The Worst (and Best) Harrison Ford Movies, According to Critics

The road to superstardom took a lot of turns for Harrison Ford — from his uncredited first role as a bellhop in “Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round” (1966) to small roles in two classics “American Graffiti (1973) and “The Conversation” (1974) before his breakout role as Han Solo in the original “Star Wars” (1977). 

The spotlight has found him again in the Paramount+ series “1923” opposite Helen Mirren and AppleTV’s “Shrinking” with Jason Segel. In June he’ll return to the silver screen in another one of his more enduring roles in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”

While he’s made some big films over the years, he’s also had his share of misses. We look at his best and worst — starting with the worst — through the eyes of critics as scored by Metacritic.com, which aggregates reviews from top critics and applies a weighted average to generate a score ranging from 0 to 100.

(Did you know that the role of Indiana Jones almost went to another actor? It's just one of many famous roles that almost went to someone else.)

Metacritic Score: 32

Critic’s Quote: “Every now and then a film comes along of such painstaking, overripe foolishness that it breaks through the garbage barrier to become one of those rare movies you rush to see for laughs.” – The New York Times

Ouch. Fresh off his portrayal as the rakish Han Solo, Ford played a more traditional romantic leading man in this World War II saga as an American pilot that falls for a married British nurse (Lesley-Anne Down) — only to later find himself on a dangerous mission with her husband (Christopher Plummer). 

Related: The Worst Movies Ever Made, According to Critics

Metacritic Score: 32

Critic’s Quote: “I’m not going to get into the acting, because there’s not much of it, frankly. No one is embarrassingly bad; no one is exceptionally good.” – The Los Angeles Times

It’s tough to believe that a film starring Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford wouldn’t be a hit. But movies about corporate espionage aren’t always as thrilling as they might sound.

Related: Hit Movies That Were Expected to Bomb at the Box Office

Metacritic Score: 38

Critic’s Quote: “A grim and draggy romance in which even the clothes and sets are dismal.” – Time

Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas play people thrown together when their respective (cheating) spouses are killed in a plane crash. This mystery/romance is an odd miss from the usually reliable director Sydney Pollack, who was also a producer. 

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Metacritic Score: 38

Critic’s Quote: Director “Wayne Kramer’s interlocking saga of immigration in 21st-century America definitely crosses over, from workaday mediocrity to distinctive dreadfulness.” – The Wall Street Journal

This political drama with Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta about the hot-button topic of immigration failed to hit the mark with critics or audiences. You’re excused if you’ve never heard of it; it didn’t spend much time in theaters.

Metacritic Score: 45

Critic’s Quote: “‘Firewall’ is a witless entertainment and a derivative one, too; it’s everything listless about Hollywood in February, everything discardable about the genre in general.” – Entertainment Weekly

To pay $100 million in ransom to the man who’s kidnapped his family, Ford’s character — a security expert — must break into the very bank he’s safeguarded. It’s a high-tech twist on the old “inside job” caper, but not clever enough in the end for audiences or critics.

Worst: Metacritic Score: 45

Critic’s Quote: “Hardly an extraordinary movie. In fact, it’s hard to believe that this schmaltzy film found its home on the big screen rather than the Hallmark Channel.” – Entertainment Weekly

An eccentric researcher (Ford) tries to help a couple (Brendan Fraser and Keri Russell) find a miracle cure for their children in this medical drama that’s inspired by a true story. Critics were less than inspired.

Metacritic Score: 47

Critic’s Quote: “No one comes out of ‘Hollywood Homicide’ looking good, but the film fades fast.” – The Los Angeles Times

Action-comedies can be tough to pull off — especially those in the buddy cop genre. But with writer/director Ron Shelton (“Bull Durham,” “White Men Can’t Jump,” and “Tin Cup”) at the helm, you might have expected a better result.

Metacritic Score: 47

Critic’s Quote: “The movie has a few jokes, but it could have used some of the canny, real-world logic that made ‘Rain Man’ so convincing (and funny).” – Entertainment Weekly

Ford’s Henry is a ruthless, high-powered New York lawyer who survives a shooting but loses his memory and motor skills in the process. There are twists and turns through Henry’s recovery that reveal just how miserable his former self really was before he eventually emerges as a better man. Audiences generally liked it but critics had some issues.

