Is Nathan Fillion a better actor than Harrison Ford?
POSTED BY: agirlyman
UPDATED: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 00:19
VIEWED: 16184
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I wouldn't say that. They are both very good actors with a similar style. Harrison Ford is outstanding in Blade Runner a role Nathan Fillion would have also fitted and he is great as Indiana Jones.
as for Mals Captain status im not one for nitpicking but when the operative was checking Mals data file in serenity it did say Captain. I know he is the Captain of Serenity however it stated on the datafile he was a captain in the Army an we all know he was a Seargent
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Let Nathan play a difficult character role first. Ford could play a broken character in a creepy thriller anytime. Since Nathan hasn't done that yet it's an improper/unfair/biased comparison.
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Quote:
Everyone likes to say Mal is very much like Han Solo..
INCLUDING Joss Whedon, at least thats how I heard it on the commentaries. I thought Joss loosely wrote Mal to be sort of a Han Solo character. AND Star Wars DOES owe a great deal to Buck Rogers. Nothing new under the sun.
'Blues
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Indy you're missing the point, harrison can't do comedy, at best he made me "chuckle", he also has never made me sad, let alone cry, it's exactly as I said. Ford hasn't the emotional range that "Nathan" has, i'm pointing right at, but you refuse to see it. I am a Harrison Ford fan from way back, he's was a great action hero, he was great as "Solo", even better at Indy, all i'm saying is Nathan would be better. Seriously, if Ford could have made me laugh, or cry, i'd think he'd have done it by now. Or maybe his best work is ahead of him? I know the truth hurts, but don't let it get you down. Are you trying to tell me that the role of "Han Solo", was better written than "Captain Malcolm" Reynolds? Or that you can see Harrison as Captain of Serenity? Either way I don't see, or buy it. Nathan's acting range would allow him to add another layer to "Han Solo", as it does to any other character he has, or will portray.
AM I NOT MERCIFUL?!?!?!?
Tee Hee
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I'm not saying it is better written, YOU are missing the point. Han Solo was written as a space cowboy, as was Mal. DO you think Joss was a Star Wars fan, and a Han Solo fan. I do.
Besides, once someone writes a charcter, and the scenes are filmed and in the can,..it's easy to say what you would do better.
Like the joke about the guitar players:
"How many guitar players does it take to play a wicked solo??
10....1 to play it, and 9 to say that could have played it better.
I'm not taking this personal, I'm just stating how I feel, as you are. We all have our opinions. Is Robert DeNiro a lesser actor than Nathan, because comedy isn't his forte'(He was great in Meet the Parents, but damn what was Rocky and Bullwinkle all about, lol)?
We're talking apples and oranges here.
I never said H.F. was a better actor, I just said give the man his due, and give Nathan some time to show us he's better.
Am I out of line to say that Nathan doesn't channel some of that H.F vibe for his interpretation of Mal?? Why do you think so many people, incuding yourself, feel that Nathan could play the new Indiana Jones?
I think he would be GREAT as a younger Indiana Jones. I think the best actor so far to even consider, and coming from me, thats alot, lol.
Judging by my screen name, you can see I'm an H.F. fan, but I'm here, and I love Firefly, and the cast. Firefly would not be the same without Nathan at the lead of the crew.
Again, these are opinions. Like yours.
Let's keep it civil.
'Blues
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Quote:
Originally posted by agirlyman:
Ford hasn't the emotional range that "Nathan" has
In how many different roles did you see Nathan so far? Three? Four? Very conclusive indeed.
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Quote:
Originally posted by agirlyman:
In a word, "yes". Even though I think Nathan had better material to work with, you still have to be able to pull it off, not only is Nathan "Captain Malcolm Reynolds", he's a better "Han Solo" as well.
When I watch Fillion on the screen, and in the show I can see that he can do it all, action, drama, and comedy. He make you laugh, cry, and move you. Harrison Ford never made me sad, or care so deeply, about any of his characters.
In a word, no.
Don't get me wrong Harrison sure as hell isn't better than Nathan, but when it comes down to it what I judge an actor by isn't how much emotion he or she can make me feel but how real they can be.
In The Empire Strikes Back when he says, "I know," you know you're looking at Han Solo, you don't say, "Oh that was good acting," because when it happens acting and actors are the last thing on your mind.
