James Bond has to content himself with the number two spot

Dr Jones, an American professor of archaeology who travels around the world saving precious artefacts from Nazis in the 1930s, has appeared in three films over the last 19 years.

Harrison Ford figures twice in the poll - his character Han Solo from the Star Wars films was voted the sixth best film hero.

Film heroes

1. Indiana Jones 2. James Bond 3. Maximus (Gladiator) 4. John McClane (Die Hard) 5. Ellen Ripley (Alien) 6. Han Solo (Star Wars) 7. Thomas "Neo" Anderson (The Matrix) 8. William Wallace (Braveheart) 9. Leon (Leon) 10. Rick Blaine (Casablanca)

The most recent film hero to be included in the poll in Russell Crowe's Maximus from Gladiator, while the oldest is Rick Blaine - the smooth bar owner played by Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca.

Total Film editor Matt Mueller said: "Cinema thrives on spectacle and drama, so you need big characters to fill the big screen.

"Indiana Jones won by a massive margin, not just because Harrison Ford is as handsome as they come but because he's a boys' own hero for a generation who like their idols to be a smart as well as sexy."

Sigourney Weaver's battling character from the four Alien movies is the highest-ranked woman in the poll, figuring at number six.

Keanu Reeves, in the guise of Neo in The Matrix, also figures in the top 10, as does Mel Gibson, as the Scottish rebel, William Wallace, Bruce Willis, for Die Hard, and Jean Reno in Leon.