When you’re talking about movies and movie figures, sometimes one is not enough. For some movies, you need the main protagonist and antagonist if you’re going to feel satisfied. For instance, a Predator alone is fine, but a Predator with Dutch is gold. Similarly, Rocky on his own may look good and be fun to pose, but without an Apollo Creed to have him spar against, the line feels a little hollow. On the other hand, sometimes all you need is that one good, well-done key character from a movie or movie series to feel like you’ve gotten a decent representation. I’m going to take a look at five characters that I’d be happy to own even if I never get anybody else from their respective movie universe.
First up:
Sanjuro
Toshiro Mifune has left large footprints in the world of samurai films. In partnership with Akira Kurosawa, he returned to the world of the ronin in multiple films, always proving to be an electric cinematic presence. In an alternate universe, we might all have been playing with Toshiro Mifune dressed as an aged Jedi if George Lucas had been able to get him to play Obi-Wan. But that was not the case.
Toshiro Mifune played the role of Sanjuro twice: first in Yojimbo, and then again in the titularly named Sanjuro. The action figure world has been mostly bereft of anything dealing with samurai or ronin for a long time, and getting at least some representation from one of the heavy hitters of the genre might make up for it.
Man With No Name
A distant cousin of Toshiro Mifune’s Sanjuro role, Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name is one of the greatest icons of western cinema. While technically the character appeared in only three Sergio Leone-helmed movies, it could very well equate to all of Eastwood’s western performances, each of which featured Clint as a no-nonsense quick drawing gunfighter whose world-weariness was matched only by the ice behind his glare. And, again, there is a surprising lack of true gunfighter action figures out there, which is surprising considering “cowboys and Indians” is such a staple of kids’ playtime. Jonah Hex and Neca’s Lone Ranger figure are all that spring immediately to mind. As someone who has seen just about every Clint Eastwood western there is, my toy collection is feeling the huge void that exists where a good Clint figure should be.
Alex from A Clockwork Orange
I don’t have enough codpiece-wearing action figures. It’s true. None of us do. Malcolm McDowell’s fierce, unhinged performance as Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange dug into my brain from the first time I watched the movie, and I can think of no better way of commemorating that sadistic, twisted character than to have him permanently leering from my shelf over a glass of milk plus. Getting some droogs would be nice, but they’d be a sweet bonus and, really, I’d be sated with just Alex himself, cane in hand, ready to dispense a bit of the old ultra-violence to my other action figures.
Give me a funky head with that eye-peeling device on it and I’d be happy as can be.
Dirty Harry
Clint Eastwood makes his second appearance on this list, but damned if the man doesn’t have some icons under his belt and a huge lack of action figure love from the world. Dirty Harry is just as iconic — if not more so depending on who you ask — as the Man With No Name, and as a shelf-mate he would be superb. Again, some random punks to shoot would be great, but you don’t really need them when you can pop some random heads on other figures and have instant bad guys. Harry himself would stand alone. He’d have to come with his .44 Magnum “the most powerful handgun in the world” (at the time, and arguable even then, but who’s going to disagree with a guy holding a cannon in your face?) and be nattily attired in ’70s suit and tie. He can face off with his MWNN figure to see who’s the quicker draw. Dirty Harry versus Predators. Dirty Harry versus Rambo. Sweet jeebus, the possibilities…
And finally:
The Killer
Chow Yun-Fat’s dual-gunned killing machine Ah Jong from The Killers has inspired countless derivative performances since exploding onto audiences in 1989, but it still remains without peer. While not getting Danny Lee or an ocean of bad guys for him to mow down would be a minor tragedy, it would be enough to get the quintessential badass and a representation of a role that Chow Yun-Fat revisited in many movies. Have him armed with every type of weapon he used in the movie and his figure would kick as much ass as possible. And never need to reload.
