Most Action Movies can be placed into one of these categories. In
compiling my Top 100 Action Movies for
AllOuttaBubbleGum.com's
Action 100 Project,
they just kind of fell into these groups. If a movie you think
should be in a category is not there, it's probably because I
haven't gotten around to re-watching it to be sure. Same thing, if
you see any glaringly wrong placements of films in categories,
please email me:
ripley@actionmoviefreak.com.
PASS THE POPCORN! Action Adventure movies are our feel-good
Saturday-matinee favorites. The Action is mixed with a
journey to someplace exotic with dangers unknown: Maybe
an island shaped like a skull, the desert, or a journey
backward or forward in time. Whether set in the
past, present, or future, Action Adventure movies
take us to places we've only imagined. The trick is
getting back alive.
My favorite part
about Action Adventure is that it usually happens
to ordinary people like you and me, and gives us that
what-would-you-do element? . . . Run!
Jason and The Argonauts (19
June 1963)
No, I did not see this movie in 1963, but when I did see it later on
TV, it impressed me as much as
Enter The Dragon
would later. The skeletons were sooo cool. Even if the special
effects seem a little cheesy now, there is still SO MUCH in this
movie to wow you. If you consider yourself an
Action Movie Freak, but you've
never seen this, it's required watching. Here are some of the
creatures . . .
Raiders of the Lost Ark
(12 Jun 1981)
I paid to see this movie 11 times when it was in theaters.
The first 8 times I got there late and didn't know there were
spiders! (What can I say? I had to take the bus.) This is the first
movie I recorded just the sound of and tried to memorize all the
dialog. I still look for ways to bring "Asps, very dangerous—you
go first" into conversation. Judging by YouTube, the scene where
Indy uses a gun against the guy with the big knife is many people's
all-time favorite Action Movie moment.
Still can't believe it didn't win Best Picture! [Chariots
of Fire did. When was the last time you watched Chariots of
Fire? (All anyone remembers from that movie is, as Bruce Almighty
put it, "cue the cheesy inspirational music.") And Warren Beatty
won Best Director for Reds. The next year Spielberg
didn't win for E.T. The Extraterrestrial in either category
again. Ghandi won. (Are you under 45? Never saw Ghandi,
right?) The Academy seems to use movies to endorse socio-political
ideals like with Kevin Coster's
"Indians Are People Too", I mean Dances With Wolves
(or as
Pauline Kael called it "Plays With Camera") and ignores
Action Movies altogether. But, I'm ranting.]
This movie is crazy fun and I will never get tired of it. The
pacing is perfect. Everyone in it is really good, but Ronald
Lacey stole the show as "Herr Mac" aka Major Arnold
Toht
(raise your hand if you thought his name was Ehrmack). He even
has a
fan site.
"(snorting) Frauline Ravenwood, let me show you. . .
what I am used to."
TRON (9
July 1982)
There are movies that are
so different, they stand out in time and mark a transition. When
TRON came out, video game arcades were just springing up everywhere,
but California (as usual) was way ahead. Most people didn't use
computers in their jobs or everyday lives yet, let alone know what a
hacker was. It was beyond cool at the time. The look of the movie
and the idea was so different, it's hard to compare to something. It
marked a new age we knew was just ahead—A better, more technological
future. So off we all went to the local video game arcade to blow
our paychecks in quarters or tokens and develop "pac wrist" or "pac
elbow". But who cared about pain or money?! All that mattered was
getting to the next level and beating the high score. Tron's look
was unique and seemed to stand alone until
The Matrix
and its
green code.
DINOSAURS! At last! How long did we wait
for this movie and how much did we want it?! Kudos to Steven
Spielberg for making our childhood movie wish list come to life.
When the brontosauruses came on screen, we were right there in
the field with the actors, mouths agape. The T-Rex banner drop
scene is perfection. I shake my head in admiration every time I
watch. This movie is one of the best reasons to own surround
sound. When the vibration shakes the water in the cup, you feel
the bass, and the T-Rex breathing down your neck.
Indiana Jones
And The Temple of Doom (23 May 1984) More
fun with Indy. I really didn't think he needed a kid's help but I am
sure kids ate it up. The beauty and the genius of the opening
sequence impresses me every time I watch it. I loved the ingenuity
of the inflated raft escape.
It was pretty intense when they sacrificed that poor slob (his
flaming heart at right) and OMG Indy, snap out of it! Near the
end I was thinking how people would love this move to be a theme
park ride where they take that railway car through the mine.
Steven Spielberg detractors can say whatever they want, I think
he's got an overdeveloped sense of fun and I'm just glad he shared
it with the world. How loved is this movie? Toy rule: they
don't make toys for the movies no one likes. Aw, cute little baby
Mola Ram (Amrish Puri) LOL so sick!
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
(23 May 1987)
I could watch this anytime just for the cliff scene, but there are
so many great scenes! I went to see it 3 times in theaters and
even though I knew how it would turn out, the vehicles hanging off
the cliff, the bird's eye view of sure death below, the cracking
glass, and the vehicles falling down around them kept me on the edge
of my seat. Jeff Goldblum is so awesome with his reluctance,
sarcasm, and understandably horrified perspective. I like the
angle that it's now a rescue mission—Just put it right up
front that this is going to end badly. It started and ended a little
like King Kong (1976) which I liked: The idea of going on an
expedition
and all the preparation that goes into that, and then bringing the
giant animal back on a ship to wreak havoc on the streets. The scene
where the T-Rex lumbers around the town is so well done, I love that
people got eaten (without that, the animal is just an amusement. It
'brings the mistake home'.) There are moments sometime in a movie
where it's just so good you're in disbelief, loving every second of
it. The T-Rex in the town in one of those scenes. (Spielberg seems
to always deliver amazement.)
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
(24 May 1989) Harrison Ford and Sean Connery. Who else could play
Indiana Jones' Dad if not James Bond? I thought it was kind of gross
they both slept with the same girl though. Doesn't seem to bother
the guys. (This seems to be most fans' favorite Indy movie, but
Raiders is mine). The banter between father and son is enjoyable
and
Sean Connery seems to
be having a great time with it.
The Mummy
(7
May 1999) Brendan Fraser on his seeming signature fine line between
handsome leading man and big goof. In this movie, he teetered into
leading man status. He was beautiful to look at [á la George of
the Jungle but at some point between Bedazzled and The
Mummy Returns (was it
Monkey Bone?!) he seemed to get sillier]. In this, I really
liked him. The special effects are visually creative and a huge
part of the movie, and with Oded Fehr and Arnold Vosloo
as man candy, it's over the top. For the guys, Patricia Velasquez
and Rachel Weisz are gorgeous in costume. Ancient Egypt
and archaeology movies are fascinating to many of us. The opening
sequence of ancient Egypt is beautifully brought to life with a
pyramid in the background* and the sphinx in the foreground.
As only video can do this justice, here is the opening of the movie
next to the real-life, present-day site.
*In the
intro., they show a stripped-surface present-day Giza pyramid with
the tip being the only part with the original facing. Back then, the
entire surface would have have been covered with a smooth surface of
that polished white limestone and gleamed like ice.
