Around this time last year, in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings, Washington Post Film Critic Stephen Hunter wrote an article that made some egregious arguments linking the actions of madman Cho Seung Hui and John Woo movies — in particular, THE KILLER. While it may be difficult for some Asian film fans to take anything Hunter has to say seriously after that article, he has written an excellent obituary for Charlton Heston. Here are the opening paragraphs:

He was the hawk.

He soared. In fact, everything about him soared. His shoulders soared, his cheekbones soared, his brows soared. Even his hair soared.

And for a good two decades, Charlton Heston, who died Saturday at 84, was the ultimate American movie star. In a time when method actors and ethnic faces were gradually taking over, Heston remained the last of the ramrod-straight, flinty, squinty, tough-as-old-hickory movie guys.

He and his producers and directors understood his appeal, and used it for maximum effect on the big Technicolor screen. Rarely a doubter, never a coward, inconceivable as a shirker, he played men of granite virtue no matter the epoch. He played commanders, biblical prophets, Jewish heroes, tough-as-nails cowpokes, calm aviators, last survivors, quarterbacks and a president or two.

Later in his life, he took that stance into politics, becoming president of the National Rifle Association just when anti-gun attitudes were reaching their peak. Pilloried and parodied, lampooned and bullied, he never relented, he never backed down, and in time it came to seem less an old star’s trick of vanity than an act of political heroism. He endured, like Moses. He aged, like Moses. And the stone tablet he carried had only one commandment: Thou shalt be armed. It can even be said that if the Supreme Court in June finds a meaning in the Second Amendment consistent with NRA policy, that he will have died just short of the Promised Land — like Moses.

Even if you think that Hunter is a complete idiot for trying to tie John Woo to the Virginia Tech tragedy, you have to admit that this is great writing.

I’ll be back later with the HKFA Best Actress preview.