene: "My Way"

2. Harrison Ford in The Mosquito Coast- Ford goes wildly against type and completely succeeds. He not only disappears into the role, but he well gives a very compelling depiction of the growing insanity of a man who can see nothing other his own personal vision.

Best Scene: Allie insists a Nuclear holocaust has occurred.

1. Jeff Golblum in The Fly- Jeff Goldblum gives a great performance. He certainly fulfills the requirements of becoming the monster, but most importantly he always brings the humanity in the process. He brings you into this man's story every step of the way and creating a truly tragic depiction of a man who went too far. My whole top five is especially strong with Ford, Oldman and Goldblum as well as the two Oscar nominated guys Woods and Hoskins all being deserving of the win. Really it's one of those cases though where I think a re-watch could sway it one way or another but right now I will have to go with the following ranking:

Best Scene: Seth after his "successful" use of the machine.

Overall Rank

1. Bob Hoskins in Mona Lisa
2. Jeff Goldblum in The Fly
3. Harrison Ford in The Mosquito Coast
4. James Woods in Salvador
5. Gary Oldman in Sid and Nancy
6. Jeremy Irons in The Mission
7. Sean Connery in The Name of the Rose
8. Gene Hackman in Hoosiers
9. William Hurt in Children of a Lesser God
10. Kyle MacLachlan in Blue Velvet
11. Robert De Niro in The Mission
12. Rick Moranis in Little Shop Horrors
13. River Phoenix in Stand By Me
14. Jeff Daniels in Something Wild
15. Charlie Sheen in Platoon 
16. William Peterson in Manhunter
17. River Phoenix in The Mosquito Coast
18. Paul Newman in The Color of Money
19. Kurt Russell in Big Trouble in Little China
20. Pat Morita in The Karate Kid Part 2
21. Will Wheaton in Stand By Me
22. Barrie Ingham in The Great Mouse Detective
23. Matthew Broderick in Ferris Bueller's Day Off
24. Tom Cruise in Top Gun
25. Christopher Lambert in Highlander
26. Steve Martin in Three Amigos
27. Ralph Maccio in The Karate Kid Part 2
28. William Shatner in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
29. Martin Short in Three Amigos
30. Jeff Bridges in The Morning After
31. Dexter Gordon in 'Round Midnight
32. Tom Cruise in The Color of Money 
33. Sylvester Stallone in Cobra
34. Chevy Chase in Three Amigos
35. Julian Sands in A Room With A View
36. Eddie Murphy in The Golden Child
37. Christian Slater in The Name of The Rose
38. Steve Guttenberg in Short Circuit
39. François Cluzet in 'Round Midnight
40. Thom Mathews in Friday the 13th Part VI

Next Year: 1986 Supporting

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Alternate Best Actor 1986: Harrison Ford in The Mosquito Coast

Harrison Ford did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for a Golden Globe, for portraying Allie Fox in The Mosquito Coast.

The Mosquito Coast is an interesting character study about a survivalist who tries to take his family out of modern society.

Peter Weir was the only director who managed to direct Harrison Ford to an Oscar nomination. Ford was nominated for Weir's Witness for a fairly prototypical Ford leading man style performance, a good enough performance but pretty standard performance from him. Ford worked once again with Weir for this film which came out only a year after witness. Ford was not Oscar nominated for this film despite this being a very against his usual type. Ford did find some recognition for it but he probably sunk by the film's tepid reception when it originally came out, and perhaps because Ford plays a character a little too far from his usual type since Ford's characters tend to be likable that is not the case for Allie Fox.

From the beginning of the film it is made abundantly clear that this is not action hero Harrison Ford. In his earliest scene all that Allie Fox does is basically bash the current state of America then proceed to harass a hardware employee for giving him a Japanese product rather than an American one. Ford's performance here perhaps shows how Hugh Jackman perhaps should have positioned himself in a similar role in Prisoners. Allie Fox is a survivalist and Ford shows this in an underlying intensity within Allie. Ford though doesn't overplay this aspect of Allie here though showing in the words he is speaking but not allowing the intensity to completely control his behavior. At this point Ford successfully allows one to think that Allie could easily be all bluster, but then again it might not be.