The city is referred to as Thebes, but Thebes is not where the
pyramids are, this looks like Luxor. However, Thebes was the capital
city back then, and all that really matters is it's breathtaking.
[IMDB has a
crazy-huge list of 'errors'that do not detract from the enjoyment of the movie. It's
mostly stuff that you don't notice the first time you watch because
you're caught up in the action, however, if and when you do notice,
it breaks the spell and brings you back to reality, and that's never
good. Still, artistic license, and WOW!]
The Mummy Returns
(4 May 2001)
So take the first movie and add
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje.
Please sir, can I have some more? It worked so well, they made
The Scorpion King as a spin off. So, all I'm talking about is
who is in it. And that's why we enjoyed it so much! Loved the
catfight, but while the women moved with practice, they did not move
with intent. Still , always enjoyable.
The Scorpion King (19
April 2002) All Hail The Scorpion King! It's more than a
little bit fairy-tale cheesy but it delivers for an
Action Movie Freak,
WAY BETTER than I had any reason to expect. It's just a Rock
vehicle, right? No, it's so much more. The fight scenes
are awesome, especially the one in the tent! From the
even-a-girl-has-to-say-"Good-God!"-HOT Kelly Hu as The
Sorceress, to the underappreciated scenes with the incredible wall
of strength Michael Clarke Duncan, this movie is very
entertaining, is always great to watch, and has a great ending :)
It's like a really great brownie. It's not trying to be chocolate
mousse. Eat your awesome!
The Lord Of The Rings:
The Two Towers
(18 Dec 2002) The Hobbit
was my and a lot of other people's favorite book growing up, so,
of course, I loved these movies. They are such big productions with
great special effects, not to mention long-haired men! :-D Love
long-haired men movies, but . . . keeping it true to the
material made the structure a little dull. It was a "massive
achievement" but I wanted more fight scenes and less hobbits
walking. You know you were laughing when you watched
that scene in Clerks II.
Transformers:
Dark of the Moon
(29
June 2011)
The first Transformers was great, but the popular opinion of
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was not favorable. This
third installment makes up for it. I don't think anyone (well, any
Action Movie
Fans or
Freaks)
will give a damn about the plot. There was so much 3-D action, my
eyelids were fluttering like Nicolas Cage in Lord of War
watching the ammo fly and hearing the sound of money!
Cha-Ching! Cha-Ching! Cha-Ching! You will certainly feel
you got your money's worth. Thanks to Michael Bay, the 3-D
is JAW-DROPPING
UN-BAY-LIEVABLE !
Read more . . .
John Carter
(9
Mar 2012)
I enjoyed it so much more than
Avatar. It was fun to watch all the way through. I forgot
there were special effects—when I wasn't being amazed by the whole
the look of it! I wasn't pulled out of the fantasy even once.
It's the kind of feel-good Saturday-afternoon Adventure film you
hope to see. I loved the 'dog'! How could you not? The acting was
good across the board. Loved Willem Dafoe in it!
The costumes and sets were beautifully designed and creatively
detailed. The ships, the weapons, and the planet . . . the whole
thing gave me an original Star Trek TV series feel, like
Capt. Kirk had been beamed down on a planet to fight strange
creatures until the ship figured out how to get him back, but in the
meantime he shows them how wise he is and saves everyone. That
kind of good-feeling/fun.
100
PROBLEMS . . .
Action was never so desperate as when it's
done All For Love. These movies take our hero to the
extreme for love (or sex). What will a man (or monkey) do for
love? Maybe once he sets eyes on your girl, he's got to
steal her away. Yeah, it's bad enough that he's going to beat you,
but your chick's gonna find him irresistible. Sucks to be you.
We get to watch the lengths to which he'll go to have, save,
or God Help You, if you killed or harmed his chick, avenge
his love.
Not technically "Action" Kalifornia
NATURAL BORN KILLERS
True Romance
King Kong (17
Dec 1976)
The opening of this movie sets up a really exciting premise. I love
the whole feel of it right up until you find out it's a giant monkey
(sigh), but it's a great movie, and until 2005, was the best Kong
ever. I liked
Mighty Joe Young
but it's too heartbreaking. (Come to think of it, I couldn't watch
the demise of Kong in the 2005 version either.) It's just hard
to love a movie that has animal cruelty and exploitation as the
heart of the story. Even if it makes a strong anti-cruelty message,
it's still hard to watch. I'd prefer some weird made-up evil and
dangerous creature we can hate and kill. Like a zenomorph! Oh, yeah
. . . and
Kong was a perv!
He couldn't help it.
Jessica Lange had such star power. She was so beautiful,
especially in the beach landing scene. Charles Grodin was
surprisingly awesome and appropriately cartoonish in his role. The
characters are all a little exaggerated but it works really well.
They dangle Jessica like blonde bait and the poor, dumb animal
follows along. It's an adventure, it's a tragedy, and it's All
For Love.
Sharky's Machine (18
Dec 1981)
Burt Reynolds as Sharky falls hard for Rachel Ward as
"Dominoe with an 'e'." The villain is played by
Henry Silva who was also in Code of Silence
and Above The Law, and he is really good at being super
creepy. The time spent on the voyeuristic one-way
surveillance Sharky does on Dominoe serves to show how lonely he is
and makes her seem all the more vulnerable. Rachel Ward is stunning
and ultra-feminine in that perfect
(Let's
Get) "Physical"
way of the 1980s. Sharky falls hard for the call girl but
she is killed before she can give up the life she's living and go
and live a 'normal' life in a house with a 'nice' guy. After so much
beauty, the kill scene seems ungodly gruesome. Like Sharky,
you feel you know her. Brian Keith and Charles Durning
are part of a boys' club cast that includes many popular
character actors, like Bernie Casey. Durning is great
as the angry, screaming Police Lieutenant that became so clichéd in
this era, it got comical. Loved the metaphysical angle. Based on the
novel by William Diehl (who also wrote Primal Fear
that Edward Norton was so good in), Sharky's Machine is as
good now as it was the first time I watched it. IMDB lists a
Sharky's Machine for 2012!
Romancing The Stone (30
Mar 1984)
A cross between and Action Adventure and a Romance Novel, this
treasure hunt was great fun as we watched the mismatched pair fall
in love. Michael Douglas was 40 and Kathleen Turner
30 and both were as good as the silliness of the material would
allow. Danny DeVito was funny as well. It's been a long time
since there was anything like this (not counting Harrison Ford
and Anne Heche in Six Days Seven Nights, the closest
we've come is Knight and Day.) There is a listing on
IMDB for a
2011 remake . . . Even if
you're not old enough to love the Doobie Brothers joke, it's
still a lot of fun (but more for women than men).
Mission: Impossible 2
(24 May 2000)
Love is not convenient when you are on an impossible mission but it
finds Tom Cruise anyway when he crosses paths with Thandie
Newton. I love Tom Cruise for his role choices and the
values so often exhibited in them. M:I 2 has the added bonus
of being a John Woo film with all the stylistic beauty that
entails and the out-of-hand creative action sequences. His
final cut was
3 1/2 hours. How I would love
to see that!
