With Bridge of Spies being released in a few weeks (October 16th) and with it looking like another great performance by Tom Hanks I thought I'd list my favorite Tom Hanks performances in descending order.
Apollo 13 is based on the real life events, astronauts Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) are on there way to the moon. Man has already made it to the moon due to Apollo 11 so there is hardly any public interest in Apollo 13. Everything seems to be going smoothly until a oxygen tank explodes, stranded in space and hundreds of thousands of miles from help the team must battle to survive and face a race against the clock to make it home.
A great movie and a great performance by Tom Hanks, for the time it was visually stunning and it still holds up today. I can't imagine having to act while flying in Nasa's vomit comet just so they could gain weightlessness in order to make it look realistic. Well done.
I couldn't talk about Tom Hanks without putting in a romantic comedy. Sleepless in Seattle is the story of Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks), a recent widower who moves from Chicago to Seattle with his young son Jonah Baldwin (Ross Malinger). A year and a half later Jonah, feeling his father would be able to move on if he remarried, calls a radio station and persuades Sam into talking about how much he misses his wife. Hundreds of women across America then write to Sam as they are touched by his story. Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) is engaged to Walter (Bill Pullman) but she feels no magic between them, after watching An Affair to Remember she writes a letter to Sam telling her to meet him on Valentines day at the top of the Empire State Building. but does not mail it, instead it gets mailed by her friend. The odds seem against them but will this star crossed couple meet? You'll just have to watch it to see.
I love a good romantic comedy and even though our two main protagonists live on two opposite ends of the country there is a great connection between them and we know they would complete each other. I also love the relationship between Father and Son in this movie. If you haven't watched it go see it, and get the tissues ready.
This could easily be me talking about any of the Toy Story movies but I decided the first would be the best to talk about as I just watched it and it also introduces us to these great characters. Woody (Tom Hanks) is Andy's favorite toy and leader of the rest of Andy's toys. But during Andy's early birthday party he receives a Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) from his parents and Woody is soon replaced. Buzz thinks he's the real Buzz Lightyear and is on a mission to return to his home planet. Woody becomes jealous of the attention Buzz is getting from the other toys as well as from Andy and through some mishaps Buzz ends up falling out the window. The other toys turn against Woody believing he has gone mad and that he intentionally pushed Buzz out the window. As Andy, Woody and his family leave to go to Pizza Planet Buzz catches up to them, they fight and end up in the clutches of the toy destroying neighbour Sid. Will they get home before Andy and his family moves?
This movie has some nostalgia for me as I was a kid when it was released and it broke some big boundaries of 3D animation. It was something we had never seen before but it also felt (and still does feel) like Tom Hanks was Woody, even by facial expressions alone. So as much as we don't see Tom Hanks, it does feel as though he is there staring back at us through Woody.
Based on the true story of Private Ryan and his brothers this one almost made the top of my list. I could watch this film all day, from it's great cast to its amazing visuals. Saving Private Ryan takes place during WWII and begins on June 6 1944 during the Normandy invasion. Suffering loses against the German artillery, Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) survives and assembles a team to penetrate the German defenses. In Washington D.C we hear that three of the four Ryan brothers have been killed. James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon) the last surviving brother is currently missing in action, Miller receives orders to find Ryan and assembles a team to do that.
This film is heartbreaking and filled with action and is just a must see. It is my favorite war film and has a great rewatch factor. Although this didn't win Tom Hanks an oscar I feel that he was robbed and it probably would be my favorite Tom Hanks performance if not for the next movie.
I bet most of you thought this was going to be Forrest Gump, the film in which Tom Hanks did win his oscar. This movie made me laugh, cry bucket loads and the performance from Hanks is his usual stellar best. In Louisiana Paul Edgecomb is in a retirement home, his friend Elaine becomes concerned after Paul gets upset while watching a movie call Top Hat. The movie reminds of a story from his past and he begins to tell the tale of when he was a prison guard in charge of death row, which the guards nicknamed the Green Mile. John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) is convicted of the rape and murder of two young girls, he is sentenced and put on death row. When he gets there the Guards including a younger Paul (Tom Hanks) are surprised at the kind, shy nature of John, he doesn't fit the bill as murderers go. John has a gift and he uses this gift of healing on Paul who then begins to believe that John couldn't have committed the crime that he receive his punishment for. But will it matter?
With twists and turns this movie not only will have you in tears but it can also be terrifying and sweet and so funny. I do shift between this movie and Saving Private Ryan for my top spot but I felt this movie never gets the love it so deserves so I'm calling it. If you haven't watched it go, nothing is stopping you now.
Honorable mentions go to Castaway, Forrest Gump, The Polar Express, Catch Me If You Can, Road to Perdition, Philadelphia, A League of Their Own and so many more great movies. He truly is America's sweetheart. So what did I miss, and where was I wrong? What's your favorite Tom Hanks movie? Comment, or don't.
