Coolest Film Presidents

[knights68]

Of all of the films in all of movie history of US Movie history, in your opinion who is/was the coolest fictional US President in 'da movies?
If a Prez in your mind is not listed, please list away!

[CathyCA]

I voted for Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepard in The American President. I love these closing lines:

Sydney Ellen Wade: How'd you finally do it?
President Andrew Shepherd: Do what?
Sydney Ellen Wade: Manage to give a woman flowers and be President at the same time?
President Andrew Shepherd: Well, it turns out, I've got a rose garden.

[2535Miles]

I voted for Harrison Ford, though if Kevin Kline (Bill Mitchell/Dave) from the movie "Dave" had been in the poll he would've gotten my vote.

Also worthing noting, I like to think of Bill Pullman as Lonestar, not Whitmore, and it's Spaceballs II, not ID4. Watch the movie again, and recite your favorite lines from Spaceballs and ID4 really isn't that bad of movie. :p

[blazindw]

My favorite was Michael Douglas in "The American President"...as real as it gets. The whole speech near the end of the movie before the State of the Union, where he signs off with "My name is Andrew Shepard, and I am the President"...that was awesome.

As far as the others, I loved Chris Rock in Head of State (although he's only running for President). The whole mess about McCain possibly not going to the debate last week reminded me so much of the scene where everytime Chris Rock's opponent went somewhere, Chris Rock and Bernie Mac were there to go "We want a debate!". Finally, on the funny side, Terry Crews in Idiocracy was hilarious. That's a movie I just recently saw for the first time about a month ago and it was pretty funny.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Of those listed, I'd say Michael Douglas in "The American President." My REAL favorite is an actor whose name I don't recall at the moment who played the president in a movie classic called "Dave." I call it a classic because of the hidden political commentary behind the comedy. Imagine replacing the president with a double ...... and his double proves to be a better president than the one elected by the people!

[Shammrog]

I voted for Michael Douglas. Great character, and I just like Michael Douglas.

Second would be Bill Pullman. As corny as it sounds, the speech in "Independence Day" before going to battle makes me cry. (No kidding.)

[bjornolf]

Of those listed, I'd say Michael Douglas in "The American President." My REAL favorite is an actor whose name I don't recall at the moment who played the president in a movie classic called "Dave." I call it a classic because of the hidden political commentary behind the comedy. Imagine replacing the president with a double ...... and his double proves to be a better president than the one elected by the people!

The second or third post in this thread named him...it was Kevin Kline. I definitely missed him in the list too.

I'm surprised that Michael Douglas for American President was included here. It's a different kind of movie, and a political agenda engine, almost purely propaganda. While I liked the movie, I have a lot of trouble putting it in the same category as "coolest" film presidents. He belongs in a different poll with a different list of movie presidents, in my mind. I would have replaced him with Kevin Kline from Dave, which, while also having a pretty severe slant, did it more tongue-in-cheek, and was more of just a side plot. American President was a politcal movie with a little romance to it, Dave was a romantic comedy with a little politics thrown in.

There's a strange dynamic to this list. You have the action presidents, like Harrison Ford and Bill Pullman, a bunch of comedic presidents like Terry Crews and Chris Rock, and then you have the drama movie president in Michael Douglas. I think it would be easy to fill three polls with actors and roles from all the different types of movie. You could have an action list, a comedy list, and a drama list, and probably find 12 candidates for each. Just a thought.

Oh, and Shammrog, while I don't cry over the ID4 speech any more, I definitely still get choked up when he says "we will not go silently into the night!"

[ugadevil]

I'd definitely pick Morgan Freeman. He also does a good job of playing the role of God :D. Actually, if Morgan Freeman's name was on this year's presidential ballot, he'd get my vote. I have much more confidence in him than either of my present options.

