Best Character Arcs

[Sawyer]

Both Kirk and Spock in the newest Star Trek. I was going to originally just put Kirk, but Spock went through a pretty great journey as well.

 

[Poetic Chaos]

Michael Corleone's arc in The Godfather (not even including the sequels) is more captivating than most leads throughout an entire trilogy/franchise.

 

[Brother Jack]

Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins

Definitely, but I think Bruce's entire arc, that is the one spanning the whole series, isn't contained in just Begins and isn't even completed yet. Once Nolan finishes the third film we'll have the entire character arc laid out over a trilogy just like Luke Skywalker or Michael Corleone.

 

[Lone]

Malik El Djebena in A Prophet.

Sang-Hoon in Ddongpari (Breathless).

 

[batman44]

Ben Wade and Dave Evans in 3:10 to Yuma
Leonard Shelby in Memento
Dieter Dengler in Rescue Dawn
Tom Hansen in 500 Days of Summer
Harry Osborn in Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2
Randy "The Ram" Robinson in The Wrestler
Judah Ben-Hur in Ben-Hur

 

[VenomVsSpidey]

Ace Merril, Gordon Lachance, & Chris Chambers - Stand by Me

 

[Bunker]

Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood. His slow descent into madness is so well executed.

 

[That-Guy]

That was an amazing show. Although I love Olivia Wilde on House I would've much rather things worked out for that show and kept here there as Jenny.

Yeah, same here. I like her on House but I've never been able to keep up with that show regularly, because I don't find medical dramas to be all that interesting after a while. But Donnellys was so good and it's a shame that it was barely given a chance. I suppose I wouldn't have such an issue with it if the networks didn't periodically try to ram other shows down your throat even though they couldn't find an audience either.

 

[Iron_Stark]

Tony Stark in Iron Man.

 

[DACrowe]

Two characters more than any others sum of this thread:

Male: Michael Corleone. You don't even need the sequels for him to be tops. You don't even need the third at all as the arc is done by the end of the second film.

Female: Scarlett O'Hara. Shame on this thread for not mentioning her sooner.

 

[That-Guy]

I kind of hated Scarlett O'Hara. Don't get me wrong, Gone with the Wind is an incredible film, but I find her pretty loathesome. I also don't think her arc is that drastic. She's still pretty immature by the end of the film, hence the reason Rhett has simply had enough of her.

 

[CashforStash]

Hate on me for this, but Quint.

In the 2nd half of Jaws, Quint seems like the tough guy, he seems like he can get the job done. But more and more into the 2nd half you can tell Quint is going insane and cannot possibly defeat the shark.

 

[Spidey220987]

Buzz Lightyear - Toy Story & Toy Story 2






TS:

• arrives in Andy's room, unaware that he's a toy, believing to be a space ranger
• Mocked by Woody after having his helmet retracted ("the air isn't toxic. How dare you open a spaceman's helmet on an uncharted planet, my eyeballs could have been sucked from their sockets")
• Gets knocked out of Andy's window by Woody controlling RC on accident, fight ensues with Woody at the Dinoco gas station, STILL believing he's a space ranger
• Woody shouts at him "YOU ARE A TOY!"
• At Pizza planet, meets the LGMs, believes he's meeting a new race lol
• Once at Sid's, and believing to be called by Star Command, he realises that he is watching a Buzz Lightyear toy commercial, but is STILL in denial
• Attempts to fly and falls, breaking his arm. the realisation has sunk in - he is a toy
• After getting fixed by Sid's Mutant toys, he has a conversation with Woody, and he is still down.
• Woody confesses that Buzz is a cool toy - "Why would Andy want you? Look at you! You're a Buzz Lightyear! Any other toy would give up his moving parts just to be you. You've got wings! You glow in the dark! You talk! Your helmet does that...that...that 'whoosh' thing. You are a cool toy! As a matter of fact you're too cool. I mean what chance does a toy like me have against a Buzz Lightyear action figure?"
• After the Woody rescue and the race to get back to Andy's, is the iconic "Falling with style" moment, which to me is when he decides to embrace that he is a toy

TS2

• Becomes the leader in Woody's absence after being stolen by Al
• Leads the toys to rescue Andy - "Woody once risked his life to save me. I couldn't call myself his friend if I weren't willing to do the same"
• Leads the toys across the road to Al's toy barn, and it's his idea to jump altogether that allows them entry via the automatic doors
• After being trapped by Utility Belt Buzz, he escapes, and uses his brain by kicking the the toy boxes to open the automatic doors for him to leave
• In Al's apartment, he tells Woody what Woody told him in Toy Story - "Woody you are not a collector's item, you're a child's plaything. You are A TOY!"
• One of my favourite moments in the movie is the conversation between Buzz & Woody, and you can tell how hard it is for Buzz and by the expression on his face - "Somewhere in that pad of stuffing is a toy who taught me that life's only worth living if you're being loved by a kid. And I traveled all this way to rescue that toy...because I believed him."

