10 Great Moments in Liam Neeson Badassery By Randolph [71 more lists]

Liam Neeson is a talented, Oscar-winning actor, so it may be tempting to believe, just because he relentlessly dominates the weak and foolish in cinema, that he is not actually a true badass in real life. But don't you believe it. Did you know that, before becoming a professional actor, Neeson was an amateur boxer, and operated a forklift at the Guinness brewery? And that he hand-raised an entire wolfpack single-handedly and trained them to become his personal army of the night? Also, that I probably made that last one up?

Regardless, it wouldn't even be possible to play this many completely badass characters in this wide array of scenarios without SOME of that same intensity bleeding its way into the man's own personality. That's my theory, anyway...

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1

Taken

Neeson's calm, cold delivery of the central monologue from the film "Taken" - in which he informs his unlucky adversary about his "particular set of skills" - has rightly taken its place atop the pantheon of Liam Neeson Asskickery. Despite major roles in action films up until this point, it was really "Taken" that confirmed for the world just how poor an idea it was to get on a Neeson character's bad side. Let's just put it this way...A reasonable alternative title would have been "Throat Punch: The Movie."
2

Batman Begins

As he does in so many films, in the Christopher Nolan "Batman" series, Neeson takes on the role of the hardened but caring instructor, who guides a protege on the path to becoming a warrior. Here, as Henri Ducard, he teaches young, naive Bruce Wayne about the importance of controlling his emotions and remaining aware of his surroundings. (And bundling up when swordfighting on a mountainside!)

Little does Wayne know that the Ducard, man he has grown to respect and admire, would turn out to...Do we need a spoiler warning? This movie came out in 2005...Fine.

SPOILER

Would turn out to unleash a toxin into the Gotham water supply that's later vaporized by some kind of electromagnetic pulse bomb. Something like that. Maybe I need to rewatch this one.
3

Darkman

Aside from "Taken," probably the cinema's most clear example of the dangers of upsetting Liam Neeson. As the deformed, supernaturally-strong anti-hero Darkman, Neeson musters all of his deep, inner, cartoonishly over-the-top rage. (It is, after all, a Sam Raimi movie.) Said rage is soon enough misdirected, as it so often is, against a corrupt carny, with disastrous, possibly wince-inducing results. You've been warned. (Though, granted, you probably watched the clip already. Sorry!)
4

Gangs of New York

Neeson's powerful, brief turn as Priest Vallon opens Martin Scorsese's epic tale of street violence in Civil War-era New York, and sets the tone for the rest of the film.

Yes, yes, I know, you hate Cameron Diaz's performance as hustler Jenny Everdeane, and feel the need to bring it up every time someone mentions this movie. Understood. But what works about "Gangs" REALLY works, and if it's been a while since you've seen it, consider revisiting the movie. It's not many films that feature Daniel Day-Lewis throwing knives, Brendon Gleeson bashing people's heads in with a club AND John C. Reilly as a crooked cop.
5

Rob Roy

"Rob Roy" is best remembered for its climactic sword fight, in which Neeson's Scottish hero faces off against foppish aristocrat Archibald Cunningham (a sneering, scenery-chewing Tim Roth). Unlike typical Hollywood swashbuckling, this sequence captures the physical strain and fatigue of attacking someone with a heavy sword. It also gives Neeson a chance to one again secure his badass credentials by dispatching Roth in maximally gruesome fashion.
6

Next of Kin

Here's the IMDb description of "Next of Kin":

"Truman, a Chicago cop, sets out to find the killer of his brother. Meanwhile, another of his brothers, Briar (a hillbilly) decides to find the killer himself."

Patrick Swayze stars as Truman. Irish actor Liam freaking Neeson plays Briar, a character who is such a hillbilly, it comes right after his name in the IMDb description! I know a lot of actors play different nationalities and take on different accents, but there should be some kind of special award for not being from America yet playing a believable hillbilly. That can't be easy.

And if playing a professional hillbilly named Briar weren't enough to earn a spot on this list, check out the clip! Within the first 30 seconds, Neeson is charging a guy and tossing him gingerly out of a window. So there's that.
7

Clash of the Titans

In this scene, Zeus, the Ruler of Olympus and God of the sky and thunder, calls on a gargantuan mythological sea beast to devour entire armies of soldiers at one pass. Obviously, when casting this role, the producers immediately contacted Liam Neeson. Adrien Brody, for example, is a fine actor, but it's hard to imagine him with a bushy beard in a shiny suit of armor unleashing leviathans from ancient folklore on an unsuspecting world.
8

Michael Collins

As Irish revolutionary Michael Collins, Neeson does a lot of yelling in front of crowds, which is always sort of badass. But the real capper comes at the ceremony to take down the British flag, which Collins uses as an opportunity to sass the Brits. It's probably a rule that, if you take a role in a feature film as an Irish leader and hero, you get at least 2 or 3 scenes of talking back to British people. If nothing else, I'm sure it's in Neeson's rider.
9

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

The argument could be made (and has been, on the Internet, repeatedly) that Neeson's Qui-Gon Jinn is not only a sub-par Jedi, but potentially responsible for the entire downfall of the Jedi Order and the rise of the Empire. After all, if he didn't pluck young Anakin Skywalker from a life of obscurity, slavery and using "Wizard" as an adjective for some inexplicable reason, two generations of ensuing torment and anguish could have been avoided.

But let's focus on the part where he takes the mysterious Darth Maul to school. As the rest of the group escapes (some might say, in Obi-Wan's case, in a cowardly fashion), Qui-Gon holds off his new and powerful enemy. He then jumps like 20 feet vertically on to a moving spacecraft as it takes off (resulting, one can only assume, in an almost unbearable shift in cabin pressure...). Darth Maul is left behind, nursing his wounded pride, trying to figure out how he's going to ever lie down and get a good night's rest with those horns pointing in every direction.
10

Janice Dickinson

As a young man, before gaining international fame for taking people to school in movies, Liam Neeson dated supermodel Janice Dickinson. Which is sort of impressive in its own right, I suppose, but not really enough to get on this list.

In March of 2011, Dickinson gave an interview to "Star Magazine" (that bastion of professional-type journalisms) in which she discussed her relationship with Neeson...at length. Specifically, she said that Neeson was extraordinarily well-endowed, and compared his member to "an Evian bottle." And bear in mind, this is DECADES later, and she's still talking about it. And, let's be fair, by her own admission, this was hardly the only penis Janice Dickinson had seen up until that point.

I think I've made my case...

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