[2535Miles]

I'd definitely pick Morgan Freeman. He also does a good job of playing the role of God :D. Actually, if Morgan Freeman's name was on this year's presidential ballot, he'd get my vote. I have much more confidence in him than either of my present options.
Perhaps we could take the entire list, add Kevin Kline, and then propose the President, VP, and Cabinet/Senior Staff Members. :D

Okay, enough of the this PPB nonsense.

[knights68]

It would seem Michael Douglas would be the DBR choice for Film Prez, maybe with Harrison Ford as his number two. and maybe Bill Pullman in the wings just in case. Now that's cool!

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

I'm pretty sure Camacho was the only president that shot up the Capitol with a machine gun as a call to order. Advantage: Camacho

[ugadevil]

Perhaps we could take the entire list, add Kevin Kline, and then propose the President, VP, and Cabinet/Senior Staff Members. :D

Okay, enough of the this PPB nonsense.

I think Morgan Freeman was the Director of the CIA in the Sum of All Fears. He's already got experience in that position so he could just slide right in.

[rsvman]

Dave!



.....by a long shot.

[dkbaseball]

A nihilist vote here for Pres. Camacho.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Not a movie but I'd like to add Martin Sheen for West Wing (President Bartlet). I thought he had a great presidential vibe.

[blazindw]

I'm pretty sure Camacho was the only president that shot up the Capitol with a machine gun as a call to order. Advantage: Camacho

1) We got this guy, Not Sure.

2) He's got a higher IQ than ANY MAN ALIVE!

3) He's gonna fix EVERYTHING


But Brawndo's got what plants crave! It's got electrolytes!

[blazindw]

Not a movie but I'd like to add Martin Sheen for West Wing (President Bartlet). I thought he had a great presidential vibe.

Watching the West Wing and The American President feel like they're one and the same, and with good reason: Aaron Sorkin wrote and produced both of them. The West Wing was one of my favorite shows on television when it was on the air, and I was sorry to see it go. But yes, President Bartlet was the bomb.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Even though 5th Element is one my favorite movies, and the prez. does have to deal with Corbin Dallas' mom, nobody ever will beat the cheese fest spewed by Bill Pullman as he rallied the planet. "Today is our independence day!!!!" HAHAHAHAHA!!!!..instant classic.

[Mal]

One more not on the list: Jeff Bridges in The Contender. It's a serious drama, so not much of a chance to show the "coolness" of the POTUS character, and probably wouldn't have gotten my vote. Then again, he does bowl, so for a quick moment while watching the movie you think it's The Dude Presidency.

[BD80]

It can ONLY be Peter Sellers as President Merkin Muffley in 1964's "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"

[Cavlaw]

Not a movie but I'd like to add Martin Sheen for West Wing (President Bartlet). I thought he had a great presidential vibe.
With the recent attention on the debates in the real world, here's one of my favorite gems from the show:


Governor Robert Ritchie, R-FL: My view of this is simple: we don't need a Federal Department of Education telling us our children have to learn Esperanto, they have to learn Eskimo poetry. Let the states decide, let the communities decide on health care, on education, on lower taxes, not higher taxes. Now, he's going to throw a big word at you - "unfunded mandate." He's going to say if Washington lets the states do it, it's an unfunded mandate. But what he doesn't like is the federal government losing power. But I call it the ingenuity of the American people.

Moderator: President Bartlet, you have 60 seconds for a question and an answer.

President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet: Well, first of all, let's clear up a couple of things. "Unfunded mandate" is two words, not one big word. There are times when we're fifty states and there are times when we're one country, and have national needs. And the way I know this is that Florida didn't fight Germany in World War II or establish civil rights. You think states should do the governing wall-to-wall. That's a perfectly valid opinion. But your state of Florida got $12.6 billion in federal money last year - from Nebraskans, and Virginians, and New Yorkers, and Alaskans, with their Eskimo poetry. 12.6 out of a state budget of $50 billion. I'm supposed to be using this time for a question, so here it is: Can we have it back, please?