Well I'll take a few of the ones I've mentioned:
James Bond is clearly a cultural icon and marked a surge in spy flicks during the 60s and 70s and beyond. There were a slew of imitators, a slew of parodies, and has gone on for 50 years. Through different incarnations, good times and bad, James Bond has endured. To the point where the tuxedo is synonymous with Bond. And his key phrase, Bond, James Bond, is a part of pop culture.
Indiana Jones is one of the most popular characters in film history based on grosses, tv adaptations, video game adaptations, book adaptations, and the series that officially made Harrison Ford into a star. Without Indy, we don't get Tomb Raider or Uncharted, or the Mummy series from the early 2000s
John McClane changed the game as far as action heroes go. Before him, action heroes were more in the Schwarzenegger style of big dudes with big guns who kept their emotions in check and were cool under pressure. McClane was the first guy to come along and look like he didn't have a plan, you saw him in pain, you saw him be vulnerable, and you saw him really deal with some emotional stakes of his disintegrating marriage. After him, you get movies like Sudden Death and Speed* where the action heroes weren't sure of themselves and were way in over their heads but managed to save the day. Although speed is a bit of a misnomer in that regard unless you look at it from the perspective of Sandra Bullock's character.
Both Corleones because the Godfather is one of if not the greatest film in history and quotes from that movie have seeped into pop culture. "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse" "It's nothing personal, just business" "I know it was you Fredo, you broke my heart" And it influenced mob movies after. It showed studios that you can make a gangster flick, which were considered B movies at the time, and give it the look and style and feel and importance of an A picture and be wildly successful at doing so.