Mission: Impossible 3
(5 May 2006)
This movie was ahead of its time and not appreciated for how
incredible it was. The action sequences were advanced, even watching
it today, it seems up to date. Back then audiences took the
quality of the film as something related to Tom Cruise's ego.
What kind of bullshit backlash is that for giving us something so
incredible. I never tire of watching the M:I movies and
eagerly await
Mission: Impossible -
Ghost Protocol.
Whatever you like about Action Movies, this movie has it. The
opening is hard to watch and then you see the how they got to the
that point and it's even harder. It has a happy ending you
didn't think was possible—beyond fairy tale. My hubbie the
secret agent. What lengths will a man go to rescue his fiancée?
Casino
Royale (17
Nov 2006)
Yes, it's a James Bond movie, but with a twist. Yes, there are "Bond
girls", but this time, the real eye candy is Bond. First they show
us how all-out in great physical shape he is with not only one hell
of a fist fight, then they cut to the intense chase scene using
Parkour, and if that wasn't enough, show him in that unforgettable
blue bathing suit. This is clearly not the Bond of the past
that required so much suspension of disbelief. Not only is he now
physically up to the challenge, he's razor sharp mentally because he
breaks into M's apartment, finds out her real name, hacks into her
computer, and later, uses her login and her password. At every
turn, he uses his powers of deduction as much as his strength. The
script is as intelligent as it is action packed.
Although
they do a very good job of setting up a scenario for the whole
movie with a money-hungry villain driven to gamble, they use
that to introduce the female lead ("I'm the money." "Every
penny of it.") and her back story, which leads to love. (Read
more) The entire movie up to the point of Bond's declaration of love
(and WHAT a declaration it is) can be seen as fate, and after he
gives it all up for love, he loses her. Although he believed she
loved him, when he thought she was betraying him for the money, the
pain must have been unbearable since he not only gave himself to
her, but was ready to give us his career. Then, as she sacrificed
her life seemingly for her crime (of stealing the money and
deceiving him) and he thought he'd lose her, suddenly none of it
mattered. He forgave her and was still in love. This broke him. It
is a very heavy thing to be in love with someone who wrongs you and
still love them no matter what.
When he finds out she did it to
save him and not her old boyfriend, it brings him back. Evidence of
the strength of his love is that they made Quantum of Solace
where he not only avenges her death but revealing the truth, but
manages to overcome his "blunt instrument" label (I believe
this remark was directed at his emotions not his intelligence, that
his feelings were dulled by his training to kill) and keep his
emotions in check by not killing the man who used her and set her
up. I like to think he spared him for her. Knowing how much she once
loved him, but stopped him from doing it to another girl and getting
him sent to jail.
It will be very interesting to
see how this plays into Bond's ladies man persona in subsequent
films. We always knew his 'wife' died but we never suspected he was
just having sex and never falling in love because he loved so
strongly.
Knight & Day
(23 June 2010) Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz proving they can still do
it . . .
PUMP YOU UP!
Blame Hans and Franz for this
but they only pointed out what every Action Movie
Freak
was thinking: There are two kinds of movies: Arnold
movies and non-Arnold movies.
Arnold was so big that just having him in a movie made it a hit.
It didn't even have to be Action (Kindergarten Cop, Junior, Twins).
Arnold spoiled
Action Movie Freaks
because to this day all we want is a hero, a really big hero.
Hollywood doesn't seem to get this. Unless you've got the screen
presence of Robert Downey, Jr., you better have the physique of
Arnold. What do we want? Big men, the bigger the better.
Who's bigger than Arnold?
The Rock.
WE WANT THE ROCK! I love that Arnold seemed to pass the torch to The
Rock at the beginning of The Rundown. Let's run down my
favorite Arnold movies.
Conan
The Barbarian (14
May 1982)
When
this movie came out, it was definitely much talked about. It gave us
big Action, and big men in small outfits! They really used Arnold's
assets to best advantage. It seemed tongue-in-cheek but it wasn't.
Watching it now I see the straight-to-cult-classic element of it
more than I did when it was released.
Action Movie
Freaks
wondered if there was going to be a lot more barbarian movies, but
it petered out after 1985's Red Sonja. Maybe this movie
benefited from the novelty being first, because Conan The
Destroyer was not as good. Still can't believe when I
watch it now that there is so much sex.
It satisfies our blood lust like
Centurion or Ironclad. A must-see, must-own for
the true
Action Movie Freak.
(Pictured at right Arnold with co-star and basketball legend Wilt
Chamberlain and wrestling legend Andre The Giant; a photo
that really drives home the freak-show appeal of the movie.)
See it
on the big screen again May 11th.
The Terminator (26
Oct 1984)
Arnold was born to play this role. It launched his career
into the stratosphere and re-defined Bad Ass. Overkill never looked
so lethal (until T2). Our fascination with robots and weapons
and apocalyptic scenarios all rolled into a Chase movie with a
relentless villain. It's probably in everyone's top 5
Action Movie series. Little did we know at the time how
incredibly good the sequels would be.
As the unstoppable killing machine, Arnold
owned the lethality with intensity. The VHS extras at the time gave
Arnold credit for the scene where the Terminator is in the patrol
car searching for Sarah Connor—He looks around with just his eyes,
keeping his head movements to a minimum (robotic economy of
movement). This was Arnold's idea and it was effective in making the
character even scarier. It was just creepy enough to make it
seem like the Arnold exterior was fake and there really was a robot
underneath. It was pretty much everyone's worst nightmare come
true. If you were being chased by a psychotic killing machine, hard
to imagine anyone more frightening for it to look like than super
strong and intimidating Arnold.
Commando (4
Oct 1985)
Such an Arnold vehicle.
This movie gave audiences what they were clamoring for:
Arnold, Arnold, and more Arnold. The one-man army.
When he takes off to rescue his daughter from a guerilla camp, his
determination knows no bounds. From how he boards the plane to scene
where they rob the store for weapons (and subsequent rescue) to the
beach assault where he takes on the entire camp by himself.
This should be a super hero movie because G. I. Joe was never so
well built or well armed. Arnold's walk-and-shoot borders
on hilarious (but in a good way). Audiences ate it up, still
do. Cheesy one-liners abound. The final gun battle is epic.
Alyssa Milano is good as Arnold's resourceful daughter.
Audiences loved that too: the idea of Arnold as their Dad. The
movie also stars
Bill Duke who appeared next on
the big screen with Arnold in . . .
Predator.
Predator(12
Jun 1987)
One of my Top 5 Action Movies. The more I watched this movie, the
more I loved it.
Stan Winston has to be credited
for making a creature that was way
beyond Bad Ass for 1987, and for
all the Bad Ass Big Men who starred in Predator, what really made
the movie was the creature itself. Our fear of being hunted
carried the series all the way to a fifth movie with multiple
predators, aptly titled Predators.
This movie also stands out because of it's treatment of the
characters. Each of them was so cool and had their own
personalities—it set up the idea of playing a character in a game
and then being dropped into a scenario where you have to fight. This
is the experience video games were created to emulate.
Read
more . . .
