Skip to main content
Games Radar Newsarama Total Film Edge Retro Gamer
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The smarter take on movies
UK EditionUK US EditionUS CA EditionCanada AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Don't miss these
Trending
  • Best Netflix Movies
  • Movie Release Dates
  • Best movies on Disney Plus
  • Best Netflix Shows
  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies

The Curse Of Harrison Ford

Features
By Matt Mueller published 21 December 2009

Proof Ford isn’t just bad for your career, he can kill it stone-dead…

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Mark Hamill

Mark Hamill

Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return Of The Jedi (1977-1983)

The franchise that propelled Ford’s career into the stratosphere – and he was in career-massacre mode right off the bat, leaving Hamill’s in a pulpy heap by the side of the road.

“So why aren’t I Harrison Ford?” the man who was Luke Skywalker once barked to a reporter. “I don’t know – I’m just NOT.”

Page 1 of 8
Page 1 of 8
Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw, Alison Doody

Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw, Alison Doody

Indiana Jones Trilogy (1981-1989)

All three were plucked from obscurity to play Indiana Jones’ spunky/shrieky/rubbish leading ladies, but time spent with Ford doused any A-lister prospects they had.

Okay, Capshaw married the director and Allen was lamely wheeled out for IJ4 but all we can say is, beware Shia LaBeouf…

Page 2 of 8
Page 2 of 8
Julia Ormond

Julia Ormond

Sabrina (1995)

Ormond’s triple-whammy springboard to Hollywood fame and fortune started promisingly in Legends Of The Fall, held steady in First Knight – and then had its soul sucked out by the Ford succubus in Sabrina.

Her explanation for hightailing it out of Hollywood? “I made a deliberate choice to step away and get involved in refugee issues.”

Page 3 of 8
Page 3 of 8
Anne Heche

Anne Heche

Six Days, Seven Nights (1998)

Hot off Donnie Brasco and Wag The Dog, Heche was hand-picked to be Ford’s latest screen cutie.

It should have launched her a few rungs up the Tinseltown ladder.

Instead, woozy from the wreckage, she plunged straight into Psycho, a tell-all bio titled Call Me Crazy and ecstasy-fuelled freakouts which lead her to claim she was God’s daughter.

Page 4 of 8
Page 4 of 8
Kristin Scott Thomas

Kristin Scott Thomas

Random Hearts (1999)

Everyone’s favourite cut-glass Brit was toast of the town after The English Patient and The Horse Whisperer.

Hollywood thought it had found the new Julie Christie, until Ford lured KST, with a Dr. Evil cackle, into playing tonsil hockey with him in this energy-sapping romance.

Those industry doors slammed shut as swiftly as they had opened.

Page 5 of 8
Page 5 of 8
Submarines

Submarines

K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)

Fresh from sending three leading ladies’ careers into deep freeze, Ford iced an entire genre next: the submarine thriller.

Following in the buoyant box-office slipstream of The Hunt For Red October, Crimson Tide and U-571, K-19 instead perished in the ghostly fathoms.

“Vee dee-liver or vee drown!” Ford’s rogue Soviet sub captain snarled to his men. They drowned.

Page 6 of 8
Page 6 of 8
Josh Hartnett

Josh Hartnett

Hollywood Homicide (2003)

Once upon a time, Hartnett was a chiselled heartthrob destined for Pitt-stylee superstardom (Warner Bros practically /begged/ him to be Bryan Singer’s Superman).

But as soon as he clashed with Ford in this grumpy git/young gun cop-com, Josh’s career melted into a miasma of flops (Wicker Park, Lucky Number Slevin, The Black Dahlia).

Page 7 of 8
Page 7 of 8
Paul Bettany

Paul Bettany

Firewall (2006)

Bettany still had Hollywood heat when he faced off against Ford in this drowsy compu-thriller.

Since then, he’s been relegated to creep cameos (The Da Vinci Code, The Secret Life Of Bees), disembodied butler voices (Iron Man) and low-rent fantasy (Inkheart), before clawing back some much-needed mojo this year as Charles Darwin in Creation.

