Books, Movies, Music & Entertainment - Great Action Movies?

Stir Crazy said (in another thread)that action movies tended to bore him.
I agree, but there are some great action flicks. The best action films are
driven by the characters. (You can always spot bad action flicks by
car chases, spectacular explosions,etc. My favorite is the low-angle
shot of soldiers jumping from hidden trampolines as they are "thrown"
into the air by artillery explosions).

My nominations for great action movies:

The Wild Bunch

The Seven Samurai

The Princess Bride

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Sorcerer

What are your great action flicks?

The Transporter
Mission: Impossible 2

the best action movie ever - Raiders of the Lost Ark

True Romance

I thought The Bourne Identity was really well done. It's basically a 90 minute chase scene.

It's true, I do tend to find action movies generally boring, but that's usually more the strictly action movies, like MI:3 or Smokin' Aces (which I just watched this past weekend, and it was seriously horrendous).

Certain films, however, like the Indiana Jones series, The Princess Bride, or even the old Kurasawa samurai films, I would say fall into the "action/adventure" genre, which I do enjoy.

Having said that, the first action movie I can think of that I enjoyed is a kung-fu flick: Iron Monkey. Not the most cohesive story (like any of the classic kung-fu films had any :rolleyes: ), but the choreography and action sequences themselves were largely entertaining for me. Along the same lines, but with a bit more drama added, I really enjoyed Jet Li's Fearless. I thought that was a good flick.

As for more typical action movies, I really liked the first Matrix, though the second and third installments sucked hard. I also liked Saving Private Ryan (I guess I'd consider that an action film), The Professional, Kill Bill (vol I. more so than vol. II), and Batman Begins.

I really liked Blood Diamond, even though I'm not much of a DiCaprio fan. Check it out, if you haven't.

Point Break :D

I really liked Blood Diamond, even though I'm not much of a DiCaprio fan. Check it out, if you haven't.

Thanks for the reminder. I keep forgetting to rent that one. :rolleyes:

I really liked Blood Diamond, even though I'm not much of a DiCaprio fan. Check it out, if you haven't.

+1 not a DiCaprio fan here either but I liked him in Blood Diamond. I didn't like him in The Departed though, I think his accent was too strong, but he did an ok Aussie accent in BD.

Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels and Snatch. Poor Guy Ritchie, everything he's done since is crap.

Works by Stephen King into movies are great!

DreamCatcher 2003
The People Under the Stairs 1991?
FireStarter
Thinner
Misery is really good.

I'm going to have to go with Die Hard as my favorite. Sure, they've gotten more sophisticated, but that's the first one I remember sitting at the edge of my seat trying to figure out how he was going to survive.

Lots of fun action in The Matrix as well.

Death Hunt

Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson pwn all other action stars combined.

I have to say Saving Private Ryan

If you like good action porn, District B13 is awesome. Much of the action is based on parkour, which was the dynamic at work during that first chase scene in Casino Royale, so the chases are great, plus it's got a Eastern gunplay vibe. And it's relatively short! Get it from netflix.

Go see Live Free or Die Hard. A very good action flick. Bits of it are unbelievable, but hey its Die Hard, there is unbelievable stuff in all of them.

Stir Crazy said (in another thread)that action movies tended to bore him.
I agree, but there are some great action flicks. The best action films are
driven by the characters. (You can always spot bad action flicks by
car chases, spectacular explosions,etc. My favorite is the low-angle
shot of soldiers jumping from hidden trampolines as they are "thrown"
into the air by artillery explosions).

My nominations for great action movies:

The Wild Bunch

The Seven Samurai

The Princess Bride

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Sorcerer

What are your great action flicks?This doesn't fit what you're talking about--it's not character driven at all, it's adrenaline-driven!-- but Crank (http://www.crankfilm.com/).

All of the "Bourne" movies, The Matrix movies, Jet Li's "Fists of Legend", The Chinese Connection, Hero, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Equilibrium, The Princess Blade, Batman Begins...

The first two Terminators, Bullett - not sure if an action movie, but it has an awesome car chase that lasts a good 15 minutes. The first Rambo

"Rio Bravo" is one of my favorites. It's a Western, but has been the model for a thousand action movies since.

"Hard Boiled," the last and greatest of the Hong Kong wu/fat crime epics, is arguably the greatest action movie ever made. It's fresh out on a new two disk box set. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAg5SXD-oE4

"Death Hunt" is an obscure Bronson flick I like about the true life manhunt of a famous criminal in Canada. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcZhmyd7D7A

"Predator" remains the best Arnie action film from the 80's. Tight as a drum, lots of muscle, and a plot that keeps getting more and more intense.

"Treasure of the Sierra Madre" isn't an action film per se, but it has a lot of action in it. And it's also one of the top ten greatest movies of all time, period. Damned amazing film. Knocks my socks off every time I watch it. It's been fully remastered on a crystal clear DVD set. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROIIQkLWdVw&mode=related&search=

More recently, I like "Ronin" and "Heat." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DdDpFMFIYo

The first two Terminators, Bullett - not sure if an action movie, but it has an awesome car chase that lasts a good 15 minutes. The first Rambo
If you get a chance to see Bullitt again, it has a famous continuity goof.
McQueen's Mustang and the bad guys' sedan pass the same VW bug about five different times.

Vanishing Point
Hard Times
Leon (The Professional)
Infernal Affairs...much better than it's US remake The Departed

Leonard Part 6

Dillinger, Blackhawk Down, The Wild Bunch. Very easily my favorites.

kill bill volume 1 & 2.

later.

Nobody has mentioned The Guns of Navarone?!?!?!?!12

Just watched Jet Li's Fearless over the weekend. Damn fine movie.

Nobody has mentioned The Guns of Navarone?!?!?!?!12

The Great Escape

The Great Escape is an incredibly well done movie. But it's more drama than action.

Leon: The Professional.