Action Movie Strut
Okem
4,617 Posts
I've been on a bit of an action movie kick recently and seriously looking forward to the new Gareth Evans movie 'The Raid' finally coming out somewhere near me - but trying not to get too caught up in all the hype.
Until then.. What's the strut got for me in the way of Action Movie recommendations? *Preferably not Hollywood blockbusters **Hopefully not completely brainless (if the plot can't convince me of protagonist's motivations for walking alone into a room of 30 heavily armed henchmen, he will at least have to beat them up in an extraordinarily well executed fashion to hold my attention) ***As currant as possible, please.
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This is definitely one of better ones I've seen relatively recently.
If you watch Korean cinema you'll know they've got the whole revenge flick thing down, add this one to the canon. Read a proper review of it here
Wu xia aka The Swordsmen
Firmly in martial arts territory but with a interesting mystery/detective plot. Been a fan of Donnie Yen since Once Upon a Time in China II, he rarely disappoints (in his HK films at least). see also Iron Monkey, Bodyguards and Assassins, IP Man etc
13 Assassins
A pretty good remake of a classic. Maybe not as stylish as the original, but probably more fun to watch.
Let the Bullets Fly
Chinese Western staring Chow Yun-fat. Easily enjoyable action comedy that was a huge hit in China.
I'm always down for watching action films associated with Luc Besson; Nikita, Leon, The Fifth Element, the Taxi movies (although avoid the steaming pile of doodoo that is the US remake), Transporter 1-3, he even had some sort of role in getting Ong-bak made. The two Banlieue 13 movies have their moments, but beyond the original use of parkour, they fall a little short. Unfortunately Colombiana was a little meh.
The Brazilian 'Elite Squad' movies are pretty good, although they're probably more crime drama, than action.
Celda 211(Spanish) is damn good, but again not strictly action, more action drama.
I'm sure I'm forgetting others.. please add on further recommendations.
Until then.. What's the strut got for me in the way of Action Movie recommendations? *Preferably not Hollywood blockbusters **Hopefully not completely brainless (if the plot can't convince me of protagonist's motivations for walking alone into a room of 30 heavily armed henchmen, he will at least have to beat them up in an extraordinarily well executed fashion to hold my attention) ***As currant as possible, please.
-
This is definitely one of better ones I've seen relatively recently.
If you watch Korean cinema you'll know they've got the whole revenge flick thing down, add this one to the canon. Read a proper review of it here
Wu xia aka The Swordsmen
Firmly in martial arts territory but with a interesting mystery/detective plot. Been a fan of Donnie Yen since Once Upon a Time in China II, he rarely disappoints (in his HK films at least). see also Iron Monkey, Bodyguards and Assassins, IP Man etc
13 Assassins
A pretty good remake of a classic. Maybe not as stylish as the original, but probably more fun to watch.
Let the Bullets Fly
Chinese Western staring Chow Yun-fat. Easily enjoyable action comedy that was a huge hit in China.
I'm always down for watching action films associated with Luc Besson; Nikita, Leon, The Fifth Element, the Taxi movies (although avoid the steaming pile of doodoo that is the US remake), Transporter 1-3, he even had some sort of role in getting Ong-bak made. The two Banlieue 13 movies have their moments, but beyond the original use of parkour, they fall a little short. Unfortunately Colombiana was a little meh.
The Brazilian 'Elite Squad' movies are pretty good, although they're probably more crime drama, than action.
Celda 211(Spanish) is damn good, but again not strictly action, more action drama.
I'm sure I'm forgetting others.. please add on further recommendations.
Comments
Columbiana had some hot moments with a regular ass script.
The Catwoman scene and the bathroom fistfight were heat.
Good to see a Latina in the lead.
Sucker Punch action was crazy.
and
War Of The Arrows has Action!!
I was juuuuuuuuust about to watch that movie.... finally. But the better question is; should I? Or should I save my brain cells?
Nnnnnnnno.
Hell YEAH!!! Tony Jaa movies is the shizshamsnizzibamshizzit!!!
The best Rambo yet.
This movie was recommended to me by a fellow Navy shipmate while underway. I thought he was kidding about how good this movie was. I loved it!!
Some good ones to check out:
The Good, The Bad, and The Weird . This flick and Rango are Probably the ultimate Westerns.
Flash Point (aka City Without Mercy) - Pretty good Donnie Yen fight flick.
I was forced to watch Expendables...
I watched this one the other night. It started out almost loosing me as the plot dragged itself into gear, once the action started it got a lot better, only to loose it again for the climax - the bit with the tiger and then the final face off were just too forced. Otherwise it was a pretty good movie.
Yeah, I thought it was pretty good. Gina Carano can't act for shit, but the camera loves her and of course she's totally convincing in the whole "beating seven shades of shit out of several guys in rapid succession" thing. Once she learns how to deliver a line, she'll have the field to herself.
Returning to Zoe Saldana for a moment (and I may as well come clean and admit that I'd happily watch an hour and a half of her sat in an armchair doing the Times crossword), The Losers was pretty good, lame ending notwithstanding. Jason Patric is funny as fuck.
A Bout Portant a/k/a Point Blank is one of those "taut, fast-paced thrillers" that the French do really well and, apart from one ridiculous plot hole which very nearly scuppers the whole movie, is worth spending 90 minutes with.
This has a definite 1970s Hammer psycho-horror/Wicker Man kind of vibe to it. I didn't really like it the first time I saw it, perhaps because it seemed immediately obvious what was going on, and they never satisfactorily resolved it for me. A lot of my friends raved over it and a few of them urged me to watch it again, but I still wasn't entirely convinced. I'd say it's worth watching, though.
Equally, if you've got the stomach for a movie that'll make the flesh crawl off your bones, check out Snowtown. Real banality-of-evil type shit. Dark as fuck, and definitely not a date movie. Unless your date's Aileen Wuornos.
Stryker!
Wong Kar-Wai's take on the Ip Man story. Should look pretty at least.
The fights should be great too as Yuen Woo Ping is doing the action. This project has been taking a LONG time to get finished! Typical for Wong Kar Wai.
haywire has some GREAT moments.