The 14 best Harrison Ford performances and where to watch them right now

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One of Ford's earliest movie roles, he plays the soft-spoken Colonel who gives Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) his orders to go up river and kill Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando).

Legend has it Ford's character name is a nod to director George Lucas, who was originally going to direct "Apocalypse Now" before his friend Francis Ford Coppola took it on.

At this point, Lucas and Ford already had history as the actor starred in Lucas' "American Graffiti." The two would reteam on a certain franchise set in a galaxy far, far away.

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Before "Apocalypse," Coppola cast Ford in another small role. This time playing the assistant who is assigned by his boss (Robert Duvall) to pay off Harry (Gene Hackman), the man surveilling his wife.

Ford gives the role a creepy quality thanks to his relentlessness to do his task when Harry refuses to take the money.

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Marking Ford's breakout role, he plays a loud mouthed hot rodder who is seeking out a good drag race on a hot summer night. He finally gets his chance at the end of the movie, but things don't turn out well for him as he blows a tire and crashes.

But the audience, and director George Lucas, were hooked on Ford.

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Ford is in full action hero mode as he plays a POTUS who must retake Air Force One after it's hijacked by a terrorist (played by Gary Oldman).

In typical Ford fashion, he does it with a great one-liner: "Get of my plane!"

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In this underrated Mike Nichols movie, Harrison Ford gives us a very different kind of performance as he plays a man who after surviving a shooting struggles to regain his memory, speech, and mobility.

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Ford shows off his romantic side as he plays an executive who falls for a young woman (Melanie Griffith) who is impersonating a high-level executive (Sigourney Weaver).

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In one of Ford's most underrated performances, he plays a stubborn inventor who is convinced that a nuclear war is coming. He packs up his family and moves to a small village in the rainforest. In the process of building a large ice machine, he slowly loses his mind.

This is a Ford performance you have to see.

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Taking over the Jack Ryan role from Alec Baldwin after "The Hunt for Red October," Ford made the character his own for two movies as he played the CIA analyst who always seems to get into heroic situations.

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In Robert Zemeckis' thriller that's an homage to Alfred Hitchcock, Ford is great opposite Michelle Pfeiffer as they play a couple who experience a haunting in their home.

But the twist involving Ford's character takes his performance to the next level.

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This movie was based on a popular 1960s TV series about a doctor on the run looking for the actual killer of his wife to clear his name. Ford is fantastic in the role. It's also elevated thanks to the US Marshal hot on his tale, played by Tommy Lee Jones, who would later win an Oscar for the performance.

It's also probably the only time an actor topped a Ford one-liner. In the movie Ford tells him, "I didn't kill my wife," in which Jones replies, "I don't care."

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Ford received his only Oscar nomination playing a city detective who has to protect a young Amish boy (played by Lukas Haas) who becomes a target after witnessing a murder.

Ford delivers a great performance that is both tender and tough guy.

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Ford as a futuristic detective in a futuristic noir mystery wowed audiences both in the 1980s and the far-off sequel in 2017. But in both, Ford is perfect as the grizzled cop.

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It's the movie that would make Ford an international star. Though for decades he has had a love-hate relationship with Solo, the reality is he will never be able to escape this space scoundrel.

And, honestly, he should just deal with it. It is a perfect hero character that any actor would happily give up any body part to be remembered for.

But the wild thing about it, this isn't Ford's best role.

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Ford's portrayal of an archaeologist who goes on globe-trotting adventures to find rare artifacts, save beautiful women, and take on Nazis is one of the greatest characters ever put on the big screen.

Ford's good looks and tough guy persona, matched with the genius of director Steven Spielberg, has made this character into an American treasure.