Well, that's my opinions on that LOL!

 

[Peyton Westlake]

Hate on me for this, but Quint.

In the 2nd half of Jaws, Quint seems like the tough guy, he seems like he can get the job done. But more and more into the 2nd half you can tell Quint is going insane and cannot possibly defeat the shark.

In the novel, which I think in terms of the story is better then the movie. Quint doesn't die.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

eh, i'm reading the novel right now, and the characters are pissing me off lol, particularly hooper and brodys wife. i prefer the movie. but on topic, i'd say marty mcfly in BTTF

 

[Peyton Westlake]

Sorry to ruin part of it for you. But believe me the book is better, a lot more in depth. Even into Mayour Vaughn's life. Spielberg ruined the story.

 

[DACrowe]

Quint dies in the novel (he gets pulled out to sea by the shark a la Ahab). And in my personal opinion Jaws is one of the few times the film is vastly superior to the book. The book was a mess with the mafia, impotent Brody, the arbitrary and pointless affair between Mrs. Brody and Hooper that was only there to make Hooper unlikable (and thus justly shark chow).

The film streamlines it to an amazingly taught story and above all it gives a reason for Quint's strong vengeance on sharks--the Indianapolis. Not in the book. I wouldn't say Quint has an arc really. His arc happened in 1945 when he went int the water with a life jacket. With that said he is an amazing character and, along with the score, steals that amazing movie.


***

As for Scarlett O'Hara. Yes, she is a manipulative, conniving, cunning *****. And that's why we (the audience) has to love her. She is one of the all-time great female roles and Vivian Leigh runs away with film history in her hands in it.

She goes from being a spoiled, bratty, flighty airhead to growing into a strong, intelligent, and masterful survivor. Her trip from Southern Belle to "As God as my witness..." is breathtaking. Her ability to kill, hide murder, and maintain her wealth by playing everyone (including Rhett) is a sight to behold. Sure, her one weakness is her pathetic obsession with Ashley Wilkes that ultimately undoes her only after she realizes the error of her ways, but that only completes the arc where she can finally let go of her Southern belle fantasies of a South that's gone (not that it ever historically really existed ) only to still lose everything in the end.

A tour de force. Michael Corleone is also absolutely despicable by the end of the second film, but what an amazing journey from clean war hero to empty monster. A journey that cinema made unforgettable and truly remarkable to watch.

Alec Guiness in Bridge on the River Kwai, Tim Robbins in the Shawshank Redemption, and Jimmy Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life are also worth mentioning.

 

[VenomVsSpidey]

In the novel, which I think in terms of the story is better then the movie. Quint doesn't die.

Yes he does....

 

[Asteroid-Man]

Michael Corleone
Harvey Dent
Luke Skywalker
Simba (Yeah, that's right.)
Bruce Wayne

I dunno how I forgot Maximus and Commodus (Commodus from the extended edition).

 

[Carmine Falcone]

Malik El Djebena in A Prophet.

Good one! Also Caesar Luciani from the same movie. The whole movie is practically a shifting scale with both characters on either sides and ultimately switiching positions in the hierarchy.

 

[misjuevos]

the classic story of ebenezer scrooge.
also i would say the villagers in the seven samurai, they went from cowardly victims to defenders of their village.

 

[Peyton Westlake]

Yes he does....

To quote Roger Clemens ,"I mis-remembered" I meant to say or type, Hooper dies unlike the movie.

 

[Peyton Westlake]

Quint dies in the novel (he gets pulled out to sea by the shark a la Ahab). And in my personal opinion Jaws is one of the few times the film is vastly superior to the book. The book was a mess with the mafia, impotent Brody, the arbitrary and pointless affair between Mrs. Brody and Hooper that was only there to make Hooper unlikable (and thus justly shark chow).

The film streamlines it to an amazingly taught story and above all it gives a reason for Quint's strong vengeance on sharks--the Indianapolis. Not in the book. I wouldn't say Quint has an arc really. His arc happened in 1945 when he went int the water with a life jacket. With that said he is an amazing character and, along with the score, steals that amazing movie.

I must be in the minority with that. I think the book was much better. The movie is well made & a classic, im not trying to contadict myself. I just mea Spielberg always changes his endings or alterss omething to make what he wants. He pretty much re wrote Jurassisc park & more of Lost WOrld.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

at least he kept the same basic story for the first jurassic park lol he didn't even acknowledge the book when making the lost world.

 

[VenomVsSpidey]

To quote Roger Clemens ,"I mis-remembered" I meant to say or type, Hooper dies unlike the movie.

Alrighty then. Fair enough

. He pretty much re wrote Jurassisc park & more of Lost WOrld.

To this day, I cannot forgive the man for altering 99% of The Lost World and instead of having 2 awesome JP movies, with a mediocre third, we have One awesome movie, with two mediocre sequels.