Action movies....

[Lucky13]

What makes great action movie and a bad one? Which is the one that you can watch over and over again and the one where you five minutes in, almost through the DVD in bin, swearing and laughing?
Godzilla had me laugh few times, like when helo's are flying after each other firing all their guns, NOT thinking that they actually might hit the guy in front....I mean, wtf!?
Some of the action movie sh*t that they show over here on the "Movies For Men" channel, from the 80's....

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

A decent plot, for one, and a character that the viewer will like. I'm a fan of movies like "The Untouchables", "The Departed", "First Blood", and the Dirty Harry series.

 

[ccheese]

I like the auto chases. The classic has got to be the chase in "Bullitt".
There are other good ones, too, but that one stands out.

Charles

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

Haven't seen that movie, but the auto chase in "The blues brothers" was pretty good, although that was more comedy then action.

 

[Lucky13]

Bullitt is my alltime favorite car chase Mr C, that was the Big Bang in that genre...! 8) I like the "Duel" as well....

 

[Geedee]

Theres only one film for me that I can watch time and time again.... Kellys Heroes !
Fantastic acting, great lines and a bit of fun with a happy ending

Oddball for President !

 

[ToughOmbre]

Armageddon

Great combination of action and comedy!

And I love Bruce Willis.

TO

 

[Njaco]

There has to be a basis of reality and then the movie should plausibly suspend that reality. Along with a good story line and subtle, great acting, this is what - to me - makes a great action movie.

One that comes to mind is "Ronin".

A plot that was plausible.
Acting that wasn't over the top.
And a car chase that was rooted in reality - no cars exploding in a ball of flames as they hit a shopping cart!

The last action movie that I saw that I really liked was "Casino Royal" - the James Bond remake the past year. Bond is human again although he does some inhuman things. That foot chase in the beginning just took you to the edge of impossiblility but didn't go overboard. Kept it simple and believeable.

 

[Cota1992]

There has to be a basis of reality and then the movie should plausibly suspend that reality. Along with a good story line and subtle, great acting, this is what - to me - makes a great action movie.

One that comes to mind is "Ronin".

A plot that was plausible.
Acting that wasn't over the top.
And a car chase that was rooted in reality - no cars exploding in a ball of flames as they hit a shopping cart!

Agreed on this and NO over the top CGI cartoon crap.

 

[RabidAlien]

Anybody see "Wanted"? Angelina Jolie, assassins, lots of gunfights, and Morgan Freeman as a bad-guy....had the makings of a good action-movie. There was lots of action, but, no reality. "Ronin" was awesome! Personally, I like a character who has some sort of moral fiber, a code of honor, and is human. No curving bullets, no jumping off a 50-foot wall and coming to a gentle rolling stop, no super-human ability to slow time and dodge bullets. Gimme someone human. And a good, dry, bitterly-sarcastic outlook on life never hurt, either.

"Usual Suspects" comes to mind as an all-time favorite. Good guys are all bad-guys, but they're human. You can sorta relate to them as they get systematically screwed over and totally played by Kaiser Soze (however you spell it). And no matter how many times I see it, I still get goosebumps at the frikkin two-ton plot-twist they drop on you during the last thirty seconds of the movie. FRIKKIN BRILLIANT!!!

 

[Njaco]

Personally, I like a character who has some sort of moral fiber, a code of honor, and is human. No curving bullets, no jumping off a 50-foot wall and coming to a gentle rolling stop, no super-human ability to slow time and dodge bullets. Gimme someone human. And a good, dry, bitterly-sarcastic outlook on life never hurt, either.

You can still have that, just have a semblance of reality. Take "The Matrix". They set up a premise that the world is computer generated and you can break those boundaries. There was a truth that held throughout the movie which made the action scenes plausable. Plus dead-pan acting didn't hurt.

 

[RabidAlien]

Sci-fi/Fantasy will always bend the rules of reality. I just hate it when, during the epic battle with the evil ____, the hero "finds" or "discovers" the one bit of tech or magic that will allow him to defeat ____. I dislike those last-minute saves. Its such a cop-out.

 

[Njaco]

Yup. You can't bend the rules of the reality set up in the movie. But you can bend the rules of known reality.

Any movie has to first set itself what the rules are going to be, i.e. "The Matrix" real people were living in a computer generated world, "Alien" with a creature that was somewhat indestructable (we don't even know if it was killed in the end, it was at least off the ship!). If the movie plays within its set-up reality, fine, its acceptable. But when it oversteps, its lost. Its that, "This can't happen!" moment. Thats why the first "Die Hard" was so good (he could have rigged himself with that fire hose and jumped) compared to "Live Free or Die Hard" (yeah, jumping off the wing of a crashing jet, right, yup, yawn.). Make me believe in the your world and I'm entertained. Break it and I want my money back!

 

[GrauGeist]

"quit with the negative waves..." That's a classic!

And that's what a movie should have, something that will stick with you long after you've seen the movie, whether it's car chase, a comment or a twist in the plot.

Like the Movie "Total Recall" with Schwarzeneggar. Just about the time you've got the plot figured out, it turns on you again.

Or the Movie "Final Approach" with James Sikking, Hector Elizondo in where the pilot of a SR-71 crashes and the Psych helps him remember what happened. I had no idea the end was going to be the way it was...I thought I had it figured out...awesome stuff!! By the way, "Final Approach" has some incredible SR-71 footage too, yet another reason to see it!

 

[Njaco]

Really great actors in that movie!

Quick Trivia: Can you name 3 other war movies that the Panzer commander in "Kelly's Heroes" played in?

