Monday, February 15, 2010

President's Day Honors

President's Day, one of those countless national holidays that many of us Americans tend to overlook. Seriously, it seems as if there is some sort of national holiday at least every other week, but anyways. The Presidency of the United States has typically played a fairly big role in the world of film. Often being fictionalized to great aplum, whether it be a disaster flick, a comedy, or a straight-up drama, one thing is certain, people love to see movies made about the President of the United States.

Now, while there have been a great many movies that have told biopics about former United States' Presidents, I always tend to enjoy the fictional President a touch more. They're idealized to the letter of the American dream, and I believe that is why we flock to see a good President up there on the silver screen who is not corrupt and if existed in reality would have almost perfect approval ratings when faced with imminent destruction or turmoil. Here are my picks for the Top 3 Movie Presidents of All-Time, the ones that made the greatest lasting impact upon me.

3. The President played by E.G. Marshall in Superman II
I hope that if an obsessed Kryptonian general named Zod came down to Earth and tried to rule, I really do hope that the President would act much like E.G. Marshall did when confronted with the tyrannical Zod. He went toe-to-toe with the general, unafraid, kneeling before Zod to spare the lives of the innocent. A true-blue American movie President if there ever has been. Though, it is laugh worthy that he is simply credited as The President. Seeing as how I can't find a good clip of The President, this clip of my favorite line in the film will have to do.



2. President Thomas J. Whitmore played by Bill Pullman in Independence Day
Bill Pullman was the President with enough gall to realize his limits and decided to join in the final battle against the aliens rather than hiding in the bunker. He piloted his aircraft alongside the rest of the fighter pilots, gunning down aliens. When threatened, Bill Pullman came through and he made those aliens realize that they should not have messed with the United States of America. That is a real American President. Plus, he gives probably the best presidential speech in history, and it's just a bunch of words some screenwriters wrote. To think politicians waste so much money on overpaid speech writers.



1. President James Marshall played by Harrison Ford in Air Force One
Really, did anyone think this wouldn't be number one? Harrison Ford was the most awesome President ever. He was fearless and not afraid to get his hands dirty to get the job done. He's a marvelous speech maker, and not to mention he beats Gary Oldman to a pulp and then... Well, you just have to see it to believe.



Hooray, for Harrison Ford!

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