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100 Most Memorable Film Characters Of All Time: Nominations 41 thru 60

© Jason O'Brien

Well, we've reached it ... the exact midpoint of 2003. As usual, the filmworld hasn't exactly displayed their true Oscar winning material yet ... but the boxoffice is still churning with more blockbusters. The Hulk and the Charlie's Angels sequel just came out, and the next big sure thing looks to be the long awaited Terminator 3, coming out this week. So while we continue to enjoy the biggest of what Hollywood can offer, which is what they usually offer us in the summer, it's time to continue my summer series revealing my choices for the 100 Most Memorable Film Characters of all time. Please reference the past couple of articles to see my criteria for making these selections. This week, I count down 20 more, numbers 60 through 41.

60) Rocky Balboa in THE ROCKY MOVIES (Sylvester Stallone) Just like Stallone's other signature character, John Rambo, Rocky Balboa began with small, meager beginnings and critical success, and evolved into a larger than life film icon. This time, it was five films which told a story arc of this lovable boxer from Philadelphia. Even though each film veered further and further away from the quality of the first film, especially the fifth film, the Rocky character has been a true film hero. From the Oscar winning Best Picture which started it all, when Rocky gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot at the heavyweight boxing championship to instead prove himself a winner for going the distance, to the Rocky struggling with success in ROCKY II and finally winning in a hard fought, exciting final bout. In ROCKY III, he was now the Heavyweight Champion and struggled against a contender who was hungry like he used to be. ROCKY IV was the zenith of his popularity as a film hero, as he became an icon for U.S.-Soviet relations in the 1980's as he took on a Russian behemoth. Through it all, it's been a fun character to spend time with, but mostly for his original story of rising to the challenge in the face of adversity and coming out a winner.

59) Col. Walter Kurtz in APOCALYPSE NOW (Marlon Brando) This character was interesting even before he appeared on screen. During almost the entire course of Francis Ford Coppola's amazing epic of the Vietnam War, we only hear about Col. Kurtz and Martin Sheen's journey to find him. The images that fill our mind as we hear about his descent into madness make the final revelation pay off handsomely. At the film's end, we see a man totally consumed and overtaken by the madness and horror of war, in a harrowing performance that still ranks as one of Brando's most unique and mesmerizing.