Badmovies.org Forum

Every movie I've seen in the past few years features smooth-skinned, reed-thin, perfecly manicured and coiffed guys in their twenties who would look more at home as underwear models than in any sort of action piece.

What happened to tough, rough, hardened action heroes?  Guys in their thirties or even forties who actually look like they've had some experience fighting?

Hell, even Dustin Hoffman in "Straw Dogs" made a more convincing action hero than most of the current crop.

Probably when the studios realized that the movie-going public was mostly teens and early twenties...

The funny thing is that I recently watched the Burt Reynolds actioner "Malone" and I remember chuckling whenever he was on screen. His appearence was carefully tailored to make him exude masculinity from all his pores, but he looked so dated that it was hilarious instead. Maybe that answers your question.

I hate the idea of all the pretty people as heroes.  Charles Bronson or Clint Eastwood would never get a shot any more.  Can you imagine Brad Pitt in Death Wish?  

-Ed

Ed wrote:

> I hate the idea of all the pretty people as heroes.  Charles
> Bronson or Clint Eastwood would never get a shot any more.

Charles Bronson was my first thought too.  Followed by Doug McClure.  John Wayne would likely never make it in the current climate for that matter.

Gerry wrote:

> Ed wrote:
>
> > I hate the idea of all the pretty people as heroes.  Charles
> > Bronson or Clint Eastwood would never get a shot any more.
>
> Charles Bronson was my first thought too.  Followed by Doug
> McClure.  John Wayne would likely never make it in the current
> climate for that matter.
IMHO, Doug McClure is more in the Brad Pitt territory than in the Bronson corner. Blond, tan with a big smile. Vin Diesel is more of a Charles Bronson type with Yul Brenner's hair style.

Hey, ain't Humphrey Bogart just so pretty he could be gay?
peter crane/denny johnson

I noticed nowadays that when they want to cast a "rough looking charater" they go to rappers. Vin Diesal already ruined his career with Pacifier. He not going to be seen for awhile.

_____________________________
"We Greeks created democracy! You also created homos!"-Ghost World

Do you think Harrrison Ford would have made it as Indian Jones if this were happening back then? I doub it. Give us tough rugged guys!

Well, look at Brendan Fraser in the Mummy.  He's a total inaction hero.   He looks like our IT guy at work.
-Ed

Russel Crow comes to mind. He's an ass off screen but I hate to admit that it's in a different way than anyone else I can think of.  Yeah, he's got hollywood looks, but he's believable in Cinderella Man as a boxer and he gets knocked around pretty good. He's the closest I can think to a "man's man" type. He seems pretty tough and not all in a gym muscle way, like a vin diesel or the pretty boys.

What about Bruce Willis?  He's still going stong and you got to admit he aint exactly Brad pitt.

Bruce Willis is a rugged-looking guy, sure. But he secured stardom in the 80s, before things got bad.



Post Edited (07-04-05 20:19)

Since when is Vin Diesel classified next to Brad Pitt?

I don't know about any of you, but in comparison to Pitt, Diesel is a rugged nasty pile of muscle...

Look at this list of "tough guy" actors compared to what we get today:

*  Charles Bronson
*  Clint Eastwood
*  Lee Marvin
*  John Wayne
*  Robert Mitchum
*  Kirk Douglas

Those guys could really mess you up.  Any one of them would give Brad Pitt or Colin Farrell a backhander and watch them run home crying.  We've entered the sissy generation.  Let's all join hands and pray . . .

Just remember when Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds were bit players under contract before they hit it big. According to Reynolds (so take the story with a grain of salt), they were both fired around the same time, Reynolds be cause he "couldn't act" and Eastwood because his adam's apple was "too big". As they were walking out ot the office and off the lot, Reynolds claims he looked at Eastwood and said, "Well I'm going to take acting lessons, I don't know what you're gonna do."

Rough looking dudes are ALL character actors now, before they could be stars, but it's much harder now. Plus remember, many of the big stars mentioned who hit it big did so in the 70s, when odd-looking, less than glamorous looking dudes were popular. Hell, Elliot Gould was a big star for a while at the time.