Harrison Ford brings a natural eccentricity to the role that does not completely cut you off from him early on as he tries to show off one of his inventions which while genius is not necessary in the modern society. Ford shows such an honest enthusiasm with the invention that he makes it actually makes him at least slightly easy to sympathize, but more importantly why his family would be so much behind him from the start of their journey. Ford in his best and most notable heroic performances as Han Solo and Indiana Jones managed to be tough with an undercurrent of humor and warmth. Ford once again here does use that natural warmth he is able to bring as Allie speaks to his family about his ideas. He may seem like a nut, but at least a nut who can at least get his family behind him.

Allie in his paranoia, and like Toshiro Mifune's character in I Live in Fear, insists a relocation must take place in order to survive the upcoming holocaust that he is absolutely sure will occur. Ford rather brilliantly subverts many of his usual qualities as an actor in use of Allie here. When he first locates to the jungle with his family and some others to create a self sustaining society Allie seems very much the capable leader. Ford in all of his best performances exudes command and charisma which he does here as well. Ford though does not play it as he would one of his heroes though, rather he put it in a very powerful personality he brings to Allie that is nothing like his other roles. Although the society does not become a cult, Ford in these earlier scenes suggests that Allie very well could have created one if he wished, which is appropriate to his early success in the project.

There is always a shroud Ford brings to his performance that is carefully played to suggest the narrow mindedness of Allie. There is a peculiar intensity he places in Allie. He is rather fascinating in the way he interacts with basically everyone else in the film. Ford even when he may technically be directly interacting with someone else that there is this distance to Allie. When he speaks he often seems to be speaking to himself in some way, and Ford creates a man with a true tunnel vision. In every scene Ford never creates a full chemistry with anyone, even in the way he physically interacts Ford suggests a certain dismissive quality in his interactions with others in his body language, which is essential to the development of Allie's downfall that takes for the rest of the film.

Allie actually seems to find perfect success in the jungle except that he really is not satisfied completely for no real reason, and later he finds a society tends to need things like the police for a reason. When these problems start to turn up what laid beneath the surface begins to arise in Ford's performance. As Allie slowly devolves into madness Ford is extremely good firstly because he properly hinted at the development beforehand, but just importantly he never overplayed his hand earlier. When the madness comes out Ford brings it out in such a natural and completely brutal way. His leadership becomes a dictatorship and any weakness, even from his children, he treats like betrayal. Ford is very chilling in these scenes because of how casually cruel Allie becomes and how he so disconcertingly loses the warmth that he did have earlier on.

In the late scenes of the film Ford does not shy away from being completely unlikable as Allie goes completely off the deep end in his treatment toward his family. What makes Ford's performance so good is that he technically keeps Allie on the exact same course he was from the beginning. It is still just all about his world view and survivalist ideas, yet developments have suggested that he is wrong. Ford rather than showing Allie reflect on any of these instead only shows the intensity grows as Allie basically must force himself to be even more fervent for his cause, as he becomes a desperate man who refuses to be proven wrong. The insanity Ford creates is palatable and always believable because from the moment we have seen him on screen he started building to the point he reaches at the end, giving a honest yet so horrible depiction of a man who refuses to lose his beliefs.

Watching this film again after so many years made me remember more clearly the circumstances of my original viewing, which was actually probably less than half of the film. Anyway even though I knew what it was about when I caught up with a review of the film I was surprised that Harrison Ford actually played the lead, because only seeing the second half I had not at all recognized him. That is one of the strengths of this performance though because Ford does disappear so effectively into Allie Fox. This could have easily been De-glamorization just for the sake of the shock of it, but no you forget about that pretty quickly as Ford becomes Allie. It is a shame that this film failed both critically and commercially as Ford takes this challenge of Allie Fox and gives a great portrait narrow minded madness. All I can wonder if this had been more of a success perhaps Ford would have continued to challenge himself rather than take the path he did take which was to slowly give lazier and less interesting performances in action movies.

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Alternate Best Actor 1986

And the Nominees Were Not:

Gary Oldman in Sid and Nancy

Gene Hackman in Hoosiers

Jeff Goldblum in The Fly

Jeremy Irons in The Mission

Harrison Ford in The Mosquito Coast

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Alternate Best Actor 1981: Results

5. William Hurt in Body Heat- Hurt is good when he allowed to be, but much of the time it seems the filmmakers were more interested in his physical form than his acting ability.

Best Scene: Ned Racine looks over Matty's yearbook.

4. Klaus Maria Brandauer- Brandauer gives a very daring performance in his portrayal of the growing compromises of an artist that oddly brings out a greater humanity.