Page 8 of 8
Page 8 of 8
Matt Mueller
Share by:
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Whatsapp
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Latest in Movies
James Cameron
James Cameron promises a press conference for Avatar 4 and 5 if the films don't happen
 
 
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers in Avengers: Doomsday, holding a baby
The first Avengers: Doomsday trailer is now officially online, as the Russo Brothers explain why they brought Cap back
 
 
Super Mario Galaxy movie
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie star Jack Black says fans of the classic game will be "very pleased" with the new movie
 
 
Stephen Lang as Quaritch in Avatar: Fire and Ash
An Avatar video game DLC may have just spoiled Quaritch's fate in Avatar 4
 
 
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Rogue One star Mads Mikkelsen says the script for the Star Wars movie was "surprisingly unfinished"
 
 
Jack Black as Doug and Paul Rudd as Griff in Anaconda (2025), peering out from behind some leaves
Anaconda stars Jack Black and Paul Rudd on their meta comedy reboot of a mid-90s B-movie: "It's just funny as hell"
 
 
Latest in Features
Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven, David Harbour as Hopper and Linnea Berthelsen as Kali in Stranger Things season 5 volume 2
Stranger Things season 5 part 2 ending explained: who dies, what is the Upside Down, and how does it set up the finale
 
 
The Split Fiction key art featuring the duo of heroes on fantasy and sci-fi backgrounds with the GR+ Quiz logo in the top right corner
Can you guess the game review from the review quote?
 
 
Diego Luna as Cassian Andor in Andor season 2, after fighting Syril during the massacre of Ghorman
From Andor's shocking massacre to Pluribus's strange invasion, these are the best TV episodes of 2025
 
 
Donkey Kong Bananza screenshot showing Pauline on DK's shoulder as they both whistle a tune and Pauline wears a small crown
Donkey Kong Bananza is my game of the year, and I'm convinced it's one of the greatest platformers in Nintendo history
 
 
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater screenshot showing Big Boss pointing a gun and GamesRadar+'s best of 2025 logo is in the top right-hand corner
From Metal Gear Solid Delta to Silksong, the best action-adventure games of 2025 are a rollicking good time
 
 
Freddy Stroma as Vigilante, meeting himself in Peacemaker season 2
Peacemaker season 2 delivered the best joke of 2025 — and solidified Vigilante as DC’s answer to Deadpool
 
 
  1. Scythe box on a wooden surface, slightly off to one side
    1
    This alt-history board game is still a gold standard for modern strategy
  2. 2
    Skate Story review: "A beautiful and unique skateboarding game with great, stylized visuals set in a grungy underworld"
  3. 3
    Octopath Traveler 0 review: "The strongest entry in this retro-styled JRPG series yet, I love the greater focus on tactical battles"
  4. 4
    Sleep Awake review: "An all-timer horror premise is let down by tired stealth that I feel like I'm sleepwalking through"
  5. 5
    Metroid Prime 4: Beyond review: "The series' atmosphere has never been better, while being dragged down by a boring overworld and clunky psychic powers"
  1. Oona Chaplin as Varang in Avatar: Fire and Ash
    1
    Avatar: Fire and Ash review: "Still a technical marvel, with some of the year's best action filmmaking"
  2. 2
    Five Nights at Freddy's 2 review: "We have waited two years for a Five Nights at Freddy's 1.5"
  3. 3
    Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery review: "Brings Knives Out back to its roots for a sequel that's almost on a par with the original"
  4. 4
    Wicked: For Good review: "Builds to an incredibly cathartic conclusion, but isn't quite as captivating as Part 1"
  5. 5
    The Running Man review: "Some fun action and Glen Powell's star power aren't enough to energize this disappointing Stephen King adaptation"
  1. Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna in Stranger Things season 5
    1
    Stranger Things season 5, Volume 2 review: “All set up for a finale that has so much to deliver”
  2. 2
    Fallout season 2 review: "A hell of a lot of fun despite being overcrowded and convoluted"
  3. 3
    Stranger Things season 5 volume 1 review: “Can the Duffer brothers stick the landing? It’s sure looking like they will”
  4. 4
    Pluribus season 1 review: "Easily one of the year's best dramas"
  5. 5
    The Witcher season 4 review: "The Henry Cavill-less fourth season is the best yet"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google
  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...