terrible chong

Sean O'Hara

Not quite. In the series premiere, Smith was an enemy spy who was ordered to sabotage the Jupiter 2. When he got caugh on board during lift-off, he had no choice but to undo the damage if he didn't want to die, but by then the ship was Lost in Space. The producers liked Jonathan Harris so much that they decided to keep his character around, and over the first few episodes he morphed from an outright villain to a mere asshat who'd sell out the family for a chance at returning to Earth.

UAIOE

Well, I went off secondary information from my father about "Lost in Space", sounds like he only saw later episodes.

RobLutter

This might sound absolutely nuts... but Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Now, I fucking love Harrison Ford... but he really jumped the shark for me with Six Days and Seven Nights (after the excellent Air Force One). After that he continued to make junk like Random Hears, What Lies Beneath (blech), Hollywood Homicide, and Firewall.

His performance as Indy was shockingly bad because he has aged too much for the part. His line delivery which was cool, calm, and perfect in the first three films sounded like a stroke victim that had escaped from his hospital bed and had been placed in Indiana Jones films. And because Spielberg tried to shoehorn the fact that he had aged past the part we were also subjected to Mutt Williams picking up the slack both in delivery and action-wise (I actually didn't mind Shia LeBouf... I think he did a stand up job, actually).

Worst miscasting ever. LOL. I still don't understand why they just didn't reboot the series with a new actor as Indiana Jones and gave the series some new life (possibly an entire trilogy of new films). There are many actors that do the gruff-yet-smart thing well! I could name 5 right now, seriously!

dino88

^The fact that he seems to hate acting doesn't help either. I get the feeling that he thinks he's doing court-ordered community service whenever he takes a role.

Ash Ketchum

Your post sent me to IMDB to see if Jonathan Harris was still alive (he's not), but I learned that he was the son of Russian-Jewish parents and was born and raised in the Bronx. He sure shook off that accent. He was also married to the same woman for 64 years, right up until his death.

William Fuld

Angela Bassett certainly was.

Solid Snake

interesting, to me indy is ford. Though...name your 5 picks. I'm interested in what you said.

NoirFan

Brad Pitt in anything completely serious.

toddly6666

I think Gerard Butler would make a great Indiana Jones.

riotinmyskull

he did fine in BABEL.

whoopdido

Obviously Tom Selleck.

Hugh Jackman would be good I think.

Michael Corvin

12 Monkeys? Fight Club?

whoopdido

To be fair, he plays a complete loon in 12 Monkeys and spends most of the movie spouting jibberish with a crazy look in his eyes.

Travis McClain

I loved Six Days, Seven Nights. It reminded me of his performances as Han Solo, and I thought it was a fun little movie. I also enjoyed Hollywood Homicide and What Lies Beneath. In any event, let's not suggest that Ford's filmography is endorsed by a consensus of fans and critics prior to the late 1990s.

I thought it was pretty clear that they wrote the film to account for Harrison Ford's aging, rather than try to pass him off as the same age from when we last saw him in the role. If Indiana Jones has aged along with Harrison Ford, then I see no reason why Ford's performance shouldn't reflect that aging.

I bolded what is certainly hyperbole. As for why not rebooting the series, I have a hard time imagining that as anything anyone would want to make or see. James Bond, Robin Hood, Sherlock Holmes, Batman...these are all characters that have existed before, and outside of, their cinematic counterparts and are larger than any one actor. Indiana Jones? Not so much. And yes, I'm perfectly aware of Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and no, I don't consider it proof positive that the public demands the character above Harrison Ford in the role.

yoshimi

Keanu Reeves as a human being in anything.

notkevinbacon

I think Nathan Fillion would have been a good Indiana Jones. Or a great Han Solo, as he proves in Firefly.

mike45

Bill Murray in the Razor's Edge.

NoirFan

Notice I specified completely serious in my post. His performances in 12 Monkeys and Fight Club were tinged with humor - quirky in the former, sardonic in the latter. It's when he's asked to be completely straight-up and earnest that his limitations are exposed.

TGM

I thought he rocked it in Seven.... certainly not a lot of humor there.

Yeti4623

He was annoying in Se7en, but I think maybe that was his character.

Matty-O

Yeti4623

Demi Moore, Mr. Brooks

Maggie Grace, the Taken movies.

Vernon Wells, Commando (Ironically, his miscasting probably makes the role a little more memorable than it would have been.)

dom56

Seth Rogen - Green Hornet

TomOpus

We never did find out the 5