 

[GrauGeist]

Can't think of the guy's name, but he was in a ton of movies...

The one's I can think of right off hand are Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of Britain

 

[Lucky13]

Love Kelly's Heroes as well!

Oddball: Crazy! I mean like so many positive waves maybe we can't lose! You're on!
Oddball: Definitely an antisocial type. Woof, woof, woof! That's my other dog imitation.
Oddball: Always with the negative waves Moriarty, always with the negative waves.
Oddball: We see our role as essentially defensive in nature. While our armies are advancing so fast and everyone's knocking themselves out to be heroes, we are holding ourselves in reserve in case the Krauts mount a counteroffensive which threatens Paris... or maybe even New York. Then we can move in and stop them. But for 1.6 million dollars, we could become heroes for three days.
Oddball: These engines are the fastest in any tanks in the European Theater of Operations, forwards or backwards. You see, man, we like to feel we can get out of trouble, quicker than we got into it.
Oddball: [looking at aerial pics of the a remaining bridge] Beautiful.
Moriarty: suppose the bridge ain't there?
Oddball: [groans] Don't hit me with them negative waves so early in the morning. Think the bridge will be there and it will be there. It's a mother, beautiful bridge, and it's gonna be there. Ok?
Oddball: [Later: Oddball is looking through binoculars at the bridge] Still up!
Oddball: [planes fly and bomb the bridge] ... No it ain't. See what sending out them negative waves did, Moriarty?
Moriarty: That ain't my fault, Oddball, I've done nothing but have good thoughts about that damn bridge ever since we left!

 

[Geedee]

It must be very difficult to make a film nowadays, the poor old director has to remember all this :....

Large, soft style apartments in New York City are well within the price range of most people, whether they are employed or not.

At least one of every pair of identical twins is born evil.

Should you decide to defuse a bomb, don't worry which wire you cut, you will always choose the right one.

Most laptop computers are powerful enough to over-ride the communications system of any invading alien society.

It does not matter if you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts, your enemies will wait patiently to attack you one by one, by dancing around in a threatening manner until you have knocked out their predecessors.

When you turn out the light to go to bed, everything in your bedroom will still be clearly visible, just slightly bluish.

If you are blonde and pretty, its is possible to become a World expert on nuclear fission at the age of 22.

Honest and hard working policemen are traditionally gunned down three days before their retirement.

Rather than wasting bullets. Megalomaniacs prefer to kill their arch enemies by using complicated machinery involving fuses, pulley systems, deadly gasses, lasers and man eating sharks which will allow their captives at least 20 minutes to escape.

All beds have special L-shaped cover sheets that reach the armpit level on a woman but only to waist level on the man lying next to her.

All grocery stores contain at least one stick of French bread.

It's easy for anyone to land a plane providing there is someone in the control tower to talk you down.

Once applied, lipstick will never rub off – even when scuba diving.

You're very likely to survive any battle in a war unless you make the mistake of showing someone a picture of your sweetheart back home.

Should you wish to pass yourself off as a German or Russian officer, it will not be necessary to speak the language. A German or Russian accent will do.

The Eiffel Tower can be seen from any window in Paris.

A man will show no pain while taking the most ferocious beating but will wince when a woman tries to clean his wounds.

If a large pane of glass is visible, someone will be thrown through it before long.

If staying in a haunted house, women should investigate any strange noises in their most revealing underwear.

All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red readouts so you know exactly when they're going to go off.

Every street in London has Big Ben at the end of it.

All aliens land in California.

When faced with monster, all women scream and then faint.

Most dogs are immortal.

If being chased in town, you can usually take cover in a passing St.Patricks Day parade – at any time of the year.,

The ventilation building system of any building is the perfect hiding place. No-one will ever think of looking in there for you and you can travel to any other part of the building you want without difficulty.

If you need to re-load your gun, you will always have more ammunition even if you haven't been carrying any before now.

During all Police investigations, it will be necessary to visit a strip club at least once.

If your town is threatened by an imminent natural disaster or killer beast, the mayors first concern will be the tourist trade or his forthcoming art exhibition.

When paying for a taxi, no-one looks at their wallet as they take the bill out. They just grab one at random and hand it over. It's always the exact fare.

Interbreeding is genetically possible with any creature from elsewhere the universe.

Kitchens don't have light switches. When entering the kitchen at night, you should open the fridge door and use that light instead.

Cars that crash will almost always burst into flames.

The Chief of Police will always suspend his star detective - or give him 48 hours to finish the job.

A single match will be sufficient to light up a room the size of a sports stadium

Medieval peasants had perfect teeth

Any person waking up form a nightmare will sit bolt upright and pant.

It is not necessary to say hello or goodbye when beginning or ending a phone conversation.

It is always possible to park directly in front of any building you are visiting.

A detective may only solve a case once he has been suspended from duty.

If you decide to start dancing in the street, every one you bump into will know the all the steps.

When a person is knocked unconscious by a blow to the head, they will never suffer concussion or brain damage.

If you are alone on a space ship in deep space and there's a horrible nasty monster stalking you, do not ever turn on any lights

 

[Lucky13]

 

[muller]

Great Oddball quotes Lucky! I always use the 'negative waves' line on a guy here in work who's always moaning about stuff. Kelly's Heroes is a classic.

More recently, I think the three Jason Bourne movies were great. I loved the bit in the 1st movie when he beats the crap out of the 2 german cops and leaves them unconscious on the ground in less than 3 seconds, and doesn't know how he did it! Some good chase scenes in them too.