Best Scene: Hendrik Hoefgan tries to plead for one of his fellow artists.

3. Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark- Ford gives a great performance creating his most iconic role with his funny, thrilling and all together entertaining portrayal of Indiana Jones.

Best Scene: The opening quest.

2. Jürgen Prochnow in Das Boot- Prochnow's performance is a spectacular based on being a gritty face of reality aboard submarine on the wrong side of a war. 

Best Scene: The Captain watches the helpless men drown.

1. Mel Gibson in Gallipoli- Good Predictions Koook160, Psifonian, and RatedRStar. All I can say is my top four is an extraordinary group, but I'm going with the performance that I got the strongest emotional reaction from, which is really saying something considering I reacted pretty strongly to all of them. Gibson's performance though is an amazing piece acting, the early part of his performance being Gibson at his charismatic best in his depiction of the cynical Frank, and the end being such a heartbreaking portrayal of such a man having to face the harsh realities of World War I trench warfare.  

Best Scene: Frank and Archy both fail to complete their final run.

Overall Rank:

1. Mel Gibson in Gallipoli
2. Bob Hoskins in The Long Good Friday
3. Jürgen Prochnow in Das Boot
4. Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark 
5. Klaus Maria Brandauer in Mephisto
6. Dudley Moore in Arthur
7. Ian Charleson in Chariots of Fire
8. Ben Cross in Chariots of Fire
9. Mark Lee in Gallipoli
10. John Travolta in Blow Out
11.  James Caan in Thief
12. Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond
13. Andre Gregory in My Dinner With Andre
14. Mel Gibson in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
15. Steve Martin in Pennies From Heaven
16. Kurt Russell in Escape from New York
17. Timothy Hutton in Taps 
18. William Hurt in Body Heat
19. Donald Sutherland in Eye of the Needle
20. David Naughton in An American Werewolf in London 
    
21. Craig Warnock in Time Bandits
22. Treat Williams in Prince of the City  
23. Mickey Rooney in The Fox and the Hound
24. Wallace Shawn in My Dinner With Andre
25. Mel Brooks in History of the World Part I
26. Kurt Russell in The Fox and the Hound
27. Harold Ramis in Stripes
28. Bill Murray in Stripes
29. Paul Newman in Absence of Malice 
30. Harry Hamlin in Clash of the Titans 
31. Warren Beatty in Reds 
32. Richard Benjamin in Saturday the 14th 
33. Stephen Lack in Scanners 

Next Year: 1981 Supporting 

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Alternate Best Actor 1981: Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark

Harrison Ford did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is a great adventure film about the search for the Ark of Covenant which is said to hold the ten commandments as well as a great power.

Raiders of the Lost Ark actually was extremely well received by the academy winning 5 Oscars and being nominated for four more including best director and best picture. Harrison Ford despite leading the film was ignored completely, and the academy would not recognize him for leading a picture until Witness. Witness, although is a fine performance by Ford, is not the the very best Ford had to offer. Ford already broke out in a big way through his performances as Hans Solo in the Star Wars film. Ford avoided being stuck as that role in the public mindset though, unlike his Star Wars co-stars, by his next major role being a character even more iconic than Hans Solo.

As Hans Solo Ford actually technically was secondary to the main story that involved Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker. Ford would show up and do Solo's routine but he would only come in and out of the film. Ford as Indiana Jones must lead the film rather than being a side hero in the piece, Ford is more than up to the task as he brings his very best qualities as an actor to life in the role of Jones. Although when you sum them up in a fairly simple way Solo and Indiana Jones seem like Ford would just be repeating himself. It never feels that way at all as Ford makes Jones very much his own man, even if many of the ideas behind the character are shared in terms of conception.

