Charles Bronson vs. Steve McQueen

I like them both, but I would have to choose McQueen he was in some better films, Bronson work for Cannon Production Company was kind of sad, at least his last film credit was in a fine film, in Sean Penn debut as a director.
One of Bronson finest moments in Europe was Le Passager de la Pluie. Early MacQueen work is somehow less known but also pretty good, like Never so few, or The War lover

I have this book!

But its more of a deathwish book than a pure bronson book. There are actually a few bronson biographies out there I’m not sure if they are still in print or not.

Not sure why I have to pick one over the other, but I think there’s a lot more depth to McQueen’s work. Junior Bonner is one of my all-time favorites, and I really liked him in Tom Horn, although the latter didn’t receive nearly as many positive reviews.

McQueen’s early life was pretty tough. His mother was basically an absentee mom, a whore and one of her later suitors was brutal with Steve. He grew up on a farm in Missouri and was a pretty tough kid. Definitely one that ā€œcame up the hard way.ā€

Charles Bronson

Tough choice, man. WHy these two!? Ok, I guess that’s the reason.
Went with McQueen (LE MANS bringing slight advantage) but wanted to go with Bronson immediately afterwards (all the J. Lee Thompson stuff).
We need a third option: BOTH! :wink:

Bronson

Bronson

McQueen was probably the better actor, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Charles Bronson so he’ll have my vote.

Acting was not really their strength …

It’s been a while since this topic was last visited - here’s my tuppence worth…

Steve and Charles…


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Well, they both appeared in two of my favourite top ten filmsā€¦ā€˜The Great Escape’, and 'The Magnificent Seven’. Of the two, Steve is my absolute on-screen hero, endowed with almost super-human coolness - especially as ā€˜Hilts, the Cooler King’.

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Charles had undeniable screen presence, but not to the same extent. He was stoic, with a face that belonged on Mount Rushmore - a talent that stood him in good stead as Harmonica in ā€˜OUATITW’.

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Both actors were ā€˜stars’, in the true sense of the word, who understood the art of saying everything, by saying nothing… No long speeches, no endless repartee that would earn them a place alongside Laurence Olivier or Shakespeare…simply screen magic that spoke volumes with a single glance, a solitary word, or a casual gesture of the hand, hat, or body.

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Of the two, however, Steve will forever be my number one. That does not exclude Charles, but simply means that McQueen - although he made relatively few films before his untimely death from cancer - made movies that perfectly personified his life - a loner, a drifter, a man apart…

Having said that, the same description also applied to Charles Bronson…

Hollywood ā€˜Stars’ don’t need to be able to act, necessarily, but they do need to cast a spell on the viewers…
Bearing this in mind, Steve and Charles were magicians of the highest order.

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I ā€œpreferā€ Bronson (as he was in Once Upon A Time In The West) and have always thought that McQueen has a too ugly face.

They’re a pair of arseholes … though undoubtedly with much screen charisma!