By With the movie landscape awash with superpowered heroes battling villains on earth and across the universe, audiences have grown expectant of otherworldly abilities that are characteristic of icons like Superman, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Captain America and Wonder Woman.
The bloodied vest and bare feet of a disgruntled New York cop in Nakatomi Plaza facing off against German terrorist Hans Gruber is a far cry from the ultra clean cut Tony Stark and the high-tech armoury of Iron Man suit as he tackles villains in the present and the past. But the bloodied vest, bare-footed heroes exist. At least on the silver screen. And they are the ones we celebrate here.
The best movie heroes who don’t have superpowers
We love movie heroes. Their presence makes the world a less scary place. As audiences we get vicarious thrills from their actions to defeat the foe or foes who choose to disrupt the perception of harmony and equilibrium. Their victories are cathartic; a fitting tribute to their fortitude. But some heroes can’t rely on superpowers like in the comic books as these characters reveal.
R.J. MacReady
Kurt Russell – The Thing
When a seemingly unstoppable malevolent entity begins to attack the team of an American research station in Antarctica, one man rises above all others to give the otherworldly creature a run for its money. While MacReady witnesses almost complete annihilation of his friends, we can assume (hope) he saved the world from some serious heartache.
The Goonies
Various – The Goonies
We’ve seen DC and Marvel’s hero ensembles but the “Goonies”, a group of kids from Astoria who go treasure hunting to save their homes from being levelled to make way for a golf course, take us on an adventure with feet closer to the ground (and under it at times).
Kevin McCallister
Macauley Culkin – Home Alone
A pint-sized hero who defends his home from a pair of bumbling thieves who think they can outsmart their school-age antagonist, Kevin McCallister is every kid’s pin-up: a child utilising their preteen imagination to make good in an adult world.
Clarice Starling
Jodie Foster –Â The Silence Of The Lambs
An FBI Academy trainee, Clarice Starling has to earn her stripes by going up against a criminal mastermind who has a penchant for human flesh. Surrounded by testosterone, Starling’s intellect and courage shines through.
Ellen Ripley
Sigourney Weaver –Â Alien, Aliens etc.
Ellen Ripley in a three-film arc (Alien, Aliens and Alien 3) finds herself up against a terrifying and unpredictable threat that first sees her trying to save the crew of the space freighter the Nostromo before coming to the aid of a bunch of heavily armed marines and a group of nefarious criminals imprisoned on Fury-161. Sigourney Weaver’s powerhouse performances are a pioneering example of female heroism in roles typically the reserve of male leads.
Dutch Schaefer
Arnold Schwarzenegger –Â Predator
Dutch Schaefer, a toughened Vietnam War veteran turned U.S. Special Ops Major, has clearly endured more than his fair share of horrors during his life in the military. But nothing has prepared him for the otherworldly dangers of the Predator. A superpower-less hero fighting a superpowered foe.
John McClane
Bruce Willis –Â Die Hard
Not only does John McClane lack a superhero’s cape, he’s fighting a horde of terrorists in Nakatomi Plaza (led by the brilliant Alan Rickman) with no shoes and a soon-to-be bloodied vest. A low rent hero (who secretes handguns behind his back with packing tape) with high gloss ideals and a determination to protect the good guys.
James Bond
Various –Â The Spy Who Loved Me etc.
No matter what you throw at James Bond, the British secret agent is impervious to death. A superhero with a Walther PPK and a Martini shaken not stirred, 007 has battled countless villains over the years, protecting the world from destruction in the name of “Queen and Country”.
Indiana Jones
Harrison Ford –Â Raiders Of The Lost Ark
The swashbuckling hero who swaps superpowers for a trusty whip, Indiana Jones mixes teaching archaeology with globe-trotting adventure, all the while keeping the sun off his neck with his iconic fedora hat. As part of his heroic acts, he single-handedly rids the world of a bunch of megalomaniacal Nazis.
Martin Brody
Roy Scheider –Â Jaws
The saviour of Amity Island. Chief Brody is the unassuming bespectacled hero of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws who joins the Orca’s crew as the outsider, neither shark expert or fisherman. Indeed, he’s afraid of the water. Overcoming that fear is part of what makes this law-abiding family man cinema’s greatest “gentleman” hero.
If you liked our look at heroes without superpowers, you may also like:
Top 10 Movie Heroes From Unlikely Professions
With the superheroes of Marvel and DC battling it out for box office supremacy, the movie hero has never been so obviously a part of 21st century popular culture. But many of Hollywood’s most iconic achievements – and Tinseltown’s biggest commercial successes – are founded upon heroic figures who emerge from unlikely places.
Really enjoyed the ingenuity in this list, Dan. I knew Indiana Jones and John McClane would make the list. and I love your inclusion of Kevin McCallister. That’s definitely not someone I expect you to put on there.