In Indiana Jones he is Indy, I never feel like I'm watching Harrison Ford, I'm watching Indy.
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On the other hand do I think he could have done what Nathan did? Probably not, the line, "Everybody dies alone," sounds like cheap melodrama, it reads like cheap melodrama, it IS cheap melodrama, if someone said it in real life in the most dire of situations it would be cheap melodrama.
Every single place on earth or in time that line has always been cheap melodrama. All save one.
When Mal says it it has power and meaning, and I don't think Harrison could have played Mal there. I don't think he could have played Mal in most of the show, or any of the show.
But I have not seen Harrison go beyond his abilities (though I have not watched any of the movies put out in more recent years) and I think knowing you limits, and refusing to cross them, is just as respectable as having greater limits.
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That's just me though.
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Something just occured to me that is totally off topic but I feel the need to say. In Ms Henderson Presents when she says, "All deaths are in vain," that has a power much like, "Everybody dies alone," and on a further-to-the-side note if you have not seen that movie you should, if you have the chance.
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Quote:
Originally posted by CBY:Quote:
Originally posted by agirlyman:
Ford hasn't the emotional range that "Nathan" has
In how many different roles did you see Nathan so far? Three? Four? Very conclusive indeed.
If in three or four roles he can have more range than Ford has had in all of his I'd say that is very conclusive indeed.
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(genral response, not to CBY:)
I'm not up to participate in this fight though. I do not personally believe that Harrison Ford could to what Nathan has done (as I've said already), but I also do not know.
I'd have pointed this out in my first post if I'd read the whole thread first but I feel that with this kind of a question it is best to answer unbiased.
The fact is that Mal was a character who was better written than Han Solo or any of Ford's roles. But Harrison isn't the one who wrote them and Nathan didn't write the part of Mal.
Harrison has played the characters that have been written for him, and in the movies I have seen he has done it very well. Nathan has done the same thing.
You can't critize Harrison for acting the parts he has been given to play, though you can critize him for choosing those parts if you want. Still that is a question of prefrence, not acting ability.
Never judge an actor by the writer.
Nathan has done what was writen for Mal, and only a great actor could do that, but if he had been given the role of Han Solo or Indiana Jones as they were written and directed he could not have done them any better than Harrison because Harrison nailed them.
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By the way, anyone here remember what Joss said was the inspiration for Firefly? I didn't see it mentioned though I have been known to skip a line by mistake.
"I sort of became obsessed with the idea of life on the frontier, which of course made me think of the Millenium Falcon, because most things do."
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People are getting a little worked up about this.
That said, I'm still joining the fray.
From what I've seen so far (and this is just my opinion, nobody has to agree with me) I believe that Nathan Fillion is a better actor.
Don't get me wrong, I love watching Harrison Ford movies but I really think that Nathan has a better range. Ford is always the "strong, confident guy". Sometimes he's the slightly jerky "strong, confident guy", or the "strong confident guy" that's out for himself, or the "strong confident guy" that refuses to give in. It's still all the same guy. When have you ever seen him play a truly evil character? Or how about someone who's really emotionally shattered and filled with self doubt?
Even this early in his career Nathan Fillion has quite a varied resume. To use some of his best known parts for examples, there's Malcolm Reynolds, Caleb from Buffy, and his character on Two Guys and a Girl. All three are vastly different characters with different motivations and personalities. Even when he does bit parts like Father David in Dracula 2000, he makes it seem real. In that movie, when Mary starts talking about this thing that wants her soul, he's terrified. It's a last minute character with two scenes and he still managed to catch my attention even though I had no idea who he was (I didn't really watch Two Guys and a Girl at this point).
That came out longer than I expected.
We all seem to be ranting on this topic.
If anyone has completely read all of the posts on this thread then I congradulate you and give you fresh pie of your choosing. You can pick any kind of pie you like. They're all homemade and they all taste great.
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Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kayna:
That came out longer than I expected.
We all seem to be ranting on this topic.
If anyone has completely read all of the posts on this thread then I congradulate you and give you fresh pie of your choosing. You can pick any kind of pie you like. They're all homemade and they all taste great.
Strawberry rubarb.
And don't worry, I rant in all topics so if you're only doing it in one you're fine.
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