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enter image description here

Can you identify this hero? This photo was used in a games magazine "Top Secret #2" published in December 1990.

Here's the whole page:

enter image description here

On the top they used a photo from the Full Metal Jacket movie so it seems they just used random photos to illustrate games.

TheLethalCarrot
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Tom
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    Is there any reason to suspect this is a character from science fiction and fantasy rather than a generic action/adventure hero? – TheLethalCarrot Apr 24 '21 at 11:55
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    Kinda looks like Garth, but I don't remember coming out of the bushes like that.... – Skooba Apr 24 '21 at 11:56
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    The text "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" immediately above it suggests to me that this might actually be Indiana Jones (or as close as the magazine-writers could legally get to his likeness). – F1Krazy Apr 24 '21 at 13:42
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    @F1Krazy In 1990 in Poland nobody cared about copyrights – Tom Apr 24 '21 at 13:45
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    @TheLethalCarrot It resembles Indiana Jones and Indiana Jones is sci-fi/fantasy series (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4JDV3AVkSI) – Tom Apr 24 '21 at 13:48
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    I agree that it looks like someone wanted a picture of Indiana Jones and found this similar image instead, and for reasons unknown, they ran with it. Perhaps the person who found images didn’t know what Harrison Ford looks like. Perhaps they did worry about copyright. In 1990 they would have had to locate a physical photo - there was no google image search and the images found by Archie or Veronica would not have been camera ready by a long shot. – Todd Wilcox Apr 24 '21 at 14:43
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    I don't agree with this closing. Indiana Jones is firmly on topic and the picture is clearly intended to be related to the film (next to the Indiana Jones game in the magazine). – Valorum Apr 24 '21 at 20:33
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    I wonder if this was a production image from The Mines of Kilimanjaro. – Digital Jedi Apr 25 '21 at 08:59
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    @DigitalJedi - I don't think it is. The hat (and actor) are different – Valorum Apr 27 '21 at 07:42
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    @Valorum Right, I meant to mention that I noticed they used different hats in the production art. But it could just be rando actor. It sorta has that standard video game box art look. – Digital Jedi Apr 27 '21 at 22:53
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    @DigitalJedi - I don't know why, but I get the feeling that this picture is cropped from a box-art rather than being a still from a film – Valorum Apr 28 '21 at 06:43
  • @Valorum This is quite possible. I doubt they had access to anything exclusive/limited, like a production image. – Tom Apr 28 '21 at 09:35
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    It could be a picture of a staff member behind a potted plant in the lobby for all we know. Google Lens was useless. – Spencer May 29 '21 at 21:46
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    It makes me think of https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=robbers+of+the+sacred+mountain&sxsrf=ALeKk00tedbe7o5rtheqr7FlJ7haihbHWg%3A1622390264327&source=hp&ei=-LWzYLbZEYG4lwSbhpK4BA&gs_ssp=eJzj4tZP1zc0MqhKzk3ONmD0kivKT0pKLSpWyE9TKMlIVShOTC5KTVHIzS_NK0nMzAMATNIPgQ&oq=robbers+of+&gs_lcp=ChFtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1ocBABGAEyAggAMgIILjICCAAyAggAMgIIADIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjoFCAAQsQM6CwguELEDEMcBEKMCOggILhCxAxCDAToOCC4QsQMQxwEQowIQkwI6BQguELEDOggILhCxAxCTAjoICC4QxwEQrwFQkRRYnTlgpEFoAXAAeACAAdsBiAHFCpIBBTQuNi4xmAEAoAEBsAEA&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-hp#imgrc=3yCtdCIzN_JmlM – Danny Mc G May 30 '21 at 15:59
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    For some strange reasons, part of the tip of the hat, right above the eye, makes me feel like the hat was edited in. – Clockwork Jun 04 '21 at 14:05
  • Now I'm very curious as to whether or not it's possible for the entirety of the left side of his face to be illuminated if he's wearing a hat, unless the sun is below him (I mean, there isn't a single trace of hat shadow on the illuminated side. Maybe with some artificial lightings? Hmm... – Clockwork Jun 04 '21 at 14:41
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    I'm combing through old ads and stock photos for "Pitfall" which fit the aesthetic but no match – Aww_Geez Jun 04 '21 at 15:14
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    @Clockwork I think the hat is composited in. Yes, this was a thing before Photoshop -- it was just done in darkroom or with an airbrush. See the little line of light just below the brim near the bridge of the nose? – Zeiss Ikon Jun 04 '21 at 16:24
  • Reuploaded page from that magazine: https://ibb.co/1qLB8cX – Yaroslav Kornachevskyi Jun 04 '21 at 17:00
  • I think it's Richard Young (Fedora), aka "Garth" as Skooba commented - the character in "Last Crusade" on which young Indiana Jones chose to style himself. – Anthony X Jun 04 '21 at 21:33
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    The plant is definitely bamboo. You can see vertical canes to the left of the hat-wearer. Also, the Polish text is all game cheat codes. – Spencer Jun 04 '21 at 21:45
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    I've emailed the magazine's editor. He's having a look through his records. Hopefully he can shed some light :-) – Valorum Jun 05 '21 at 15:57
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    @Valorum There are also graphic artists and a lead graphic designer listed in the masthead. – Spencer Jun 11 '21 at 23:56
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    @Spencer - I think I'll try them next – Valorum Jul 17 '21 at 00:26
  • @Valorum I think this is a lost cause :( – Tom Jul 17 '21 at 09:37
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    @Tom - Which will make it all the sweeter when we find it. – Valorum Jul 17 '21 at 09:46
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    A bit late to the discussion, but for the time it's possible this was a publicity shot for Rick Dangerous (released in '89, just before this magazine was made in '90)? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Dangerous – amkingTRP Jan 26 '22 at 21:24
  • @amkingTRP I looked for photos from Rick Dangerous and nothing looks like this – Tom Jan 28 '22 at 01:28
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    Dang, I was hoping we'd have had some update since. – Clockwork Aug 17 '22 at 18:06
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    @Clockwork Identifying this photo seems harder than I thought – Tom Oct 08 '22 at 10:41

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