Movie Madness: Heroes & Villains (First Round)

Introduction While hoops fans watch March Madness, we invite film fans to vote in our Movie Madness Bracket. It’s become a bit of an annual tradition here at WTOP. In 2014, our listeners voted “Casablanca” as the best Best Picture winner in history. In 2015, our listeners voted “Field of Dreams” as their favorite sports movie. Now, we invite you to vote on your favorite movie heroes and villains. Our 64-character bracket features 32 inspiring heroes on one side and 32 evil villains on the other. Who will prevail? Click through the gallery to cast your votes! First Round voting will remain open until 10 p.m. Sunday.
First Round: Heroes Indiana Jones vs. Rick Blaine The Nazi Slayers: Who’s the better fedora-wearing slayer of Nazis? Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones in “Raiders of the Lost Ark?” Or Humphrey Bogart’s Rick Blaine in “Casablanca?” You decide.
First Round: Heroes Dorothy Gale vs. Scarlett O’Hara The 1939 Heroines: Who’s the better 1939 Hollywood heroine? Judy Garland’s Dorothy Gale from “The Wizard of Oz?” Or Vivien Leigh’s Scarlett O’Hara from “Gone With the Wind?” You decide.
First Round: Heroes Will Kane vs. Virgil Tibbs The Lawmen: Who’s the better law man? Gary Cooper’s Sheriff Will Kane from “High Noon?” Or Sidney Poitier’s Detective Virgil Tibbs from “In the Heat of the Night?” You decide.
First Round: Heroes Marty McFly vs. Forrest Gump The Zemeckis History Makers: Who’s the better Robert Zemeckis history maker? Michael J. Fox’s Marty McFly from “Back to the Future?” Or Tom Hanks’ Forrest Gump in “Forrest Gump?” You decide.
First Round: Heroes Jason Bourne vs. James Bond The Secret Agents: Who’s the better secret agent? Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne in “The Bourne Identity” or Sean Connery’s James Bond in “Goldfinger?” You decide.
First Round: Heroes T.E. Lawrence vs. General George Patton The Military Brass: Who’s the better military officer? Peter O’Toole’s T.E. Lawrence from “Lawrence of Arabia?” Or George C. Scott’s General George Patton in “Patton?” You decide.
First Round: Heroes Maximus vs. Spartacus The Gladiators: Who’s the better slave-to-gladiator hero? Russell Crowe’s Maximus in “Gladiator?” Or Kirk Douglas’ Spartacus in “Spartacus?” You decide.
First Round: Heroes Luke Jackson vs. Andy Dufresne The Jailed: Who’s the better imprisoned hero? Paul Newman’s Luke Jackson in “Cool Hand Luke?” Or Tim Robbins’ Andy Dufresne in “The Shawshank Redemption?” You decide.
First Round: Heroes Oskar Schindler vs. Atticus Finch The Social Conscience: Who’s the better socially-conscious defender? Liam Neeson’s Oskar Schindler saving Holocaust Jews in “Schindler’s List?” Or Gregory Peck’s Atticus Finch defending African Americans in “To Kill a Mockingbird?” You decide.
First Round: Heroes Jack Sparrow vs. Maverick The Adventurers: Who’s the better adventurer? Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow racing the high seas in “Pirates of the Caribbean?” Or Tom Cruise’s Maverick streaking across the skies in “Top Gun?” You decide.
First Round: Heroes Tom Joad vs. George Bailey The Depression Survivors: Who’s the better Great Depression survivor? Henry Fonda’s Tom Joad in “The Grapes of Wrath?” Or Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life?” You decide.
First Round: Heroes Clarice Starling vs. Marge Gunderson The Investigators: Who’s the better investigator that broke ’90s gender barriers? Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling in “The Silence of the Lambs?” Or Frances McDormand’s Marge Gundreson in “Fargo?” You decide.
First Round: Heroes Rocky Balboa vs. Herman Boone The Athletes: Who’s the better sports figure? Sylvester Stalone’s Rocky Balboa in “Rocky?” Or Denzel Washington’s Coach Herman Boone in “Remember the Titans?” You decide.
First Round: Heroes Harry Callahan vs. Tom Doniphon The Vigilante Gunslingers: Who’s the better vigilante gunslinger? John Wayne’s Tom Doniphon (“Easy there, Pilgrim”) in “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance?” Or Clint Eastwood’s Harry Callahan (“Do you feel lucky?”) in “Dirty Harry?” You decide.
First Round: Heroes John McClane vs. Ellen Ripley The Action Badasses: Who’s the bigger ’80s action badass? Bruce Willis’ John McClane in “Die Hard?” Or Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley in “Aliens?” You decide.
First Round: Heroes Woodward & Bernstein vs. Thelma & Louise The Dynamic Duos: Who’s the better dynamic duo? Robert Redford & Dustin Hoffman’s Woodward & Bernstein in “All the President’s Men?” Or Geena Davis & Susan Sarandon’s Thelma & Louise in “Thelma & Louise?” You decide.
