Movies: Favourite Action Movies

kihei

McEnroe: The older I get, the better I used to be.
Jun 14, 2006
42,537
10,135
Toronto
Guns, swords, fists--action movies come in a lot of different guises. Define them how you will. What's your favourite(s)? Commentary welcome.
 

NyQuil

Big F$&*in Q
Jan 5, 2005
95,347
59,256
Ottawa, ON
I won't rank them but here are some of my favourites.

In general, I'm remembering the original cinematic experience in the theater, but I've found that all of these are worth rewatching.

Die Hard

My Dad rushed home from a date with my Mom to tell my brother and I that we were going to the theater tomorrow night because he'd just watched Die Hard and wanted us to see it.

American theatres allowed underagers in Rated R films with a parent, so off we went.

The perfect balance of an "every-man hero", a compelling villain, laughably incompetent law enforcement and bureaucrats, humorous banter and one-liners, and some intense action sequences that just kept building as the film went along. John McClane would end the film with his feet gouged from glass, shot, dirty, messy, his tank top stained and ruined. A far cry from the Stallone/Schwarzenegger kill-bots that preceded him.

It might be the perfect action film.

Inception

I was blown away by this movie at the time and I still enjoy watching it. The hand-to-hand combat in the hotel without gravity is still one of the more amazing sequences around. It had that "heist" feel to it where all of the team are compelling in their own way, with their own agendas, skills and personalities. I found the pacing of this film was excellent as the film cuts relentlessly between dream levels.

I did find the arctic sequence a little bit weak by comparison because of the waves of faceless targets approach which I find reduces the action to a video-game perspective. It's the same weakness that takes place during the ending sequence of of Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

The Matrix

There was relatively little hype for this film at the time, I just remember a short trailer sequence of the bullet-time effect that was compelling enough to watch it in the theater. My lack of expectations really helped catapult this film into one of my more memorable theater experiences. The Wachowski brothers did an excellent job of building slowly, leaving the big set-pieces for later, and just flirting with the concept of the artificial reality and the stunts that it allowed. Consequently, it seemed as if each scene surpassed the previous one, in terms of the intensity of the action. Fishburne's "Obi-Wan" character helped to ground the film in believable if shallow metaphysical or philosophical mumbo-jumbo - a must in any action film with spiritual or magical elements.

Avatar

I promised myself when leaving the theater that I would remember what a roller coaster ride this film was in full 3D glory. I knew that over time, people would become quite scathing about it because of its simple plot and easy black and white characterizations. But as far as the thrills of the actual theater experience go, it was heart-pounding and mind-blowing.

Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark or Last Crusade)

I have a hard time picking one as they both were such a terrific blend of action, humour and archaeological mystery. Watching them again makes you appreciate the lack of CGI, recognizing that every sequence had to be painstakingly choreographed and executed by stuntmen. We've come so far from that time that Mad Max was essentially lauded at the Oscars for doing what action movies had been doing for years until they didn't.

Ronin

This movie was a nice surprise with a true European feel. The characters seemed realistic (poor Sean Bean), the action was sudden and jarring, and the car chases were manic with the actors clearly on the verge of hysteria at driving head-on into traffic - unlike films where they act as if they do this all the time (re: Jason Bourne). A twisted plot with crosses and double-crosses, two laconic heroes, and a cheeky reference to the film title of the samurai with no master.

Lethal Weapon

Just might be the best buddy action cop movie around, and that includes Beverly Hills Cop.

I've left out some of the more long-lived properties (e.g. James Bond, Star Wars, MCU) because they all kind of blend together for me.
 
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kihei

McEnroe: The older I get, the better I used to be.
Jun 14, 2006
42,537
10,135
Toronto
I'm judging these movies more in terms of action than in terms of overall quality (but I'm not consistent :laugh:):

Domestic/English

1 The Fast and the Furious: Fast Five
2. Mad Max: The Road Warrior
3. The Bourne Identity
4. Die Hard
5. Leon: The Professional
6. Lethal Weapon
7. The Wild Bunch
8. Bullitt
9. The Dirty Dozem
10. Executive Decision (underrated)


HM: Speed; Under Siege; Heat; John Wick:Chapter 2; Skyfall (if Alien counts, it should be somewhere on the list)


International


1. Seven Samurai
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
3. Infernal Affairs
4. Ong Bak
5. Enter the Dragon
6. The Wages of Fear
7. The Raid: Redemption
8. Elite Squad
9 Bullet in the Head
10: Elite Squad: The Enemy Within

HM: Hero; House of Flying Daggers; Why Don't You Play in Hell; Kung Fu Hustle
.
 
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Buckets and Gloves

klaatu barada nikto
Aug 14, 2011
7,578
175
Arnold is the GOAT action star.

Commando and Predator are arguabley the 2 best or most pure action films.... than you got Total Recall, True Lies, Running Man, Conan, Eraser and the underrated Last Action Hero (not great but can be appreciated for what it is)
 

Neutrinos

Registered User
Sep 23, 2016
8,587
3,597
To those of you listing Lethal Weapon, have you watched it recently or are you going off memory from your youth?