The Running
Man (13
Nov 1987)
The movie that, sadly, will forever be associated with
September 11, 2001. Loosely based on a Stephen King
novel written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, the
novel's ending featured a suicide run with a hijacked airplane
crashing into a high-rise. They changed the ending for the movie but
you can't help but wonder if making the movie contributed to the
knowledge of the ending of the book (in other words promoted it as
much by leaving it out). The film ending is considerably more
upbeat, even fun (!). There is plenty of action, and nothing
mainstream came as close to the death-as-primetime-entertainment
format until Death Race (2008) (unless you count Battle
Royale 2000 which,
according to Wikipedia, was
never released in the U.S.). It was a physically demanding
role even for Arnold. Joined by Predator buddy Jesse Ventura
as Captain Freedom, the movie also starred football legend Jim
Brown, as well as one of my favorite character actors, Yaphet Khoto,
(who also appeared in Live and Let Die, Alien, and
Midnight Run) While it was great fun, the movie was also a
little too cheesy/campy (it was the 80s). It's fun to watch but the
look of it seems more made-for-TV.
Our Yearly
Action injection It
really didn't matter if they were believable or not at first
because, for years, there was nothing as exciting. I wanted every
movie to give me that Bond feeling, but until there were other
expensive Action blockbusters to compete, one Bond blockbuster a
year was just about all
Action Movie Freaks
got. When other Action Movies finally caught up on the scale
of Bond effects and showcased more physically capable actors,
we no longer could suspend our disbelief for Bond, and at the end of
a long run of less-athletic actors, our collective dissatisfaction
was redeemed by
Daniel Craig's all-out Parkour-style chase scene in the opening
of Casino Royale. No more "Q" with gadgets, this new
Bond was such a 'machine' he needed only a tracking device inserted
in his arm, and a defibrillator in his Aston Martin DBS V12. (Yay! They returned to a British
vehicle for a British Secret Agent).
Dr. No (8
May 1963)
Sean Connery goes to Jamaica and meets Ursula Andress.
The most indelible thing from the movie seems to be her in that
belted bikini.
From
Russia With Love (27
May 1964)
Lotta Lenya stole the show in this movie as Colonel Rosa
Klebb of the Russian
counter-intelligence agency SMERSH. She had to be at
least part of the inspiration for Edna 'E' Head in The
Incredibles (although IMDB she was based on real-life costume
designer Edith Head). The movie also starred the great
man's man actor
Robert Shaw as the villain,
Codename: Donald 'Red' Grant. He and Bond have a really
great
fistfight in close quarters on
a train.
The other most memorable thing for me was the
soundtrack.
Die Another Day (22
Nov 2002)
Halle Berry does justice to the belted bikini look from
Dr. No. With the last of the Pierce Brosnan Bond
movies, we said goodbye to the less physical, more gentlemanly Bond.
Although this is a very good movie, audiences were tired of
suspending disbelief. It took four years for the franchise to
start again with a more physically believable actor.
Skyfall (9
Nov 2012)
The plot of the next installment of
Bond is explained on
IMDB: "Bond's loyalty to M is
tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under
attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how
personal the cost."
MORON #1 and MORON #2
BUDDY movies
are all about the relationship between the main characters: their
dynamic. Buddies can be friends or adversaries: both can be
good guys, or it can be good guy v. bad guy,
bad guy v. worse guy, etc. There might be times when you're not
sure which side is 'right', but that's not what matters (except to
them). What matters to us, and makes it worth watching, is how
they do or don't get along, often with hilarious results.
Take, for
example, The Rundown, it's The Rock chasing
Sean William Scott, but it's a
Buddy movie not a Chase movie because it's all about their
dynamic.You watch because you're having fun with their
relationship; doesn't matter what they're doing.
48 Hrs.
(8 Dec 1982)
Eddie Murphy was on top of the world with this movie, one of his
best-loved roles, Reggie Hammond. This movie paired entertaining
opposites: white cop and black criminal, white and black, classy and
crappy, mean and nice. Nick Nolte was excellent as the
grizzled bull dog of a beat cop who uses the unconventional method
of getting a witness/criminal out of jail to solve a case.
It's great to watch Nolte get annoyed by Reggie and Reggie turn out
to be right. They get into a fist fight but end up working
well together. At first Nolte abuses Murphy, but in the end they
have a grudging friendship, well, as much as any cop and criminal
can. This movie also starred James Remar and Predator's
"Billy" Sonny Landham. Remar stole the show as "Ganz" with an
intense performance that lend credibility to the script and balanced
out the comic posturing and over-the-top wise ass cracks from Reggie
Hammond, keeping the intensity needed for an action movie (something
Beverly Hills Cop needed a little more of).
Beverly
Hills Cop(5 Dec 1984) Eddie Murphy the one-man show.
This Buddy movie featured a trio. Eddie's character was so
entertaining to balance it out he was paired with two cops:
Partners, but like different sides of a coin. Old vs. young, mean
vs. nice, by the book vs. risk taker. Eddie messed with both of them
but earned their respect, and we so enjoyed the ride, it
carried us into a sequel. Not only was Eddie funny, but Taggert and
Roswood were funny together too (a Buddy movie within a Buddy
movie). Eddie manages to be funny with anyone. The show stealer in
this move was Bronson Pinchot as "Serge". It's hard to steal
a scene from Eddie Murphy but Pinchot even had Eddie laughing that
unforgettable laugh. For me this movie is a little more comedy than
action.
Heat (13 Mar 1987)
Oh how I love this movie! But then I'm a huge Burt fan and it's
classic Burt. Just watch the opening to understand why. At
first you're thinking "This guy's a jerk, what the hell Burt?" Then
when you realize what 'the game' is, it's sooo like Burt the hero to
take the fall to make the little guy look good (for money of course,
he's nice, but he's not an idiot). Such a simple idea turned into
such an endearing movie by great performances and great chemistry.
How is this action? Knockout fight scenes, plus explosions! It's a
fantasy that we, the little guy, could have a cool friend like "Mex"
who would make us feel like a bad ass. It's also a great movie about
friendship and who's saving whom?
The supporting class is incredibly strong, and it's almost a tie
between who steals the show: Karen Young as Holly, or
Peter MacNicol as Cyrus Kinnick (but it's an amazing performance
by Peter). That we relate to all 3 main characters is a great
testament to the acting talents of all 3. Every time I watch it, I
enjoy it as much as I did the first time. Plus it's set in
Las Vegas
in the pre-mega resort era.
Lethal Weapon(6 Mar 1987) Mel Gibson. Remember when we liked this American turned
Aussie? Another Mel Gibson butt movie. He was so entertaining to
watch in this movie the story goes that
Franco Zeffirelli got the idea to cast him as
Hamlet
after watching the jumper scene (something
that first appeared inDirty Harry).
This was an enjoyable team to watch, for more than just Mel's
antics. Danny Glover's grounded sanity balanced out Mel's
manic peacockery and death wish. The placement of opposites again:
Young-er
and seasoned, white and black, crazy and sane. As the series
capitalized on the popularity of these two buddies, they introduced
a sidekick, then a police detective (IA) girlfriend and a wannabe
son-in-law. Buddy-sploitation!
