The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Lionsgate
One of the biggest TV shows of the last year has to be the BBC series Bodyguard (produced by World Productions, part of ITV Studios, for the BBC), the Richard Madden drama that is now available on Netflix across the planet. The series, scripted and created by the great Jed Mercurio, has already had a second series commissioned, and although we may have to wait a little while until we see it, audience remain full of anticipation for what’s in store for PS David Budd. The silver and small screen has always attracted stories revolving around the glamourous world of the close-protection officer, and here we count down 5 of the best bodyguards in both television and film.
PS David Budd (Richard Madden), Bodyguard (2018)
We’ve already mentioned this title, and now in the wake of the latest series of Mercurio’s other televisual masterpiece Line Of Duty finally having its fifth season playing out on TV, thoughts are beginning to focus on what might be next for David Budd. Richard Madden is perfect in the role of Budd, a close-protection officer tasked with protecting the British Home Secretary (Keeley Hawes as Julia Montague) whose politics he doesn’t agree with. Bodyguard has us gripped from the off, the first episode featuring an edge-of-your-seat thriller as Budd tackles a suicide bomber on a train bound for the capital. The writing and direction are world-class, as is the performance of Madden in a show that gripped the nation each and every week over six episodes over the late summer of 2019. A must watch. The following clip does contain spoilers.
Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner), The Bodyguard, (1992)
Anyone over the age of 30 will have no problem in remembering Whitney Houston’s break-out film acting role in Mick Jackson’s The Bodyguard. With one of the most successful soundtracks to go with it – one that included the number one redo of ‘I Will Always Love You’ – The Bodyguard was a box-office behemoth, taking a whopping $411 million around the world. Of course, the film found a bigger audience on VHS and eventually DVD, all of us falling for Kevin Costner’s dynamic bodyguard Frank Farmer. The film has also been turned into a massive musical of the same name, incorporating Houston’s legendary ballads from the multi-award-winning album. It is still touring to this very day.
Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds), The Hitman’s Bodyguard, 2017
We fast-forward to 2017 and a high-concept comedy starring Ryan Reynolds as a fallen bodyguard hired to protect a hitman (Samuel L. Jackson) as he is sent to testify at the International Criminal Court at The Hague in the Netherlands. The comedy was a breakaway success, audiences warming to Reynolds’ Bryce, who must come back from losing a client at the very start of the story. The film revolves around executive protection services in Los Angeles, but the action takes place largely in the UK, particularly the Midlands, not an expected location for a big Hollywood movie. A sequel, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, reuniting Reynolds, Jackson and Salma Hayek is set for 2020.
Oddjob (Harold Sakata), Goldfinger (1964)
Arguably the best James Bond movie, certainly of the Sean Connery era was Goldfinger. The film was the third in the a run of five for Connery and featured Gert Fröbe as the iconic title character. One of the best supporting characters in the film was Harold Sakata’s Oddjob, bodyguard, chauffeur, and golf caddy. Oddjob was the famous henchman who would use his iconic bowler hat to decapitate anyone that got in his way, a trait that has been parodied ever since, particularly in the more-recent Austin Powers movies, where Joe Son’s Random Task swapped out the hat for a show to inflict the same damage. 55 years and 22 films on from Goldfinger, Oddjob and the film itself has never been bettered.
Frank Horrigan (Clint Eastwood), In The Line Of Fire (1993)
The early nineties was a golden era for Clint Eastwood. The actor and filmmaker won an Best Directing and Best Picture Oscar in 1993 for Unforgiven, and then went on to play bodyguard Frank Horrigan in a film that he didn’t actually direct – Wolfgang Petersen’s brilliant In The Line Of Fire. Horrigan is a Secret Service agent who, like some of the other famous bodyguards on this list, is still recover from the loss of a client – in this case,, JFK – but is recruited to help the current President who has been receiving death threats from a potential, assassin. I rank In The Line Of Fire up there amongst Eastwood’s better performances in the latter part of his career, and if you’ve not seen it, I recommend that you do as it still very much stands up some 26 years later.
