AFI 25 Greatest Male Stars Post-Golden Age

I still dunno what "greatest" is but I like this list a little more than the female - the GOAT contenders are here ...........though Depardieu would occupy the Huppert spot here for me - too great to leave off.

Steve Martin can GTFO ......where is McQueen?

Pacino should take up two spots really .....

Ah... Good call on McQueen. There's always some major I'm forgetting.

Martin is a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award, so I find it incredibly unlikely that he would miss a placement.

You're familiar with the corresponding Golden Age lists that AFI published in the late 90s, yes?

I am a big Steve Martin fan, but there is no way on earth he's getting in over Eddie Murphy or Peter Sellers, when we are talking about comic actors.

I think Warren Beatty can easily miss. He was certainly an industry darling in his pomp, but his relevance and legacy seems shaky to me. Steve McQueen is a far bigger deal than him in terms of iconic status.

Dustin Hoffman is also on shaky ground. Of the big guns from the 70's, he's the one that seems to be losing the most relevancy. Can see him being a big omission.

Also, Samuel L Jackson 100% gets in. If you look at the original AFI list, they made room for one of the most iconic character leads of the golden age in Edward G. Robinson. Jackson fills that bracket....he's the most iconic character "star" of his era.

But for the most part, solid list

It's a solid list, but I can see Beatty, Depp, Martin and Redford all missing, and as much as I am his #1 fan, Daniel Day-Lewis could also be at risk because as revered as he is as this world-class talent, he may lack the audience box-office support. But you could easily make a list with 25 other guys who all have a strong claim for being contenders.

I think action guys like Stallone or Schwarzenegger are obviously iconic enough movie stars to merit inclusion, but I feel like for the most part they haven't been taken seriously as "serious actors"  (in spite of Sly's Oscar nods for playing Rocky) and it hurts their chances. I'd probably include Stallone, but I can see how and why he'd miss. I thought Errol Flynn was an omission on the original AFI list, but perhaps being seen as the equivalent of "just" an action star in the golden age (swashbuckler/pirate type films) hurt him like it would Sly or Arnie.

Clooney...I personally think he should miss, but he's still a big enough deal in current Hollywood for people to vote for him. I don't think his legacy will age strongly enough to be an automatic inclusion if we waited another decade or two. He is basically the modern Beatty. As a movie star, I see his relevance continually dwindling.

If the vote is taken today, there's a real chance that Depp's personal issues and career downturn work against him and he misses. That sort of thing comes into play in a big way here that it didn't with the original list, primarily because most people on that list were dead already. One could make the very real argument that in 2005, Mel Gibson would've been a guaranteed person on the second incarnation list, as might Russell Crowe.

Redford's iconic, but largely as a duo with Newman, but I just feel like there's room for him to miss almost in the way that more passionate picks might get in over him as a relative safe choice.

I feel like Stallone and Schwarzenegger could be similar to a John Wayne type, who also lost some of his box office appealing as he got older, and wasn't considered as believable when it came to being a rough and rowdy cowboy anymore, but just like with Stallone and Schwarzenegger, we'll still talk about the "classics" he was in for years to come. 

Also, Redford for people under-30 today, is probably more iconic for his Jeremiah Johnson close-up meme than anything else

Ok..this is my first time seeing that Jeremiah Johnson video/meme.....and I just thought why did he post a video of Zach Galifinakis...

Anthony Hopkins, perhaps?

Kinda wanna do a vs poll of these two. I'd put Jones over Freeman in any department we're talking about - tv, film, theater, iconography....