Midnight Run(30 July 1988)
The oh-so-enjoyable-to-watch 'team' of the grimy Bounty Hunter and
the "white collar" criminal. A little "Odd Couple"
dynamic like water and oil. Charles Grodin is hilarious
and excels at getting under Robert De Niro's skin. While they
may seem far from 'buddies', it's probably the best antagonistic
Buddy movie of all time. Grodin could not be more annoying, and De
Niro is short on patience and almost nothing goes his way or is
easy.
Dennis Farina
steals the show with his "Moron No. 1" and "Moron No.
2" henchmen. Never had being a Bounty Hunter seemed so funny or
like so much fun (then along came "Dog").
So much anger and cursing—it's awesome! It has a great
extended cast as well.
Broken Arrow
(9 Feb 1996)
A Western set in modern times with nuclear weapons! A shoot
out in the desert between 'cowboys' (it even has a train scene!). A
good guy and a good guy gone bad. This John Woo gem is as
much fun for the Christian Slater-John Travolata
dynamic as it is for the soundtrack/Spaghetti-Western feel.
Stealth bombers, nuclear weapons, helicopter crashes, etc., plus
Woo's dramatic style, give this movie a creative cool despite
Christian Slater's nerdiness and John Travolta's over-the-top
performance. Travolta is very entertaining to watch as his character
unravels [watch at right (at 1:19)]. It's boys and their toys
plus Howie Long and Delroy Lindo. You can't go wrong
here. It's a rush every time!
BROKENARROW
Lethal Weapon 4(10 Jul 1998)
I think this movie is the best of the series.
Rush Hour (18 Sep 1998) Brett Ratner hit the jugular when looking for the
pulse of popular culture with this pairing. The
east-meets-west-and-maybe-the-best Buddy movie ever! They're
both good guys, but who's in charge? That's "G-14
classified". "I don't want no partner, I don't need no partner,
I ain't never gonna have no partner." Will they get along
well enough in time to solve the case?
The cultural differences and the charisma of both actors makes
this combination in casting impossible to go wrong with. We'd
watch these guys mow grass. This tagline said it all:
"The Fastest Hands In The East Meet The Biggest Mouth In The
West."
The
Rundown(26 Sept 2003) This movie is always fun to watch. The comedy plus the action
plus the way Seann William Scott's dogged persistence bothers
Dwayne
The Rock
Johnson's
'by the book' "No Deals" tough guy character. It should have been a
simple "rundown", but things go wrong. (We never seem to tire of the
Bounty Hunter movies—maybe it's the bring 'em to justice mentality
that appeals.) They tried to have fun with it in an Indiana Jones
treasure sort-of way, and used Christopher Walken in a role
that is classic Walken—the way only he can entertain leaving you
wondering "What is he talking about?" The ending is fun as they make
do and adapt to their surroundings to conquer this out-of-their
element fiasco. The movie kills with some great quotes, some you can
understand, some you can't, either way, you're laughing.
Arnold
made a cameo and it was seen as him "passing the torch" to The Rock.
We're just waiting for more action and less Disney from this
Scorpion King.
Hot Fuzz(14 Feb 2007)
A hilarious action homage movie, or as Tracy Morgan put it in
Cop Out: "hommidge". Starring Simon Pegg and
Nick Frost, this pair became wildly popular for Shaun of the
Dead, and while we expected this movie to be entertaining, the
action was surprisingly first rate. They really captured the
reasons we all love Action Movies and had fun with it as well. In
the tradition of
Laurel and Hardy, and
Abbott and Costello,
and the appeal of the everyman and the relationship between the two
friends goes a long way to relatability and keeping the audience in
stitches. These two took situational humor to explosive heights.
The contrast with the sleepy rural English village was genius.
Rush Hour 3 (10 Aug 2007)
This movie is really funny and much better than people gave it
credit for. I think the first two were so good we had huge
expectations. Jackie Chan couldn't be better. Parts
of it are a little bit crazy but isn't that what we were hoping
for?!
Cop Out(26 Feb 2010) Tracy Morgan in a cop movie. You had your doubts but he
not only pulled it off, he stole the show as only he can. Didn't
see it? You missed out! (So evil but have to comment on Seann
William Scott's physical condition in this movie. From
Bulletproof Monk and
The Rundown to this?! His attempts at parkour-ish
stuntwork were as believable as when they cut the scene just a hair
late on Charlie Sheen in Major League, when you knew
he SO did not make it over the wall.)
COPOUTINTERROGATION
Undisputed III: Redemption(17 June 2010)
Aaaah the Bromance. Sure this is an amazing fight choreography
movie. As fight scenes go (and there are plenty of them), it's
at the top thanks to stunt coordinator Larnell Stovall and
Director Isaac Florentine, who both know and love Action,
supported by a cast that is as skilled as it is buff and brawny.
But while the plot centers around a group of international fighters
brought together for a fighting tournament just so corrupt men can
wager on them, the real story is the developing friendship between
Boyka and Turbo. Scott Adkins and Mykel
Shannon Jenkins are great together. By the time they have to say
goodbye at the end, it's almost Casablanca-ish. "Yuri"
has to let "Jacob" go back home to his children, but you just want
them to stay together and tag along on their happy adventure with
all that money. Much of the credit for the fun in this movie must go
to Mykel who is as likable as "Jericho" aka "Turbo" as Scott as
"Yuri Boyka" is cold and hard. Can't wait for
Undisputed 4.
The Other Guys(6 Aug 2010)
The unlikely duo of
Will Ferrell and
Mark Wahlberg mine comedy gold out
of an ordinary situation. This hilariously anti-cop movie makes fun
of all the stereotypes of why people hate cops. A pair of ordinary
cops is contrasted with a stereotypical cocky super duo played by
Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson. It's a study
in how-not-to-be-a-cop movie and yet the central characters really
are good guys, human, and likeable.
21
Jump Street(16 Mar 2012)
It captured the dynamic of their "cool kid/nerd" relationship
transformation so perfectly, even the Action was funny. They made up
for the strange no explosions with one spectacular one. (Creative
low budget workaround!? LOL—I felt a little bit cheated but I liked
them so much, I went with it.) I would have like to see a
little more interaction with the rest of the characters who were
undercover in other schools (it was limited to gloating), but that's
a good thing because it means I liked it so much I wanted more. They
were both really good in it. Channing Tatum more so for the
bewildered awakening he experienced being uncool for the first time.
I expected
Jonah Hill to be good (he's everyone's favorite after Super
Bad) but I didn't expect Channing would be that good
(like Award good!). The brother relationship was very well
written, and well acted. They came off as so in tune, you forget it
isn't real. The best scene in the film for me was when
Jonah was trying to talk to a girl on the phone, and Channing came
into the room and just started torturing him—love the giraffe (it
was wordless and just perfect)! As a comedy team they worked as well
together as any famous comedy team. I think a lot of the
credit has to go to the material as well, but as a Buddy
Action comedy, the acting was superb and they hit all the sweet
spots :D!.
And they're off!