Apollo 13 is based on the real life events, astronauts Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) are on there way to the moon. Man has already made it to the moon due to Apollo 11 so there is hardly any public interest in Apollo 13. Everything seems to be going smoothly until a oxygen tank explodes, stranded in space and hundreds of thousands of miles from help the team must battle to survive and face a race against the clock to make it home.
A great movie and a great performance by Tom Hanks, for the time it was visually stunning and it still holds up today. I can't imagine having to act while flying in Nasa's vomit comet just so they could gain weightlessness in order to make it look realistic. Well done.
I couldn't talk about Tom Hanks without putting in a romantic comedy. Sleepless in Seattle is the story of Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks), a recent widower who moves from Chicago to Seattle with his young son Jonah Baldwin (Ross Malinger). A year and a half later Jonah, feeling his father would be able to move on if he remarried, calls a radio station and persuades Sam into talking about how much he misses his wife. Hundreds of women across America then write to Sam as they are touched by his story. Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) is engaged to Walter (Bill Pullman) but she feels no magic between them, after watching An Affair to Remember she writes a letter to Sam telling her to meet him on Valentines day at the top of the Empire State Building. but does not mail it, instead it gets mailed by her friend. The odds seem against them but will this star crossed couple meet? You'll just have to watch it to see.
I love a good romantic comedy and even though our two main protagonists live on two opposite ends of the country there is a great connection between them and we know they would complete each other. I also love the relationship between Father and Son in this movie. If you haven't watched it go see it, and get the tissues ready.
This could easily be me talking about any of the Toy Story movies but I decided the first would be the best to talk about as I just watched it and it also introduces us to these great characters. Woody (Tom Hanks) is Andy's favorite toy and leader of the rest of Andy's toys. But during Andy's early birthday party he receives a Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) from his parents and Woody is soon replaced. Buzz thinks he's the real Buzz Lightyear and is on a mission to return to his home planet. Woody becomes jealous of the attention Buzz is getting from the other toys as well as from Andy and through some mishaps Buzz ends up falling out the window. The other toys turn against Woody believing he has gone mad and that he intentionally pushed Buzz out the window. As Andy, Woody and his family leave to go to Pizza Planet Buzz catches up to them, they fight and end up in the clutches of the toy destroying neighbour Sid. Will they get home before Andy and his family moves?
This movie has some nostalgia for me as I was a kid when it was released and it broke some big boundaries of 3D animation. It was something we had never seen before but it also felt (and still does feel) like Tom Hanks was Woody, even by facial expressions alone. So as much as we don't see Tom Hanks, it does feel as though he is there staring back at us through Woody.
Based on the true story of Private Ryan and his brothers this one almost made the top of my list. I could watch this film all day, from it's great cast to its amazing visuals. Saving Private Ryan takes place during WWII and begins on June 6 1944 during the Normandy invasion. Suffering loses against the German artillery, Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) survives and assembles a team to penetrate the German defenses. In Washington D.C we hear that three of the four Ryan brothers have been killed. James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon) the last surviving brother is currently missing in action, Miller receives orders to find Ryan and assembles a team to do that.
This film is heartbreaking and filled with action and is just a must see. It is my favorite war film and has a great rewatch factor. Although this didn't win Tom Hanks an oscar I feel that he was robbed and it probably would be my favorite Tom Hanks performance if not for the next movie.
I bet most of you thought this was going to be Forrest Gump, the film in which Tom Hanks did win his oscar. This movie made me laugh, cry bucket loads and the performance from Hanks is his usual stellar best. In Louisiana Paul Edgecomb is in a retirement home, his friend Elaine becomes concerned after Paul gets upset while watching a movie call Top Hat. The movie reminds of a story from his past and he begins to tell the tale of when he was a prison guard in charge of death row, which the guards nicknamed the Green Mile. John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) is convicted of the rape and murder of two young girls, he is sentenced and put on death row. When he gets there the Guards including a younger Paul (Tom Hanks) are surprised at the kind, shy nature of John, he doesn't fit the bill as murderers go. John has a gift and he uses this gift of healing on Paul who then begins to believe that John couldn't have committed the crime that he receive his punishment for. But will it matter?
With twists and turns this movie not only will have you in tears but it can also be terrifying and sweet and so funny. I do shift between this movie and Saving Private Ryan for my top spot but I felt this movie never gets the love it so deserves so I'm calling it. If you haven't watched it go, nothing is stopping you now.
Honorable mentions go to Castaway, Forrest Gump, The Polar Express, Catch Me If You Can, Road to Perdition, Philadelphia, A League of Their Own and so many more great movies. He truly is America's sweetheart. So what did I miss, and where was I wrong? What's your favorite Tom Hanks movie? Comment, or don't.
Comments
Post a Comment