Harrison Ford’s 10 best movies (and where you can watch them right now)

From Han Solo to Indiana Jones and Jack Ryan, Harrison Ford has played some of cinema’s most iconic characters of the last five decades.

As the now 80-year-old adds another string to his acting bow by starring in the new Apple TV+ comedy Shrinking, which debuts on the global streaming service this week, Stuff to Watch looks back over his career and picks out our 10 favourite movies from the former carpenter – and lets you know where you can watch them right now.

READ MORE:
* The 10 greatest Steven Spielberg movies (and where you can watch them right now)
* Twenty 21st century movies that will leave a mark (and where you can watch them)
* M. Night Shyamalan’s movies ranked from worst to best (& where you can watch them)
* Harrison Ford’s French voice strikes back in Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Air Force One (1997, Disney+)

Ford, Glenn Close and Gary Oldman headline Wolfgang Petersen’s star-studded action flick which focuses on a group of communist radicals’ attempt to hijack the US President’s plane.

While the vice-president negotiates his safe release from afar, the man himself (Ford) decides to take matters into his own hands.

“Air Force One doesn’t insult the audience,” wrote Rolling Stone magazine’s Peter Travers. “It is crafted by a film-maker who takes pride in the thrills and sly fun he packs into every frame.”

Blade Runner (1982, GooglePlay, YouTube, AroVision, Academy OnDemand, Deluxe AtHome)

Based on Philip K Dick’s 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Ridley Scott’s film (which he has pretty much constantly tinkered with over the ensuring four decades) sees Ford track down genetically engineered replicants, which are visually indistinguishable from adult humans, in a dark, dystopian 2019 (it is November) Los Angeles.

While it managed to successfully predict the use of voice-command computers, video phones and massive electronic billboards, it also proved to be something of a curse for companies like Pan Am, Atari and RCA.

Clear and Present Danger (1994, iTunes, GooglePlay, YouTube)

Based on Tom Clancy’s 1989 novel of the same name, this was Ford’s second stab at bringing to life the author’s CIA analyst Jack Ryan (following Patriot Games two years earlier).

This time, having been recently appointed Acting Deputy Director of Intelligence, Ryan uncovers a covert war against a Colombian drug cartel, one that has the apparent approval of the US President.

With Ford leading the way, this is still by far the most consistently entertaining and engaging take on Clancy’s beloved literary character.

The Empire Strikes Back (1980, Disney+)

From the exhilarating opening battle on Hoth to the tantalising cliffhanger left by the events on the cloud city of Bespin, this is the template that all blockbuster sequels should aspire too.

Not only did it broaden out the Star Wars story, it introduced memorable new characters, upped the humour and romance and delivered a couple of emotional punches that really left a mark. As for Ford, he’s just magnificent. I’ve seen it so many times I can just about recite the script by heart.

The Fugitive (1993, Neon)

Solid casting – Ford, Tommy Lee Jones – terrific action sequences and fabulous pacing helped successfully distil Dr Richard Kimble’s hunt for a one-armed man from 120 hour-long episodes to 130 minutes of riveting drama.

It was a tricky task. Until the Who Shot J.R? episode of Dallas, the series finale in 1967 was the highest-rated episode in the history of television.

To date, the film remains the only big screen remake of a regular television series to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

The Mosquito Coast (1986, iTunes)

One of the most under-rated movies of the decade, let alone that year. Ford delivers perhaps his finest non-Indy or Solo performance as the increasingly maniacal Allie Fox, an inventor who has decided to remove his family from their city “luxuries” in order to establish a “utopia” in the middle of the Central American jungle.

Based on the 1981 novel by Paul Theroux, Peter Weir’s expertly told thriller also features terrific turns from Helen Mirren and River Phoenix.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, iTunes, GooglePlay, AroVision, Neon Rentals, YouTube)

At the time of its original release, this was hyped as an amazing collaboration between the two top crowd-pleasing directors (George Lucas and Steven Spielberg). Ford is at his cocky and charismatic best as well, proving Star Wars’ Han Solo was no one-off.

The action set-pieces are still breathtakingly spectacular, even if the special-effects now look decidedly ropy. A rollicking, globetrotting adventure that still entertains from start to finish.

What Lies Beneath (2000, Disney+)

Ford starred opposite Michelle Pfeiffer in this Robert Zemeckis-directed thriller about the wife of a university research scientist who believes that her lakeside home is haunted by a ghost.

It’s either that – or she’s losing her mind.

“What lies beneath What Lies Beneath are the good bones of Alfred Hitchcock,” wrote Entertainment Weekly’s Lisa Schwarzbaum.

Witness (1985, iTunes)

Ford was nominated for an Oscar for his role in this crime thriller directed by Peter Weir. He plays a police detective who is forced to go undercover in order to protect an Amish woman (Kelly McGillis) and her young son (Lukas Haas), after he witnesses a brutal murder in a Philadelphia train station.

Look out for Viggo Mortensen in his cinematic debut.

“Ford has never given a better performance in a movie,” wrote Chicago Sun-Times’ Roger Ebert.

Working Girl (1988, Disney+)

Ford has to play second-fiddle to both Sigourney Weaver and Melanie Griffith in this rom-com about an ambitious secretary who takes over her new boss’ position while she is laid up with a broken leg.

“Working Girl, always fun even when at its most frivolous, has the benefit of the cinematographer Michael Ballhaus’ sharp visual sense of boardroom chic, and of supporting characters who help carry its class distinctions beyond simple caricature,” wrote The New York Times’ Janet Maslin.