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View Poll Results: Which is your favorite film starring Tom Hanks?
Big 0 0%
Philadelphia 0 0%
Forrest Gump 4 25.00%
Apollo 13 0 0%
Toy Story 1, 2, or 3 4 25.00%
Saving Private Ryan 0 0%
The Green Mile 1 6.25%
Cast Away 4 25.00%
Catch Me If You Can 2 12.50%
other 1 6.25%
Voters: 16. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 03-03-2013, 01:12 PM   #1
Talon87
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Favorite Tom Hanks Film

Because why not.

Given that the poll options are limited to ten max, I picked the nine films that I thought were his nine most popular, and then saved the tenth slot for Other. My apologies if your favorite Tom Hanks film didn't make the cut for named options, but just vote Other in that case and tell us below which one is your favorite and why. In fact, that goes for everyone else as well: let us know why you picked your pick. (Just try not to frame your logic in such a way as to belittle others for their choices, okay?)

Poll Options:
Big
Philadelphia
Forrest Gump
Apollo 13
Toy Story & sequels
Saving Private Ryan
The Green Mile
Cast Away
Catch Me If You Can

Honorable mentions:
Turner and Hooch (I don't think a lot of people would vote this as their #1 favorite)
A League of Their Own (I don't think many on UPN would vote this #1; apologies if I'm mistaken)
Sleepless in Seattle (probably the most controversial one to relocate to Honorable Mentions if we polled the nation; but, I'm guessing few people on UPN would vote this their #1 all-time favorite. SORRY IF I'M MISTAKEN! T_T)
You've Got Mail (which is basically a redo of Sleepless in Seattle but with American OnLine everywhere)
Road to Perdition (I'm not sure how many people saw this, but I know it's quite popular, and so it pains me to have to put it here, but ... he's been in too many good films! @_@)
The Terminal (wasn't this one a mildly popular film? Sorry if it's one of his greatest. I've never seen it.)
The DaVinci Code (this is probably my second most controversial one to place here, but ... limited space!)

And if your favorite didn't make either of these two lists ... even more apologies? ^^; He's really been in far, far too many popular films.
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Old 03-03-2013, 02:07 PM   #2
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Of the films I listed, here are the ones I've seen, listed by when I first saw them:
Pre-Teen: Big, Sleepless in Seattle, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Toy Story
Teen: You've Got Mail, The Green Mile
Adult: ---
Of these, the only one I did not re-watch as a teen or adult was Philadelphia. I first (and only) saw that as a little boy when my parents rented it. I remember not really being able to follow it very well and being quite bored by it, able to understand that Hanks' character was being slighted by his mean employers and that he was fighting an almost impossible fight on several fronts. I'm sure if I watched it today I'd enjoy it much more than I did then, but I doubt it'd be my #1 favorite. All of the others, since I saw (or re-saw) them as a teen or older, I feel I can pretty fairly judge since I came at them with an older mind and I can better remember them.

I'm missing quite a few of his films from my checklist, as you might've noticed. Saving Private Ryan is a particularly huge hole in the list: I still need to see that, but I've just never gotten around to it. Cast Away I've never seen either, and the generally mixed reviews at the time it was released didn't compel me to want to see it either. I have heard nicer things about it in the years since its release though. Perhaps people were simply expecting too much of a film that reunited Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks, the power duo that made one of the best films of all time. I haven't seen The DaVinci Code or Catch Me If You Can either. The former is incredibly well-known though I've no idea how popular; the latter seemed to sort of fly under the radar when it first came out but I know a lot of people who say it's one of their favorite movies ever and that makes me really want to see it, possibly putting it ahead of even Saving Private Ryan on my Films To See list.

Of the nine films I selected for the main body of the poll, my top three would be Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, and Toy Story. All three of these films are fantastic. In fact, it's because I was thinking about Apollo 13 that I thought about Tom Hanks' impressive repertoire and decided to make this poll. But in my mind, there can be no doubt as to which Tom Hanks film is the greatest of all time:


Forrest Gump is one of the most amazing films I've ever seen in my life. I can well appreciate why, to non-Americans, the film might not be quite so entertaining or magical as it is to Americans. But I really do think that the film, despite being a chronicle of American history in the mid-to-late 20th century, does transcend borders and is able to resonate with people from all over the world. The story is larger than life and yet 100% grounded in real life. The main character is endearing, at times pitiable and at other times admirable. The supporting cast is colorful and intriguing. There's humor, there's tragedy, there's a bit of action, and there's some real drama, particularly towards the end of the film. The soundtrack borrows from American pop culture, using many iconic pieces of the day to subconsciously alert the viewer as to where we are in time, evolving from Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog" in the '50s to the Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreamin'" in the '60s to Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" in the '70s. These famous songs are then complemented by an original score composed by Alan Silvestri, including what is arguably one of the most famous film theme songs of the 1990s. The opening portion of the song (0m00s to 2m15s)? The powerful portion set to several of the film's greatest climaxes (6m26 to 8m18s; main movement begins at around 6m55s)? It's just really, really amazing stuff. The sort of stuff that people will never forget until the day they die.

While not necessarlly a requirement for a great movie, I think one strong indicator of a film's greatness is just how many different scenes it has in it that people think of as iconic. Scenes which symbolize or represent the film to people. Scenes which people discuss on forums and in classrooms. Scenes which people will answer with when asked, "What to you was the most memorable scene in that film?" Forrest Gump has an unholy boatload of such scenes. I mean, just for starters, it has:
Spoiler: show
  • The scene where Forrest breaks out of his childhood braces. ("RUN, FORREST, RUN!")
  • The scene where he meets JFK. ("I believe this man, ah, has to go pee. ")
  • The scene where Bubba's telling Forrest all the various ways you can use shrimp in cooking.
  • The scene where he's running away from the napalm strikes in the jungle of Vietnam while carrying Bubba.
  • The scene where Forrest jumps off his boat and swims to Lieutenant Dan. ("That's my boat. ")
  • The scene where Forrest has his last conversation with his mother.
  • The scene where Forrest meets Little Forrest for the first time.

On and on I could go. The film just has so many memorable scenes which people quote, parody, or make reference to. I think that's a pretty clear indicator of just how much of a lasting impact it had in people's minds.

The first time I saw Forrest Gump, I was only in the 4th or 5th grade. I didn't know most of the historical references back then, and I was much more entertained by the comedy in the film and Forrest's crazy coincidences than I was the more serious scenes and characters. I came back to the film some years later as a teenager, when I got it as a Christmas or birthday present on DVD. And holy cow was I blown away by the film even more than I had been as a boy. Now suddenly the bits with Sally Field's character made so much more sense, seemed so much more relevant, and were a lot less boring. Likewise, Lieutenant Dan was just as captivating a character after the war as he was during it. And Jenny ... Jenny I still grapple with, but at least I could better understand her then than I could when I'd first seen the film.

Anyway, long post is long. But there's my reasoning for voting for Forrest Gump as the best film of Tom Hanks'. I guess simply put, it is my favorite and is the one that most entertains me.

Last edited by Talon87; 03-03-2013 at 02:12 PM.
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Old 03-03-2013, 02:08 PM   #3
Jerichi
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Hey, I like You've Got Mail!

Though, admittedly, for it's charming depiction of the Internet in the early 90's and not really for its content or plot.
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Old 03-03-2013, 02:13 PM   #4
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Voted "other" because Road to Perdition is in my Top 5 movies of all time and it's the only Tom Hanks movie in said set. Feck the haters.
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Old 03-03-2013, 02:26 PM   #5
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Oh wow yeah The Terminal is easily one of my favorite movies. I don't know if it beats out some of these movies listed but it's a damn good one in my opinion.

Tom Hanks at the very least gives a very impressive performance.
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Old 03-03-2013, 02:26 PM   #6
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SPR or Cast Away. Cast Away and The Green Mile have the distinction of being non-Gump Hanks films I've seen more than once. I still marvel at CA as how convincing it could pull off a modern-day Robinson Crusoe, and the product placement never bothered me. I never understood the big deal in that movie specifically (I, Robot maybe).

Gump holds a weird distinction. I liked it when I was little, but I have a history of getting mocked like Gump whenever I run places. It happened in elementary, it happened in high school, and it continued even after I moved! I was so annoyed by the latter that I smack talked the hecklers from their cars.

Also, as I've gotten older, my general disdain for the nostalgia wrapped up in the '50's-90's that Gump has discoloured any affection for the film. It just upsets me watching it now, how Gump is good natured but ridiculously lucky, and how people are constantly making bad mistakes around him.