Someone's on the run and someone's chasing them. Usually for
a large sum of money. Whatever's at stake, we're just along
for the ride for the adrenaline rush that takes us from Point A to
Point B. It's
about the struggle of the 'good' guy (even if they give him a
buddy to help) to change, grow, or overcome something or escape
from/catch someone within a certain time frame. No matter what they
are facing, YOU KNOW which side you're supposed to be on, theirs.
DEATH RACE 2000 (1975)
SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT
THE GAUNTLET
THE FUGITIVE
THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK
THE TERMINATOR
TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY
FACE | OFF
HEAT
BLADE RUNNER
Transporter 3
series
Centurion
Taxi Series/Luc Besson
The Fugitive
(1993) Arguably the best-ever Chase movie.
It's as much about Tommy Lee Jones' character as it is about
Harrison Ford's. You're supposed to be on the side of the law,
but you're on the 'wrong' side 'cause Harrison Ford is innocent and
the Tommy Lee Jones is wrong, but he's just doing his job. There is
really great tension in the hunter/hunted relationship and you
wonder which of them will outsmart the other and 'win'? The movie
might seem a little light on action but they crash a real train.
Right up until the end you sympathize with Harrison Ford because you
know he's innocent, and you think that Tommy Lee who represents the
law and should be a good guy is going to kill Harrison anyway
for escaping, which would make him a letter-of-the-law,
career-obsessed bad guy, and this keeps you guessing. These two
characters could end up as buddies after this ordeal, but what would
they do? That would be a cute older-guy Buddy Action Movie. They
might be off fishing in a cabin somewhere and run into trouble that
they have to step in and do something about. Feel like the bad asses
again, be the heroes, work together. . . . Anybody
listening? 'Cause the only script I'm working on is for action women
(yeah, I'm a girl . . . ). Tommy Lee Jones won a Best Actor in a
Supporting RoleOscar for this performance, and it was
nominated for Best Picture!
The
Chronicles of Riddick
(2004)
is a really cool Chase movie because it makes the bad guy the 'good'
guy against worst guys. Aaaah how I love this movie. The whole movie
is the HOT pursuit
of Riddick, and then the tables are turned
(sweet). By the time Riddick and the inmates break out of the
Crematoria slam, it's so "ON" it feels like you're part of the
red-hot, run-for-your-life momentum. They do a really good job of
making the Necromongers scary, so the fact that they're due at any
minute, plus the prospect of being fried, makes the whole
cross-planet chase pretty intense.
This movie delivers in the best
way: It transports you to another world. The whole look and feel of
it is breathtaking. I am obsessed with this movie: Check out my
full review. . .
Terminator
2: Judgment Day
Top 10 or Top 5
(The ending looks like Cobra)
Face
| Off
is a Chase movie carried to incredibly
creative levels. (John Woo!) Not only is
Nicolas
Cage chasing John
Travolta, but in order to find him, he has to become him.
The lines of good and bad are smeared 'in your face'! It's
heartbreaking to watch the bad guy use the good guy's appearance
to do bad things, and confusing to watch the bad guy being good
'cause it's really the good guy inside. John Woo has such
a sense of style. His action movies are beautiful to watch and
visually dramatic. The way he frames certain things or
emphasizes particular actions or details is sheer poetry: like
the way Nicolas Cage's coat flaps in the wind. The scene where
they end up pointing guns at each other through mirrors
(shooting each other would be shooting themselves) is sheer
GENIUS! Woo cornered the market on 'impossibly cool'.
Heat
(15 Dec 1995)
We are rooting for De Niro's character, even though he is a
criminal. We want him to get away with it. The
gun battle in the streets
is Action movie legend, and great material for comedy ("Where's
the van?"). It
falls apart at the end for me. I didn't like the conversation in
the diner and the way-too-long chase scene on the runway, but
there's nothing like that gun battle, and it delivers everything
you go to see an action movie for. The cast is excellent, and we
love the look inside a crime gang. The risk, the loyalties and
the betrayals, the lifestyle and mindset, the rewards and the
pain.
Blade Runner
It's not Action. I know. But it's so cool and so influential . . .
Deckard is the Hero; the human character chasing replicants to
destroy them, and discovering the truth about himself along the way.
He struggles with what makes us human and them
replicants, and falls in love with a replicant. The question
of whether he is human or a replicant chasing his own kind, add
tremendous irony to the chase. To me, the signs in the movie seems
to clearly indicate he is a replicant (although some still
argue he's not). Through making Sean Young's
character realize she is a replicant, I think he sees the
signs that he himself may be a replicant, and because he's fallen in
love with her, he decides to run (like the characters he was
chasing). More interesting to me than whether or not he's human, is
whether, as a human, he falls in love with a replicant and loves her
despite the fact that he knows she's a replicant, or if he he falls
in love after he realizes he's a replicant and that connection adds
something to what he feels: The shared 'awakening'.
In a way, we are all replicants because nobody knows their
'expiration date'. I like that instead of taking lives, he
decides to live his.
Blue Steel
(16 Mar 1990) "Ever since I was
kid . . . yeah, I wanted to shoot people."
Detective Megan Turner
I'm not a fan of movies with rape
scenes, but this movie was special because it was one of the
first big female leads in a position of (clothed) power.
All women loved the
beginning when she's in uniform for the first time and strutting, and she passes
two other women on the street who turn and look and they (and
women in the audience) share a moment of
appreciation for us finally having the opportunities to do 'a man's job'. It
was something to see the journey of the character and how she
'wins' in the end through acquired power and personal strength,
in spite of all the condescending treatment she gets. Her final
walk in uniform is as different from the first as a woman is
before and after she is raped.
This was the third full-length movie for Writer (with Eric Red)
and Director
Kathryn Bigelow (The
Loveless, and
Near Dark). Near Dark was
great. From Wikipedia: "This is a stunningly innovative
and brutally bloody vampire film which never once uses the word
'vampire.'" -Gafke.
At the time it came out, everyone was joking:
"Don't say the 'V' word".
Point of No Return
(19 Mar 1992)
"quote"
Detective Megan Turner
blurb
The Long Kiss Goodnight
(11 Oct 1996)
blurb
Charlie's Angels
(3 Nov 2000)
blurb
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
(22 Dec 2000)
blurb
"WHERE'S
THE VAN?!"
I'd say for Saturday afternoon fun,
Action Movie FREAKSwould rather watch a good Heist movie over
Adventure any day. There's something about the extra level of
cleverness in executing a plan, and of course, getting away with it.
We want to KNOW how they did it. We want to watch them pulling it off.
Don't gloss over the details cause you can't think of something
clever enough—hell, why even make that movie? Drop a safe
three floors into a canal, drive an armored car off a bridge, (insert more) whatever it is, we want to be impressed!
Deep down we all want to
steal money, get away clean and live the good life somewhere
exotic. Really, who wants to work?!
"The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3/
One Two Three " "1998
3,000 Miles to Graceland
23 Feb. 2001
en (12, 13) 7 Dec. 2001
The Fast and The Furious
The Italian Job 2003
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3/
One Two Three ??" "2009
Inception
Money Train
Under Siege (9
Oct 1992)
Erika Eleniak's titties. Yeah, I know, pretty spectacular (and I'm a
girl and I have to lead with that). It's probably most of the
reason guys own this movie. For male Action Movie Freaks,
its just a bonus for another great Steven Seagal movie.
