That unflinching, steely interior resolve of a tough character that could care less about dying. He's got other, more important things on his mind...
Like:
1. Robert Duvall - as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgrove in Apocalypse Now. He was the first (I believe; the original - Godfather of 'the walk away from bombs, explosions, gunfire and possible death' to ride the perfect wave with his new blonde surfer buddy, Sam Bottoms.)
2. Javier Bardam - as Anton Chugirh in No Country for Old Men. Overused at this point. But when it's done right. You can actually make it'll virginal again.
3. Heath Ledger - as The Joker in The Dark Knight. Just when you thought Javier was going to put this puppy to bed once and for all. Heath came and made it all his own...again. In the unforgettable hospital explosion scene with Heath in Nurse Drag walking out like he had been up all weekend with the boys from the White Party - great stuff.
4. Tom Berenger- as Sergeant Barnes in Platoon. Tough a nails. One of the great tough guy performances. Only enhanced by his ability to walk upright while the VietCong are firing all around him. He walks right over two buried land-minds and doesn't bat a scared eyelash. I think I'm in love.
5. George Clooney (New BFF) and Quentin Tarantino (deformed head & crack head) as The Gecko brothers in From Dusk Til Dawn. Fun twist on the genre of walking away from flames as they bicker away like schoolgirls.
6. George Clooney in Syrianna. Don't really remember his character's name but I know he gained a shitload of weight, won the oscar and nearly broke his neck ...and had that one great scene where he walked away from an explosion.
7. Antonio Bandaras and Salme Hayek in Desperado. It just looks hot when both of them our doing the same thing. Guilty ultra cheeseball factor even after that first viewing but still somehow works. Both in their latino-never-lose-my-accent-aren't-I sexy prime.
8. Bruce Willis as John McClane in Die Hard. Not quite steely resolve. More like fed-up and pissed but gave us a couple ultimate tag lines of the 80's "Yippee-ki-yayh mother f**ker" and "Welcome to the Party..."
9. Jackass - poking fun at the explosion cliche and sequels in their Jackass: The Movie, Son of Jackass 2063
10. Con Air. Desperately searching now to finish out my list. But I did like how everyone reacted except for the fantastic John Malcovich ("Little Johnny Mal-co-pee") as Cryrus the 'Virus'.
