Harrison Ford could have retired decades ago and he'd still be considered one of the biggest actors in the world. That's the benefit of being the guy who played both Han Solo and Indiana Jones. Luckily, Ford is still active in Hollywood and has even reprised many of his old famous heroes, like the aforementioned Solo and Jones (and Blade Runner's Rick Deckard).
Ford's also made the leap to TV in recent years, with big acclaimed roles in Yellowstone prequel 1923 and Apple TV+'s Shrinking. A working actor since the 1960's, Ford is still adding mega-franchises to his resume by joining the MCU, succeeding William Hurt as General "Thunderbolt" Ross in the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World.
In the interest of not turning out a Top 10 list that's mostly comprised of Star Wars, Indy, and Jack Ryan movies, we've decided to only pick the best film from each franchise - the one that most represents Ford's strengths as an actor. These are the best Harisson Ford movies of his career.
10. What Lies Beneath (2000)
Where to Watch: Paramount+, MGM+, Fubo
At the tail end of a decade filled with A-list directors and actors doing horror (Misery, Cape Fear, The Silence of the Lambs, Dracula, etc) Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer starred in a Robert Zemeckis ghost thriller, What Lies Beneath, where Ford got to flex his spookiness by playing a role that was a bit more menacing. As a stressed out scientist whose past sins come back to haunt his wife, literally, Ford played against type and effortlessly entered the "jump scare" arena. It's a co-headlining role that both elevated the tormented spirit genre while the movie itself allowed its stars to roll around in the macabre mud.
9. Clear and Present Danger (1994)
Where to Watch: Max, Paramount+
A lot of actors have played Tom Clancy's signature action hero, Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck, and soon to be Chris Pine). But unless Pine can master than Han Solo swagger, we suspect fans will still look to Harrison Ford as the definitive Jack Ryan.
Clear and Present Danger is the third Jack Ryan film, and the second to feature Ford in the lead role. The plot sees Ryan reluctantly step in as acting Director of the CIA after his former boss and mentor, Vice Admiral James Greer (James Earl Jones), is diagnosed with cancer. No sooner does Ryan step into his new role than he gets swept up in a battle with Colombian drug lords, a group deemed to pose a "clear and present danger" to national security.
Clear and Present Danger offered a major step-up from the previous effort, Patriot Games, because it more faithfully captured the tone and flavor of Clancy's novels. Ford himself was a natural fit for Ryan at that stage in his career - still a capable action hero but older, grizzled, and feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders.
8. The Mosquito Coast (1986)
Perhaps River Phoenix was the logical choice to play a young Indiana Jones in the opening scenes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. After all, he had already played Harrison Ford's son in this 1986 drama. The Mosquito Coast is an adaptation of Paul Theroux's novel about a brilliant inventor (Ford), who uproots his family and moves to the "Mosquito Coast" section of Central America. His belief is that he can bring civilization to the natives by introducing them to ice. Unsurprisingly, his obsession winds up getting the better of him.
Critics were torn on whether Mosquito Coast was a successful adaptation of the novel or even a great movie on its own merits. It certainly wasn't the box office success most of Ford's films are. But everyone could agree that the actors delivered strong performances, and none more so than Ford. This movie offered him the rare chance to break away from the action hero mold and explore a much more fundamentally flawed character.
7. Air Force One (1997)
Where to Watch: Peacock, Fubo
By 1997, Ford was starting to get up there in years. Many feared his days of punching Nazis, shooting Replicants, and making the Kessel Run were behind him. Air Force One served as proof that Ford could still wrestle with the bad guys and rescue his family with the best of them. Air Force One doesn't really win any points for originality, as it's basically "Die Hard on a Plane."
Ford played the President of the United States, a Vietnam veteran forced to put his military training to use after Air Force One is hijacked by Kazakh terrorists. But what the movie lacks in originality it makes up for in style and suspense factor. Ford was a great fit to play an aging but charismatic action hero/politician, while Gary Oldman made yet another of his delightful villainous turns as the terrorist leader. And the movie gave us the iconic exit line, "Get off my plane!". So there's that.
6. Working Girl (1988)
Underdog movies don't always have to be about sports. Working Girl is a particularly engaging example of a person bucking against the system and managing to rise above their humble origins. Here, Melanie Griffith starred as Tess McGill, an assistant with ambitious dreams but who constantly falls victim to bad luck and opportunistic colleagues. Tess finds a chance to make a name for herself when her boss (Sigourney Weaver) is injured and she takes advantage of being able to pass herself off as someone she's not. With a little help from her new business partner/lover Jack (Ford), McGill begins building the life she always craved.
This is the sort of concept that could just as easily been fodder for a forgettable romantic comedy, but Working Girl thankfully took itself more seriously than that. The combination of a tightly-plotted script and a talented cast of actors elevated it into something much better.
5. Witness (1985)
Where to Watch: Prime Video, Paramount+, MGM+, Fubo
You don't really need a summary for Witness when the theatrical poster sums it up so well: "Harrison Ford is John Book - a big city cop who knows too much. His only evidence - a small boy who's seen too much."