Tommy Lee Jones plays the bad guy and it's great to watch him be
defeated. BONUS: Gary Busey! [Before Gary Busey was picked on
post-motorcycle-accident (1988), he was everyone
Action Movie Freak's favorite character actor.] This movie is entertaining every
time you watch it. It's probably equal parts Seagal, Action, and
Tommy Lee. It's a pretty ballsy idea to hijack a Navy battleship,
and it has the best kind of countermeasure: BAD ASS already on
board. Kick it up a notch? He's a cook and make it Steven Seagal.
As heists go, it's kind of slow and violent, but the fun
is in seeing how Seagal fucks it up for them.
Do you
know KUNG FU?
Martial Arts movies are the heart and
soul of Action movies. There are soooo many great ones, but I
am listing my favorites, and what I think are the most seen (best loved)
movies, and the movies with the most early and continued influence
on mainstream Action movies. The hero in these movies is beyond skilled and all we can do is watch in amazement!
The philosophy and values are a welcome bonus. These are
movies you watch for the Martial Arts. The rest is take
us from Point A to Point B.
HISTORY
Seven Samurai 1954
Fingers of Death 1972
Iron Monkey
Kung Fu
(China)
BRUCE LEE MOVIES
(kung fu) Enter The Dragon
1970s kung fu cinema
"Meng long guo jiang"
aka Revenge of The Dragon
aka Return of The Dragon" 1972 Bruce Lee, Nora Miao, Chuck Norris
JACKIE CHAN Movies Rumble in the Bronx
Jackie Chan's First Strike
SO
MANY!
Zui Quan
(drunken boxing) The Legend of Drunken Master Karate, Tae Kwon Do
CHUCK NORRIS Movies
A Force Of One
MANY!!
(Bloodfist Series)
OTHER FORMS OF MARTIAL ARTS
Muay Thai
(Thailand)
Ong Bak - The Thai Warrior
Ong bak 2
Ong Bak 3
Conan The Barbarian
(1982) If you have never seen this, you will be surprised by
how much sex there is. It's more than a little campy and at the time
it was like nothing we had ever seen in an Action Movie. We
thought we wanted more but Conan The Destroyer and Red
Sonja didn't live up to our expectations. Maybe it was
just more
Arnold we wanted, and we got
that! I want to say it's so bad it's good. It's both.
The Count of Monte Cristo
(25 Jan 2002) Jim
Caviezel, Guy Pearce, and Richard Harris. I could
stop there "Enough Said. " but it's a also one of the all-time great
revenge tales.
Conan The Barbarian
(2011) This was really like two movies in one. The actor who
played the younger Conan was so convincing and captivating, it
seemed like a movie on its own. After seeing the last half, I
much preferred the first. The second half seemed a bit silly
and slow. Jason Momoa was beautiful to look at, no
complaints there, but Leo Howard held his own in the acting
department and then some!
"We move!
5-meter spread. No sound."
Not just any soldier, a SUPER Soldier or a whole unit of them. We love the whole
macho military thing—a cause worth dying for, weapons,
uniforms, jargon, hand signals, special vehicles,
explosives. Usually sent in to rescue someone, it's all about
their training, talent, and skills: What they can do that you
can't.
Rambo III (25 May 1988)
Universal Soldier (10 July 1992)
Soldier (23 Oct 1998)
Black Hawk Down (18 Jan 2002)
300 ( 9 Mar 2007)
The Hurt Locker (10 Oct 2008)
The A-Team (11 June 2010)
Universal Soldier: Regeneration (7 Jan 2010)
The Expendables (13 Aug
2010)
Predator (12
June 1987)
The adventure of a
macho military rescue team dropped into an unknown jungle
scenario is the experience video games were invented to emulate,
and this is
the greatest of them all.
Read more . . .
RUN FOR COVER!
The SUPER COP doesn't need anybody. He's a one-man army, a
wrecking ball, the solution, "your worst nightmare", "the cure".
Dishing out their own brand of justice. Don’t get in their way, and
don’t piss them off. The law might be holding them back, but there’s
no slowing them down. Nothing stands between them and you if you
mess with their partner, or their family. They’re coming for you,
and they’re coming hard. It’s all about how much stuff will be
smashed or blown up along the way, and how much trash they’ll
talk getting there.
Running on intuition and
adrenaline, they’ll hunt you down and throw everything they’ve got
at you. If they run out of weapons or ammo, they’ll improvise with
anything they can make or find. In the end, they’re usually stronger
and faster, or they just plain outsmart you, all to the delight of
the Action Movie Freak. Freak. They bring the smackdown!
"You just killed a
helicopter with a car!"
"I was out of bullets."
NYPD Senior Lt. Detective John McClane
Watching the movie in retrospect, it seems callous. According to
Wikipedia, in "2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United
States'
National Film Registry by the
Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or
aesthetically significant." Often credited with the best car chase in action
movie history, it certainly was ahead of its time. It's hard to believe a cop
could be so reckless in that decade, the chase is that crazy. Of course,
the guy just tried to kill him! Still he's a cop, and public safety and all that
. . . Most surprisingly Doyle uses the "N" word! There's a big difference
between the racism in this movie and in Dirty Harry. In Dirty Harry
they just joke about it, in this movie, it seems entrenched. As an "action"
movie, I would give it the most points for influence. Hackman is good in it, and
it supposedly 'made' his career and that of the director, William Friedkin
(best known for The Exorcist). It won a lot of Academy Awards. It was the
first R-rated movie to win Best Picture. It also won Best Director, Best Actor,
Best Writing (Adaptation). I would say Doyle's methods are questionable, and
he's definitely reckless and out of control. Considering that, the damage seems
minimal.
Dirty Harry
(23 Dec 1971)
"Nothing wrong
with shooting, as long as the right people get shot." Inspector "Dirty Harry" Callahan
The big gun! How crazy it seemed at the time that he was using this
one-shot-takes-em-down cannon, the .44 Magnum. When they
switched to the Magnum rifle on the rooftop you almost felt sorry
for the serial killer. It was as if they were just having fun
picking off the bad guy like he was a duck target in an arcade
shooting range. That's the whole point of the movie though, that
scum should be taken out like targets. The big question is whose
method works best, Harry's or the Department's? Well, you can
tell by the title to the movie what that answer is. The whole time
you're on Harry's side and when he tosses his badge at the end, you
sympathize with a man trying to do what's right being hamstringed by
the system. It's all Clint all the time, talking the talk and
walking the walk.
Read More . . .
Code of Silence (3
May 1985) "If I want your opinion, I’ll beat it out of
you." Eddie Cusack
Who hasn't seen and loved this movie? I watched it again at
Actionfest 2010 honoring
Chuck Norris. What stays with me is that AWESOME moment when
Chuck Norris blows that guy off the tower! So unexpected. So cool
and funny in that sick way that only Action Movie violence
satisfies. The best! (That Robocop-type machine he used
was also ahead of its time.) At Actionfest 2010, Mr. Norris said the
stunt he is most proud of is from this movie where he jumps off the
top of a moving train into the Chicago River.