One of the major differences between Solo and Jones comes in the idea of Ford taking on the role of guiding the audience through the adventure exclusively. Ford shows a growth in maturity as an actor. Although he definitely was good in the Empire Strikes Back, Ford brings another level of confidence here as Jones and takes a different approach with the character. As Solo there was a certain slight pompousness to him, yes he was good but not quite as good as he thought. Indiana Jones also thinks he is pretty good at what he does, but really he is as good as he is. There is a humble quality actually within the character that Ford plays very nicely, as there is never an off putting ego even with the great assurance of his own ability.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is a wonderful adventure to go on in the film, and Ford deserves a great deal of the credit for making the great film it is for his portrayal of Indiana Jones. He is a great guide to follow through the film as he so perfectly goes along with any action scene. Ford is superb because he never turns Jones into a super hero in the action scenes, even though some of his feats are rather extraordinary, because there is always an effort shown. Ford shows that Jones is often an inch from failure and he really has to push himself to fight the villains. There is a humility and humanity in his performance by making Jones a man who gets tired through all the mayhem, and doing so makes every victory harder earned and much sweeter.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is thrilling, but there is more to it than just that. It is also a very funny movie with some brilliantly placed gags throughout. Ford does not lose any footing with his performance as he handles the quick comedic moments with as much ease as he does the intense scenes. Ford really knows how to sell the moments and makes them hit their mark all the better. The best comic moment in the whole film is of course the gun sword duel where Jones, instead of getting into a likely drawn out fight, just shoots a man who is brandishing a sword. The idea is funny in itself, but Ford makes it pure gold through his deadpan shrug as Jones dispatches the man with barely a second thought.

There is one other element of the film that is not as often mentioned which is the grandeur of the mystery behind the Ark of the Covenant. The film makes it more than just something to be found and there is something appropriately otherworldly about it. Ford once again adds so much with his performance as he is also creates an investment in the mystery. Ford would later falter in his later performances by seeming so disinterested in his films frankly, but here he brings such an investment into the film. Ford is fantastic in bringing the power of every part of the unfolding story and in this he also shows more in Indiana Jones than the action hero. Jones is an archeologist, and Ford brings the sense of discovery in his performance showing that Jones is absolutely fascinated by the idea of the Ark.

This is Harrison Ford's greatest performance, and there is no question to why the film propelled him to super stardom. All the best qualities of Harrison Ford as a leading man are present here, his incredible physical presence, his charm, his confidence, and even an unassuming humorous side. Ford is a perfect fit for the film. Every tone the film takes Ford matches and only amplifies whatever the scene is going for. If the scene wants to funny, Ford makes it funnier, if it needs to be exciting Ford makes the scenes burst with energy. The Academy made a very foolish mistake in ignoring Harrison Ford's work here, especially since they seem to have loved the film otherwise, as Ford was essential to the film's success and he managed to make Indiana Jones one of the unforgettable characters of cinema.

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Alternate Best Actor 1981

And the Nominees Were Not:

Jürgen Prochnow in Das Boot

Klaus Maria Brandauer in Mephisto

Mel Gibson in Gallipoli

William Hurt in Body Heat

Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark

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Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1980: Results

5. Mark Hamill in The Big Red One- Hamill plays his character well and has stand out moments even within the vignette nature of the film. 

Best Scene: The Concentration Camp.

4. Harrison Ford in The Empire Strikes Back- Ford gives one of his best action hero performances making Han Solo the great hero he should be.

Best Scene: "I Know".

3. Leslie Nielsen in Airplane!- Nielsen gives an one note performance of utter comedic brilliance, being incredibly funny by playing his part as deadly serious as possible.

Best Scene: "I am serious and don't call me Shirley".

2. Bryan Brown in Breaker Morant- Brown gives an effective performance finding his own place in the film as the soldier whose rough exterior hides a deeper sadness.

Best Scene: Hancock writes his farewell letter to his wife.

1. Tsutomu Yamazaki in Kagemusha- Good Prediction Maciej. Well I've come to the conclusion that Tsutomu Yamazaki is the greatest actor to have a Wikipedia page with no more than three sentences. Once again he delivers an incredible supporting performance. He always finds a way to stand out even when he is in a group of actors. Yamazaki gives a great supporting performance that plays off of and supports Tatsuya Nakadai's lead performance beautifully.

Best Scene: Nobukado predicts the fate of Kagemusha.