I like the comment about rappers being cast as tough guys. It does seem to be all them and Danny Trejo nowadays. Considering his life story and his popularity I'm waiting to see how hard they try to turn 50 Cent into an actor. He has the tough guy look, but if he acts about like he raps, it will get old quick.

Rugged men just get pushed aside because they aren't 'pretty' enough.  Consider the lastest version of 'Phantom of the Opera.'.  All the men who could have done a brilliant job (Colm Wilkinson, Antonio Banderas) were judged 'too old' for the role.  The phantom is supposed to be in his fifties(!) yet they cast a 20 something pretty boy who didn't have the chops to cary the role....

Gone are the days of Telly Savalas, Ernest Borgnine and Lance Hedriksen.  We're stuck with Collin Farrel, Orlando Bloom and Leonardo De Caprio.

Even pro wrestling is going for the pretty boys.  What ever happened to the likes of King Kong Bundy, Big Van Vader and George 'The Animal' Steele?  Now we've got Edge, Christian and the Hardy Boys.  When was the last time you saw somebody eating a turnbuckle?

I think stuidios are also trying to cater to the female audience. Women used to love guys like Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds. Now they want more effeminate looking men like Colin Ferrel and such. Leading men also reflect societies current obsession with youth and the blurring of gender roles.

Well, Mick Foley wasn't that long ago...and Kane isn't exactly a looker.

There is still room for the manbeasts of wrestling, but now they have to share the stage with the fashionable lads.

Antonio Banderas is too old to play Phantom of the Opera!!! WTF!!! Next they'll start casting teenagers, then toddlers, then sperm. When did the world get taken over by the 18 to 25 demographic?

For me a pretty boy isn't believable, i like it when an ugly rough around the edges man kicks some ass , btw bruce willis used to be the pretty boy, he only got rough looking after he married demi moore. food for thought on what ashton kutcher might look like 15 years from now, god i wish i had photoshop....

Susan wrote:

> For me a pretty boy isn't believable, i like it when an ugly
> rough around the edges man kicks some ass , btw bruce willis
> used to be the pretty boy, he only got rough looking after he
> married demi moore. food for thought on what ashton kutcher
> might look like 15 years from now, god i wish i had
> photoshop....
>

Actually I am starting to notice ashton getting worse. I was watching the 70s show and he got paler and his hair is getting thinner from what it looks like.

_____________________________
"We Greeks created democracy! You also created homos!"-Ghost World

I guess she has this uncanny way of baldenizing her men. But yeah, if he was cast in a zombie film he really would need very little makeup

Yes, baldness seems to follow Demi around. Hell, she was even bald at one point.

You guys bring up a good subject....The other day I was watching my new copy of Cronenberg's 'Fast Company'. One thing I noticed right off the bat was that everyone in the cast was over 25 (including Nicholas Campbell who was 27 at the time). I thought that was awesome!

Susan wrote:

> For me a pretty boy isn't believable, i like it when an ugly
> rough around the edges man kicks some ass , btw bruce willis
> used to be the pretty boy, he only got rough looking after he
> married demi moore. food for thought on what ashton kutcher
> might look like 15 years from now, god i wish i had
> photoshop....
>

Fred Ward in TREMORS and TREMORS 2 : Earl kicks Bass!
Fred was the hero in Tremors 2...and he got a babe! Make me feel good about that....i think Fred's my age....

oh yeah and i like it when the ass kicker is ugly, rough and old! (this even applies for women..heh)  We should make a list. The obvious one is Quint from Jaws..in fact he should be the poster boy. I just loved it when he made his intro by scraping his nails on the chalkboard
(http://www.jabootu.com/images/jawsquint1.jpg)

I value my neck a lot more than three thousand bucks, chief. I'll find him for three, but I'll catch him, and kill him, for ten. But you've gotta make up your minds. If you want to stay alive, then ante up. If you want to play it cheap, be on welfare the whole winter. I don't want no volunteers, I don't want no mates, there's too many captains on this island. Ten thousand dollars for me by myself. For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing.


Richard Farnsworth really needed to have roles like this.

Ah, Quint....we need ya more then ever.