To Live and Die in L.A.
(1 Nov 1985)
"I'm
gonna bag Masters, and I don't give a shit how I do it."
Treasury Agent Richard Chance
This movie was about 5 times hotter than you expected: The action,
the sex, the crime, the violence, the criminals, and the cops!
Call the fire department,
William Petersen is ablaze! The movie's counterfeiting
operation and criminal subculture of L.A. was another revealing look
at the underbelly of tinseltown, but it was unique because of how
the hero was killed: blown away, so abruptly, so completely
by a shotgun to the face. We'd never seen that before. After the
initial ride to the top, the plot was like a runaway rollercoaster
picking up speed. The car chase was, and still is when you watch it
today, REALLY INTENSE. A credit to William Petersen
in particular (and of course the behind-the-scenes people who made
the face he gave the effort so convincing). Petersen's
performance is framed by an excellent supporting cast, all serving
to focus your attention more intently on him. His character
smolders and struts and lives life on the edge. You couldn't help
but wonder from the title what the movie would say about life and
death, but you never expected the 'good' guy to die. It really
slammed home the stakes. I couldn't help but think he acted like a
guy who was high on cocaine or if he were beefier, 'roided up, but
Petersen's character got his kicks in other ways. The best moment to
explain him is when his 'girlfirend' (I'm being nice)/informant
tells him to jump off a bridge but you already saw that's what he
does for fun. Where else is there to go for this guy?
The next best indicator for me was the effort he put into whacking
the briefcase open. How Petersen wasn't injured, I don't know. I bet
his shoulder joint was sore as hell the next day. Each time I
watch the movie I think there is some code to the timeline fonts
that appear on screen, but I've yet to crack it. Intense and
fascinating with a creative, unique, and enduring score by Wang
Chung, To Live and Die in L.A. never gets old. (This
clip
validates everything I said: Try watching that without saying "wow"
at the end. Love that feeling when you know you 'get it'. Sooo
glad they didn't use the stupid happy alternate ending!)
Cobra(23 May 1986) "You’re a
disease and I’m the cure."
Lt. Marion "Cobra" Cobretti
Cobra is to
Sly
as Commando is to
Arnold. Stallone hits crime hard in this macho opus and
shoots the shit out of everything. (The script was written
by Stallone based on the novel "Fair Game" by Paula Gossling.)
If you love Stallone, you gotta love Cobra. Part of it has to be
the voice. As distinct as Arnold's way of speaking but more
discernable. Stallone knows what action audiences want and he
delivers in writing, acting, directing, and looking good in
jeans . . . (sure hope the safety's on).
This is one of the 1980s cop movies where the good guy has a
hard time doing his job, is on the right track when no one else
is, and works for a Department Head/Police Chief who is a dick.
It got the the point where it became comical when they would
introduce the screaming Dept. Chief in these movies. Cobra has
incredible car chases, and if you've ever wanted to stand up in
the back of a moving pick-up truck and mow down a motorcycle
gang with a machine gun, this movie's for you! Did I mention
Stallone actually gets thrown out of a moving truck? Well, it's
more like a jump and roll, but you go Bad Ass! Brian
Thompson as the "Night Slasher" does a really good job of
making you hate him.
Robocop
(17 July 1987) "Dead or alive, you’re
coming with me."
Officer Alex J. Murphy | "Robocop"
This movie always makes me feel like a kid again.
It's part of why we love The Terminator: that robot-as-a-pet
feeling. We would love to have a robot to make it do what we wanted,
and Robocop is a super-sized cyborg version of that. The back
story is really touching and can be credited to Peter Weller's
performance. So much of it is in his voice and his face (without the
helmet). The bad guys are so bad, you're just itching for them
to be blown away.
This movie is fun every time you watch it.
Above
The Law
(8 Apr 1988) "Let me do it my
way. Just give me an unmarked and a shotgun."
Detective
Gino Felino
Die Hard
(15 July 1988) "Yippe-ki-yay, mother
fucker!" NYPD
Detective
Officer John McClane
What a great series! The first is the best and features probably
everyone's favorite action movie quote. John McClane's cowboy cop antics during his cat and mouse with the 'Euro
trash' personify the American Hero spirit: "We're Americans and we
don't take no shit". The off-duty cop who's never off duty. It's
partly a Buddy movie in that we get emotionally invested in whether
John McClane will meet
Reginald VelJohnson's character Sgt. Al Powell (Powell helps
McClane out and talks him through the rough patches) and we root for
them to meet when it's over. Plus, it leaves you all warm and fuzzy
imagining they will be buddies and invite each other's families over
for backyard barbeques with Twinkies, but it's McClane all by
himself in that tower. He's determined, resourceful, and recklessly
fearless. At times you wonder whether he just believes in himself
that completely, or whether he's just going for it, living in the
moment and making it up as he goes along. The main reason we like
this character so much is that he's the average man, and that makes
us all feel like we could be heroes if we were in his shoes (or bare
feet).
Die Hard
2
(4 July 1990) "quote."
LAPD Lt. John McClane
Passenger 57
()
"Never
send a boy to do a man’s job!"
John Cutter
Walking
Tall "Get your
tail-lights fixed, sir."
"What's wrong with my tail-lights?" [smashes the taillights with a
2X4] "They're
broken."
Sheriff Chris Vaughn
Live Free
or Die Hard
"You’re gonna tell me
what I wanna know, or I’m gonna beat you to death in your own
house." NYPD Detective
Officer John McClane
Superman (Release
Date)
Aaaah Christopher Reeve! He did the suit proud. Everyone was so
excited to see a superhero on the big screen and we wondered how it
would look when
More
fun with Indy. I really didn't think he needed a kid's help but I am
sure kids ate it up. The beauty and the genius of the opening
sequence impresses me every time I watch it. I loved the ingenuity
of the inflated raft escape.
100
PROBLEMS . . .
Although
they do a very good job of setting up a scenario for the whole
movie with a money-hungry villain driven to gamble, they use
that to introduce the female lead ("I'm the money." "Every
penny of it.") and her back story, which leads to love. (Read
more) The entire movie up to the point of Bond's declaration of love
(and WHAT a declaration it is) can be seen as fate, and after he
gives it all up for love, he loses her. Although he believed she
loved him, when he thought she was betraying him for the money, the
pain must have been unbearable since he not only gave himself to
her, but was ready to give us his career. Then, as she sacrificed
her life seemingly for her crime (of stealing the money and
deceiving him) and he thought he'd lose her, suddenly none of it
mattered. He forgave her and was still in love. This broke him. It
is a very heavy thing to be in love with someone who wrongs you and
still love them no matter what.
When
this movie came out, it was definitely much talked about. It gave us
big Action, and big men in small outfits! They really used Arnold's
assets to best advantage. It seemed tongue-in-cheek but it wasn't.
Watching it now I see the straight-to-cult-classic element of it
more than I did when it was released.
Action Movie
Freaks
wondered if there was going to be a lot more barbarian movies, but
it petered out after 1985's Red Sonja. Maybe this movie
benefited from the novelty being first, because Conan The
Destroyer was not as good. Still can't believe when I
watch it now that there is so much sex.