Witness was a chance for Ford to break away from franchises like Star Wars and Indiana Jones in the mid-'80s. The film revolved around a murder conspiracy where a young Amish boy (Lukas Haas) witnessed a murder in Philadelphia, and Detective Book was charged with investigating the crime and protecting both the boy and his mother (Kelly McGillis). Book is wounded and the trio retreat back to Amish country where the big city cop learns about the simpler ways of life amongst the Amish.
Witness was widely praised as being a strong suspense thriller worthy of Hitchcock. Ford filled the lead role well, earning what is still his only Academy Award nomination to date. And the movie proved that Ford and director Peter Weir made a winning combination, paving the way for Mosquito Coast the following year.
4. The Fugitive (1993)
Where to Watch: Paramount+
It's not often that a modern film based on a classic TV series is worth watching, but that's because the result is usually dreck like Bewitched and The Dukes of Hazzard. At least The Fugitive proved that it's possible to succeed and even thrive with this formula; it even snagged a Best Picture nomination to boot. This 1993 action/suspense film updated the 1960's TV series. Ford starred as Dr. Richard Kimble, a man who is framed for the murder of his wife and escapes custody to expose her true killers. Tommy Lee Jones played his nemesis, a U.S. Marshal named Samuel Gerard.
The Fugitive managed to deliver on all levels. It kept up a high level of suspense throughout. It featured two engaging characters locked in a game of cat-and-mouse, but without casting either one as hero or villain. Ford and Jones played off of each other well, with the former as the driven man who had lost everything and the latter as the wry, relentless hunter. Jones, who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the film, reprised his role in the 1998 sequel U.S. Marshals, but without Ford or an equivalent level of suspense, it just wasn't the same.
3. Blade Runner (1982)
One year before George Lucas freed Han Solo from carbonite and completed his original Star Wars saga, Ford starred in a very different sort of sci-fi film. Blade Runner is adapted from Philip K. Dick's classic novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. This visually bedazzling neo-noir is set in futuristic Los Angeles, a place where neon billboards dominate the skyline and it never seems to stop raining. It was the perfect environment for Ford to deliver a new take on the hard-edged noir detective.
Ford played Rick Deckard, a retired Blade Runner called in to perform the proverbial "one last job." Blade Runners are charged with hunting down and "retiring" the highly advanced but emotionally unstable androids known as Replicants. The case proves to be Deckard's most challenging, as he clashes with an entire group of Replicants led by the desperately insane Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer).
Blade Runner remains one of director Ridley Scott's finest films, as well as one of the greatest sci-films in general. It's slick, stylish, and very open to interpretation and thoughtful analysis. The movie has only grown better in recent years now that Scott's preferred "Final Cut" has been released.
2. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Where to Watch: Disney+
As mentioned in the intro, we're only including the best and most representative movie from any given franchise in this list. And when it comes to Ford, there can be no better example of how important his contribution to the Star Wars saga was than The Empire Strikes Back. While the six Star Wars films as a whole are really devoted to the story of Anakin and Luke Skywalker, it was very often Ford as Han Solo who stole the show in Empire. His performanced helped make it the absolute best Star Wars movie of the series.
Han was as cocky and arrogant as ever, but we also saw him as a man struggling to do the right thing even as the whole galaxy seemed to be hounding him. And there was his rocky romance with Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia top further inject the movie with heart and tragedy. The original Star Wars gave us Han Solo in the first place, but Empire gave his character the depth and weight that made him endure. Plus, Empire was the only time we got to see Han wield a lightsaber. That has to count for something.
See our guide to Star Wars movies in order.
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Where to Watch: Disney+, Paramount+, Fubo
Movie fans an argue until the end of time as to whether Star Wars or Indiana Jones is the greater franchise. But when it comes to judging the best Harrison Ford franchise specifically, we have to give the nod to Indy. Ford was only ever one member of a larger cast with Star Wars. Indiana Jones is entirely his show, and the movies wouldn't be the same without him.
Again, we can only pick one Indy film for this list, and the obvious choice is the original, Raiders of the Lost Ark. This movie hit the scene in 1981 and helped everyone forget about the long wait between Star Wars sequels. Raiders was very much a throwback to the classic adventure serials of old-school Hollywood. Ford's Indiana Jones was introduced as a distinguished archaeologist who spent most of his free time traveling the globe, retrieving rare artifacts, and punching, shooting, and whipping Nazis. The film offered a memorable supporting cast, including Karen Allen as Indy's love interest Marion Ravenwood, Paul Freeman as the treacherous Rene Belloq, and John Rhys-Davies and Denholm Elliot as Indy's recurring sidekicks, Sallah and Marcus Brody. But again, it was really Ford's moment to shine.
And shine he did. The role allowed Ford to deliver more of his now-trademark swagger and charm, yet those elements were coupled with a sense of innocence and nobility that Han Solo would prefer to hide. Indy wasn't a superhero. He regularly took beatings and was deathly afraid of snakes. Indy has survived four movies without getting his face melted off, and we hope Ford has at least one more in him.
See our guide to the Indianna Jones movies in order for a full timeline of the films.
Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.