Metacritic Score: 48

Critic’s Quote: “For all the wholesome cheesiness of much of the film, you’d have to have a pretty hard heart not to be touched by it.” – Variety

Ford’s name may be at the top of the movie poster — and he narrates the film based on the Jack London classic — but he’s not the central character here. That role is taken by Buck, a digitally enhanced pup kidnapped from his California home who eventually lands in the Alaskan Yukon during the 1890s Gold Rush as a sled dog.

Metacritic Score: 50

Critic’s Quote: “Based on a graphic novel, ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ never quite transcends the flat dimensions of its source material.” – NPR

In a supporting role here, Ford and Daniel Craig fight aliens in this sci-fi action romp through the late 19th-century American West. It’s one of the few movies where Ford’s character isn’t exactly one of the good guys.

Metacritic Score: 73

Critic’s Quote: “One of those entertainments where you laugh a lot along the way, and then you end up on the edge of your seat at the end.” – Chicago Sun-Times

Sure, Melanie Griffith’s character is at the core of the film, but Ford’s character plays a key role in director Mike Nichols’ film romantic triangle.

Metacritic Score: 74

Critic’s Quote: “The filmmakers haven’t simply tamed the rogue elephant of Clancy’s narrative; they’ve turned it into something that moves as gracefully and as powerfully as a gazelle.” – The New Yorker

Ford had already stepped into the role of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan for the box-office hit “Patriot Games,” but the third installment in the film franchise was the biggest – as well as the best received by critics.

Metacritic Score: 76 

Critic’s Quote: “This is, first of all, an electrifying and poignant love story … And it is also one hell of a thriller.” – Chicago Sun-Times

Ford’s career was in high gear — with the first Star Wars trilogy, two Indiana Jones films, and “Blade Runner” to his credit — when he took on this romantic drama directed by Peter Weir. His character, a Philadelphia policeman, has to protect an Amish woman (Kelly McGillis) and her young son (Lukas Haas) who has witnessed a murder by living in their community until he can figure out who’s behind the crime.

Metacritic Score: 80

Critic’s Quote: “Perhaps the greatest triumph of ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ is that it justifies the enormous hype.” – St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Ford’s return to the role of Han Solo was a full-circle moment in the highly anticipated opening of the third Star Wars trilogy.

Metacritic Score: 81

Critic’s Quote: Director Denis “Villeneuve crafts a movie both cerebral and sensuous, as puzzling and visually striking at its predecessor.” – Tampa Bay Times

Ford’s role in the long-awaited squeal to director Ridley Scott’s masterpiece is small but essential to the story as his character is hunted by a new blade runner 30 years after his disappearance.

Metacritic Score: 82

Critic’s Quote: “A stunning successor, a tense and pictorially dazzling science-fiction chase melodrama that sustains two hours of elaborate adventure while sneaking up on you emotionally.” – The Washington Post

“I know.” Those two (ad-libbed) words when Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) admits her love for Han Solo — right before he’s encased in carbonite — tell you everything you need to know about the smuggler turned hero of the original Star Wars sagas.

Metacritic Score: 84

Critic’s Quote: “ ‘Blade Runner’ is a cold, bold, bizarre, and mesmerizing futuristic detective thriller that unites the British-born director of ‘Alien’ with new box-office dynamo Harrison Ford for results that are as impressive as any film that’s exploded through a projector so far this year.” – The Hollywood Reporter

This dystopian sci-fi thriller – adapted from the Philip K. Dick novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” – wasn’t fully appreciated at first but has found a place in movie lore via a cult following and multiple re-releases.

Metacritic Score: 85

Critic’s Quote: “One of the most deliriously funny, ingenious, and stylish American adventure movies ever made.” – The New York Times

It was the summer of 1981 when this Steven Spielberg action adventure introduced us to the most badass archeologist anyone could ever imagine and launched a film franchise that’s still going strong five decades later.

Metacritic Score: 87

Critic’s Quote: “For dynamite suspense loaded with thrills and wicked fun, you can’t beat ‘The Fugitive’ – the summer’s best action blaster.” – Rolling Stone

Falsely accused of murdering his wife, Ford plays Dr. Richard Kimble, a surgeon who’s always one step ahead of authorities (doggedly led by Tommy Lee Jones) as he tries to unmask the real killer.

Metacritic Score: 90

Critic’s Quote: “A grand and glorious film that may well be the smash hit of 1977, and certainly is the best movie of the year so far.” –  Time

In the summer of 1977, this film was just known as “Star Wars” with a simple good-vs.-evil plot and three fresh faces – Carrie Fisher, Mark Hammill, and Ford – who would soon become household names. It was the second time Ford had worked with director George Lucas.