It seems redundant to introduce an actor that has drawn so many people into some sort of sentimental state through the art of his acting. Everyone has at least one Tom Hanks movie on their mind that resonates inside of them.

In honor of his new movie, Captain Phillips, in which he plays the captain of a commercial ship that has been hijacked by pirates, I have listed my top five Hanks films that have impacted me through out my movie watching years, from childhood to adolescence.

5. Catch Me If You Can: Hanks takes the role of a bank fraud investigator for the FBI and is assigned the task of obtaining the notorious con artist Frank Abagnale Jr. played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Steven Spielberg directs the movie; with that combination of movie stars it doesn’t take much convincing for me to put this on my list.

4. Cloud Atlas: Hanks is known for his versatile acting; it seems that he can play practically any kind of person imaginable. His versatility is put to the test when he plays seven different people in Cloud Atlas, the story about the web of human lives and how we thread different generations of people together. He takes the form of both the protagonist and antagonist at times throughout the movie, which is a fun facet of watching this movie.

3. Saving Private Ryan: Another Spielberg/Hanks tag team. This is the story of a small rescue team lead by Hanks during World War II to find Private James Francis Ryan played by Matt Damon. When I first watched Saving Private Ryan, I was stunned and very emotional, but after watching it multiple times, it has become one of my favorite movies.

2. Cast Away: Hanks plays mostly a solo part in this movie when he is stranded on a remote Island after his plane crashes in the Pacific Ocean. The acting demand is high as any would be for a one-man-show movie, and Hanks delivers an amazing performance.

1. Forrest Gump: This movie gets a lot of mixed reactions from people, but whether you’re a fan or not, you can most likely recognize a quote from this film. It is easily my favorite Hanks movie, as he plays a person who is just short of mental retardation. Gump practically goes on every adventure imaginable and delivers soaring insight of the human condition during the 60s, 70s and 80s.