First Round: Villains Hannibal Lecter vs. Norman Bates The Serial Killers: Who’s the scarier serial killer? Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs?” Or Anthony Perkins’ Norman Bates in “Psycho?” You decide.
First Round: Villains Edwin Epps vs. Amon Goeth The Slave Drivers: Who’s the more evil slave driver? Michael Fassbender’s plantation owner Edwin Epps in “12 Years a Slave?” Or Ralph Fiennes’ concentration camp master Amon Goeth in “Schindler’s List?” You decide.
First Round: Villains HAL 9000 vs. T-800 The Robots: Who’s the scarier sci-fi villain of artificial intelligence? Douglas Rain’s HAL 9000 in “2001: A Space Odyssey?” Or Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 in “The Terminator?” You decide.
First Round: Villains Regan MacNeil vs. John Doe The Religious Extremists: Who’s the scarier religious villain? Linda Blair’s Regan MacNeil becoming possessed by The Devil in “The Exoricst?” Or Kevin Spacey’s John Doe killing according to the Seven Deadly Sins in “Se7en?” You decide.
First Round: Villains Cody Jarrett vs. Michael & Vito Corleone The Gangsters: Who’s the more evil gangster? James Cagney’s Cody Jarrett in “White Heat?” Or the father-son combo of Al Pacino and Marlon Brando as Michael & Vito Corleone in “The Godfather?” You decide.
First Round: Villains Travis Bickle vs.  Max Cady The Stalkers: Who’s the creepier stalker? Robert DeNiro’s Travis Bickle in “Taxi Driver?” Or Robert Mitchum’s Max Cady (played by DeNiro in the Scorsese remake) in “Cape Fear?” You decide.
First Round: Villains Nurse Ratched vs. Mrs. Robinson The Manipulators: Which antagonist was more manipulative? Louise Fletcher’s Nurse Ratched in “One Flew Over the Cuckoos’ Nest?” Or Anne Bancroft’s Mrs. Robinson in “The Graduate?” You decide.
First Round: Villains Jack Torrance vs. Annie Wilkes The Cabin Fever Killers: Who’s the scarier case of cabin fever courtesy of Stephen King? Jack Nicholson’s Jack Torrance in “The Shining?” Or Kathy Bates’ Annie Wilkes in “Misery?” You decide.
First Round: Villains Wicked Witch vs. Maleficent The Witches: Who’s the scarier spell-casting witch? Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West in “The Wizard of Oz?” Or Eleanor Audley’s (and Angelina Jolie’s) Maleficent in “Sleeping Beauty?” You decide.
First Round: Villains The Shark vs. King Kong The Beasts: Which was the scarier beast? The Shark from “Jaws?” Or the ape from “King Kong?” You decide.
First Round: Villains Gordon Gekko vs. Noah Cross The Greedy: Who was the most corrupt figure of greed? Michael Douglas’ Gordon Gekko scamming New York’s financial markets in “Wall Street?” Or John Huston’s Noah Cross scamming L.A.’s water and power in “Chinatown?” You decide.
First Round: Villains Phyllis Dietrichson vs. Alex Forrest The Deadly Mistresses: Who was the more dangerous love-affair mistress? Barbara Stanwyck’s Phyllis Dietrichson in “Double Indemnity?” Or Glenn Close’s Alex Forrest in “Fatal Attraction?” You decide.
First Round: Villains Darth Vader vs. Gollum The Fantasy Forces: Who’s the more evil force in far-away fantasy realms? James Earl Jones’ Darth Vader in “Star Wars?” Or Andy Serkis’ Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings?” You decide.
First Round: Villains Anton Chigurh vs. Daniel Plainview The 2007 Blood Spillers: Who’s more sadistic 2007 Oscar-winner? Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh from “No Country for Old Men?” Or Daniel Day-Lewis’ Daniel Plainview in “There Will Be Blood?” You decide.
First Round: Villains Freddy Kreuger vs. Michael Myers The Slashers: Who’s the more deadly slasher villain? Robert Englund’s Freddy Kreuger in “A Nightmare on Elm Street?” Or Tony Moran’s Michael Myers in “Halloween?” You decide.
First Round: Villains The Joker vs. Frank Booth The Candy-Colored Clowns: Which of these candy-colored clowns was freakier? Heath Ledger’s Joker in “The Dark Knight?” Or Dennis Hopper’s Frank Booth in “Blue Velvet?” You decide.
First Round: Heroes & Villains Thanks for voting in the first round! Check back Monday morning to see who advanced and to vote in the next round.
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Jason Fraley

Hailed by The Washington Post for “his savantlike ability to name every Best Picture winner in history," Jason Fraley began at WTOP as Morning Drive Writer in 2008, film critic in 2011 and Entertainment Editor in 2014, providing daily arts coverage on-air and online.

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