Harrison Ford Turns 79: 7 Amazing Movies to Celebrate His July Birthday
Harrison Ford is a living Hollywood legend. The actor turns 79 on July 13. Here are seven great movies to commemorate his birthday and his iconic career.
1. ‘Witness’ earned Harrison Ford an Oscar nomination
In the 1985 crime drama Witness, Ford plays John Book, a detective investigating the murder of an undercover officer. The main witness he finds turns out to be an 8-year-old Amish boy. And upon realizing the boy and his mother may be in danger, Book ends up staying with the Amish community while trying to protect them and looking for the killer.
For the role, Ford earned Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor. The film also stars Kelly McGillis, Lukas Haas, and Alexander Gudunov. Witness is available for digital rentals through Amazon Prime Video, Google Play Movies, and iTunes.
2. ‘The Fugitive’
In the 1993 critically-acclaimed film, The Fugitive, Ford takes on the role of Dr. RIchard Kimble, a high-profile surgeon who comes home to find his wife being murdered by a one-armed killer. Kimble is charged with the crime but manages to escape before being imprisoned.
While the doctor tries to track down the identity of the real murderer, he is hunted by U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerad (Tommy Lee Jones). The Fugitive earned Ford a Golden Globe nomination. Tommy Lee Jones, Sela Ward, Joe Pantoliano, Andreas Katsulas, and Jeroen Krabbé also star.
3. Harrison Ford takes on the role of Han Solo in ‘Star Wars: A New Hope’
Ford steps into one of his most iconic roles in Star Wars: A New Hope. In the 1977 film, the first of the Star Wars franchise, he portrays Han Solo, the renegade pilot of the Millenium Falcon. Along with his co-pilot and best friend, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), Solo finds himself in the middle of a battle between the Empire and the Rebels.
Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, and Alec Guinness also star. Ford reprised the role for four subsequent films — Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens, and The Rise of Skywalker.
5. ‘Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark’ features Harrison Ford in his most iconic role
The first of Steven Spielberg’s popular film franchise, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, introduces Ford as Indiana Jones, an archeologist who finds himself fighting against Nazi forces to recover the Ark of the Covenant.
The 1981 movie stars Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, John Rhys-Davies, and Denholm Elliott. Ford reprised the role for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. And he will return once again as Dr. Jones in the fifth untitled Indiana Jones film.
6. Blade Runner
In Ridley Scott’s 1981 sci-fi film, Blade Runner, Ford plays a former cop who agrees to track down a fugitive group of synthetic humans known as replicants. The film also stars Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos.
Ford reprised the role for the 2017 sequel, Blade Runner 2049, opposite Ryan Gosling.
7. ‘Patriot Games’ introduces Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan
Ford takes on the iconic role of Jack Ryan in Patriot Games, an adaptation of Tom Clancy’s 1987 thriller. The film follows the CIA analyst after he thwarts a terrorist attack in London and inadvertently becomes the target of a revenge plot. The movie also stars James Earl Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Ann Archer, and Patrick Bergen.
Ford returned as Jack Ryan in the 1994 sequel, Clear and Present Danger.
