# Who’s saved the world the most times? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584 "2005-05-19T15:19:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fortean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@Fortean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fortean)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/1 "2005-05-19T15:19:07Z")
Thinking about lovely Elijah Wood this morning it suddenly occurred to me that he’s saved the world at least twice (The Faculty and LOTR) and possibly in Deep Impact as well (dunno; not seen it). What actors have saved the world the most times? As different characters, of course, otherwise Sarah Michelle Gellar and Christopher Reeve would probably be tops. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/2 "2005-05-19T15:28:16Z")
No way. Sean Connery saved the world at least a half-dozen times. Then there’s William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Buster Crabbe, and George Reeves. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/3 "2005-05-19T15:28:37Z")
Well for a start Sean Astin saves the world in LOTR, sooky boy Elijah would have stuffed us all without good ol’ Sam, because Frodo would have spat the dummy. If you check out IMDB he is not even listed in the cast until you select more. Entirely appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/4 "2005-05-19T15:31:32Z")
I gotta say Harrison Ford. Not only did he stop the Nazis from world domination in Raiders, he also saved the whole galaxy in Star Wars (does that count?) Surely something he did in the Jack Ryan movies saved the world at some level. Plus, I think he saved us all when he didn’t make a sequel to Regarding Henry… ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/5 "2005-05-19T15:43:08Z")
I’m going with Bruce Willis on this one. Die Hard, Die Hard 2, Die Hard with a vengeance, Fifth Element, 13 Monkeys, Armageddon. I mean come on, Bruce Willis saves the world - period. It’s his job. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/6 "2005-05-19T15:45:37Z")
> [@ronincyberpunk](#): > > 13 Monkeys Did an extra one get thrown in when I wasn’t looking? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/7 "2005-05-19T15:47:28Z")
12… 13 - they’re so close they may as well be the same. I mean seriously. Don’t go busting my balls about 1 measley monkey 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/8 "2005-05-19T15:49:31Z")
> [@ronincyberpunk](#): > > Die Hard, Die Hard 2, Die Hard with a vengeance And he saved the world in these movies, how? ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/9 "2005-05-19T15:52:53Z")
> [@ronincyberpunk](#): > > I’m going with Bruce Willis on this one. Die Hard, Die Hard 2, Die Hard with a vengeance, Fifth Element, 13 Monkeys, Armageddon. I mean come on, Bruce Willis saves the world - period. It’s his job. Die Hard doesn’t count. The world wasn’t in danger. They were just thieves. Die Hard 2 doesn’t either. All they did was stop a drug lord from escaping. No threat to the world. Die Hard with a Vengeance, they were just thieves again. 13 Monkeys, the world still ended up dying out and he didn’t even complete his original mission of bringing back an unmutated sample of the virus. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/10 "2005-05-19T15:53:55Z")
Richard Dean Anderson–as Colonel/General Jack O’Neill of Stargate SG-1, as MacGyver, and possibly as the pilot in “Pandora’s Clock” (haven’t seen it)–might be a contender. Of course, the rest of SG-1 deserves a big chunk of the credit for most of the saves in that show; still, he was the key to it on several occasions. ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/11 "2005-05-19T15:54:22Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > And he saved the world in these movies, how? Ah come on man, you’re telling me Alan Rickman would have stopped with robbing them? He would have totally gone on to world domination if it weren’t for John McClane. I mean seriously. Terrorism is a world threat! He’s John McClane! He saved the world. Accept it 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/12 "2005-05-19T16:01:23Z")
> [@watsonwil](#): > > I gotta say Harrison Ford. Not only did he stop the Nazis from world domination in Raiders, … I have to disagree. Absolutely nothing Indy did in that movie made an absolute bit of difference, other than the fact that he actually led the Nazis to the ark. The ark itself did the dirty work while Indy was tied to a post. How about Will Smith? Independence Day, Men In Black, Wild Wild West? I, Robot? ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/13 "2005-05-19T16:01:44Z")
You can only count one Die Hard, per the OP. Better make it a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/14 "2005-05-19T16:13:58Z")
I’m sure he’s not the winner, but you could probably credit Patrick Stweart with at least 2. The _Star Trek: TNG_ and _X-Men_ series. I think the winner, as in al things action movieish, is going to be the Governator. You’ve got: _The Terminator (T2 & T3), End of Days, True Lies, Total Recall, Red Sonja_ at least. Granted, in one case he saves Mars, not Earth, and in another he stops Nuclear Terrorists, which while big might not equate to “destroy the world”. Depends on your defintions. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/15 "2005-05-19T16:26:24Z")
I think the single-character record might be in contention - William Shatner more than Chris Reeve, certainly. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/16 "2005-05-19T16:33:08Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > I think the winner, as in al things action movieish, is going to be the Governator. > > You’ve got: _The Terminator (T2 & T3), End of Days, True Lies, Total Recall, Red Sonja_ at least. To those, I’d add _The Sixth Day_ (clone domination) amd _Eraser_ (just think what the world would have been like if those hand-held railguns had been sold to terrorists). Though few of their movies were actually good, I suppose one should put both Steven Segal and Jean-Claude Van Damme in the running. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/17 "2005-05-19T16:35:50Z")
Buffy saved the world a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/18 "2005-05-19T16:38:47Z")
Note OP said as different characters… So William Shatner’s out of the running. Did Sean Connery stop a nuclear war in Hunt for Red October? how about save the world in Meteor? ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/19 "2005-05-19T16:41:38Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > Note OP said as different characters… So William Shatner’s out of the running. I know. Notice what _I_ said. I was specifically taking issue with the OP’s list of people who’d have the title if we allowed repeat occurences of the same character. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584/20 "2005-05-19T16:50:57Z")
Well, Mike Myers has saved it three times. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-saved-the-world-the-most-times/304584.md?page=2)