Overall Rank:

1. Tsutomu Yamzaki in Kagemusha
2. Joe Pesci in Raging Bull
3. Peter O'Toole in The Stunt Man
4. Bryan Brown in Breaker Morant
5. Leslie Nielsen in Airplane!
6. Harrison Ford in The Empire Strikes Back
7. Mark Hamill in The Big Red One
8. Freddie Jones in The Elephant Man 
9. Robert Stack in Airplane!
10. Brian Blessed in Flash Gordon 
11. Bill Murray in Caddyshack
12. Lewis Fitz-Gerald in Breaker Morant
13. Jason Robards in Melvin and Howard
14. James Earl Jones in The Empire Strikes Back 
15. John Gielgud in The Elephant Man
16. Gene Hackman in Superman II
17. Lloyd Bridges in Airplane!
18. Levon Helm in Coal Miner's Daughter
19. Max von Sydow in Flash Gordon
20. Billy Dee Williams in The Empire Strikes Back
21. Timothy Dalton in Flash Gordon
22. Michael Caine in Dressed to Kill  
23. Henry Gibson in The Blues Brothers
24. Terence Stamp in Superman II
25. Scatman Crothers in The Shining
26. Cab Calloway in The Blues Brothers
27. Philip Stone in The Shining
28. Peter Graves in Airplane!
29. Melvyn Douglas in Changeling
30. John Candy in The Blues Brothers
31. Judd Hirsch in Ordinary People
32. Frank Vincent in Raging Bull
33. Allen Garfield in The Stunt Man
34. Robert Carradine in The Big Red One
35. Frank Oz in The Empire Strikes Back
36. Kenichi Hagiwara in Kagemusha 
37. Siegfried Rauch in The Big Red One
38. Topol in Flash Gordon
39. Chevy Chase in Caddyshack
40. Keith Gordon in Dressed to Kill 
41. Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack
42. Anthony Daniels in The Empire Strikes Back
43. Dennis Franz in Dressed to Kill
44. Danny Lloyd in The Shining 
45. Alex Rocco in The Stunt Man
46. Bob Balaban in Altered States
47. Stephen Stucker in Airplane!
48. Jinpachi Nezu in Kagemusha
49. Jackie Gleason in Smokey and the Bandit II
50. John Marley in Tribute
51. Ted Knight in Caddyshack
52. Jerry Reed in Smokey and the Bandit II
53. Charles Haid in Altered States
54. Robby Benson in Tribute

Next Year: 1952 lead

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Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1980: Harrison Ford in The Empire Strikes Back

Harrison Ford did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Han Solo in The Empire Strikes Back.

I am not the biggest fan but I like the original films well enough. 

This film was made just one year before the first Indiana Jones film so Harrison Ford was just one year from pure super stardom. This film he remains still as almost the supporting lead of the film, the action hero who technically is the side character action hero. Where Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is the noble hero of the trilogy with his personal journey being to stay on the righteous moral path while fighting evil, Han Solo is the guy who would shoot first in much the same manner as Clint Eastwood's Man with no Name. 

Harrison Ford's style as an action hero is pretty much perfect for how Han Solo should be in the film. Han Solo is of course a bad ass who take his enemies down without a second thought, but there is a heart in the guy as well who has a conscience even he perhaps would rather not have one at times. Ford is perfect for this because in his best action performances there is usually a certain lighter humorous touch in his portrayal. In the best way though Ford never seems uninterested in what is going on around him as he is able to make a one liner well still making the situation serious in the same scene.

Ford's just great at being the cool action hero Solo should be and has some of his best moments here. Something that Ford does particularly well is making Solo very competant while sorta being incompetant at the same time. He is very good in showing the imperfect nature of the hero as well as really the effort he has to put in to accomplish his goals. Solo fails plenty of times and he uses these moments particularly well to make Han actually extremely likable but at the same time these moments of failure never compromises his awesomeness as a hero either.

That awesomeness really does come to the way that Ford makes him a man who will always try to do things his way which even includes the romance with Leia (Carrie Fisher). I think Ford's very best moment in the film was the one that was his own ad lib which is the classic last moment expression of love which Han's only response to Leia's "I love you" is "I Know". It is pretty much the summation of the attitude Ford's espouses throughout the film which is a true individualistic streak who always will do things his own way.

This is a very good performance by Harrison Ford and the best of his three performances in the Star Wars film. I would not put it quite as his very best performance in this sort of role, that would come when he became the undisputed lead of a film, but this is a great example of this type of performance from Ford nevertheless. He has just a natural likability as well as believability that succeeds in making a great character to follow through this large scale sci fi adventure, and Ford makes it fully understandable why Solo became such a popular character. 

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Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1980

And the Nominees Were:

Tsutomu Yamazaki in Kagemusha

Leslie Nielsen in Airplane

Bryan Brown in Breaker Morant

Harrison Ford in The Empire Strikes Back

Mark Hamill in The Big Red One

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