But boy is the film itself iconic. When it wasn't taking cues, it was making them. Just nuts.

I've also eaten at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. in Monterey. Place was tight. I think back then, when you bought their flagship shrimp dish, you got unlimited Dr. Pepper to drink!
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Old 03-03-2013, 02:29 PM   #7
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Cast Away is also definitely worth the watch if you haven't seen it. It's probably the first movie to ever make me have legitimate emotions directed towards an inanimate object.
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Old 03-03-2013, 02:31 PM   #8
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Hnng, it was a tie between Toy Story and Saving Private Ryan, but I went with Toy Story because SPR is more my brother's thing. I did like Cast Away and Forrest Gump though!

Tom Hanks you beautiful person you~
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Old 03-03-2013, 03:48 PM   #9
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Gosh, this was tough. Toss up between Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile, and Forrest Gump. I ended up going with The Green Mile, though it was definitely hard to pick. All three are some of the best movies I've ever seen.
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Old 03-03-2013, 05:44 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerichi View Post
Oh wow yeah The Terminal is easily one of my favorite movies. I don't know if it beats out some of these movies listed but it's a damn good one in my opinion.

Tom Hanks at the very least gives a very impressive performance.
Jeri, I'm not gay but I love you. Would have voted The Terminal had it been included, but voted Toy Story because... well. Duh. Apollo 13 was a close second of the votable options.
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Old 03-03-2013, 05:58 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveTheFishGuy View Post
Would have voted The Terminal had it been included, but voted Toy Story because... well.
Because ...?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Talon87 View Post
My apologies if your favorite Tom Hanks film didn't make the cut for named options, but just vote Other in that case and tell us below which one is your favorite and why.
I explicitly said that I'd have included all of the honorable mentions as their own bulleted poll options if I could have, but the limitation is 10, so I picked the top nine I thought would garner the most votes and then reserved the tenth spot for "other" meaning "my favorite is one of the ones not listed in the above nine."
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Old 03-03-2013, 06:00 PM   #12
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Well yeah but I've never liked voting for an 'other' option in polls. I love Toy Story, so figured I'd vote for that. If I hadn't liked any of the chosen films then I'd have chosen 'other'. It's just a personal thing.

I know I'm not sane, shhh.
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Old 03-03-2013, 06:01 PM   #13
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BECAUSE I HAVE OCD! SHEESH! NOW LEMME WIN ALREADY!
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Old 03-03-2013, 07:51 PM   #14
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Why no Bachelor Party?

Cast Away fine
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Old 03-03-2013, 08:06 PM   #15
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Oh my God, no one reads even the first few sentences! @_@ VOTE "OTHER" IF YOUR #1 FAVORITE ISN'T ONE OF THE BULLETED CHOICES! Don't complain that your movie didn't make the cut when God only knows this man has been in more excellent movies than most Hollywood actors can even dream of and when the forum limits me to only ten bullet choices!
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Old 03-03-2013, 08:42 PM   #16
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TALON, YOU IDIOT, YOU FORGOT THE DA VINCI CODE

THATS MY FAVORITE TOM HANKS MOVIE, BUT I GUESS I'LL PICK TOY STORY
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Old 03-04-2013, 09:21 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Talon87 View Post
Oh my God, no one reads even the first few sentences! @_@ VOTE "OTHER" IF YOUR #1 FAVORITE ISN'T ONE OF THE BULLETED CHOICES! Don't complain that your movie didn't make the cut when God only knows this man has been in more excellent movies than most Hollywood actors can even dream of and when the forum limits me to only ten bullet choices!
Haha my legitimate choice was Cast Away, just had the first line as a joke. Doesn't always translate well through the internet xP

Although I do like Bachelor Party.
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Old 03-04-2013, 04:16 PM   #18
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Surprised Cloud Atlas isn't up there considering Tom Hanks plays like.... every role.

Voted Toy Story, because I'm not really a Tom Hanks fan. I mean, he's a good actor, but, I'm not a huge movie buff. I've seen most of those movies but the only memorable ones to me are Castaway and Toy Story, both excellent films. I guess Forrest Gump is, too, but I always felt like that movie was WAY overrated.
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Old 03-04-2013, 04:24 PM   #19
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Surprisingly hard to pick. I really like Tom Hanks.

I went with Forrest Gump. Big, Toy Story(s), and Apollo 13 were also up there.
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