David Beckham scoring a goal in the 89th minute? Someone stepping into the path of a oncoming car to save a small child? A doctor? A soldier? You?
Exactly what makes a hero has been troubling the minds of men since long before their tales were documented on the big screen, nonetheless, director Ed Zwick (Blood Diamond, Defiance, Love and Other Drugs) has focused his lens on exploring this great unknown in a short film, The Hero's Journey, with contributions from such disparate personalities as stars Djimon Hounsou, Sam Rockwell, Michelle Rodriguez and Diane Kruger. So what was behind Zwick recruiting this eclectic bunch?
"I posed the question of exactly what is a hero," explains Zwick. "The very notion has been so diluted by who we see in mainstream film blockbusters, basically a very narrow idea of what it means to be a hero - and I thought it would be interesting to get this motley bunch together to see if we could discover a broader answer to the question."
And has Zwick managed to find an answer to the original question?
"I don't want to spoil my own story, but basically I would come down on the side of someone who is being true - to his own notion, at the very least, of what he believes to be right."
Why do we put heroes on the big screen at all? Why do we need them?
"Since the dawning of time, stories have been told of heroes - we see this throughout the history of art," reflects Zwick. "So films, at their best, aren't necessarily morally instructive, but they can hold up a mirror, attach a set of iconic images to behaviour - to our will and our hearts. They help bring order to the chaos of our existence. And they help us to dream."
'The Hero's Journey' is a documentary short directed by Ed Zwick inspired by PlayStation 3's Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, exploring the Action Adventure genre.