I recently tried watching it for the first time in about 25 years and I couldn't get through it

It was so boring!
 

Shareefruck

Registered User
Apr 2, 2005
28,875
3,570
Vancouver, BC
PIEW-PIEW-PIEW-PIEW-PIEW!!!! *does a backflip and slides down a banister for no reason*



and



Great action movies fully embrace how stupid they are w/o compromising quality/audacity. Prime John Woo movies felt simultaneously trashy and arty at the same time.

Oh, and I just saw recently/was blown away by A Touch of Zen, so that's probably right there w/ the John Woo movies (although I guess I just contradicted myself, because it's not stupid-embracing).

I've never been able to get into the Die Hard/Commando type movies. They kind of just feel like regular fairly decent blockbusters dialed up to 100 to me.
 
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McGhostbuster

Who ya gonna call?
Apr 30, 2007
7,929
30
Edmonton
Die Hard
Terminator 2
Raid 1/2
The Dark Knight
Aliens
The Matrix
Shoot Em Up (underrated, has some ridiculous scenes. Intro below)
 

Tkachuk4MVP

32 Years of Fail
Apr 15, 2006
14,793
2,675
San Diego, CA
My favorite action movies usually combine efficiency - just enough story to make things compelling - with humor/great one-liners and little to no CGI. Some examples:

Predator (arguably the best pure action movie ever made)
Commando (arguably the funniest action movie ever made)
Terminators 1 and 2
Hard Boiled (John Woo was a master)
The Killer
Bullet in the Head
Robocop
Bullitt
Die Hard
The Raid
Elite Squad
Dredd (This and Fury Road are probably the best, most recent examples of the efficient, violent, funny, Predator-type action film that I love)
Mad Max: Fury Road
 

Jevo

Registered User
Oct 3, 2010
3,485
363
The 1948 The Three Musketeers with Gene Kelly surely deserves a mention in a thread like this, just for having the best sword fighting scenes ever filmed. Not the best film ever made for sure, but the sword fighting is very well choreographed and damn entertaining to watch.
 

kihei

McEnroe: The older I get, the better I used to be.
Jun 14, 2006
42,537
10,135
Toronto
The 1948 The Three Musketeers with Gene Kelly surely deserves a mention in a thread like this, just for having the best sword fighting scenes ever filmed. Not the best film ever made for sure, but the sword fighting is very well choreographed and damn entertaining to watch.
In the same spirit, Errol Flynn's The Adventures of Robin Hood and Captain Blood deserve a mention as do Jimmy Cagney and Edward G. Robinson's seminal gangster movies, like Public Enemy and Little Caesar, respectively,
 

NyQuil

Big F$&*in Q
Jan 5, 2005
95,347
59,256
Ottawa, ON
To those of you listing Lethal Weapon, have you watched it recently or are you going off memory from your youth?

I recently tried watching it for the first time in about 25 years and I couldn't get through it

It was so boring!

You didn't like Mr. Joshua?
 

Jevo

Registered User
Oct 3, 2010
3,485
363
In the same spirit, Errol Flynn's The Adventures of Robin Hood and Captain Blood deserve a mention as do Jimmy Cagney and Edward G. Robinson's seminal gangster movies, like Public Enemy and Little Caesar, respectively,

I like Robin Hood a lot, very fun to watch. I haven't seen the others, I should probably give them a watch some time.
 

tacogeoff

Registered User
Jul 18, 2011
11,590
1,801
Killarney, MB
As of late and off the top of the cuff my current favorites would be

Magnificent Seven (2016)
Mad Max Fury Road
Deadpool
Star Wars TFA

Older films

Kick Boxer
Delta Force
Top Gun
Red Dawn
Ronin
Point Break
 

Central PA Hawk Fan

Registered User
Apr 16, 2007
3,378
30
York, PA
I consider myself an action movie buff, its probably my go-to movie genre.

Predator
Die Hard series (The first three, anyway)
The Matrix
Eraser
Rambo series
Taken
Aliens
Red Heat
Mad Max series
Bond series
Demolition Man
Passenger 57
Terminator 1 and 2 (I also kinda like 3)
Speed
Rapid Fire
Inception
...that's just off the top of my head. I need to think on it a little more.
 

x Tame Impala

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Aug 24, 2011
27,435
11,781
"The Raid" 1&2 are my two most favorite recent ones. Die Hard is still the best action movie ever made.
 

HatTrick Swayze

Just Be Nice
Jun 16, 2006
16,834
9,657
Chicago
Road House
Point Break
Demolition Man
Total Recall (original)
The Rock
True Lies
Con Air
Inception
John Wick (need to see part 2)
Mad Max Fury Road
The Town
Taken (original only, not a fan of the sequels)
Fast 5
Transformers (2007 only)
Nolan Batman Trilogy
Raiders and Last Crusade


Non-Stop and Unknown with Liam Neesen are underrated.
 

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